Anime Define anime.

Do exactly what it says on the tin!

 

Um any animation that comes from Japan plain and simple.

 

heheheheh

Q-Uzi

...heheheheh

 

Well that's what I thought but I was talking to this guy last night and he said that the Moomins wasn't proper anime, the series was produced in Japan and carried a Japanese view on nature so why wouldn't it be considered anime?

 

Japanese animated cartoon with distinct character features (facial in particular, it's all in the eyes). Another distinction would be the use of emotions, mushroom shaped cloud when sighing, sweatdrop when scared/nervous etc.

Someone else can give you a more comprehensive definition but that's all I can come up with in the simplest format.

^Shen^

 

I don't need a comprehensive definition i guess this is more down to opinion than anything else i have been watching anime for about 11 years now and know what anime is. However the Moomins thing just brought the idea of what other people define anime as into my head.

 

Teen Titans is anime.

 

i used to see moomins-it was cute enough
another word for anime-JAPANIME
coz it comes from japan
everything else is animation -i think

 

Absolutely not, in the case of Teen Titans. It may have some anime influence in it's style, but many of the expressions and other anime-styled features of the characters are used without skill or even a sense of familiarity. I've only watched one episode, but I assure you, it isn't anime. It... doesn't feel like anime.

As vague as that is... someone who's been watching anime for a while, and has seen a broad selection of series, can generally tell you that anime has a certain quality all it's own. It's tough to define, but it's there.

Americanime. Wannabe anime, basically. There was another thread discussing American comics and animation inspired by manga and anime specifically, I went into a lot of depth there already. ^^;

I'm going to agree with the idea that not ALL Japanese animation is anime, by the definition that "anime" has grown to have in the fan community outside of Japan. There's definitely a style and a feeling that anime has, even poor-quality anime, that makes it distinct. A lot of it is in the character design.

I actually did see a Korean or Chinese animated film at an anime convention a while back - I don't remember the name, but it dealt with the supernatural in a manner rather like Spirited Away did. It was enjoyable, but it certainly wasn't anything I woud qualify as anime. The style was completely different, from character design to just the overall experience.

 

Another American show with an anime influence is Totally Spies.

 

Totally Spies is a French show or a Frenchime

 

Well, the "answer" to this question depends on what definition you're using. If you're using the Japanese definition of the term anime then it is literally anything that's animated. It doesn't matter where the show or movie is from, just that it's animated.

Unfortunately, most people I've found don't view this as the "correct" definition of the term. In Western eyes, anime has meant "animated stuff from Japan," but the line is definitely beginning to blur, and I personally feel the line has been blurred for quite some time.

Take, for example, older animated shows like David the Gnome, Johnny Quest, and The Jetsons. There are a lot of stylistic similarities between these shows and the earlier Gundam series and other Japanese anime produced in the 70's and 80's.

When it comes to my personal use of the term...it depends on who I'm with. I actually try to use the Japanese definition as much as possible, which involves sticking modifiers in front of anime (Japanese anime, American anime, Korean anime, etc). However, if I feel that people know what I'm talking about, or if I think they're more used to viewing anime as "animation from Japan," I won't bother with the modifiers.

I've been watching Japanese anime for several years now, and I still have a difficult time pinning down what exactly it is about it that makes me enjoy it so much. It's gotten to the point that I think I'm just going to stop trying. In a way, it's almost like trying to say what about a particular genre that you like so much (yes, I know that Japanese anime is multi-genre, this is just an example).

~Shadrach Anki

 

I remember i was arguing with my friend the other day about this....i was half asleep so i barely understood what he said lol...anywayz he said that anime is simply cartoons..i guess but im not sure of this though

 

Heh. My dad used to refer to the anime I watched as "cartoons" - but really, taking into account the American definition of "anime," they're really not the same. While "anime" simply means animation to the Japanese, here it has a different implication... the word was adopted to categorize Japanese animation as seperate from American animation because it IS different.

It always bugged me when people asked me if I was watching cartoons... A "cartoon," normally, implies children's animation or average-quality animated material. "Anime" has come to mean a lot more than that - it encompasses pretty much all genres, just as live-action films do; it's simply a different medium. (Have you ever noticed that it's more common to call kids' animation "cartoons," but less juvenile stuff is "animation," unless it's primarily comedy or lewd comedy?)

 

I've often found I classify anime as an animated serial with a followable plot that ends at a definite point. Most American cartoons don't do this, which seperates them. I dunno, I always noticed that.

 

Heh. Thatt's certainly a good way to look at it. However, there are exceptions in anime - shows like DBZ and Pokemon can continue almost indefinitely, moving from episode to episode or in short story arcs without too much connecting them. On the other hand, there does tend to be more coherency even there than in many American cartoons.

 

fun, panties, nosebleeds.

:anime:

 

uuuuuummmmmmm........lets see

A higher advanced system of drawing that takes a lot of skill and time to draw thats pleasing to the eye. In other words, what America should draw.

 

Ah, but SOME American animation would fall into that category, despite being clearly something other than our sense of anime. For example, most animated films released in theatres (think big-budget Disney movies, for one) are very obviously not anime, but the animation quality is quite good and they spend several years in production.

And I think anime is best left to the Japanese, since Americans seem to be doing a pretty lousy job of ripping it off. (Otakus and fanartists aside... how is it we can do it, but the professionals can't? ...Oh, wait, because they just want to turn something out fast and make money off it before the fad dies. Silly me.)