Post by gourryinverse on Aug 11, 2016 18:39:27 GMT -6
I wasn't going to chime in on this, because I've seen threads with this exact same title devolve into horrible arguments on every forum I've ever been on or moderated (I see it happened to this thread, to a far lesser degree than I've seen elsewhere), but as a person who enjoys animation of all sorts and owns over 1,000 animated movies and series, I need to make a very important distinction:
"Anime vs. Cartoons" is a misnomer.
Anime is (are?) cartoons. Cartoons are anime. Anime is not a genre, it is a medium (much like film or the written word).
Anime is simply the word that the Japanese use for any and all animation - INCLUDING animation produced within other countries. Now, one can prefer the style of Japanese animation, or one can prefer the style of American animation, or anything in between (although I feel you're doing yourself a great disservice if you lean more towards one country's version of the medium versus another...) but the above is a very important distinction and I feel it needs to be addressed, and I haven't seen anyone else say it within this thread.
Anime = animation = cartoons. It may seem like a technical distinction, and very arbitrary, but as we like to say at work, "words matter, and the right words in the right situations matter most of all."
With that being said, someone who appreciates animation as a medium can look at Japanese animation and can say, *OBJECTIVELY*, that the vast majority of it is very very low-quality (in terms of the actual mechanics of it). The designs are typically very detailed, but many studios often skimp on the animation itself, omitting frames and recycling backdrops, character animations and (in some cases) even entire scenes multiple times in the same episode. This has diminished somewhat in this era of computer-driven animation, but ultimately, some of these shortcuts are still taken even in high-profile Japanese animation. This doesn't mean that their storylines aren't good, or that their characters aren't believable, or that their music isn't great, or that you aren't allowed to enjoy them... but most Japanese animation is just bad quality.
As an example, I adore the old-school Slayers shows from the 1990s (specifically, Slayers and Slayers Next). I love the characters, I enjoy the way the series is put together, and I have no problem showing it to my daughters... but speaking from an animation standpoint, Slayers is absolutely *AWFUL*. Every corner that could be cut was cut, at every opportunity, without prejudice. Doesn't mean I can't watch it and thoroughly enjoy it... but it's bad, speaking from the perspective of the medium itself.
American animation from the same era suffered from the same shortcuts, for the most part, and over the years the quality of American animation has increased at a far faster rate than Japanese animation... but as a general rule, American cartoons from the same era dealt with subject mature that was was much more immature, not because Americans viewed animation as "kids stuff" (almost all Japanese animation is aimed at children pre-teen and younger, believe it or not), but also because American culture as a whole does not believe that certain subject matter should be broached with teens and pre-teens. Where Japanese culture had less compunctions about dealing with sexual themes and outright graphic murder, American animation didn't dare touch upon such things until much more recently... and even then, the American shows and films that dealt with such things tend to be aimed at an "older" audience.
But ultimately, animation is just a medium, and as with any medium, people are going to find stuff they love and stuff they abhor.
"Anime vs. Cartoons" is a misnomer.
Anime is (are?) cartoons. Cartoons are anime. Anime is not a genre, it is a medium (much like film or the written word).
Anime is simply the word that the Japanese use for any and all animation - INCLUDING animation produced within other countries. Now, one can prefer the style of Japanese animation, or one can prefer the style of American animation, or anything in between (although I feel you're doing yourself a great disservice if you lean more towards one country's version of the medium versus another...) but the above is a very important distinction and I feel it needs to be addressed, and I haven't seen anyone else say it within this thread.
Anime = animation = cartoons. It may seem like a technical distinction, and very arbitrary, but as we like to say at work, "words matter, and the right words in the right situations matter most of all."
With that being said, someone who appreciates animation as a medium can look at Japanese animation and can say, *OBJECTIVELY*, that the vast majority of it is very very low-quality (in terms of the actual mechanics of it). The designs are typically very detailed, but many studios often skimp on the animation itself, omitting frames and recycling backdrops, character animations and (in some cases) even entire scenes multiple times in the same episode. This has diminished somewhat in this era of computer-driven animation, but ultimately, some of these shortcuts are still taken even in high-profile Japanese animation. This doesn't mean that their storylines aren't good, or that their characters aren't believable, or that their music isn't great, or that you aren't allowed to enjoy them... but most Japanese animation is just bad quality.
As an example, I adore the old-school Slayers shows from the 1990s (specifically, Slayers and Slayers Next). I love the characters, I enjoy the way the series is put together, and I have no problem showing it to my daughters... but speaking from an animation standpoint, Slayers is absolutely *AWFUL*. Every corner that could be cut was cut, at every opportunity, without prejudice. Doesn't mean I can't watch it and thoroughly enjoy it... but it's bad, speaking from the perspective of the medium itself.
American animation from the same era suffered from the same shortcuts, for the most part, and over the years the quality of American animation has increased at a far faster rate than Japanese animation... but as a general rule, American cartoons from the same era dealt with subject mature that was was much more immature, not because Americans viewed animation as "kids stuff" (almost all Japanese animation is aimed at children pre-teen and younger, believe it or not), but also because American culture as a whole does not believe that certain subject matter should be broached with teens and pre-teens. Where Japanese culture had less compunctions about dealing with sexual themes and outright graphic murder, American animation didn't dare touch upon such things until much more recently... and even then, the American shows and films that dealt with such things tend to be aimed at an "older" audience.
But ultimately, animation is just a medium, and as with any medium, people are going to find stuff they love and stuff they abhor.
yey