Anime Is American anime (Teen Titans) real anime?

[Guest ShonenSamuraiMugen]

I luv Avatar on nickelodeon. its awesome but made by an american dude. its just as good as an anime by a japanese dude though..Shinzo is also pretty good, besides martin mystery and totally spies. what do u think? are these titles real anime?i think they are cuz of their anime designed style and storylines that are veerryyy similiar to some of the anime we already have.

[Sage Kaley]

Well in Japanese 'anime' just means animation or cartoons. But I know what you mean. Personally I don't compare them, even though the styles can be alike. I just think of them as western cartoons like I would Angry Beavers or Fairly Oddparents. I do like Avatar a lot actually, I wouldn't call it anime though. Anime influenced would probably be better. I just don't view it as American anime ^^;;

[Killer7]

Obviously it is heavily influenced by anime, but it definitely isn't anime. The art style is a little more americanized, and it's story is nothing like anime, very american in it's telling, bluntness, and simplicity. Basically it is fairly oddparents with a slightly japanese animation style.

[Guest ShonenSamuraiMugen]

ur right sage kelly it is very anime influenced and is definitly not a regular american cartoon, i suppose we can call it neutral when east meets west.

[Guest userdan]

Well, see "American Anime", as you call it, is a whole different drawing technique than "Japaneese Anime", as you call it.
If, by "American Anime" you mean anime made in the USA, then, yes, it IS anime.
but if you mean those crappy deformed cartoons like Spongebob or Ed Edd & Eddy, then, yo, is is NOT.
I COULD just throw my whole lecture on the origins of anime, and how it's supposed to bring the best in everything, but i won't, because i dun want the president(who is undoubtfully reading this) to fall asleep with his hand on the "Launch Nukes" button.

[Bloodseeker]

To break it down...

[b]Literal Translation[/b]

Anime = Animation = Cartoons

[b]But in terms of how the word is used here in the west...[/b]

Anime = animation from the far east

Cartoons = animation from everywhere else

So, yes... and no.

[Guest ShonenSamuraiMugen]

yes but what about george lucas? hes going to go make an anime...its going to look just the same as naruto or anything else, but its made by an american male. hes learning from japanesese people how to draw anime and all, so will it not be considered anime?certain things in anime let you know...
1. eyes
2.color
3.animation company
4.clothes
5.japanesese related themes
anime characters tend to have big eyes and goofy clothes. but they have awesome coloring . other things are animation companies and the storyline or japanese related themes in the storyline , these are the first things you notice in an anime. and so far, avtar , shinzo,teen titansetc. all look just like anime. not to mention teen titans was made by japanese folk...(stop saying its not!!) what im trying to say is that anime is anime .ever read rising stars of manga?dudes from america make manga send it in and its still considered manga.its the same situation...and no im not talking about fairly odd parents or sbongebob... :animeangr

[Guest userdan]

It doesn't matter WHO makes it, what matters is WHAT it is.

[AzureWolf]

[COLOR=blue]Eventually, some time down the line, there will be one definition of anime. Right now, though, there are those who define anime by location, and others by style. That is, "Anime can only come from Japan" vs. "Anime is anything anime-ish."

I lean towards style myself. If something looks like an anime, has an anime-like story, and even has anime-like openings and endings, then it most certainly is an anime. Of course, we'll see if any US company is not greedy enough to limit one of their shows to 26 episodes.[/COLOR]

[Guest userdan]

Well, it doesn't have to be 26...
I am, for one, am quite desapointed that Jing King of Bandit has onl 13 episodes...

[Sara]

[color=#6699cc]Keep it on topic, please, folks.

There really are so many different styles of anime emerging (or already out) that calling something 'anime style' is almost something of a misnomer. When people refer to something as 'anime style,' they're going for the stereotypical [i]Sailor Moon[/i] look--Big eyes, bigger hair, no nose, long legs, etc. Especially since many people's impression of anime comes from shows like [i]Sailor Moon[/i] and [i]Pokémon[/i]. And that's a pretty big part of the market. I don't think, however, that it dominates things, and that almost raises the question: If [i]Teen Titans[/i] [b]is[/b] anime, is [i]Metropolis[/i]?

[/color]

[densuke]

The thing I really dislike about these anime wannabes is that they are getting away from whatever it was they know how to do well. And now they are doing something they know little about just so they can be in step. A situation like that is not very promising. And I don't see any point in rewarding this mimicry by confusing it with the original.

In the long term, the quality of American animation has been generally negligible for something like 40 years. It's too expensive to do properly anymore (that's why Futurama is mostly made in Korea). And it's a lot less popular than it was back in the day. I don't think plastic surgery will help...

[You Don't Care]

Whether it be cartoons or anime. Whoever or wherever you are when you create it. When it comes down to it, it is all animation.

They call it cartoons in Japan. We call american cartoons here cartoons, but anything from Japan, anime. That is what I got out of the whole "it's called anime" speal.

The stuff that I do you could say, "It's anime styled, but it shouldn't be called that, because it is American made." I, on the other hand, call it animation. I have never called my [B]actual[/B] work anime/manga. It is, however (like many of these many works are), Japanese influenced. Which is in turn American influenced. Thus, I can say my work is globally influenced.

"It didn't [B]come[/B] from [I]Japan[/I], so it [B]isn't[/B] [I]anime[/I]." The new cliche for our generation. Hopefully, it will die without a hitch.

[Killer7]

The fact is that anime is so much more advanced then a regular cartoon it is hard to mix them up. more blood, deeper themes, complex stories, and extensive character development. For example, Avatar's story is cliched, has no blood, no themes, and from what I have seen, no character development. The big-eyed style may be able to be compied, but the complexity can not.

[Guest userdan]

Yeah it can...By me, at least.XD

[color=#6699cc]Put more effort into your posts. This is your final warning. -Lore[/color]
^^OMG, didn't you EVER meet a forum whore before?^^
^^Of course, i wouldn't expect one to hang around here, with mods like you around...jeez...^^

[color=#6699cc]They don't stick around because we ban them. Goodbye. -Lore[/color]

[Sara]

[quote name='Killer7']The fact is that anime is so much more advanced then a regular cartoon it is hard to mix them up. more blood, deeper themes, complex stories, and extensive character development. For example, Avatar's story is cliched, has no blood, no themes, and from what I have seen, no character development. The big-eyed style may be able to be compied, but the complexity can not.[/quote][color=#6699cc]Well, Japan certainly doesn't have a monopoly on complex storytelling, lol.

I can't really get into specific instances, as I don't watch much TV of [i]any[/i] kind, but I think complexity is really just a matter of the intended audience of the show. American cartoons tend to be aimed toward American kids with (conservative) American parents. And we all know Violence Is Bad.

I also think that in most of these discussions, people tend to compare the best of anime with the worst of American animation. I mean, I've [i]never[/i] heard anyone claim that "Those Who Hunt Elves" is better than "Gargoyles."[/color]

[Morpheus]

[quote name='Killer7]The fact is that anime is so much more advanced then a regular cartoon it is hard to mix them up. more blood, deeper themes, complex stories, and extensive character development. For example, Avatar's story is cliched, has no blood, no themes, and from what I have seen, no character development. The big-eyed style may be able to be co[COLOR=Silver]m[/COLOR']pied, but the complexity can not.[/quote]
Storytelling and Complexity can be big parts of anime, but not necessarily. The Excel Saga's story could barely be described as a story and FLCL doesn't really have one at all. Blood? Since when does blood even matter?

Sure, Avatar's story isn't the thickest in the world, but I don't see anything cliched about it. Even if those that watch anime more than I do can find something cliched about it, is that really a reason to not watch?

[AzureWolf]

[COLOR=teal]Just one thought to add. Our culture (the internet culture/generation) has a tendency to assimilate things. Sooner or later (I'd say sooner in this case), there will be one meaning for anime. Most likely, it will be the more liberal definition since the internet generation usually leans towards those.

In other words, while both are valid now and you have people arguing for both sides, expect "anything that looks, acts, or even flashes anime-ish-ness" to be the primary use of the term.[/COLOR]

[Guest ShonenSamuraiMugen]

lore...teen titans is an anime...it comes from japan, looks like anime and has one of my fave bands....hihipuffyamiyumi!!!!!!so densuke if you made a manga youd hate urself? i for one think if a dude makes anime(japanese cartoon) he makes it no matter who he is,and nnnnnnnnnnnnoooooooo we aint looking at no pokemon or sailor moon or anime, we are looking at anime themes...first ... production most of these american anime are produced by Marathon inc. and i respect the fact that marathon are a couple of japanese dudes making some american dudes cartoon into a japanese sort of anime...
by the way killer 7 watch avatar more, youll see many anime themes...character development alot
Aang turns into a lamp of hatred, explodes the place, we learn why prince suko is so evil and suko and aang become a little bit more friendly with each other...and every show you see doesnt need BLOOD!!!!!!!!!! :animeangr

[Dagger]

Little Slugger, your posts are becoming increasingly garbled & incoherent. Please attempt to start instilling them with some sort of basic order.

I used to waver on this topic a lot, until finally I just got fed up with the whole thing and reverted to the stricter definition--that is, "If it's Japanese animation, it's anime." Actually, it was witnessing a debate over the status of manga and manga-influenced comics which led me to that point. Attempting to distinguish anything on the basis of an ultimately amorphous visual style is just going result in frustration--and roping in other elements like plot, common themes, etc. can only lead to even shakier ground.

The words manga and anime are not sacred; they only connotate superiority by a very subjective sort of association, not by definition. There's no reason for foreign creators of anime-influenced works to covet the label; animation of any nationality should have to stand up on its own merits, anyway.

In other words, French wine can't be French if it was made in California.

~Dagger~

[Sara]

[color=#6699cc]On the other hand, hamburgers are still hamburgers if they're not from Hamburg. (Err... maybe moreseo.)

But I do think Dagger and Azure put it best. Anime is japanese animation. That definition may broaden and change, especially as people look to clump similar shows and themes, but it really doesn't need to. Right now, the fandom tends to assume that only Anime is good; therefore, any good animated show must be Anime. That's really not the case, and I think it's a shame that more people don't express interest in animation in a more open-minded way.[/color]

[Semjaza]

From these last two posts I come to a question I've been wanting to ask:

If "anime" basically just means animation, doesn't that imply that the Japanese would call any animation "anime"? Regardless of where it is from?

The same with Western comics being released in Japan (which I know happens). Are these called manga or do they have a separate word for these things?

I agree with the last couple of posts on how the terms should be used here, but I'm just curious.

[Dagger]

[quote name='Generic NPC #3']If "anime" basically just means animation, doesn't that imply that the Japanese would call any animation "anime"? Regardless of where it is from?[/quote]
Yes. For example, you might hear people referring to classic Disney movies as "Disney anime." I'm pretty certain that the more recent CG stuff like The Incredibles and Robots are also generally termed anime. But I can't help you with the comics question, heh.

~Dagger~

[Sara]

[color=#6699cc]I can't give you a great answer on the comics thing, either, but on a related note:

I remember thinking how cute (for lack of a better term) it was that one of my foreign exchange student friends referred to manga as "comic books." Because, well, that's what they are, heh. She asked me if I read comic books, and started listing off things like [i]One Piece.[/i] I was so confused at first, because I really don't equate the two. But of course, that was the English word that she'd learned for them.[/color]

[Delta]

[COLOR=FireBrick][SIZE=1][quote name='densuke']In the long term, the quality of American animation has been generally negligible for something like 40 years. It's too expensive to do properly anymore (that's why Futurama is mostly made in Korea). And it's a lot less popular than it was back in the day. I don't think plastic surgery will help...[/quote]Outsourcing, baby. Even Japanese animation studios do it. [b]Saiyuki Reload[/b], for one, was drawn by a Korean studio. So were [b]Metropolis, Mononoke Hime[/b] and [b]Cowboy Bebop[/b]. [b]Slam Dunk[/b] was sourced from the Toei's Philippine branch. The story (and sometimes the key cels) are the only elements made by the Japanese themselves.

Many anime series aren't really 100% from Japan and yet they still belong in this category. Perhaps it's time we dub animation from outside Japan "anime" too.[/SIZE][/COLOR]