What makes anime "anime"?

[Mr. Obsession]

Ok, I was reading through the "Which titles started you out as an anime fan?" (and kind of felt that this topic deserves it's own thread) when I came across this:

Originally posted by Xevo
I think we all, at least "we" being us children of the 80's, were exposed to anime unknowingly via Robotech, Transformers, even our beloved G.I. Joe was Japanese animated.

Now I've been wondering about this for awhile, but what really makes anime "anime"? What line is it that divides a fandom into flame wars over “superiority”?

I mean how do we define it? Is simply being animated in Japan enough? Or is it something else? If a show is created, written, directed, and storyboareded in the US but animated in Japan does that make it anime? Or alternately if everything about the show was from Japan (the writing, animation, storyboarding, character designs, etc.), except that someone in the US funded the show does that mean it's no longer anime? Or what about shows that were drastically altered in the translation and localization (Robotech being a prime example), are they still anime? And what about co-collaborations?

How do we define all of this?

[KingKoopa]

Anime is a genre, at least that's how I see it. That can mean completely different things to different people, like how some people call Blink 182 punk, and others call them rock, while still others call them crap (I prefer the third one). It's the same way with anime, if it's supposed to be anime, it probably is, but it's really in the eye of the beholder.

[Lachesis]

Hmm. I think the idea that if it's originally made for the Japanese audience, or involves involves input from Japanese creators during the conception process (rather than just the animation), it's an anime.

[zimbach]

Originally posted by KingKoopa
Anime is a genre, at least that's how I see it. That can mean completely different things to different people, like how some people call Blink 182 punk, and others call them rock, while still others call them crap (I prefer the third one). It's the same way with anime, if it's supposed to be anime, it probably is, but it's really in the eye of the beholder.

Calling anime a genre is like calling books printed in English a genre. Now, that would be just silly!

[Mr. Obsession]

True, and if anime is a genre, than how can it contain other genres: mecha, sports, magical girl, etc.?

[Gyro]

Originally posted by Mr. Obsession
True, and if anime is a genre, than how can it contain other genres: mecha, sports, magical girl, etc.?

I think he meant a genre of a type of entertainment, or something like that. I don't know, it's kinda hard to explain what I'm thinking.

I like things simple. If it looks like anime, sounds like anime, and rocks like anime, then it is anime. There, nice and simple.

[zimbach]

Originally posted by Gyro
I think he meant a genre of a type of entertainment, or something like that. I don't know, it's kinda hard to explain what I'm thinking.

I like things simple. If it looks like anime, sounds like anime, and rocks like anime, then it is anime. There, nice and simple.

He's confusing "genre" (subject matter category) with "medium" (in this case, film), "technique" (drawn cel animated cartoon) , and "national origin" (Japanese). None of these, even when combined, constitute a genre without a specific subject category. Even "shoujo" and "shounen" are not genre, they are market demographics (girls and boys, respectively).
Things that might be genre are "Sentai" (color-coded superhero teams, e.g. Power Rangers, Sailor Moon), or "Kaiju" (giant monster demolition tap-dance, e.g. Godzilla, Gamera).

Anyway, enough with semantics. Getting back to what makes anime anime, see my next post later today.

[Zero Angel]

how silly of a question is that? animation makes anime anime. anime is short for animation. in France they say anime'. so what makes anime anime? animation. we simply say that all anime is from japan or associate all anime with japan is wrong to an extent. what of a show like Batman or Batman Beyond which had a predominantly a japanese animation group? made here in america but by japanese animators. what then?

[zimbach]

Originally posted by Zero Angel
how silly of a question is that? animation makes anime anime. anime is short for animation. in France they say anime'. so what makes anime anime? animation. we simply say that all anime is from japan or associate all anime with japan is wrong to an extent. what of a show like Batman or Batman Beyond which had a predominantly a japanese animation group? made here in america but by japanese animators. what then?

A-ni-me (annie-may, aw-knee-may)
1. [Japanese, from French: animé] animated cartoon
2. [American English, from Japanese] animated cartoon from Japan, and/or intended primarily for the Japanese market, having certain distinguishing identifiable characteristics.

Defining those distinguishing identifiable characteristics is what this thread is about.

A-ni-kkei (annie-kay) [Japanese, meaning anime-like]
animated cartoon not from Japan, and/or not intended primarily for the Japanese market, but having or displaying inspiration from some of distinguishing identifiable characteristics normally attributed to anime.

[Xevo]

I personally think Anime is style. Clearly, anything animated in Japan SHOULD qualify (hence my quote that got this thread started), but the Japanese have been known to incorporate "western" style animation techniques that most people might not immediately label as "anime." Also, check out the thread "Anime Wannabes: Totally Spies" to see discussion of an "anime style" show made in France.

To me, it's more of the look and personality of the show, along with the way it is made. I recently did a thread called "The difference in Anime and Cartoons" or something similar, that gave my opinion on what seperates the two.

[Zero Angel]

interesting thing to bring up Xevo. it is true that cartoons and anime are different but then again a cartoon is a different section of animation then something like Spawn or Heavy Metal. i will agree that there are certain things that make anime known as different then western animation...just like europian animation is different from north and south america animation.

it is about style and a set of conventions that do make the difference but when a person askes what makes anime anime it is something of a weird question...its like asking..."what makes a cartoon a cartoon?". of coarse the answer would be the set of conventions used in it and it would be fairly easy enough to see what makes it as such. when you say anime though you are going for a different set of conventions.

its like asking "what makes persenium acting persenium acting?" your simply asking for the set of conventions that make it such.

[Opaque]

the quality of the animation... the size of the eyes, and the place of origin.

[Noukon]

I'd say there are varying degrees... an animated movie/tv series produced in Japan is anime. There are also things that are heavily influenced by Japanese animation, as well as things that are contributed to by Japanese studios (a lot of Batman animated episodes were animated by Japanese studios, for example). These aren't anime, but they could very well be thrown in the same boat. "Quasi-anime", if you will.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

The eternal question...everyone has their own definition, but to put it simply mine is:

Any animation created, planned and storyboarded and (probably) largely animated in Japan for the initial audience of Japanese viewers.

We use "anime" to distinguish between Japanese and anything-else visual and animated styles, even if "anime" simply refers to animation in general.

[J.C.]

Originally posted by Leaping Larry Jojo
The eternal question...everyone has their own definition, but to put it simply mine is:

Any animation created, planned and storyboarded and (probably) largely animated in Japan for the initial audience of Japanese viewers.

We use "anime" to distinguish between Japanese and anything-else visual and animated styles, even if "anime" simply refers to animation in general.

That's what I've always thought of as the definition of what makes Anime an anime. Cartoons like GI Joe and Thundercats may have been animated by a japanese company and have an Anime-style look to them due to this, but they're made by an american company with american writers and voice actors with the purpose of entertaining an american audience. To me, these shows are not Anime, despite how the art style may look. Shows like Transformers are kinda inbetween as the show itself was made for an American audience by americans but was done using characters from a Japan toy line with their blessing and even a little input of their own.