The Differences Between Anime and Cartoon

[Kirbie]

Cartoon is for more often to children, and anime is for matured one.

[RapidityAU]

anime has a serious aspect to it, is a work of art and a complex plot.

[giandeepdeo]

anime has long story series , sums take several year to end..

but cartoon have short story.........

and anime resolution and graphic are better than cartoon.......................

[Catwoman]

I see your points and they are very good ones to make.

I used to get irritated with people calling anime cartoons too.

However, in recent years, that view has changed.

I just see both cartoons and anime as animation.

So I would call an anime a 'cartoon' now.

That being said, I've lost some appreciation for them.

I'd much rather read than watch a series.

[Koby]

I see your points and they are very good ones to make.

I used to get irritated with people calling anime cartoons too.

However, in recent years, that view has changed.

I just see both cartoons and anime as animation.

So I would call an anime a 'cartoon' now.

That being said, I've lost some appreciation for them.

I'd much rather read than watch a series.

The thing is both cartoon and anime are types of animation, and sure Japan refers to any animation as anime, but it's became much more than that these days.

Calling a cartoon an anime is like calling rap music country. It just ain't right. Sure country and rap are both types of music but they are clearly different in sub-genre. It's the same thing with anime and cartoons, both being animation but at the same time being different and I dislike it when people dismiss anime as being some dumb-minded aimed at 5-year old's every Saturday cartoon show or some retarded comedy about showing the limits of human stupidity (which 98.9% of all cartoons fall into one of those two categories).

[Catwoman]

What confuses me is that when another country (for example, America) make a series based in a similar style of that to anime, people take offence to it being confused for such even if it is a popular and respectable show because it isn't Japanese. Again, I agree with your view but I have to disagree with how some people take silly offences like this. Whilst anime is very popular and a huge part to our lives (I mean, I want to be a manga artist or animator in Tokyo whilst living with my Uncle there) I just find it sort of sad that American 'anime' is looked down upon. What are your thoughts? Do you think anime is restrictly for the Japanese or world wide? This has always been a topic of interest to me.

[Koby]

What confuses me is that when another country (for example, America) make a series based in a similar style of that to anime, people take offence to it being confused for such even if it is a popular and respectable show because it isn't Japanese. Again, I agree with your view but I have to disagree with how some people take silly offences like this. Whilst anime is very popular and a huge part to our lives (I mean, I want to be a manga artist or animator in Tokyo whilst living with my Uncle there) I just find it sort of sad that American 'anime' is looked down upon. What are your thoughts? Do you think anime is restrictly for the Japanese or world wide? This has always been a topic of interest to me.

To me Avatar probably comes closet to being a cartoon that could be considered an Anime for me, but it still relies too heavily at being aimed at younger kids with the lack of actual violence, blood, etc. It relies on 'magic' tricks where neither party seems to ever get even scratched much less injured. At most we get clothes torn occasionally, or a scar that is shown later, but we never actually are shown the deed that caused it and see any type of full on gore or violence in the style that is common in Anime. So while it does show signs of Anime here or there, the vast majority of it screams cliches of cartoons. It's still very highly good vs. evil, and good always comes out on top with the good not really ever losing anything.

I wouldn't take offense to someone calling an American made cartoon an anime, it's just I personally haven't seen a show I could say 'hey this is just like an anime'.

About the only shows I've seen that really could have been a decent anime was a couple animated films like Titan A.E., Deadspace, and the Dante's Inferno Animated Tale, but all of them felt a bit too Americanized/Hollywood in their output. They are definitely trying to create some hybrid shows these days but the problem is they are far and in-between, and still feel more like a cartoon than an anime. Perhaps the new Avatar season could do well in creating a true hybrid.

[Koby]

anime is for grownups - cartoons are for kids

False accusation from someone who doesn't know what they are talking about.

Try watching Dante's Inferno (cartoon), then watching Pokemon (anime).. and see if you still think cartoon is only for kids and anime is only for adults. In actuality 98% of anime is made for ages 10-18 crowd. They have a lot of anime aimed at kids as young as 5 as well.

[jrutho]

Anime has always been to some extent realistic even though it can be in a world totally different to ours- the characters have depth to them which gets you more involved than in a cartoon

[rebelkid24]

I agree for the most part with what people are saying.

I've had it explained to me that Anime is what comes out of Japan and Cartoons come out of America. That to me seems the most basic way to classify them. I've never seen America attempt to replicate anime from Japan like Neon Genesis Evangelion. It would be interesting to see if any American based production company tried to do something along those lines.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is American anime

[shyguysteve]

Anime is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons.

A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor.

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision.

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koby explains the subtleties between the two terms.

and yet under these bits of information on the subject, i really don't see much difference between the two terms.

other then origin of creation and development, they are other wise the same. (to me)

(story or plot are indifferent it depends on the show it self if it were to be specifically compared to another).

But many people will always look at small details to keep them separate. such as quality in art and visual effects.

if you like watching it, what does it matter what term describes it?

[nitubhaskar]

ya.. and there is some very good humor which is understood only by matures in anime.. not like cartoon which has humor for kids..

[shadowtheman]

As far as I Know all animations are the same. Still pictures that move by slightly drawing the next one different. We all know that part. What makes anime different is us. Technicly Japan has been making animated films for about as long as America. But durning the sixtys Japan hit an ecanomic growth spurt helping it culturally. In Hayao miyazaki interview, he stated that this time met a huge explosion in animation due to the freedom that the econemy gave to the entertainment industry.

The start of Japanese animation as we know it started when animated films made during this time became huge hits. Years pass. As far as I can see Japan earned the nickname anime world wide rather than just being called cartoons for its unique cultural style. While other countries deemed animation as "for the kids" Japan said who cares and took it all the way. The way I see it anime is just a more evolved form of animation. Thats also one reason why I like it.

My resorces, yes alot of what I said is seems to be conjecture at best but I suggest any one intristed in knowing a little more about anime check out shows like these.

Yasuo Otsuka's Joy in Motion | Ootsuka Yasuo no Ugokasu Yorokobi

Ghibli, The Miyazaki Temple

The Story of Yanagawa's Canals

These documentaries are mostly about the individuals named for them, but they all give a different peeks into the anime culture. If you wanna know an easy place to get these just pm me and I'll tell you.

[xanatos54]

cartoon: a sketch or drawing, usually humorous, as in a newspaper or periodical, symbolizing, satirizing, or caricaturing some action, subject, or person of popular interest.

animated cartoon: a motion picture consisting of a sequence of drawings, each so slightly different that when filmed and run through a projector the figures seem to move.

anime: a Japanese style of motion-picture animation, characterized by highly stylized, colorful art, futuristic settings, violence, and sexuality.

Yes there is a slight difference between anime and animated cartoons.

However not all animes have continuing storlines from one episode to the next. Cowboy Bebop is one example of this. The Vicious story line is what connects the entire series but with the exception of Jupiter Jazz 1 and 2 and The Real Folk Blues 1 and 2 each episode can stand on it's own.

And why does it seem that no one on these forums has ever heard of Disney's Gargoyles from the early 90's. It was a great American cartoon that was aimed at both kids, teens, and adults. It orginally aired after school at about 3:30 or 4:00pm. In one episode a main character was accidently shot by one of her gargoyle friends. This event affected not just the next few episodes as she recovered but also caused that particular gargoyle to become enraged any time he saw guns being used to hurt people after that. There was alot of sexual tenson between the male gargoyle and female human leads because they were in love but could never truly be together due to being different kinds of beings. It combined myth, legend, magic and Shakespear all in one show. It was episodic in nature, however, after the first episode unlike most American cartoons each episode was affected by what came before it. The characters all had personal histories and reasons for what they did and how they acted, and they changed over the course of the show.

This is one of the few cartoons that I think came close to being like anmie and grow tired of Yogi Bear, Scooby Doo, Family Guy, American Dad and The Simpsons being the only things that are mentioned as examples of American Cartoons.

If anyone would like to watch this great show it is on Disney XD at 3:00am central time.

[Zovesta]

Honestly, to me, anime will always just be, uh... Japanese cartoon. >_> The main difference I've seen is in terms of humour. Also, most cartoons are gag-a-minute, to the point of being exhausting. A lot of anime pace themselves more.

[Shinigami King]

I really don't mind if a cartoon that meets all the criteria of an anime except being made in Japan, being categorized as an anime, in fact I think that's the way it should be, even if it's only acceptable on this site.

[mark21]

I think anime are bit faster and more complex fight scenes than cartoons.

[saxena.siddhu]

i agree animes have a better plot and are really differnt

[cools_cools123]

I consider anime and animation as completely different.

Animation is mostly for kids whereas in anime there are different series aimed at different age groups.

pooling them together is ignorance

[coffeeNiK]

Anime is definitely geared toward the more Adult or post-adolescent desires and psyche. There's a lot more ethics and morals involved.

That's the way I see it at least.

Cartoons are not and there's a very big emphasis on the designers of cartoons to make it more family oriented and forgettable.