Is Pokemon still considered Anime?

[RonDrakenfan17]

I love the show it's one of my favorite shows in fact so I'm not dissing it. I'm only asking if it's considered anime still? It just doesn't seem Anime drawn now in the newer seasons that's all.

[Dogasu]

It's produced in Japan by Japanese people for a Japanese audience.

You tell me.

[vegetasyjn5]

Still made in japan, Still anime in my book.

[Kouji Tamino]

It looks different because it's digitally animated now... Just like pretty much every other anime series coming out these days.

[CyberCubed]

Besides the fact that it's produced, animated and written in Japan, I'd say it's anime.

It still has plenty of anime expressions, and other anime-esque "looks" to it.

I think people see Pokemon the same way they see Sony. Sony is a Japanese company, but it's become so mainstream in America that people consider it an American company as well.

Is it because Pokemon became so mainstream and is still on the air that some people consider it both an anime and a cartoon?

[Gatomon41]

Sadly, yes. :(

[Ferquin]

I think people see Pokemon the same way they see Sony. Sony is a Japanese company, but it's become so mainstream in America that people consider it an American company as well.

Is it because Pokemon became so mainstream and is still on the air that some people consider it both an anime and a cartoon?
Please don't ever compare Pokémon and Sony because that's practically blasphemy.

And I wouldn't say that's the reason it's mainstream. It's because it's the origin of the whole monster training craze to most Americans. It's akin to Kleenex being the standard for facial tissues and being referred to as a "Kleenex" when it's really a brand name. Pokémon is an entity unto itself.

Pokémon is the Pokémon of Pokémon.

[J. B. Warner]

"Pokémon" is still an anime. It's just that 4Kids has been telling the Japanese producers to put less Japanese culture and text in the show so their job is easier.

[Dark Fact]

Pokemon is anime, period. Anybody who says otherwise is just fooling themselves.

I know that was harsh but I've read too many of that "Pokemon isn't anime, it doesn't even deserve to call itself an anime!" crap to just sit back and let it slide some more.

[Wanted]

It's akin to Kleenex being the standard for facial tissues and being referred to as a "Kleenex" when it's really a brand name. Pokémon is an entity unto itself.

Pokémon is the face of animé.Fixed.

[rubberchicken]

Pokemon is anime, period. Anybody who says otherwise is just fooling themselves.

I know that was harsh but I've read too many of that "Pokemon isn't anime, it doesn't even deserve to call itself an anime!" crap to just sit back and let it slide some more.

For extra hilarity I'd link you to Oddlots Irregulars' Otacon 2004 webcomic, but with my luck I'd get banned for it...

[Tabris-The-17th]

I'd like to know how the whole "anime aimed at Children" or "anime that's REALLY popular in America" got the whole "that's not anime" attitude. It's made in Japan, it's animated, it's anime. Heck, in Japan, everything that's animated is referred to as anime. They would call The Simpsons anime.

[Manders]

...If most anime shows are aimed at older people (In America that is as we are trying to keep children's minds clean *rolls eyes*) then why does 4Kids and stuff like that edited the hell out of them just to aim it for kids, only to have teens and adults (or mature children, whatever) get mad at them for not staying true to the story?

I know this is off topic but I'd really like to know.

[Elven Moon]

Yes. Very yes. I mean, it's made in Japan for Japanese. What more proof do you need?

[Gokou Ruri]

...If most anime shows are aimed at older people (In America that is as we are trying to keep children's minds clean *rolls eyes*) then why does 4Kids and stuff like that edited the hell out of them just to aim it for kids, only to have teens and adults (or mature children, whatever) get mad at them for not staying true to the story?

I know this is off topic but I'd really like to know.The shows 4-Kids brings over are all aimed for kids in Japan, it's just Japan is more relaxed with violence and other stuff. From what I've noticed, the people who complain about the dubs are not in the age bracket the shows was originally for (which would be the childrens 7-13 ratings). It's like teenagers complaining that Barney is too kiddy.

[rubberchicken]

...If most anime shows are aimed at older people (In America that is as we are trying to keep children's minds clean *rolls eyes*) then why does 4Kids and stuff like that edited the hell out of them just to aim it for kids, only to have teens and adults (or mature children, whatever) get mad at them for not staying true to the story?

I know this is off topic but I'd really like to know.

Well, stuff like Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh! is generally targeted at kids in Japan, anyway. But the Japanese cultural attitudes have a much looser definition of what it's acceptable for kids to see, leading to sexual humor and more serious situations being in their children's shows. Couple that with 4Kids' conservative attitude towards what is politically correct (there's a lawyer hiding under every rock in this country, remember), and you've got a lot of material being cut.

And since 4Kids reportedly can't get around the "cartoons = for kids" mindset, they use that method for all their shows.

[Gokou Ruri]

That's... pretty much what I said :p Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece, Shaman King, and Sonic X are all kids shows in Japan. An easy way is to look at what magazine the original material was published in. Shonen Jump series are for kids while Ultra Jump series are for an older audience.

[rubberchicken]

Hmm...

SIMULTANEOUS POST ATTAAAAAAAAAACK

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Blood Majin, stop brining up your trolling anti-"One Piece" comments on threads that have nothing to do with it. This attitude is long past the point of being funny.

[Gokou Ruri]

What the? Where did One Piece come from? Now you're bringing it up in topics totally unrelated.

[Kouji Tamino]

Yeah, One Piece is a kid's series... Otherwise, it wouldn't be running in a mangazine for younger demographs like Shonen Jump. Despite any 'mature' themes in One Piece, it's still targeting kids/younger teens. (and I like One Piece, so don't think of this as me trying to put it down...)

[KuwabaraTheMan]

If One Piece were a kids series, it would be running in the mornings like Digimon and Zoids do. Not in evening primetime slots intended to be watched by the whole family.

[Sailor Chibi Otaku]

It's been close to a year since French Teletoon has aired a Pokemon season so I haven't see it digitally enhanced.

Anime is also the French word for animation as you know. ;)

[Kouji Tamino]

...And both Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! air in that same hour, just on different days. What time it airs doesn't change the fact that it's targeting kids. And that isn't a bad thing. It's still a great comic/show.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Which puts them in a time frame intended to be watched by people of all ages, not just kids. One Piece certainly targets kids, but it also targets older viewers, too.

[MonkeyFunk]

I had one person tell me over AIM "YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T KNOW MUCH IF YOU CONSIDER DIGIMON AN ANIME!"
I kid you not.
He also considered Pokemon an American cartoon. He knew that it wasn't made in America, but since he didn't consider it an anime, then it must have been an American cartoon.

[Kouji Tamino]

Which is what I said earlier. I mentioned that it was for the kids-younger teens demograph. I'm talking about in terms of the target demograph. Shounen series are usually originally targeting older kids and younger teens. If older people happen to like it, that's fine. It's like guys that like Shoujo: meant for girls, but boys can like it of they want.

Basically, it's like this: What group would you put One Piece in?

Shonen? (Rurouni Kenshin, Inuyasha, Fullmetal Alchemist, Shaman King, Naruto, etc.)

or Seinen? (Gunsmith Cats, Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, Hellsing etc.)

The thing is, 4Kids has never licensed anything that wasn't for the 'kids' demograph in the first place.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I'd put it in Shounen, but Shounen is more than just kids, it also targets teens as well. Blood Majin has argued on many occasions that One Piece is exclusively targetted at kids.

Plus, I'd have a hard time understand how the latest episode of One Piece in Japan could get a 12.0 if it was just a kids how. That's Conan/Maruko/Doraemon territory, really.

[Kouji Tamino]

Um... Conan is shounen as well. The manga runs in the same magazine as Inuyasha. (Shounen Sunday)

And anyway, yeah I see what you're saying. One Piece is not just for kids. (Ken Akamatsu's work is shonen as well, but I sure wouldn't want younger kids reading that stuff...)

[Nyarl]

The fallacy is, that just because a show originated form a shounen manga, it couldn't possibly find an appeal with a wider audince. "Meant for" is not equal to "eternally destined for", especially when the story changes media. (I assume you'd get funny looks if you are an adult buying Detective Conan tankoubons in Japan, even if it's okay to admit to enjoying watching the anime with your kids, if only because the reading material has furigana, and is therefore not challenging adult/teen reading material.)

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Um... Conan is shounen as well. The manga runs in the same magazine as Inuyasha. (Shounen Sunday)

And anyway, yeah I see what you're saying. One Piece is not just for kids. (Ken Akamatsu's work is shonen as well, but I sure wouldn't want younger kids reading that stuff...)Yes, I'd agree that Shounen is made so that younger kids can enjoy it, but the majority of it is also made for older people to enjoy, too. Conan is a good example of that, its an extremely popular show watched by a large portion of people, not just a kids show.

So, basically, I agree with what you're saying there.

[Dark Fact]

I had one person tell me over AIM "YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T KNOW MUCH IF YOU CONSIDER DIGIMON AN ANIME!"
I kid you not.
He also considered Pokemon an American cartoon. He knew that it wasn't made in America, but since he didn't consider it an anime, then it must have been an American cartoon.

This proves my point right there.

[AstroNerdBoy]

I love the show it's one of my favorite shows in fact so I'm not dissing it. I'm only asking if it's considered anime still? It just doesn't seem Anime drawn now in the newer seasons that's all.
Just because 4Kids r*pes a title doesn't mean it isn't anime. Having seen a couple of episodes of Pokemon in Japanese (where the awesome Hayashibara Megumi plays the villian Musashi), it was actually kinda funny.

[J. B. Warner]

Just because 4Kids r*pes a title doesn't mean it isn't anime. Having seen a couple of episodes of Pokemon in Japanese (where the awesome Hayashibara Megumi plays the villian Musashi), it was actually kinda funny.
I'll second this. And Rico Matsamune is lightyears ahead of Veronica Taylor.

[Hordesman]

I'll second this. And Rico Matsamune is lightyears ahead of Veronica Taylor.
The Japanese voice cast overall compensates for Pokemon's animation.

That said, Becketts interviewed a dub producer before season 3 premiered in the US. One thing of interest is the reference to improved animation. It may be the norm for something with US distribution. And you guys are also saying TV Tokyo avoids stuff now to make 4Kids' job easier... and didn't they animate a different opening just for the dub? Ok, that's bordering on co-production. I wouldn't be surprised if 4Kids is doing that across the board. After all, YGO the movie was a co-pro... And looking over at Eurotoons Funky Cops and Winx Club's second seasons. Both of them are getting new cast members that I sense are more about the US market. And major improvement in animation quality will confirm these suspicions.

[J. B. Warner]

The Japanese voice cast overall compensates for Pokemon's animation.
At least, the animation in any episode not outsourced to the Team Ota studio ("Poetry Commotion", "Exploud and Clear", "Whiscash and Ash", etc.). Those guys are to "Pokémon" what Tokyo Movie Shinsa was to "Tiny Toon Adventures".

[RonDrakenfan17]

Well I know its not made by Americans but some people have been talking about Pokemon being American made now. So I got confused lol and decided to ask this question in the Anmie forums.

[I.R Joey]

I had one person tell me over AIM "YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T KNOW MUCH IF YOU CONSIDER DIGIMON AN ANIME!"
I kid you not.
He also considered Pokemon an American cartoon. He knew that it wasn't made in America, but since he didn't consider it an anime, then it must have been an American cartoon.
That has to be the most ridicoulas thing I've heard all day? How can he say that it's American when he knows that it's Japanesse? And furthermore how can he say that it isn't anime? Some people.

And why is it that some people somehow equate the editing of an anime with something like rape? Seriously people, it's bad but not that bad.

[Duke]

Well I know its not made by Americans but some people have been talking about Pokemon being American made now. So I got confused lol and decided to ask this question in the Anmie forums.4Kids is partially funding the show (at least, I'm going to assume since it's the big trend right now), and has requested some changes (such as the changing of Japanese text and Jynx being purple), but the Japanese staff is still the head of the show (Advanced Generation has had more "anime faces" than any and all of Johto).

[MonkeyFunk]

That has to be the most ridicoulas thing I've heard all day? How can he say that it's American when he knows that it's Japanesse? And furthermore how can he say that it isn't anime? Some people. I think he was trying to say "American-style" cartoon. He didn't consider it anime because "cartoons and anime are different, you can tell by the shading".
I tried to argue with him, but he just kept calling me "gay".

[PowerZord]

Pokémon will always be anime, no matter what. and I love the show

[LightShadow1890]

Okay lets see:

First made in Japan (Originated, actually)


Even has the sterotypical animation style anime has (y'know, big eyes, that sort of crap).
IT IS ANIME.

Just because it is popular here in America that doesn't mean it's not anime.

Seriously, AngryTurnip, what your friend said is ridiculous. I don't get where the shading difference comes from. The only difference of anime and American cartoons is where they are made (the whole appearance thing doesn't really cut it because some anime do look realistic). Nothing else. I don't even see how Pokemon is "Animerican-styled".

Bottom line: No matter what somebody says, Pokemon is anime.

[Gokou Ruri]

Big eyes is not exclusive to anime... you need to remember that anime is the mutt of animation because it borrowed from a lot of sources. Disney, Keane, other styles, etc...

[LightShadow1890]

Big eyes is not exclusive to anime... you need to remember that anime is the mutt of animation because it borrowed from a lot of sources. Disney, Keane, other styles, etc...
As in big eyes, I'm thinking the eyes which reoccur in anime over and over again. Also people have "big eyes" in their stereotypical defintion of anime.

Y'know, I think I might need that qoute somewhere else....

[Animelee]

I'll second this. And Rico Matsamune is lightyears ahead of Veronica Taylor. It's Rica Matsumoto. ^^;;;

Anyways, Pokémon is an anime. An anime is an animation written, voiced, produced, and aired in Japan. Sonic X is an anime. Dragonball Z is an anime. Cowboy Bebop is an anime. Chibi Maruko-Chan is an anime.

Just because a Japanese cartoon is "mature", like Cowboy Bebop, and another Japanese cartoon, like Pokémon, isn't "mature", that doesn't mean Pokémon is any less of an anime than Cowboy Bebop.

A Japanese cartoon doesn't have to have bouncing breasts, blood, sexual innuendo, blatant sexual acts, etc. to make it an anime, it just has to be written, voiced, animated, produced, etc. in Japan.

Anime isn't some word for "mature cartoon", it's just a slang word we English-speakers use to describe Japanese cartoons, that's it.

It's ironic an earlier poster said "Sadly, yes, Pokémon is still considered an anime :(" when he/she has a DIGIMON AVATAR.

[Jave]

Big eyes is not exclusive to anime... you need to remember that anime is the mutt of animation because it borrowed from a lot of sources. Disney, Keane, other styles, etc...It was borrowed from Disney and Fleischers, mostly.


It's ironic an earlier poster said "Sadly, yes, Pokémon is still considered an anime :(" when he/she has a DIGIMON AVATAR.While I do not particularly agree with that person's view, there's no need to bring that into discussion. We're not having another Pokemon vs. Digimon topic, at least not here.

[MonkeyFunk]

Seriously, AngryTurnip, what your friend said is ridiculous. I don't get where the shading difference comes from. The only difference of anime and American cartoons is where they are made (the whole appearance thing doesn't really cut it because some anime do look realistic). Nothing else. I don't even see how Pokemon is "Animerican-styled".

Er, he's not really a friend anymore. We kind of fell out after he started spamming me with pictures of disfigured car crash victims.


A lot of people - even subconsiously - think that there are only two types of aniamtion - anime and American cartoons. Anything else - to them - is too obscure to be worth bothering with (personally, many of my favourite animators are European).

And a lot of other people think that there is a set definition of anime that absolutely everyone can agree on, and that anyone who doesn't is wrong; in reality, any given definition will have its grey areas. Even the most logical one - all Japanese cartoons are anime - raises questions. Where do you put Japanese/non-Japanese co-productions like Animatrix or Mysterious Cities of Gold?


This guy was just taking the two misconceptions to their illogical conclusion ;)

[J. B. Warner]

It's Rica Matsumoto. ^^;;;
Yeah, that's what I meant...sometimes it's hard for me to keep the names straight. But I at least know Megumi Hayashibara - she's genius as Musashi.

[Hordesman]

And a lot of other people think that there is a set definition of anime that absolutely everyone can agree on, and that anyone who doesn't is wrong; in reality, any given definition will have its grey areas. Even the most logical one - all Japanese cartoons are anime - raises questions. Where do you put Japanese/non-Japanese co-productions like Animatrix or Mysterious Cities of Gold?
That's mainly based on the extent either producer is involved creatively. Certainly the actual animation being made in Japan isn't enough, due to US outsourcing of animation. Rudolph, GI Joe and the Disney Afternoon aren't anime. The labelling is assigned in regard to pre-production. Animatrix is a very clear example.

Pokemon, as I said earlier, isn't quite co-produced. But 4Kids and the US market are a factor in its production now. Brock-O-Rama once mentioned that the season 2 cast change was spurred on by an early test screening by American viewers. And what about the Batman episode that showed up some time after Bats and Pikachu were on the same network?

[Animelee]

It was borrowed from Disney and Fleischers, mostly.

While I do not particularly agree with that person's view, there's no need to bring that into discussion. We're not having another Pokemon vs. Digimon topic, at least not here.
I can assure you I wasn't leaning that way -- I was just pointing out that Digimon is just as kiddy as Pokémon -- I didn't mention one being better or worse there, just that the shows share the same amount of kiddiness.


And what about the Batman episode that showed up some time after Bats and Pikachu were on the same network?
Are you talking about the Gligarman episode in mid-Johto, or...?