Poll: Do You Prefer Western Animation or Japanese Animation?

[Whitewillow]

A complete mix. I tend to watch animated shows, or any shows really, for the story rather then the quality of animation. You get the occasional one that has such bad animation you can't stand to watch it no matter how good the story is, but aside from that, if it's entertaining and the story grabs my interest it doesn't really matter if it's made in North America or Japan.

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

PIXAR

'nuff said

That hardly covers the topic of "animation."

How? Pixar IS animation. It's what they do. And they're a western company, I think I have my bases covered for this topic. I'm talking about animation, you're talking about cartoons.

 

[NeutralDrow]

OT: I prefer Japanese animation since most Western animation is made with kids in mind and not usually that mature.

To be perfectly fair, that describes anime, as well. Most anime is also made with kids in mind...for the immensely pragmatic reason that children watch far more television than anyone else, including in Japan.

I'd posit that the advantage is actually on the other side; it's not that most anime isn't aimed at kids, it's that there's just more anime in volume compared to western cartoons with either multiple-demographic appeal or specifically aimed at adult audiences.

And besides, both mediums are prone to accidentally appealing to older demographics. Shows like One Piece and Nanoha were just as aimed at younger audiences as the Teen Titans animated series and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Turns out, people tend to enjoy good shows, regardless!

 

[Vausch]

Well, if I had to compare the greats.

I prefer Miyazaki to Disney
I prefer Bakshi and Bluth to Madhouse
I prefer Madhouse to most cartoon studios in the US, and at that point I'd say there's so many hit and misses between them that general weekly cartoon animations are about even.

And Avatar is one of the greatest blends of western and Japanese animation to date. I hope the Legend of Korra lives up to its predecessor's greatness.

Now to truly get into the ultimate animation (Non 3D that is) you'd need to have Bluth, Bakshi, and Miyazaki on the same project.

 

[Arisato-kun]

Both. One is not inherently better than the other. Anyone that tries to put forth either being superior as fact is just plain stupid.

I love my Adventure Time, Batman: TAS and Avatar but I also love my Gurren Lagann, The Tatami Galaxy and Clannad. Both have great pieces of animation and absolute shit. It's unavoidable.

 

[Dragonblade146]

Western Animation. I don't really like eastern animation style of looks. And that kinda makes me mad to when I have friends who are obsessed with Anime, and they say I don't enjoy art. No, I enjoy a different kind. God.

 

[Gunsang]

In general I prefer the look of western animation more than eastern, but Japanese animation usually has some very interesting stories which is why I have been trying to get into Japanese animation.

 

[Dragonblade146]

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.

Samurai Jack.
That was definatly a more mature Western Animation.

 

[The Abhorrent]

As a general rule, it doesn't really matter to me which style a show uses provided it's good... with what could be a slight leaning towards western animation. I have a natural preferrence towards comedy (especially parodies), something which I find western animation to be more adept at than anime; there was a lot of them during the 90s (notably The Tick and Megas XLR).

Another genre I enjoy is what could be called the "adventure series"; those series which may or may not follow a storyline but provide a good mix of comedy, action, and (light) drama. Think of the majority of classic animated films and you have a good idea, and are often entertaining for all ages. Neither western animation nor anime have the upper hand here, and there are many classic examples from both sides of the Pacific: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Fullmetal Alchemist, Batman: The Animated Series, Gargoyles, Ducktales, Trigun.... and many others.

Now there's at least one area where I would say anime handles itself better, and that's when it comes to tackling very serious issues and mature subjects. This is mostly because anime goes into realms where western animation fears to tread. Neon Genesis Evangelion is a bit of an anomaly for me, it's the closest thing I'd call my favourite show... and it's certainly not what one would call a comedy (it has it's moments, but the series is more of a tragedy). Another good example of a serious show I enjoy is Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (I really have to get around to finishing that), which explores quite a few interesting themes regarding the interactions of humanity & technology; that and the episode Jungle Cruise is one of the most unnerving things I've ever witnessed (damn good episode.... almost too good).


If I were to put any particular label on the types of shows I like, it's them being "progressive and/or intelligent"; which is a bit of an umbrella term. That doesn't necessarily mean complex plots, themes, or characters; it just means that I dislike it when the show treats the viewer like they aren't capable of understanding what's happening. Making fun of the cliches (or destroying them) is much more interesting, and doing so typically requires much better writting to accomplish (resulting in a show that's just plain better). Nevertheless, that label isn't exclusive to anime nor western animation.... it's actually rather rare for both. So when a show comes along and fulfills the necessary criteria, which side of the Pacific it comes from is immaterial.

 

[TheLastTatlFan]

For me, it doesn't matter what country my cartoons come from. What I want is a good narrative with strong characters, just like any other narrative medium.

In terms of what I've seen, most western animation wants to be Looney Tunes. There's an assortment of "Whacky" characters, sometimes talking animals, sometimes not, who will constantly find themselves in physics-defying situations that should, by all rights, be terminal, and yet they always just get up and dust themselves off. There's no real plot beyond a static premise where any shake-ups are undone by the end of the episode/short, and the characters never, ever, ever, ever learn anything, grow as people or stop being idiots.
There are exceptions, and most of them are glorious (i.e. Beast Wars, ReBoot, Ben 10 (The continuity hiccups in the transition to Alien Force not withstanding), the Spectacular Spider-Man, the aforementioned Avatar: The Last Airbender, Batman: The Animated Series and it's successor, Batman Beyond...)

While Japan has it's share of Status-Quo dictated stupidity, as far as I can see it's outnumbered by series' where there's an overarching story, characters at least take a crack at developing and it eventually does end. This is even true of the stupidest anime I've ever seen, the Dragon Ball series (Note that I'm saying they're stupid, not bad. Although there could stand to be less talking and power level/dick-measuring nonsense and some more strong female characters. For God's sake, Naruto even had a stronger female cast before Kishimoto realized he can slap the brand on anything and it'll make craploads of cash and decided to write whatever the Hell he wanted.)

So I guess, as a whole, I prefer Japanese animation, but only because the Japanese seem to take animation more seriously as a medium, whereas here in the west it's seen as a babysitting tool.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

In terms of content or execution? Either way, I'm a westerner at heart. Good, consistent animation, varied art direction, and a sense of individuality among shows that I don't feel with Anime.

Not to say that Anime is bad. It is just poorly executed for the most part. And by that I mean bad animation, dull shot composition, and excessive use of keyframes to mimic movement. It is very formulaic in the animation department.

In terms of content, both do very well. Anime is definitely more varied, with issues ranging all over the place, while Western animation is slightly more limited. However, as a result of poor execution that plagues most anime series, diversity can only go so far until the similarities start to appear. While western shows are more limited in their subject criteria, each show usually has a very independent way of showcasing the themes.

So western mainly, but I appreciate Japanese efforts.

 

[Super Toast]

Western. With the exception of Cowboy Bebop, I have no interest in Anime whatsoever.

 

[Thyunda]

Going off style, I prefer Western animation. The animation just seems somehow weightier. Compare the original Western series of Transformers to the Japanese counterparts. Look at the designs there. The bigger, clunkier builds belonged to the Western animators, while the sleeker, less realistic designs were more prominent in Japanese versions.

However, in theme, I have to go with Japan. For the most part. The West refuses to acknowledge animation as anything more than a vehicle for silly comedy or children's shows, while Japan actually uses them in more imaginative ways.
Perhaps if we could start seeing more mature shows in Western-styled animation, I would be much happier.

 

[Marik2]

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.

Yup pretty much my stance here.

 

[marioandsonic]

I don't really have a preference.

As long as it's a good cartoon, I'll watch it.

 

[DSK-]

I like the old 80's and early 90's cartoons - some of which were out sourced to Japan and Korea I believe - although I also like the old Japanese detailed animation styles of the same sort of time frame. Japanese animation to me looks better. Western stuff nowadays looks like ass.

 

[Vykrel]

Western, for sure... there are very few animes that i really like (Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Yu Yu Hakusho, and the original Pokemon series), but even they all lack originality when it comes to art style. damn near every anime looks like its drawn by the same person. and many of them suffer from the same stupid ass cliches, too. people with cat ears, giant water drops running down the backs of peoples heads when they are in disbelief at something, big ass doe-eyes when the character is trying to be adorable or something. it gets irritating after a while.

Cowboy Bebop is the only anime ive seen that isnt guilty of any of those things, and that may be because it was HEAVILY inspired by western culture.

 

[Ilyak1986]

Anime. Yes, anime is highly susceptible to Sturgeon's law. Once you filter out the "no fancy superpowers", "no giant robots", "no teenage heroes", and perhaps "no Japan being the center of the universe", the number of anime is few and far between.

But usually they're damn good.

And well, in terms of Western Animation, you know it's outdated when one of the best cases of western animation had the heroes fly a jet based on a fighter jet now retired from the US Navy (but ironically, not from Iran's air force). And cookies if you know which show I'm referring to .