Do we really *need* the term "anime"?

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orangepie95

New member
Does the term "anime" do more harm than it does good?

This is something that's been going through my head for a while, and I wanted to know what others thought.

As I'm sure a lot of you know, "anime," in Japan, is a word used to refer to animation from any country in the world. One Piece is an anime, Tom and Jerry is an anime, Inspector Gadget is an anime...etc. You can basically translate the word to mean "cartoon" and pretty much be accurate 100% of the time.

The way the word's used in the West, however, refers only to cartoons that come from Japan. So with the Western definition, One Piece is an anime because it comes from Japan, but Tom and Jerry and Inspector Gadget aren't because they come from the U.S. and France, respectively. Nevermind the can of worms opened when talking about co-productions like IGPX or anime-inspired shows like Teen Titans. Or the nuraber of shows that had episodes outsourced to Japanese studios, like Batman the Animated Series.

The problem I have with these differing definitions is that the Japanese definition erabraces foreign animation while the Western definition segregates Japanese animation from everything else. “Well, what’s wrong with that?” The problem is that segregation leaRAB to generalization, generalization leaRAB to stereotypes, and stereotypes lead to fewer people enjoying it because they think that all Japanese animation is violent porno or whatever. Because of this, Japanese animation can never really break into the mainstream, stereotypes of animation the animation are formed, and fans become divided.

Now when I say "break into the mainstream," I know that some of you will bring up examples of shows that have indeed broken into the mainstream. But things like Dragon Ball Z and Pokemon are just individual shows - Japanese animation, as a whole, is still a very niche market. While animation from the country has gotten more recognition over the years, it's still not treated the same as its non-Japanese counterparts. Shows like Inspector Gadget broke into the mainstream because companies didn’t flaunt its differences to Americans; they just presented the show as if it was just another cartoon. Because, when you get right down to it, it is.

As far as the stereotypes go...I think we all know a lot about that one. People talk about drawing in an "anime style" when such a thing doesn't really exist - saying that all Japanese animation has big eyes and little mouths is like saying that all American animation has square chins and giant upper bodies because the Bruce Timm cartoons have that. People will make blanket statements are made about Japanese animation all the time yet will get offended when you make similar blanket statements about the shows from America (i.e. “cartoons are just for kiRAB”). Or, you get those crazy fans who get all crazy when you dare to call anime “a cartoon” and demand you listen to their rant about how anime and cartoons are *not* the same. Even though they are.

"Anime cliches" are listed, but when you get right down to it, a lot of the things that people complain about appearing in Japanese cartoons over and over again show up in Western products just as often. It only gets special attention because of the anime label.

The fans being divided is probably the most annoying part of this separation. You have people who only watch Japanese animation because “anime is better than American cartoons.” You have dub fans vs. sub fans. You have people who refuse to watch “anime-inspired” shows like Teen Titans because they hate anime. We have people who argue that American voice actors can't act and that “seiyuu” (again...why the different term? ) are so much better. Before long, you get a situation where the fans are so busy bickering over their differences that they fail to realize that they all like the same damn thing; cartoons.

Same thing with the term “manga,” really.


Do you think things would have been better if we just referred to Japanese cartoons as "cartoons from Japan" instead of slapping a label like "anime" on it? Is there any benefit to the term “anime” other than the fact that it’s shorter and easier to say? Do we really need to categorize the animation we watch by the country of origin? Or is it possible to just watch a show without really giving a crap about which country created it?
 
You have a point. The main problem about getting rid of this coined term for referring to Japanese animated shows/movies as "anime is that some have argued that "Oh, well cartoons are just silly such as Looney Tunes, SpongeBob and Family Guy. Anime, on ther otherhand, is hardcore and has deeper meaning." Hearing stuff like that can be really irritating because american animation can be just as well made and intelligent as a certain anime(DCAU stuff and Disney movies, etc.), and anime can definitely be just silly and kiddy as certain american animated shows (Shin Chan, Dr. Slump, Sonic X, etc.). It can be really hard to draw the line, and when you come down to it, the basic differences are of course the animation styles and the culture the show is being made around. Of course, it could be argued that the Japanese culture in general has a higher respect for animation than America. The bias towarRAB animation being "just for kiRAB and/or lowest form of entertainment" seems to exist much more strongly here compared to Japan, sadly.
 
It doesn't help the standarRAB and practices for USA broadcasting has become ridiculous to the point that it would be impossible to replicate any old cartoons even 3 years ago.
 
I think you're completely missing the point...

I'm saying that we really don't need blanket terms like anime or Japanimation or whatever else people can come up with. Just calling them "cartoons" or "animated series" should suffice.

I realize that the term "anime" is here to stay, but I do think it's worth discussing its merits and whether or not we even need that term in the first place.
 
While stupid things have been done to the term "anime" by people who don't really get what it connotes, it's still useful to have a term that separates material like Dragonball Z and Sailor Moon from the expectations and connotations usually associated with the American word "cartoon". I would really like to see it return to being something used fairly strictly to describe Japanese productions made for a Japanese audience that may (or may not) later be exported to other territories. Other uses of the term, particularly the dread "anime-style" as applied to works of Western origin, aren't very useful at all.
 
The only thing I find odd about the term anime is that we have no term for, say, French Animation. Or British Animation. They're different beasts from Americanimation (that flows surprisingly well!), right? So why don't they get different names? I find the whole thing quite silly, really. I just use the term "animation" in general, unless I'm specifically talking about animation from Japan. And even then, I find it more natural to just say "Japanese animation." It's never really sat well with me, I guess.

So, yeah, we don't need it. The whole segregation of one little island chain's cartoons is superfluous - I mean, if we're going to chop up animation by territory, let's do that to EVERY region. But, well, what's happened has happened, and I doubt it'll go away any time soon.
 
Grah not this old horse again. Its a shorthand! Its faster to write 'anime' than to spell out 'Japanese animation'!

Though I agree on the 'Anime-style' thing.

I motion that there should be an OFFICIAL rabroad LEXICON that includes the OFFICIAL rabroad definition of 'Anime' to be used on these boarRAB and these boarRAB ALONE with no consideration for how it is used outside and any attempt to sponteneously modify that definition outside of an official thread will be reprimended.

In fact we should also gather into a commitee and brainstorm names for animation of all major animation producers beyond Japan, i.e. the US, UK, Canada, France and Italy. That way each major branch get its own shorthand name and nobody's fussing over sementics.
 
I know that laziness is one of the reasons people use the term "anime." It's still a piss-poor excuse though.

Honestly, the worRAB "Japanese animation" are neither time consuming nor difficult to type out.

And, as I tried to point out in the original post, we really don't NEED the term "anime." It's unnecessary.
 
Another "Dogasu deconstructs American anime/video game fans" thread.

I think, in general, it has more to do with the fact that most people use a different term so that "I like cartoons" doesn't get equated to "I like watching Spongebob", rather than the actual country of origin. When people hear "anime", they associate it with "those Japanese cartoons that geeks usually watch". This works out well, because those are usually the series that people are referring to when they use the term. If someone who only liked Chibi Maruko-chan ran around talking about how much he liked anime, then there would probably be some miscommunication. The most important thing about speaking is communicating, not picking apart the exact meaning of something. (which is why I often get annoyed when people complain that "emo" refers to a genre of music)

The people who complain about "anime-styled" american cartoons are usually complaining more about the fact that they feel the producers are trying to cash-in on the fact that Japanese animation is popular so they try to imitate what they think "anime" should look like, rather than not liking the style itself. This usually isn't the case, but it's what spawns the complaints.


If France started producing 70-80 cartoons a year that are usually done in a recognisable style, then they'd probably get a term, too.
 
But not until the material had some sort of devoted English-speaking fanbase that needed some sort of term to denote how the stuff they loved was distinct from, say, American cartoons or anime. If French had a nifty word for cartoon, it would probably be that. I know foreign fans of primarily American animation or comics tend to end up making their own terms for referring to the material.
 
Do we really *need* the term "anime"?

We French speakers usually use the english term 'comics' to refer to stuff like DC and Marvel comics. It helps to separate it from the VASTLY differents japanese manga and Franco-Belgian 'Bandes Dessin
 
No, we don't need the word, and it brings nothing but trouble. Then again, I don't use the word and always say "Japanese animation" when I refer to it. If the biggest argument is laziness, then that makes it even worse in my eyes, since it's just as annoying as using 'u' and 'r' instead of 'you' and 'are'.
 
Do we really need this topic again?

This whole debate is ridiculous. If you want to say "Japanese Animation", go ahead, it's not like it's forbidden or anything. I say "anime" because in these forums, people KNOW what I'm talking about. I hardly even use the term outside of the Internet anyway, so it's not like it's a big deal.
 
"Do we really need the term anime?" Well, no. I find that, recently, I've used the term to refer to animation regardless of origin country. Which is as it should be. I also am not afraid of the term Japanese animation. Wherever it comes from, animation is is animation. You, however, also say that manga refers to comics regardless of origin country. Oh, yeah? Then what's up with the terms amekomi/nissei komi?
 
Yep, that is what we had to type/or write years ago in the early 90's before you really saw Anime all the time.

Just like anything, the fan base of a certain genre sorta hate labels, But what else do you call it?

It is short,

It is simple,

and you know exactly where it comes from (for the most part)
 
Honestly do we really need this topic, honestly I'd rather use a shorthand term than use a two worRAB in regular conversation, so it's just a differential term
 
Exactly.

Reduced frame rates, as much detail crammed into character models as possible resulting in reduced movement, generic lip flaps, for the most part a more serialized narrative style, episodes released weekly year-long without any long breaks, so on and so on.

Japanese animation has many distinguishable characteristics that are obviously not accurate for every single series but as a whole, when compared to American animation as a whole, these are elements you can pick up on. Many are superficial, but when you strip it down to the core, what is animation? Moving drawings. And so these elements are relevant in a way.

I mean tell me that you can't look at a cartoon series and guess correctly nine times out of ten whether it's from Japan or from America. The two are distinguishable from each other, definitely.

Honestly I'm kind of surprised that there isn't a separate term for American animation in Japan. How much presence does American animation have in Japan anyway?
 
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