I can see how the distinction could be unnoticable to people who haven't really been exposed to anime for a long period of time. I mean, when I was a kid I had no idea that Dragonball Z was any different than any of the other cartoons I watched in the morning. I think people only start to see anime differently once they see more adult oriented ones. American cartoons for adults are pretty much just for comedy, where as anime has a lot of very serious adult themes.