Anime "Anime" that's not from Japan

OMG I wish I had seen this thread sooner. I've been waiting for an opportunity to talk about this!
You see, I'm a HUGE Samurai Jack fan. I was a Samurai Jack (SJ) fan before I was an anime fan (SJ has been out for 2 years.) In fact, I'm positive that if it weren't for SJ I wouldn't be into anime at all.
Genndey Tartavoski, the guy who created SJ, also helped make the Powerpuff Girls and created Dextors labratory. Often you'll see many simularities between the two, including funny crossovers (once spotted a SJ action figure in Dextors lab. Dextor and his parents have bumped into the Powerpuff girls several times. Etc.) I'm a pretty big fan of his work, and I'm positive that he does in fact try to "imitate" anime.
But isn't imitation the highest form of flattery? Every anime on earth is something of an imitation of Tezuka, who was in turn an obvious imitator of Disney (which is why there aren't any lawsuits between The Lion King and Kimba.)
Some obsessed anime fans sometimes like to think anime is a result of Japan simply being supierior. It's a friggin art forum, it has nothing to do with supieriority. Japanese animation may currently be superior to most American animation, but there's no garentee in any of it.
Stop being so xenophobic. Anime would die if it never changed.

SAMURAI JACK RULES!!
Sorry had to say it Did I mention he's HOT? I think it's a particularly special show only because it's so differant from most American shows. I hope all American shows become like Samurai Jack! Wouldn't that be great?

-Sarah of Borg

 

i've always though it's really lame for people to copy anime simply because it's successful. the japanese have taken a good concept and made it truely great. copying it's style just to ensure ratings and follow the trend is a cardinal sin. all it does is make it all become stagnent and nothing good can come from it. Dr Catz and Daria are anime, but obviously not japanese, and i love these 2. They're both really great and have done something original. particularly dr catz.
on our free to air multi-cultural channel over here, we sometimes get programs called 'animated tales from around the world', and 'fetching shorts', which have lots of short animations. all of them are original and some are truely spectatular. i can remember one which was made by 1 person over 10 years. The set was his entire house, and everything was made of wood, from incredible 10m+ props to birds made from chisels and other tools. it was awsome to see.
borrow some ideas for sure, but if you're going to go to all the effort of creating an animation, why not try something different instead of taking the easy option.

 

Recently I've seen two episodes of Teen Titans (my first time watching it). It looks "normal," just that sometimes the characters do anime-like actions, like in their facial expressions or sweatdrops. I went / when I saw/heard that the show's opening theme song was in Japanese. I thought, damn, this really is a lil too influenced by anime. It's not a great show, but still pretty good compared to other tv cartoons. Overall I don't like the fakeness of the show. Feels like it's trying to be some new thing, but isn't as good as the real deal....... Kinda like resorting to playing XBox in the bedroom while waiting for your older sibling to finish playing with the PS2 in the living room.

 

i thought Teen Titans was done nice with a li'l "anime flavor" put to it.

 

OK some some of us hate it when anime is used in American cartoons because it may not be as a result of respect of anime, but from the idea that anime sells.
I honestly think we give the genre more credit then it deserves. While anime is creeping into the American culture a little more every day, few are conscience of it and most Americans who grew up with Speed Racer or Astro Boy think it's just for kids. If you ask me it was a bad idea when kid's anime got popular over here. As soon as I say "anime" most people think "Pokemon."
I supose that if more serious and mature and intelligent anime were to make it over to this side of the ocean then their currently is, then it might get misunderstood as well.
However, there's a differance between copying anime for profit and copying anime for quality. For a show like Teen Titans and Totally Spies, they only use anime features because kids have learned to relate to them and it's now considered cool to them.
For a show like SJ, it uses anime features because American features arn't new to us anymore.

And some of you complain about originality. There's a differance between being original for the sake of being original, and being original because you have an original idea. Being unoriginal isn't necessarily a bad thing. Being cliche and melodramatic often is the best form of expression.
It's not like anime-style art is original anyway. It's the stories that we find original, and the characters. Some one claimed that Daria and Dr. Katz are anime, which makes no sense for they are American. Just because they are original, successful cartoons dosn't mean they are anime, even if they have elements of anime.

In the end, I really don't care what country the animation is from. It has nothing to do with the quality of it. If American cartoons profit from being anime-like, then onward to the anime revolution!

-Sarah of Borg (whose really reaallly tierd)

 

i think you missed my point.... i used them as examples of good animation not done in the japanese anime style.

i agree, except for the last bit. i think it's wrong to make money off other peoples work.

it's a good point, but why even bother to consider animating an idea that's unoriginal? it's like opening your mouth in a conversation to say something for the sake of it, rather than because you have something to say.
i've got nothing against animation from countries other than japan, but shows like the simpsons seem rather common. They ran out of ideas for than show 50 years ago, but they keep on going just to make money.
the horse lives... continue flogging.

 

There's always new ways to express old ideas. Therefore, it's ok to review a topic that's not original as long as you have something new to add. It's ok to copy anime as long as you have something differant to add, such as American style cartooning.
If copying some one else's work is wrong, then the entire nation of Japan owes Disney a whole lot of credit.
A real artist isn't some one who creates something so differant that nobody likes it. A real artist can take an idea and do something with it that hasn't been done before. The actual idea may not be original.
If America comes out with a movie about 7 cowboys hired to protect a small village from bandits, then it's fine with me because there's a big differance between westerns and old Japanese films.
And it's not like Japan minds. Copying is the best forum of flattery and the only way to get anything original.

-Sarah of Borg

 

I just saw the comerical for Star Wars:Clone Wars that is such a Amerime that sorry Yoda, Obi Wan Kinobi should not be in anime like how Daffy Duck shouldn't be in an anime like he is Duck Dogers is semi-anime

 

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the japanese do owe disney. but they only copied it briefly, then they took it in a new direction.
saying art isn't good unless no-one likes it is the stupidest thing i've ever heard. what's the point in setting out to make something that you hope no-one will understand? film takes reality and re-produces it in a controlled environment, and unless ppl understand it, it's completely useless.
taking an unoriginal idea and rehashing it in an original way is only half way to a good film. possibly less. i know if i was going to create a couple of million frames of animation, i'd want
a)- people to understand it
b)- the idea to be original
c)- the style to be original.

 

First, Duck Dodgers was a Looney Tunes original, shown in "Merry Melodies". It was an original idea that has nothing to do with anime. They just liked it so much that they gave it its own show.

Second, I too saw the Star Wars cartoon commercial, and I feel that LucasFilms needs to stop the madness now. It looks crazy. That's all I have to say.

 

I havn't seen the ad but I knew about it. It's the same guy who did Samurai Jack so I'm sure it'll be fine, and it's a mini-series like IGPX.

-Sarah of Borg

 

Oh yes and I forgot to mention one other thing...

Americans using anime style art in their cartooning doesn't seem that bad when you think about how many Japanese manga-ka's art was inspired by american cartoon style (the most recent one I learned of being Kazuki Takahashi... yeah he said so in an interview). When anime was first made (back in the days of Astroboy) american animation was the whole inspiration. (tho, that may be because last time I checked americans were the first to invent cartoons).

So if wehn you say american cartoons with anime style are terrible, then you migth as well shame the Japanese for starting out mimicing the original american cartoons...

Okay, that made no sense. >< I'm terrible at wording stuff dangit. ><

but do you get a little bit of what I'm trying to say? ^^;

Of course, the Japanese didn't go overboard with it liek some american cartoonists are doing nowadays... gah ><



Oh god I make no sense....

 

You know what this world needs? More names for different kinds of animation. Right now we all heard of American cartoons, and Japanese anime, and a few of us have heard of Korean manhwa... well, we need to invent more "kinds"! That way, we don't have to describe an animation as being "half something and half something."

Animation can be pretty different depending on how exotic its creators are, what their culture is like, how they view story-telling, etc. Like here in Hawaii, people here as a whole act pretty differently from everyone else in the US. We also have the cool combination of city life (in some places) with tropical island life, as well as laidback living combined with bad economy. Plus, we have a lot of Japanese people here, but they're not the same as Japanese in Japan. Now THAT could make for some "Japanese animation" that SHOULD be English dubbed--since it IS in English! Haha, yeah! What do you think of that?!?

 

Honestly I think LESS lables would help more. That way you can't say "You can't do that, it's too Japanese/Hawiian/American/German/French/Brazillian/Australian/Masculane/Femine/etc." It would be a lot less limiting if it's all just "animation."
Of course, with lables it might make it easier to understand a foreign cartoon, but I kinda believe that if it dosn't make at least a little sense to a totally objective view then maybe it's not meant for a wide audience at all.
Just my humble opinion (I gotta be carefull with it these days.)


Poom, I don't think you actually understand what I said clearly, although it was presented clearly. I'm sorry but you just don't understand my view and the communication breakdown isn't helping.


-Sarah of Borg

 

I have a few theories on what makes animation from Japan more popular than those created in the U.S. With these theories, I also conclude that western animation can not be made in the style of Japanese animation under current conditions.

1) In Japan, censorship laws differ as well as cultural attitudes towards sex and violence. Nudity is not altogether bad to show and realistic displays of violence is not completely discouraged. In otherwords, guns can be used to maim and kill a person in a Japanese anime while an occassional bit of fan service can be delivered to the audience. Due to U.S. perceptions on such things in terms of animation, you will hardly if ever see this. In fact censors will prohibit such things from being shown. (i.e. bear magically colored into water. Gunshots made to sound like laser beems. People getting killed being called injured etc.)

2) Japanese anime covers a wider number of topics than american cartoons and comics. This is primarily because anime is often used as a sort of substitute for live action dramas, sitcoms, and movies in Japan. In other words, the U.S. does not produce as much quality animation because it puts more into live action films.

3) Because of a general standardization of the drawing style, the creation of Japanese anime is somewhat more economical. This results in a larger quantity of work that can be produced. With such a large competitive pool, it is only too likely that comptition through quality exists. In such large body, it is inevitable that you will find a number of quality works. U.S. animation varies greatly, resulting in much more difficult and expensive production.

4) Worldwide familiarity with japanese anime in multiple subject matters already exists. This could be partially due to a combination of experience with video games, where many of our favorite role playing, action, and fighter games introduces us to the drawing style. Meanwhile, American cartoons are largely percieved only as child's fare due to our own manipulations.

In the final analysis, it is not possible to create a syndicated american cartoon fully in the style of Japanese animation due to a combination of legislative and popular roadblocks. While some people are more than willing to try to create quality stories for cartoons, few are capable of doing so and even fewer will ever see even a diluted version of their work ever produced.

 

The most anime shows that are not in japan would have to be in NIck tv. ( rugrats , invader zim , fairly odd parents, and other cartoons) they suck LOL in my opinion.

 

Another show that was inspired by anime would be Xiaolin Showdown on Kids WB there is no dening that that it is not "anime inspired" come on that is in there comerical for the show.

-Zako

 

Less labels? I think more is better. Movie genres have a LOT of labels (western, noir, action adventure, psycho thriller, sci-fi romantic comedy, dark comedy, etc.) and I don't see anyone complaining. Think about this... if there were only two kinds of movies called American and Foreign, that would set up a huge boundary between them, prone to the kinds of arguments, plagiarisms, and parodies between them (just like if we had only two kinds of animation, called American and Anime).

Let's say a company in a far country came up with a style of animation that's clearly distinct from anything else (say they use a demonic drawing style, drawn with a laser using a red, crystalized pigment found only in that country, and make anti-Christian cartoon series full of cultural references that mainly that country would understand). And so they name that style of animation something like Pyrophoton, and eventually some of us get to watch some of it.

Who is to say that Pyrophoton shouldn't be called Pyrophoton, even though it's as distinct from American animation the way anime is? If something is different, let it have a name! But if all three of them are just "animation," you end up telling something "let's watch some animation" without letting the person know what kind of animation. They might say "huh, animation? damnit, that's for kids!" Or they might say "Animation? That sounds boring." But if you give it a label, like "Let's buy some manhwa," you get a reaction like "yup, that's the exotic stuff right there." And if there really was such thing as Pyrophoton, Christians would fear the word "animation"!

 

Anyone realize that IGPX is american, and Code Lyoko french? I really like this trend, 'cause the signs and whatever in the backround are in english.

By the way, if it's not form Japan, technically it's not anime (anime is short from japanime, which is short for japanimation).