Why do people make a distinction between anime and cartoons

I think that's mainly because people perceive cartoons as something made for children and those who watch anime like to distinguish the term to say that what they watch is more mature. In reality, both cartoons and anime can have any kind of specific target audience, though.

Another reason is that, in my opinion, the animation industry in Japan is far too different from Western animation, in terms of artstyle, direction etc. For someone who only discovered anime years after watching cartoons on TV, it makes sense to perceive it as a different form of entertainment.

But, technically, anime is just Japanese cartoons.

 

Anime vs Cartoon - Difference and Comparison | Diffen

 

Technically speaking anime falls under the same category as cartoons, but it is so much more. It deserves to be in a category in itself not only because of the different art style, but because of the difference in content. Cartoons are generally aimed at kids, while anime, falls into many different genres of its own, many of which are not appropriate for kids. Furthermore, because of the different audiences that most anime is made for, there usually is a lot more development to characters and plotline, as compared to your average cartoon. It is technically not wrong to say that anime is cartoon, but would be wrong to say that cartoon is anime. If that makes sense, as one is a branch of the other.

 

There's two ways to seperate them. Japan vs/ USA or style. Cartoons have a certain art style that makes them "cartoons", and that style is different from anime. It's like there are different genres of music/books/tv shows/etc. Both cartoons and anime are "animations" but they're sub-genres of animation. (Other genres would include: clay animation, stop motion, computer, etc.)

 

Here's how I see it:

Western Cartoons tend to be more random and not really have a story line to them. They have weird faces and make random jokes because kids find that stuff funny.

Anime is directed towards teens, who have a higher attention span and enjoy more serious stuff, or a different type of humor. The audience for western cartoons is much different than the audience for anime.

 

I consider them both cartoons
It's just one is made in japan and the other right here in the USA .
also one speak English and other Japanese still cartoons but some us just love to say anime because the Japanese do .

in japan they call our cartoons american anime

 

It's funny because Japanese people consider all animation "anime". It's just their word for animation in general.

 

Anime is Japanese, and the Japanese get special treatment. :lol:

The mood you get from cartoons is also different than the mood you get from anime. Anime is often more serious, while cartoons are meant for bored little kids. (These are generalizations.) There is also a wider range of types of anime than types of cartoons. Cartoons are usually humorous. Anime is often sad, romantic, dramatic, and has more of a plotline. And the animation seems more detailed.

 

Bingo.

I'd also add that the style that most Anime has, has been influencing many Western works. Personally, I prefer Anime in terms of the look, because it comes off as smoother and flows better. Sure, some exceptions do exist, like Disney animation (Snow White isn't a favorite of mine, but for the time it was released, it looks fantastic animation-wise).

Western animation seems to be getting better about this, though. I'm seeing more continuity and more elaborate elements, as opposed to stand alone episodes. Even as a kid, I always felt many Western cartoons were lacking, because they felt so empty with the lack of continuity or complexity, even if I liked them. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I'm looking at you!

 

To those saying cartoons are for little kids... Aren't shows like Family Guy, Simpson's, and Futarama aimed at an older audiance?

Many Anime is generally for an older audience here... But in Japan they aren't. We just have different standards. What might be for little kids in Japan could be for teenagers here. Death Note and Hell Girl are a couple examples.

American Cartoons aren't serious? That is a huge generalization! What about the DCAU, Teen Titans, 4kids Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.... Sure some of those have plenty of jokes. But most popular anime isn't 100% serious all the time either. Then you have shows like Daily Lives of High School boys, Watamote, Bobobobobobobo. These are some of the most silly and ridiculous animated shows I have ever seen! (Ok, maybe Watamote not as much as the others, but still, just try to find me something... Anything more silly then Bobobobobobobo, I doubt it is possible)

The only difference is one is made in Japan, the other not. Sure, they have some different styles. But really, they are hardly noteworthy.

 

Because western cartoons are generally much shallower and not to be taken seriously (except for Avatar because it's awesome.) Anime can be cutesy and childish too (lookin' at you Ouran ), but some series are not afraid to bring in real issues and see how the characters handle them. Certainly Sword Art Online or Attack On Titan can't be grouped in the same category as Spongebob just because they're both 2d animation.

 

But you would sooner group them with Bobobo and Daily Lives of High School Boys? Shows that are way more silly then Spongebob.

And shows like this are not rare from anime. They just simply aren't as popular in the west as the more serious anime. "Plastic neesan", "Dr. Slump," "Is this a zombie?". Just a few more examples.

 

Based on visual style yes, but otherwise like I tried to say, some can be totally goofy.

Otherwise we could call all of it "cartoons" and anime is its own sub-category because of its distinctive look and tropes.

 

Well what about cartoons like Avatar, Teen Titans, or the DCAU? They share just as many similarities to Spongebob as these animes do. In terms of visual style.

---------- Post added 12th Jan 2015 at 01:24 AM ----------

I know you mentioned Avatar in your post. But I'm just saying... It's because of shows like this that I don't think it's right to make generalizations like that.

They are all cartoons, and they are all anime. (Japanese people consider western cartoons anime) They are just made in different countries.

 

Other than place of origin, Anime/Manga style probably one of the main reason for that distinction.

Anime for most people means big eyes, little close to no nose, big mouth/little mouth. While anime fans would probably object that, claiming there are several types of anime/manga... it is how anime stereotyped.

You can also say (like one can tell by my above words) similar thing for comic books/manga.

Also there is story telling difference. Anime/manga stories doesn't worry too much about having goofy moments, over the top show of emotions. God forbid if Batman caught being goofy.

 

[YOUTUBE]4B6bG3Q8lTA[/YOUTUBE]​

 

Oh God... that looks awful and not under my goofy banner... more like creepy/scary.

 

I really don't know.

Cartoons all have their own styles as well, anime is just the short form of Animated in Japanese.

It has become it's own style of animation, but I still consider it a cartoon. Cartoon has juvenile connotations, and anime doesn't, thats the only reason I could see wanting to separate them.

Do any anime fans recognize the clip in my signature, I like a lot of Japanese musical artists, so I end up seeing a lot of anime in their videos. I'm not into anime at all, but do think it looks coolish.

 

they are the same thing. however I consider them to be different genres of the same thing because of the art style difference and the fact that alot of anime is generally more mature (by western standards) than most cartoons.