Exactly. They are not trying to say “Japanese animation” by anime. If US store had sign that said “animation” it could include something like Asterix, Tintin or Smurfs, even though they aren’t American
If Japanese people want to say Japanese cartoons they say Japanese anime. And if you look at Japanese anime it often not very 'anime' and looks much more like a cartoon. Even Ghibli made My Neighbours the Yamadas and that's pretty far from Totoro.
And in English the defaukt word is "cartoon", in other languages there's another word as well. We just decided to use the Japanese word for animation that came from Japan just because it was so different from what we had until now.
If you are in Japan, are Japanese or speaking Japanese, you would say that Avatar is anime. Just like you would also say Beauty and the Beast or SpongeBob SquarePants are anime.
In the Western world, anime is typically used colloquially to refer to animation from Japan. Sometimes the style of animation is also referred to as anime.
Bryan Konietzko himself says it's an homage or love letter to anime, and they weren't trying to pass it off as a counterfeit of anime.
Okay! Moving on to the next debate. What are your thoughts on the Tokusatsu medium? Technically, Netflix’s Avatar and Last Airbender (2008) are tokusatsu.
The Japanese include Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones-House of the Dragon, Harry Potter, John Carpenter’s The Thing, James Cameron’s Terminator, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, etc; as Tokusatsu shows & films. Anime Weebs really hate it.
Anime weebs hate Tokusatsu for being too American despite the fact it’s the successor to the Kabuki Theatre Movement. They’re ignoring Tokusatsu’s heavy-lifting to export Japan’s entertainment art to the world and paving the way for Anime to become big.
Sometimes I wonder what would happen if ATLA was identical except it was animated by a Japanese studio as the creators intended. Instead of a Korean one. Like if Bones took on ATLA right as FMA was wrapping.
Then I remember this debate is so stupid and just chuckle when people like OP post something funny that upsets a whole bunch of people.
The distinction between anime and cartoon is entirely a western invention in Japan anime just means animated anything animated is a cartoon/anime in their eyes they mean the same thing we in the west use the term anime to separate Japanese animation from western animation
I mean, who's to say those are "anime"? We're the only ones choosing to call them that. Unless the term is so popular that even Koreans and Chinese started calling their animation by that term.
Well, we are talking about American convention, right? In South Korea they call it Aeni, using a Korean word. Not to mention there are cases where an anime might be produced in Japan, but the actual animation is done in Korea. Or produced in the US but animated in Japan. Or studios that partially outsource the animation to Korea.
If you have to wiki the anime to figure out where it was animated in order to call it anime then basing the term anime based on the location of the studio makes no sense, especially now in the era of outsourced animation.
Sort of, I'm thinking of how people use the term in general. So I guess Aeni it is for Korea.
Yeah I get different countries doing animations for studios is a thing which complicates it. At the end of the day, though, it's all technically anime because that's just what the Japanese calls animation in general.
The popular usage of the term to make a distinction to Japanese animation is likely more referring to the place where something originally came from rather than where it's animated. Oh well, I guess now I know why it's a debate.
Except it's not really a term that is used in the US. Generally people will still call animation done in an anime style that is animated in Korea "anime".
The popular usage of the term to make a distinction to Japanese animation is likely more referring to the place where something originally came from rather than where it's animated.
It's really a term used to describe where the style originated. I doubt if I showed most anime fans a still from Crayon Shin-chan and they didn't know it was animated in Japan that they identify it as anime, or at least "more anime" than animated works done in an anime style but animated in Korea.
Anime: "a style of animation originating in Japan that is characterized by stark colorful graphics depicting vibrant characters in action-filled plots often with fantastic or futuristic themes" -Meriam-Webster Dictionary.
So anime is only anime when it's Japanese, while the Japanese would call anything animated anime. This doesn't sound right. Would you correct a Japanese for just... speaking their language and gatekeep a word in their language?
I thought it's been agreed on that there's a distinction between Japanaese "anime" as in the Japanese translation of the word "animation" and the more popular "anime" where it's only Japanese animation? Wasn't that the reason why people who don't speak Japanese took the term in the first place?
The debate is about english language conventions and classifications of animation. It has zero to do with the japanese conversation because of course it's anime in japan, just like mickey mouse and toy story are anime in japan.
It doesn't settle the debate because the same term can refer to different things in different countries/cultures. In Japan, all animation is called anime as that's just the short version of the word. アニメーション (animation) ->アニメ (anime).
If you'd like another example, there's this anime/manga genre for adults I won't mention starting with H... which is only called that in the western side. In Japan that is a word referring to strange/perverted.
A lot of people like to make the distinction of anime VS cartoon to note where the animated show comes from. Honestly, neither side is truly wrong. Both have a point. It's not a bad idea to make that distinction (if you ask for recommendations for anime or cartoons because you look for the specific cultural influence or style on the show), but it's also not a bad idea to not make any distinction at all because it's animated shows at the end of the day. As far as I'm concerned, call it as you like, but arguing about it is a waste of time.
If atla was an anime then it would be a shonen anime. That means it wouldn't have been nearly as good as it was. Aang and zuko would be the only developed characters in the show. Sokka would get some development in book 1 and then mostly pushed to the side for the rest of the show. Katara and toph would be relegated to tsundere characters used for fanservice. Episodes like sokka's master and the boiling rock would find ways to give aang or zuko the spotlight over sokka. Episodes like the runaway, the puppetmaster, and the southern raiders wouldn't exist because the character those Episodes are centered on would only exist to be the main character's tsundere love interest. Toph likely wouldn't have learned metal bending since her role would just be aang's teacher and nothing more.
Instead of arguing over whether or atla is an anime let's be greatful that it isn't.
The best definition for anime is that. Anime is defined as originally by Japanese authors of manga or light novels. The main anime staff is in Japan. Anime also reflects Japanese culture for the most part unless set outside Japan.
Avatar is definitely inspired by anime. Though I have heard Japan calls all animated shows anime. So, being inside or outside of Japan can affect your definition.
I remember being asked about my appa manbag last year. I told them it was appa and they looked confused, not knowing who it is. I would’ve loved to sit there and tell them all about it, to share my love and experience with the avatar franchise, but alas I was in a hurry and had to leave…
I’ll never get that chance again to tell someone, who is this clueless about the franchise, about avatar and appa
Jesus christ. I forget to log in to reddit for a few days and comeback to this post being my most active post ever with people trying to explain the concept of anime to me lmao. I know its Japanese for animation, take a joke lol. Guess I forgot how passionate people can be. Anyway thanks for the upvotes
This is such an annoying debate because anime gatekeepers pretend that there isn't a clear visual and storytelling style that's consistent across things we would all agree are anime. That includes Asian animation outside of Japan, as well as works in the "west". I would call American Dragon an anime, as with Jackie Chan Adventures, also. Saying TLA isn't anime is like saying someone like Akala doesn't (wasn't) making Hip-Hop just because he's from the UK.
it's not an anime but the question should be why is this a thing in the first place? it's pointless and stupid to even ask that question, it doesn't make any sense and it doesn't change anything...
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u/Spaghestis 2d ago
Anime is just what the Japanese call anything animated. They would consider stuff like Spongebob and Pixar "anime" as well.