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How do you feel about anime being called a cartoon?

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AdeptusAlpharius Alpha Legionnaire from Bosnia and Herzegovina Since: Dec, 2010
Alpha Legionnaire
#26: Jul 9th 2011 at 2:36:04 PM

[up][up]"Because comics are kids stuff. Real men read graphic novels."

edited 9th Jul '11 2:36:27 PM by AdeptusAlpharius

I ♥ the VRS
EternalSeptember Since: Sep, 2010
#27: Jul 9th 2011 at 3:33:21 PM

[up][up][up][up] Afaik Graphic Novel is mostly used for things that have a beginning, middle, and end, (so it ends up being a novel-like final product) while comics is mostly used for infinite serials, but not everyone agrees with these definitions.

burnpsy Since: Sep, 2010
#28: Jul 9th 2011 at 3:43:01 PM

...from what I heard, Japanese people do the inverse all the time.

So, should anyone really care?

Nyarly Das kann doch nicht sein! from Saksa Since: Feb, 2012
Das kann doch nicht sein!
#29: Jul 9th 2011 at 4:03:51 PM

[up] The biggest doujinshi fair is called "Comic Market". Granted, it's always abbreviated as "Comiket", but still.

People aren't as awful as the internet makes them out to be.
jayday12345678910 Since: Nov, 2010
#30: Jul 9th 2011 at 4:08:47 PM

Wow you people are way more sensible than other forums.

....Why
YamiiDenryuu Since: Jan, 2010
#31: Jul 9th 2011 at 4:33:49 PM

You know, I don't think I've ever actually seen anyone call anime "cartoons", and if I have it didn't get to me enough that I remembered it.

But yeah, given that they are cartoons, just from another country, I don't really care. Unless it's being used in a derogatory manner. So basically, what everyone else has said. :P

BrightBlueInk It's all a conspiracy. from Colorado, USA Since: Jan, 2001
It's all a conspiracy.
#32: Jul 9th 2011 at 4:50:51 PM

Pretty much agreeing with everyone here. They are cartoons. The only times it really worries me is (1) when people use the word "cartoon" to automatically mean "bad" or "immature" (and usually I'm bothered by that more because I'm a fan of western animation, too) or (2) when people think that since anime is a "cartoon" it should always be OK for children and I have to quickly set them straight.

Otherwise, yeah. It doesn't matter too much.

Current project: Cleaning up the Chrono Crusade examples one at a time. God help me.
Jewbacabra Batmanchu from San Francisco, CA Since: Jul, 2011
Batmanchu
#33: Jul 9th 2011 at 5:49:33 PM

[up]What he said.

When it's used to put down the anime on the basis of it being a cartoon, I usually stop talking to the person responsible for the accusation.

Idiots don't get my time.

Otherwise, this discussion is wasted energy [lol]

Two Wong's don't make a white.
Nika-senpai The Golden Girl from Mitakihara Since: Nov, 2009
The Golden Girl
#35: Jul 9th 2011 at 8:36:44 PM

Generally, for the sake of clarity, I refer to Japanese cartoons as anime and Western cartoons as cartoons, and I find that the general public conveniently tends to make the same distinction.

But if someone calls an anime a cartoon, I just don`t care. That is what they are after all.

Shine
ThirtyH Since: Jun, 2011
SebastianGray (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#37: Jul 10th 2011 at 1:52:34 AM

I dislike it when anime is called cartoons but then I also dislike it when Western Animation is called cartoons as well. For some strange reason I have always hated words beginning with c.

Sporkaganza I'm glasses. Since: May, 2009
I'm glasses.
#38: Jul 10th 2011 at 1:53:07 AM

Even "cookie"? Why, it's good enough for me!

Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember them, you are not alone.
SebastianGray (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Ever9 from Europe Since: Jul, 2011
#40: Jul 10th 2011 at 3:21:46 AM

The problem is that, based on my experiences, almost anyone who is aware of what anime are, and still chooses to call them "cartoons" instead, intentionally puts that kind of negative edge to it.

I mean, when my grandma sees something on my screen, and calls it a cartoon, it's obvious that she isn't trying to provoke me, she is just describing it with the best vocabulary she has (technically, she is even correct). But when a 20-something friend says "Dude, you watch Japanese cartoons", he doesn't even need to continue the sentence, you can reasonably predict that he intentionally chose that term over the more precise "anime" to imply how childish you are, and not just based on the technical definition of the term.

There might be rare exceptions, who appear to be knowledgeable about these subtleties while they honestly aren't, but generally it is clear when a word is used with an edge.

edited 10th Jul '11 4:59:52 AM by Ever9

Nyarly Das kann doch nicht sein! from Saksa Since: Feb, 2012
Das kann doch nicht sein!
#41: Jul 10th 2011 at 3:38:45 AM

Of course, using the term "cartoon" in a derogatory way is pretty wrong in itself.

People aren't as awful as the internet makes them out to be.
Nyktos (srahc 84) eltit Since: Jan, 2001
(srahc 84) eltit
#42: Jul 10th 2011 at 3:49:35 AM

Well, the word "cartoon" makes me think of Looney Tunes and such, so it seems wrong to apply it to Cowboy Bebop or whatever, but I don't really care if people do. The only time I ever refer to anime is cartoons is when I'm making fun of it.

Do note that I don't use the word "cartoon" a whole hell of a lot when talking about western animation either.

edited 10th Jul '11 3:50:55 AM by Nyktos

I guess it is.
GearLeader from Dota Hell Since: Mar, 2011 Relationship Status: Married to the job
#43: Jul 10th 2011 at 4:22:09 AM

It depends, but most of the time I don't care.

[up] Now Bebop is something i would have to clarify as an anime..

edited 10th Jul '11 4:24:00 AM by GearLeader

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXkI1sTDoEg
Kayeka (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#44: Jul 10th 2011 at 5:03:24 AM

Now, according to the dictionary, anime is cartoons. However, when most people talk about cartoons, they think more Tom&Jerry, and less Madoka Magica. So yeah, I guess it bugs me when people ask me why a man in his twenties would spend his time watching cartoons.

It is not so much the word itself, but the implications it brings when people that don't know their stuff talk about it.

AikoHeiwa I AM NOT A TREE from Aikoland Since: Feb, 2011
I AM NOT A TREE
#46: Jul 10th 2011 at 7:54:46 AM

Well, with me, when I say "cartoon", I mean western animation and when I say "anime", I mean Japanese animation.

Then you've got the whole connotation of how western animations tends to be all silly and what not. I'm not saying all western animation is silly and all Japanese animation is serious, it's just, you ask an average person to describe a cartoon, and they'll describe something like Looney Tunes or Sponge Bob or The Simpsons

NO TREE FOR ME (ALSO LOVES HER BOYFRIEND)
LiberatedLiberater 奇跡の魔女 from [DATA EXPUNGED] Since: Jun, 2011
奇跡の魔女
#47: Jul 10th 2011 at 8:22:32 AM

Words change meaning when they cross boundaries, I guess. It's not an issue of semantics, it's an issue of cultural attachments. While it's true that there are more "mature" Western cartoons, the word "cartoon" itself has a connotation of childishness, whereas "anime" loses that connotation.

While there are some anime that I could call "cartoons", there are just some anime which you would feel weird about calling it a "cartoon".

MAL || vndb || Blog
ThatHuman someone from someplace Since: Jun, 2010
someone
#48: Jul 10th 2011 at 8:30:08 AM

I dunno. I think most people would usually try to make a distinction between Japanese and Western animation anyway, so I don't think this issue actually comes up often enough for me to form an opinion of it.

something
Sackett Since: Jan, 2001
#49: Jul 10th 2011 at 10:18:47 AM

Isn't anime cartoons?

I thought that was what anime was.

TacoWiz title from location Since: Jul, 2009
title
#50: Jul 10th 2011 at 10:35:46 AM

How DARE you suggest anime is animated! If it's good, it can't be animated! And since I consider anime to be good, it CANNOT BE ANIMATED!

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