I like Digibro's take on the "is it anime?" question (though I have mixed feelings about his stuff in general). tldr, if it's made in by a Japanese company for a Japanese audience, it's anime. Otherwise, it's not. Also, the question is stupid, because "anime" is just a label and the show is what it is regardless of what you call it. Also also, Japanese fans have the same stupid argument and can't come to a conclusion either. Also also also, whether Transformers counts as anime or not is a riddle for the ages.
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.![]()
To be honest, I find the distinction rather meaningless. Anime as a medium is no different from animation elsewhere bar on a geographic level. And while common artistic choices are there, it encompasses several artstyles ranging from the angular style used in the 90s to the Puni Plush style common in Moe Shows to the Scenery Porn of Studio Ghibli's films to chibi to deliberate Off-Model.
As a label for a medium and artstyle it is oversimplification at best. Plus that shows like Hanazuki: Full of Treasures, Star Vs The Forces Of Evil, Ben 10 and of course RWBY itself often use the art styles and stylistic choices used in japan and that those styles can be traced to the Disney Ducks Comic Universe as much as they can be traced to to Astro Boy
edited 16th Mar '17 11:55:00 AM by MorningStar1337
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A problem with it being considered an anime because it avoids at least some of the pitfalls and conventions I know of in anime, but a problem with it not being an anime because it has a Japanese dubbing, a spin-off manga, figma, 4koma, and the only thing it really lacks is hentai dou... the only thing it really lacks is a Beach Episode.
So I guess I have a problem with both categories. Because I used to be able to take pride in the fact that a small company from Austin Texas was producing a "not-anime" that was actiony, but not an "anime anime." But now to deny calling it that, that would just be disingenous.
RWBY is the most anime non-anime that has ever existed. I demand it be given the excessive, but appropriate title of "stylish action drama with anime-like tendencies and themes."
But now realtalk.
That's how I feel about it. Except anime isn't just a label. It connotates a lot of stylistic choices and narrative themes. When people hear the word "anime" they don't think Bugs Bunny or Spongebob. When people hear "cartoon" they don't think Homura Akemi or Spirited Away.
And I'll refute this to the day I die.
Anime is extremely different from animation anywhere else. Moe Shows share a ton of common elements that are endlessly replicated within that genre and shows like it that you will rarely if ever find in a western production. Harems do not exist in Western cartoons.
It may all come from the same inspiration but that's like saying astrophysics is the same thing as astronomy, or that any branch of science is the same as every other branch because there's some overlap or because it's all derived from a desire to understand physical laws. No, there are distinct fields that focus on specific studies/aspects and we separate them into categories for convenience. The same is done with virtually everything else. Psychiatrists are not psychologists, Chryslers are not Rams, Mets are not Yankees, 12 inch subs are not 6 inch subs, etc
Shows like Panty and Stocking and RWBY are those rare cases when a typically Western/Eastern art style is used by the opposite geographical origin, but that doesn't prove that "all animation is the same and should be lumped into the same category. You will find far more animes that are technicolor copies of each other versus cartoons that borrow Eastern artstyles - you wouldn't need digibro's video on the stampede of moe light novel adaptions to see this, just go to Crunchyroll and see how many things look alike.
There are more than enough trends in the average anime that distinguish it from most everything we see in the States. It deserves it's own category. Dragonball Z should not be in the same category as Fairly Oddparents. And to rebel against this should also mean rebelling against the genres anime gives to itself - seinen, shounen, shojo-ai, BL, etc. Cartoons don't do this. We have cartoons like Sausage Party that get ratings sure, but Ren and Stimpy isn't distinguished from Invader Zim or Cat Dog. Completely different cultural mindset opposed to shows like Tiger and Bunny, Serial Experiments Lain, Yu Yu Hakusho, Eiken Club - all in their own categories because they each have something different about them.
The word absolutely has meaning to me - because if it wasn't there, then every time I went on Netflix and searched "Adventure" I'd probably find at least six anime with a similar title. Do you know how many search results come up when on any site when you type in "Princess, Battle, Demon, Magic, or Project?" A hell of a lot. And that is just terrible.
edited 16th Mar '17 12:27:12 PM by Soble
I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!
I admit I might be overtly technical when i said that there was no difference besides geography. And admittedly I forgot that there is more to it than just artstyle. I concede those points.
Actually I wonder if nothing else, could anime actually be considered more of "genre" than a medium. Or rather a Meta-genre like Speculative fiction?
edited 16th Mar '17 12:21:51 PM by MorningStar1337
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Yes! It is a genre!
It's a word that was taken heavily out of context and reinvented to suit modern purposes, granted, but it's commonly accepted as it's own genre whether or not it should. And I absolutely cannot fault it for that. My Netflix searches would be doomed otherwise.
It is a necessary evil.
I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!
I meant to say seasons of the year. For anime, you get lists like "Winter 2016 Anime", "Spring 2017 Anime" etc. But for Western Animation you just get a list of shows that appeared in the decade on This Very Wiki, and not much further than that.
Furthermore I also noticed that this coincides with a lack of known patterns in when premiers happen. In 1 year, you could have 3 Shows in the winter, 1 show in spring, 10 shows in the summer and 5 shows in the fall, but the next year could have 10 shows int he winter, 8 in spring, 2 in summer and 6 in fall.
Of course I think this might also have something to do with another meta-convention. If you can make a ratio of how many new anime gets made compared to new western animation shows, the former would outnumber the latter quite a bit. On the other hand while anime usually settles at 13 episodes unless you're a Shonen work or are popular enough for a renewal. Western animation shows tend to try to go 65 or higher, and some tend to get renewed even before the first episode was aired. (come to think of it a similar phenomenon seems to had been happening between shonen/action works and other categories of anime. With the former getting more episodes but less shows and the latter getting more shows with less episodes)
edited 16th Mar '17 1:46:45 PM by MorningStar1337
A definite minimum of 26 - 52 episodes....
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.Oh man, I just discovered the wonderful world of RWBY shipping
, thanks to Wukong and Neptune. I had no idea there's so much fanart out there! Every ship has its own name and everything, it's amazing! I wonder which one's the most popular, huh. The Bumblebee, most likely? It's the only one I've heard about before, anyway. I really like Seamonkeys and Arkos, myself. :3 Aah, I need to get up to speed with the story so I won't get spoiled.
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It's too late, RWBY stole my soul. I borderline hated this show at first, but I came to love it, despite all its faults. I'm not even halfway through the volume two yet and I'm already hooked, heh. I'm surprised I like it so much, really. I don't care all that much about fiction or anime, but there's something special about this series. It's kind of difficult to put a finger on it. Yeah, it's an amateurish, cliched series and it's defo no work of art, but it's great for what it is.
I guess they're trying very hard to make the series as accessible as possible. I'm gay and I'm really not interested in watching cute girls do cute things in cute outfits, but RWBY is not one of those shows, fortunately.
edited 17th Mar '17 8:29:21 AM by Mely
There's a moment we make a decision Not to cower and crash to the ground The moment we face our worst demons Our courage foundI ship everyone x everyone. Free love orgy
"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." TwitterAll of the above.
The only thing you need to know, now that you're in this deep, dearie... is that Bumblebee is life and the one true pairing.
Also, if you really, really want some good fanart, for some reason there's a stupid amount of amazing RWBY fanart on Pininterest. I've no idea why.
There's always this
◊ gem and the follow-up comic
◊.
You should probably look up Matt the Mammoth Rider
on tumblr if and when you have the chance.
edited 17th Mar '17 11:43:16 AM by Soble
I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!RWBY is like a fungus. It grows on you. Accept the brain fungus that is RWBY.
@Mely: So I see you found the spreadsheet. Fair warning, it contains spoilers. In the form of puns... Yeah, shipping in RWBY has gotten to the point where everyone is getting paired with everyone and everything. Usually the ship name is some form of pun.
edited 17th Mar '17 12:28:44 PM by WillDeRegio

Well, RWBY is listed in the anime sections on most sites aside from this one.
Plus: It was made by an Asian, clearly it's an anime.