culture issue?

[kitt3h]

there's been a whole lot of non-postage going on lately. so...is it appropriate to call japanese animation "cartoons" instead of anime? even though, technically, anime is merely a term used to denote animated media in japan and can technically be used to describe the same thing anywhere else, and logically any other word used to describe the same

Comments

[drwinkles]

It seems to me that it's fair enough to call anime cartoons. Essentially, it's what they are.

The point you made about the term anime referring to "animated media" just confirms it. That term, like you said, could be applied to any cartoon worldwide, seeing as how they are all animated media as well.

Anime isn't necessarily unique to Japan, either. It originated in Japan, yes, but it's been created and reproduced in the United States for a long time. So, while keeping the same traditional Japanese ideas of anime, it's been mimicked by other contries and is therefore not entirely unique to Japan.

Then again, it's not a commonly understood thing. While anime is basically a form of cartoon, some people regard it as otherwise, and referring to anime as a cartoon could instill confusion. For the sake of being clear and coherent, it's probably best that we refer to it as anime, despite the fact that it is a form of cartoon.