Poll: Do You Prefer Western Animation or Japanese Animation?

[Shock and Awe]

I recently finished watching Avatar: The Last AirBender(yes I know im late) and I thought about how it was kind of a mix of American and Japanese styles of animation and it is probably the best animated series I have ever seen. Then I started to think about which kind of Animation was better in and of itself, and I could not really think of an answer. American animation has a lot more variety in an artistic sense and is often of a lighter tone and has higher production quality. Japanese tends to be of a very high artistic caliber and much more varied topic wise, though it really has awful production quality. In the end I always tended to enjoy american better, partially because in general I liked more shows. What do you guys think? Oh, and one more thing,

 

[-Drifter-]

Generally I prefer western, but it varies depending on quality. For every Snow White and the Seven Dwarves there's a GI JOE or Spiderman.

And for every Akira there's a Yu-Gi-Oh.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Comparing both in absolutes, yet trying to keep it clean? Let me know how that works out. As for the Western Animations vs Eastern Animations argument, it comes back to the same reason the Western Video Games vs Easter Video Games argument is stupid: one is not inherently better than the other by virtue of being from the West or East. Both have all sorts of different genres, different animation styles, and different quality. For every South Park, Simpsons and Avatar, there's a Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop and One Piece. Comparing the two in a generalized manner does both of them an injustice.

 

[Technicolor]

Generally Western Animation, while there are anime that I love, such as Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, & Gurren Lagann, they are only a small few.

Most people here will state that "X anime is the best ever!", that maybe so, but sturgeon's law still dictates that 90% of anything is shit, anime being no exception.

Secondly, if you were only talking TV shows then I might side with Japan, but when you say Animation in general, Western Animation has around at least 80 years of history behind it, with many incredible achievements. My favorite trilogy of films is still the Toy Story trilogy.

 

[Uncreative]

I probably lean towards anime a bit, since it's easier to find mature, interesting ideas from a culture that hasn't had years of "Animation is for kids!" running through it's veins.

But in the long run, it really just depends on the show.

Count me for A Mix.

 

[xerounlimited]

A mix of both, but if I had to pick one it would be Japanese. Maybe because I do tend to like serious show more (and some of the novelty of it coming from a different culture) which I usually can't get from western animation. I mean, would we really see anything like 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' coming from the west? But my problem with these is, the humor. It may be a cultural difference, but I simply don't find many of the jokes in such shows funny (Well, 'Soul Eater's' Excalibur segments being an exception).

But on the other hand, I love a lot of the humor from western animation, even the children's shows. Like I love both the style and comedy of 'Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends' which has me wanting to check out the 'My Little Pony' cartoon. And if we can count CG, no one beats Pixar, that's just a given. Still there's is the problem of there not being many cartoons based on an actual serious narrative, especially for older viewers.

So in all truth both are a mixed bag.

 

[Carl Fox]

Good animation is good animation, regardless of national origin. 'A Mix' it is.

 

[boag]

I like both, the Japanese because of their massive amount of production houses lets me sample a great variety of Stories.

And the American because even the shittiest mass market appeal show has a bigger budget and more production values than the normal Japanese show.

But I must say right now the French have my attenion, because literally everything they have been putting out in the past 5 years has been GOLD.

 

[Ladette]

I like good animation with intresting/fun characters/plot.

I'd take the 90's X-Men cartoon over most anime, the same way i'd watch Chobits over most Western cartoons.

As far as i'm concerned there's as many good western cartoons as there are animes.

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

PIXAR

'nuff said

 

[CarpathianMuffin]

Western animation definitely has more variety as a whole, but I prefer the aesthetics of Japanese animation overall.
Both are good, both are equal, both can be quite stunning when done properly.

 

[AbstractStream]

Keeping it clean and simple:
Both styles are good in their own ways. I like watching both types of animations, so a mix of the two styles it is.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

I like both, but I tend to prefer anime than western shows. Mostly because most western cartoon shows nowadays are for children and a lot are CG (And almost all of the time they look horrible), and the majority of the adult shows are just vulgar comedies with lots of sex and extreme violence. Sure, western animation are more fluid and varied than anime, but anime has more genres. But overall, I like both, because I did spend most of my childhood watching more western shows than anime.

 

[mireko]

I would say a mix, but it's been a long time since I watched any Western animation. Overall there are more Japanese shows that appeal to me, so I'll pick that one.

 

[Frank_Sinatra_]

PIXAR

'nuff said

That hardly covers the topic of "animation."

OT: I prefer a mix of animation styles.
My favorite animators are as follows
Hayao Miyazaki
Don Bluth
Genndy Tartakovsky
John Lasseter
Lauren Faust

 

[FalloutJack]

Between Heroic Age and Megas XLR, you can't get me to choose here.

 

[Bon_Clay]

I guess Japanese, as I watch more anime than western animation. Both have plenty of good stuff, but I guess there's just more anime that happens to interest me.

They probably both have the same amount of amazing works, and the same amount of pieces of shit. But I'd say there is more anime that is just good without being spectacular for you to watch. So after watching the few 9-10/10s from both and avoiding the >5/10 garbage, there is more in the 6-8/10 area coming from the Japanese.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Good animation is good animation, regardless of national origin. 'A Mix' it is.

This.

I admit, I've found more anime I enjoy than western cartoons, and they're what I'm more familiar with, but I grew up with the latter and can still name many that impress me, so I hesitate to describe my feelings as "preference."