Japanese 'Anime' vs. American Cartoons
David Christiansen
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: Opinion
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If you really think about it, when was the last time you watched a cartoon that actually had you thinking about what was going to happen next? The truth is, there probably was never such a time.
Although I can't speak for every cartoon out there, the vast majority of American-Made cartoons tend to fall under one of two categories. First come the stereotypical 'Hero Saves the Day' and 'Random Insanity' archetypes. In this type of cartoon the good guy basically chases down the bad guy and defeats him for trying to complete some nefarious plot. A good example of this type would be "Transformers" and "Thunder Cats," from the old days, or even "Ben Ten." These older types of cartoons tend to be very blocky in their animation, and the newer versions of this type such as "Ben Ten" or "Code Lyoko" aren't even trying to be original; instead, they attempt to emulate anime with limited success.
The other type, "random insanity," is becoming more popular today. This archetype cartoon basically consists of whacky characters, taking the mundane activities of every-day life, and turning them in to insane, over-the-top antics that can only be achieved in cartoons. Good examples of these are "Camp Lazlo," "Tom & Jerry," and the "Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy."
The Random Insanity archetype's animation style varies from show to show, but ultimately the characters are intentionally designed to look out-of-proportion in some odd way in order to make the character look goofier. In the end this only serves to enhance the show's "insanity level." Quite often in both types of American cartoons, the background is completely ignored or poorly drawn.
While these two types of cartoons can be entertaining, they're all basically the same song sung to a different tune. Do we really like to be fed the same junk over and over again?
Anime, on the other hand, is a different story. The shows coming out of Japan today are complex in both plot and design. It's hard, in the case of serious anime, to pinpoint specific archetypes. With these, the good guy isn't always the one who wins; in fact, a lot of the time you wonder if they'll even be alive in the next episode.
Sometimes the good guy isn't even the main character in the show! Such is the case with my favorite Anime, "Death Note."
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 53
roro
posted 11/18/08 @ 12:55 PM EST
anime is to graphical and gay
dav
posted 11/20/08 @ 4:30 PM EST
This report is bias. Your probably some crazy Japanese fan that dresses up as Anime characters. You also forget to mention the sick perverteness that comes out of Anime. (Continued…)
NJ
posted 11/25/08 @ 5:17 AM EST
I have to ask why did Roro send a message when all he can string together is a few words that are barely literate, and hardly interesting.
As for Dav, you claim that the report is bias, yet your own comment is highly bias against the report itself and the anime culture, not to mention discriminatory against the writer them self. (Continued…)
Dudikoff
posted 12/01/08 @ 2:46 AM EST
You started out complaining that American shows are formulaic, yet anime shows follow formulas to, the same 'hero's quest' or 'dystopic future', I would also point out that both of those plot formulas originate in western culture. (Continued…)
Kevin
posted 12/31/08 @ 4:26 PM EST
NJ, dav was just making an assumption of what type of writer would make such a biased statement about American and Japanese animation. To be honest I would never guess that the person who wrote this article was in college, because I had better writing skills when I was in 9th grade. (Continued…)
trevor
posted 2/09/09 @ 7:57 PM EST
Nobody has even mentioned the fact that Transformers is Japanese, and Thundercats was animated by Japanese companies. Yet this guy uses them as examples of American animation. (Continued…)
KrazyDawg
posted 2/19/09 @ 11:58 PM EST
"Which brings me to another point of why this article is biased. where are the strengths of American animation mentioned at all? Did you completely forget about the multilayered backgrounds and tedious, accurate animation of classic (Snow White to Little Mermaid) and Renaissance (Little Mermaid - Mulan) Disney? How about the gothic elements of Beauty and the Beast, which made my 6 year old brother not want to find out what happened to Belle's dad?"
Kevin, while I agree that the titles you mentioned above can be classified as cartoons I would actually categorize them as movies so it would carry more substance than a random cartoon episode. (Continued…)
Shadow
posted 2/20/09 @ 1:51 AM EST
I don't it matter what, but overall anime has it good point and cartoon also has its good point. There is nothing bad between those two, but for this author, the anime do show more plot, longer events, longer espisode, and characters that very unique. (Continued…)
Freyja
posted 2/25/09 @ 10:33 AM EST
I agree wholeheartedly with you, David, that Japamese anime seems more "viewable" than most traditional American cartoon programs. In anime, you're at the edge of your seat, waiting for the next chapter to come next week or so-it's a story, an actual plot. (Continued…)
thisandthat
posted 2/25/09 @ 7:56 PM EST
Most Anime plots are uniform and to be honest, downright retarded.
On top of that, it just draws in a mostly insufferable crowd of followers.
I won't lie, Lupin III is pretty rad. (Continued…)
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