Poll: Is it inaccurate or offensive to call Anime "Cartoons"

[Shock and Awe]

Seeing as Anime is just Japanese Cartoons, Im going to go with no.

 

[Baneat]

itd be like saying

is the same as


Their quite different and exclusive, anime is lucky enough to have its own title for its niche, i say it should referred to as such.

Yeah but it's the medium, so it's like taking offense to the fact that they're both labeled paperbacks. Jordan's autobiography and "War and Peace" are both books

 

[BlastedTheWorm]

Pfft, anime = Japanese cartoons.

 

[NeutralDrow]

The fact that they assume "cartoon" is offensive demonstrates pretty clearly what the problem was that first made anime so appealing, and it's annoying to see people fall into that trap who should really know better.

I still use "anime" as a label myself, but come on. They are cartoons. So are Aeon Flux, Family Guy, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Titan A.E.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Cartoons are animated drawings,
Anime are animated drawings,
Anime=Cartoons, depth and complexity don't come into it.

(Although if you ask me, if you want depth and complexity, just stay away from cartoons in general. The "preachy moral messaging" you get from anime is not the same as "depth and complexity". Anyone who thinks otherwise is just experiencing a serious nostalgia trip harking back to the days when they were 7 and Pokemon seemed like the shit)

*brace flame shield.

 

[LawlessSquirrel]

I don't know, a cartoon can portray the same stuff as anime. For me, anime feels exactly like cartoons, only better drawn in some ways (but also lacking the animation part in others). Comparing a book to a poem is different as the structure is different. If say cartoons were books, then poems would be something along the lines of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". Close to the same medium, though the medium is used in a radically different way then it is supposed to. Or I am an ignoramus =)

No no, fair argument. I would actually say that structurally cartoons and anime are different. It's mostly a stylistic shift, but beyond that anime tends to be more structured and less slapstick/gross-out humour in theme, even in the kind targeted towards children. There's usually more story or progression in anime than in cartoons, which favour a more stand-alone format for the most part. That's not to say there aren't exceptions on either side, but by formula alone they do differ.

 

[Lilani]

So I put it to the escapist community, is there anything wrong with calling anime "cartoons

Anime is short for animation, and "cartoon" is a general way of referring to animation. So objectively, you are not wrong.

Any connotations or preconceptions that anyone has on those words are their own problem. You are entitled to call something whatever you'd like to call it.

 

[GrimHeaper]

First of all, backstory: I have a lot of friends who watch anime, some of them get angry at me when I refer Naruto and Bleach as 'cartoons' and say that I do this just because I personally dislike them. I'm told the phrase 'cartoon' is offensive because it "trivialises the depth and complexity of anime". I disagree.

Cartoons have brought us classics such as Rocco's modern life, Spongebob squarepants, Ed Edd 'n' Eddy, Cow and Chicken and many more. If anything I would consider it a compliment to be compared to such a great medium of entertainment.

So I put it to the escapist community, is there anything wrong with calling anime "cartoons"?

There are western and eastern cartoons.
Cartoons in the east are known as anime.
Cartoons in the west are known as animation,western cartoons, or simply cartoons.

 

[v3n0mat3]

The technical term is "cartoon" for any sort of animation, but I just denote them by "[country] anime". e.g. Japanese anime or German anime.

 

[Souplex]

Why should cartoons from one part of the world get their own special name. I don't see us coming up with a special name for Canadian cartoons.
CAPTCHA: stande polygon

 

[Zhukov]

Anyone who gets offended by that is one of those fans who takes it just a bit too far. You know the ones I mean. They're probably a bit insecure about the fact that they're watching cartoons, a medium often associated with children, so they seek to give it a bit more dignity and maturity by sticking a different name on it.

It would be like if whenever someone said, "video games," I would reply with, "No you moron, they're interactive media experiences!"

 

[WanderingFool]

First of all, backstory: I have a lot of friends who watch anime, some of them get angry at me when I refer Naruto and Bleach as 'cartoons' and say that I do this just because I personally dislike them. I'm told the phrase 'cartoon' is offensive because it "trivialises the depth and complexity of anime". I disagree.

Cartoons have brought us classics such as Rocco's modern life, Spongebob squarepants, Ed Edd 'n' Eddy, Cow and Chicken and many more. If anything I would consider it a compliment to be compared to such a great medium of entertainment.

So I put it to the escapist community, is there anything wrong with calling anime "cartoons"?

Depth and Complexity? Of Naruto?

Anyways, if its hand drawn animations, I label it as cartoons. If that offends anyone, its people I dont care to assoiciate with anyways.

 

[Raven's Nest]

Anime is a sub-genre of cartoons, that goes without saying. However, it is implied when saying 'cartoons' that you refer to western cartoons which very rarely handle adult subjects or have any emotional depth. Therefore many fans of anime find it offensive when anime is grouped in with western animation.

In the west, cartoons are seen as only capable of catering to children (spongebob etc.) or being light hearted comedy with perhaps some social satire (The Simpsons, South park etc.). Many fans of anime are trying to fight this view that animated material is not serious (think of it like the "games are art" conflict), and as such do not like the use of the word 'cartoon' when referring to material with emotional depth.

In other words: Anime differs greatly from people's connotations with the word 'cartoon', so while it is technically an appropriate term (moving drawings) the fans would not like to have the uninitiated think of anime as cartoons, since that would mean introducing them to the medium would be impossible, seeing how they will think of it as cartoons and never take it seriously.
It is actually rather annoying. The single most moving experience of my life was an anime, and I would so much like to let others experience it as well, but there is no way of getting them to accept it.

Edit: It may be that the definition of cartoon doesn't include all moving drawings. In that case, I am wrong. It probably comes from a linguistic misunderstanding: in my language, the word meaning 'cartoon' is 'tegneserie'; literally "a series of drawings"

Raven's Nest likes this comment.... He likes it very much...

 

[[.redacted]]

I don't think it should be, I mean they are essentially cartoons, but I still feel like it's used to insult anime - that no matter what it does it's still just a cartoon.

 

[sessionxiii]

i call them cartoons/anime interchangeably. once someone did correct me from saying "cartoons" and gave me a 3 sentence explanation. i walked away

 

[Baneat]

itd be like saying

is the same as


Their quite different and exclusive, anime is lucky enough to have its own title for its niche, i say it should referred to as such.

Yeah but it's the medium, so it's like taking offense to the fact that they're both labeled paperbacks. Jordan's autobiography and "War and Peace" are both books

ones an autobiography and ones a novel ( and as such you can judge within those parameters easier). Certain things benefit from labels.

Now when it gets to the extreme (like in music) is when its silly, because its less clearly defined and there IS overlap, and lyrical content (or in the case of books/tv setting) shouldn't be the primary identifier.

Ok Twilight and "War and Peace" are both novels it doesn't really weaken my point. All I'm saying is the specificity of the label's significant, and people are trying to apply a very very broad label to cater to their specific needs.