I guess that's why the idea of being an "anime fan" has always puzzled me, if the definition of "anime" is all animation originating in Japan. It's kind of like calling yourself a fan of all movies produced in America. Sure, America might make a few good movies, but why on earth would you want to associate yourself with the bulk of them? It makes a lot more sense to me to be a fan of the art style than anything else.

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Yeah, I see what you mean. I try not to discriminate when it comes to where something was made; it just so happens that the Japanese attitude towards animation is different from in the West, and tends to yield better results. But I'm careful not to sound as if I like it just because of where it comes from. On the other hand, it doesn't all have a common art style, so I can't say "I like animation in that style". The best I can do is say "I like most of the Japanese animation that I've seen".

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I think it does matter that it comes from Japan since from the 30s and 40s Japanese society placed very different values on animated storytelling than the west where the industry was mostly being driven by family-centric Disney.

In the west animation became largely an entertainment product for children and has only recently and in the indie end of the industry begun to have that label challenged while in Japan animation has always been aimed at a wide range of demographics resulting in some pretty serious and heavy stuff that would only receive live-action film treatment in the west e.g. 'Paranoia Agent', 'Evangelion' and 'Gunslinger Girl' to randomly grab three examples off the shelf in front of me

Therefore country of origin is important to me though I would include 'Sky Blue' (Korea) and 'Last Airbender' (USA) as anime since they use that (all important) art style.

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"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

I agree that in Japan animation is not looked down upon as an art form for children, which allows anime to tackle more serious issues than animation in the West. I still don't think that justifies anime fandom. Just because anime can tackle serious subjects and occasionally has doesn't mean it's a defining characteristic of the medium. That's like saying American movies are really great because occasionally a thoughtful drama is made. Well yes, but you're misrepresenting the vast majority. It's undeniable that great animated works of art have come out of Japan. But do those reflect on anime as a whole? I'm not so sure.


Arren has a good point about a pretty wide variation in art style, although I do think there are a few unifying characteristic in most anime. Still, it makes more sense to me to be a fan of a particular art style than to be a fan of all the artwork produced within a particular country.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Saddletank

quote:

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Originally posted by husky51 'anime' has become the generic term for an animated film regardless of where it was made...

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Unless it's not made in Japan! I mean, Wallace and Gromit is animated and that's not 'anime'. *smirk*

What I think you meant to say was 'anime is the generic term for animated cartoons that use Japanese comic artistic styling regardless of where they are produced.'

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Yeah, what you said....YAY Wally and Grommy...

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I think we might be talking at cross purposes here. I was merely trying to relate some of the things that define anime, not suggesting they should be measured by those things.

While I am an 'anime fan' I am not a fan of all anime. To me the art style is one of the key things that defines anime but what dictates what I enjoy watching is the genre. I'll watch most high-school setting stories for example but almost all mecha-style anime leaves me completely cold.

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"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

What I enjoy is good anime. There are some genres and genre elements that intrigue me more than others, but really, it all comes down to how well-made and interesting it is. And in my view, the image of animation in Japan allows for a lot of anime to be well-made and interesting in comparison to elsewhere in the world.

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Avatar Last Airbender is awesome but why is it confused with James Cameron's movie? in fact deviantart made some amusing pictures of Aang and others as Na'vi.

Obviously just because of the name. In the early days of the development for Avatar (James Cameron) I was aware that the TV series was being made into a live-action movie, and at that time I did get quite confused.

But also the similar title offers good crossover potential, like the pictures you mentioned.

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