Anime/ Cartoon, Manga/Comic????

[deadlymustach50]

Im surprised this thread is not up, so here it goes. After a heated debate in the irc, questions were brought up:

-What makes anime anime?

-What is the difference between anime and cartoons.?

-Does an american comic become a manga?

And so on and so on. So post you thoughts.

[Oni]

What makes anime, anime?

That's not really an answerable question. As what makes anime, anime, is also what makes cartoons. They are both one in the same.

What is the difference between anime and cartoons?

The countries that identify them. A cartoon in Japan is an anime, and an anime in the west is also a cartoon. They both have moving pictures, making them both animations. Anime is a shortened 'animation', while cartoon comes from the idea of 'car', as in movement (vehicle) and toons (Looney Toons, etc)

Does an american comic become a manga?

What? I can't comprehend what you're trying to ask here.

[deadlymustach50]

It was brought up in the irc, like speaking in recent news, Nick Simmons. An Animerican comic, but has a manga feeling to it, So can you consider it a manga, or does it remain a comic? Thats what im trying to say.

You dont have to follow my questions, branch off, ask your own questions, and go wild with it. I want to explore all regions on this topic.

Anime and manga are japanese word that anime/manga fans use to call the comic books and cartoons that come out of japan.There are debates about some cartoons (Avatar the last air bender) saying that it is an anime.There are also comic books like that to (Dramacon). It really just depends who you are talking to as to what they call it. I say if it has a japanese style and feel to it the it is an anime or manga.

Im not sure how much sense I just made but I hope that helps.

[Chris]

It's just one giant apocalyptic paradox.

If you google the definition for anime, which I just did myself to confirm my suspicion, virtually every definition starts with "A style". Which would imply that the term Anime simply means the distinct style that was created by the Japanese. Which we would then have to assume would mean that if someone creates a motion picture in North America in original English, using that same artistic style, it has to be called Anime.

Oni has a good point, correct me if I'm wrong, in saying it's simply a terminology issue, Anime and Cartoons are the same thing, it just depends on where you're from, and how you view it.

In Japan, they simply refer to their animations as Anime and have for a long time. In Japan, the term Anime does NOT refer to a specific style, and does not imply that the show was created solely in Japan, any animated show is simply an anime to them. My theory is, years ago, when animation that was created in Japan started to leak into North American soil, especially via VHS fan-subs which quickly became popular, and even legal subs and dubs such as the original "Akira", they were tagged as anime simply because it was from Japan and that's what they call their animations (some people called it Japanimation but eventually dropped the term in favor of the condensed version). Since we already had the conflicting term "Cartoon" referring to what we are used to seeing on every day television, the term "anime" in america was solely labeled to the show's coming out of Japan and the specific style they carried, whereas in Japan, they still referred to any Animation as Anime regardless of where it's from or the style it had.

In short, Cartoon and Anime both simply mean ANIMATION. They are all technically the same thing, but the word "Anime" in America simply evolved and took on a new meaning and is now commonly associated with the specific style of Animation coming out of Japan.

"Anime" in Japan refers to ANY animation regardless of where it's from or what style is used
"Anime" in America refers to animation coming out of Japan and the style that follows.

If you stop and think about it, I'm sure you can come up with other terms or phrases that were taken from one culture and evolved to fit the other culture's needs.

It's all kind of one giant circle, and even writing all this jumbled knowledge from my brain into this post has sort of put things into more perspective for me.

[Shadowblade Edge]

People try make this a lot more complicated than it is when it's pretty simple.

In order, being made in Japan, being made in Japan or not, or nothing to the Japanese, and no.

The technical definition I was brought up with:

Anime is short for animation. Since it is a term used to apply to a form of Japanese animation, it is called anime or Japanimation. Technically, Disney movies can be called anime, but aren't.

Manga are technically graphic novels since they aren't colored in (and are charged more than comic books, dangit).

[Oni]

Yes, but let's remember: The main thing that seems to "make anime", that being the facial features, originated in a Disney animation studio. The influence came from Walt Disney himself.

[Elc1247]

Originally Posted by Tempest Wind The technical definition I was brought up with: Anime is short for animation. Since it is a term used to apply to a form of Japanese animation, it is called anime or Japanimation. Technically, Disney movies can be called anime, but aren't. Manga are technically graphic novels since they aren't colored in (and are charged more than comic books, dangit).

i would have to agree mostly.
"Anime" as most people refer to it outside of japan is basically just short for "Japanese animation", so anything created in the US cant really be considered "Anime"
and for "manga"... its about the same thing, its basically slang for "Japanese comics"...

[littlefileuser]

-What makes anime anime?
It is simply because of the animation, although many people have probably said this (sorry, TL;DR you all). Anime animation are more simply and honestly, less detailed. The scenes are reused (I bet you guys have experienced this before), like the feet moving/walking. Anime is characterized by the abnormal hair colors and the plot.

-What is the difference between anime and cartoons.?
The difference is that anime has a certain plot that it follows, and it has an ending, in contrast to cartoons that have ambiguous plots (such as Spongebob Squarepants, Adventure Time, etc). Cartoons are also much more better than anime. For story line, that depends on what anime/cartoon it is, but for quality and animation, cartoons will always win. Cartoons, as you can see on your everyday Cartoon Network (Futurama, KND, and more lol) are very flexible, especially Adventure Time, if you know what I mean. Overall, I still prefer anime, but cartoons are ultimately better. Just because everything Japan does, America can do it better (is a bit of a biased comment, but it's best to ignore it).
Also, some cartoons, if they are actually trying to portray a human rather than a sponge or a robot, (such as the Batman series or Superman), they look way more realistic than anime. You can't argue on that.

-Does an american comic become a manga?
No, and that is for the same reason as the second question: comics (such as Batman/Superman) are more detailed/realistic than anime. They also do not have a plot that "ends." Also, the term "manga" means japanese comic. Enough said there.

*also, what I mean by ambiguous plot in the second question is that the plot will always go on. It's an "adventure." Unlike some animes like Naruto, whom has a plot of the kid trying to become Hokage, cartoons such as Adventure Time simply has the main character, Finn, wanting to have many adventures. Adventure Time will never end, but Naruto will whenever he becomes Hokage (or later).

Might I add my 2 cents? Why would anyone be concerned with Nick Simmons, when he's been proven to be a art thief, i.e. a plagiarist? I can understand if he just borrowed a few things here and there...but tracing? /).-;; I can do that! LMAO, But seriously...What he has done is wrong.....and his style has no name, because it's not his....end of discussion. :D I know it's off topic, but that's my opinion. ^_^;;

Anime and manga are just Japanese words for Cartoon and Comic. They are interchangeable really, we just call them anime/manga because it creates a distinguishing feature between the two to help specify the discussion. The only difference is the culture of origin. I say culture because cartoons are cartoons in most english speaking countries.

When the question can an American Comic be a manga as the "OEL manga" thing, where anime fans copy the Japanese style, and I think since the influence is there and most of the time the artist WANTS it to be called manga, you might as well, but it really makes no difference. It's all comics anyways.


Also, what Nick Simmons did is what plenty of mangaka do. Personally, I think his lawyers and publishers are too high strung. His story was far enough removed etc. Although even now Japan is forsaking the old ways and becoming more "American" with that sort of BS...