I did this project for my 8th grade English class. In it, we had this big final (dubbed the I-search) where we had to choose a subject, ask 4 questions about that subject, and then write an essay answering that question (which means 4 essays in total). This was done in a 3 month period, and basically took up almost all of the 4th quarter to finish. I actually didn’t even have to type much, but whatever.
Anyways, naturally, my topic was anime. Information was hard to find (or maybe I’m too much of an overachiever) for certain subjects, but I pulled through in the end. Got a B+ on this whole thing (the irony is that I was only a few points away from an A-, and me being the generic asian I am, I pretty much raged), so I passed the class with flying colors. I felt like I typed waaaay too much though, but at least I know a lot about the anime industry. This first essay will cover this topic:
How are Japanese and American Cartoons Different?
Now, this might seem like a no brainer, but it's more than meets the eye.
The word “anime” is derived from the English word “animation.” That is what anime is; it is animation from Japan, or, in other words, Japanese cartoons. However, this does not mean that anime is basically the same as American cartoons. On the contrary, anime is drastically different from American cartoons, and different from any other medium anywhere. Almost nothing can replicate the standard that anime has kept for a long time. It has even grown to become one of the strongest mediums in Japan. If nothing can replicate it, then the question is how is Japanese anime and American cartoons different? Anime can be defined from cartoons by 3 things: the age range and the complexity of plot, the cultural and religious differences, and the content that is shown.
First, American cartoons and Japanese anime are different by plot. In American cartoons, the audience is usually for children and stick to humor, with no central plot at all.. However, anime is different. “Anime tends to be more serious in nature. Not that they aren’t humorous, as many serious anime often contain jokes, but they tend to focus more on a defined plot and deeper thought” (Japanese Anime vs. American Cartoons par. 5). Since many American cartoons usually take the “episodic approach,” self-contained stories inside one episode, there is usually no central plot to drive a series as anime has. There really isn’t any story and character development, so the lack of depth usually makes it labeled as “childish” or “immature,” which is why most adults have a bias towards cartoons; it is because cartoons only have simplicity and it doesn’t have the scale of a big-budget live-action film. There is also the age range cartoons and anime try to target. In America, cartoons are usually geared towards children, with the exception of adult humor shows such as Family Guy and The Simpsons (“Japanese vs. American Animation” par. 3-5). However, in Japan anime is geared towards all ages, from children to adults, with a wide range of anime to choose from (“Japanese vs. American Animation” par. 8). However, mostly anime is geared towards teens. The simplicity of the plots of cartoons allows the children to understand it more and enjoy it more, while the complexity of anime allows all ages, especially teens and adults, to enjoy anime, creating a significant target for each group.
There is also the conflicts in the plots. In cartoons, there is always a “good vs. evil” - one side is always right, and one side is always wrong (“Japanese vs. American Animation” par. 7) However, in anime, there is no “good vs evil.” Mostly, the conflict is between 2 sides that can be considered neither good nor evil (“Japanese vs. American Animation” par. 14). This is because cartoons are aimed at children, therefore they need simplified plots for children to enjoy or understand what is going on. However, since anime is more plot-focused, it can go into deep moral conflicts. This can also be because of the genre. Typically, cartoons are focused towards comedy and, in rare cases, action, and anime focuses more on plots. Because of this, anime is able to go into deeper situations and deeper morals, while can appease Japanese teens and adults, while cartoons can be watched no matter what your age is, with the simplified and episodic plot. The deeper plots are usually seen in America as movies, and not cartoons.
Second, anime and cartoons can be defined by the cultural and religious differences. Since anime is geared towards Japanese watchers, and cartoons are geared towards American watchers, they are both distinctly the same because of the different cultural references each respective cartoon or anime has. For example, “American animation has always been rife with anthropomorphic talking animals, but these are unusual at best in anime and when they are present they are typically represented as gods, demons, spirits, or magical creatures - all of which abound in anime but are much rarer in American animation“ (“ANIME AND MANGA: AN INTRODUCTION” par. 16). This is done because of cultural differences. American children probably grew up reading picture books or having a pet so the average American child would feel more comfortable with talking animals rather than humans, just because of the content in the picture books, and that animals are supposedly friendly. However, that might not be the same for the average Japanese child, since they grow up with different religions and different folktales than American children, so their perspective of “child friendly” would be “god, demons, spirits” and such, probably because of religious differences, as stated in the next evidence. “Shinto can best be described as a disorganized religion, where there is no single God, but many stories of extraordinary people and things that are worshipped as deities. Where Judeo-Christian values strongly discourage (putting it lightly) homosexual relations and out-of-wedlock pregnancies, the only common moral code in Shinto is cleanliness. Japanese society is far more liberal in terms of censorship and social attitudes than American society” (“Japanese vs. American Animation” par. 9). This shows that religion can change the content of the show, or can be built up with a specific religion in mind, even though that religion might not be believed by everyone. This means that, unlike America’s religion, Judeo-Christianity, Japan’s religion, Shinto, has no bias towards homosexuals and transgenders, and so they could put it into anime. This makes anime unique, because mostly the homosexuals found in cartoons are mostly for homosexual jokes, such as in
shows like Family Guy. If Shinto had a bias towards homosexuals and transgenders like Judeo-Christianity had, then the content would probably be the same character-wise: mostly all heterosexual characters. Also, Japan being far more liberal means they could have more freedom with a work, so an anime production studio could produce a better anime in terms of story and character, while a cartoon studio is more limited in what it can do because of the age they are targeting (usually children or adults) and Judeo-Christian beliefs, as stated in the above evidence. This could also be one reason why cartoons are usually targeted towards children and anime is targeted towards all ages; the former, because of the limited freedom, and the latter because of the freedom to produce anything they want without limits. Another thing that is limited because of culture and religion is death. According to the article, “Japanese vs American Animation,” it states, “This is because death is honorable in Shinto, especially if there is a noble cause in one's death. An example of this would be the kamikaze pilots of World War II, whose sacrifice was deemed honorable in that they were attempting to take out more of the enemy in such a maneuver. The Western feeling in society, however, was that death was to be avoided at all costs, and has therefore become a "taboo" subject in our media” (par. 11). Since it is a religious belief that one’s death is honorable in Shinto, Japanese are not very fazed by it, since most people believe it and accept it wholeheartedly. If the same were true for
Judeo-Christianity, then cartoons would probably be slightly different: they might kill off
some characters, but not many, since most cartoons are aimed towards children and
therefore needs some child-friendly content - usually things that avoid violence and promote life skills towards children. The presence of death might be also be because Japan is not as dangerous and cautious with their children as America. Using death in cartoons might scare children to death, because of the presence of death in Christianity, with Heaven and Hell, and also not to mentally scar the children, since they are not used to death being a good thing - something Japanese children are used to.
Finally, anime and cartoons are different because of the content that is shown. According to the article, “ANIME AND MANGA:AN INTRODUCTION,” “Bloodshed, decapitations, and dismemberment are all rare in American animation – and certainly would never be seen in animation aimed towards children – but mild amounts can appear even in family-oriented anime. In action-oriented anime titles intended for more mature audiences, the graphic violence, bloodshed, and gore can reach extremes beyond even those seen in the messiest American slasher films” (par. 11). This is probably because of, cultural differences between America and Japan, as explained above. Furthermore, bloodshed can be there to move the plot more (for example a cut on a kid’s hand starts to bleed and then is taken to the hospital), and since usually anime is more plot-focused than cartoons, it is no wonder why anime has more blood than cartoons. Also, sexuality isn’t taken to account either. “Other variations on sexuality exist in anime that you will never see in American animation, such as transgender characters” and “Although not pervasive, homosexuality is not uncommon in regular anime titles, and anime titles which focus specifically on homosexual content even have their own genres; yaoi and shonen ai are terms used by American fans to refer to titles with overt male homosexual content (whether eroticism is involved or not determines which term is used), while yuri refers to anime or manga titles containing overt lesbian content”(“ANIME AND MANGA:AN INTRODUCTION” par. 12). Also, stereotypical biases can change the content, which is surprising considering that some people might be offended by these stereotypes. Since America is diverse, they
usually avoid stereotypes. However, Japan’s population is mostly Japanese, so they have no problem playing with stereotypes since probably no one will be affected by it. Another
thing to note is that songs is more prevalent in cartoons than in anime.
Anime features are almost never musicals, whereas a good chunk of American animated features are. Even American animated features that aren’t musicals have a tendency to pause once or twice during the movie so that its characters can sing a song. (Toy Story 2 is a particular example.) In anime, songs included in the series or feature are usually either a part of the musical score itself or fully integrated into the storyline (“ANIME AND MANGA: AN INTRODUCTION” par. 15).
The songs in anime are only there to add emotion into scenes because it is part of the soundtrack, or it is just an opening animation where the credits go, whereas songs in cartoons are full-out singing. The musicals in cartoons may contribute to the “childish” nature of cartoons, because of the songs that are sung, while the songs in anime might contribute to the overall atmosphere of the anime, giving it more emotional impact since it’s probably integrated into the plot.
Generally speaking, anime and cartoons are different in many ways. Anime is more focused on plot, and can go into deep morals, while cartoons are more simplified and focuses on comedy. The cultural and religious differences between Japan and America creates a difference between anime and cartoons, like the presence of death in anime. The content that is shown is different as well. Violence and sexuality is seen more in anime because of cultural differences, while musicals are seen more in cartoons because of the simplified storyline. Even though cartoons and anime are both types of animation, anime and cartoons are drastically different from each other. Next, we will be discussing the process of dubbing an anime.
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