Can Americans Make Anime?

[Skillswords]

One thing The Legend of Korra has that anime has in spades.... A lackluster/rushed ending.

*sigh

Here's hoping the second part is better!

The show is great, don't get me wrong, but overall I don't really care if it isn't considered 'anime'.

a friend of mine showed me this photo and i dont know embedding on this site

http://i.imgur.com/vtsjW.png

 

[5ilver]

I don't like anime but I gotta say, that poster looks incredibly sexual/sexy. A lot more than if she was just in her underwear or naked. Idk why.

 

[Baldr]

What I like about Japanese animation is that it reflects usually Japanese sensibilities. American animation can look similar, but doesn't even come close to Japanese animation because it does not reflect the the sensibilities because of the cultural differences between the makers.
It may be subtle, but when watching the differences puts it out of place.

 

[Sneaklemming]

There is an awful lot of good south korean animated shows and films which are certainly considered as anime. Let's not pretend that it's a Japanese monopoly. However there is a certain bias when talking about "western" produced art and motion animation. There is a perception that western art is always bad.

 

[MrFalconfly]

snip

As you said "to us westerners".

That disqualifies the whole argument from the start. and wether it was legally protected or not wasn't my argument. My argument was that the creators themselves don't use it (unlike any other style or genre or whatever the hell you want to say "Anime" is besides just a word used by japanese people for animation in general).

I couldn't give two shits about what a westerner thinks or calls something if it isn't the proper nomenclature. "Anime" as a term is basically just fanon taken to the most absurd extreme (ONLY western fans use it).

 

[hentropy]

It's just a designation. Some may use it as a way to slight or trivialize American cartoons done in anime style, but in the end the Legend of Korra is fundamentally no different than Spongebob Squarepants in terms of designation. It's an American cartoon. There's nothing wrong with that. Calling it anime just confuses things. You can call it anime-style or whatever, but it's not anime. Whether or not Korean or Chinese cartoons should be designated "anime", now THAT'S a real debate.

 

[Arina Love]

English people struggle even to dub anime and Japanese games properly. 7 years watching anime i've yet to see a dub that as good as original. There is no way you will get good result out of English produced anime.

 

[Mumorpuger]

Yes. And it's likely I won't find it that good, or just annoying in general.

 

[DeltaEdge]

I tend to define anime by the origin of the animation (Japan) rather than the style, so I don't agree with identifying Korra as anime, but at the same time, I think that Korra is much better than most anime and I almost find it insulting that anime is used as the benchmark by some and say something is good enough to be an anime, when that something might be much better than most anime. In conclusion, no Americans (or anyone else for that matter) cannot make anime, but they can sure as hell make something of equal or greater value than many anime, or in this case, Korra.

 

[Norix596]

Very interesting discussion - also, woah! new Escapist interface style.

 

[maninahat]

snip

As you said "to us westerners".

That disqualifies the whole argument from the start. and wether it was legally protected or not wasn't my argument. My argument was that the creators themselves don't use it (unlike any other style or genre or whatever the hell you want to say "Anime" is besides just a word used by japanese people for animation in general).

I couldn't give two shits about what a westerner thinks or calls something if it isn't the proper nomenclature. "Anime" as a term is basically just fanon taken to the most absurd extreme (ONLY western fans use it).

I don't see how it invalidates the argument at all. Firstly, the Japanese use of the word "anime" does not invalidate our use of the word in this discussion. In this discussion, anime clearly means "Japanese cartoon"; which is the typical western definition. Secondly, arguing about the word itself does not defeat my argument. The argument is, in other words, "Can anyone outside of Japan make Japanese cartoons? No, because they aren't from Japan. At best, they can make cartoons look Japanese."

 

[Tono Makt]

Is Korra Anime?

Erm.

Part of what makes Anime Anime to me is that it is a story told from a Japanese point of view, or aimed primarily at a Japanese audience. I like watching some Anime and not having a clue what is really going on because I don't have the same cultural knowledge as I do with North America.

So to me, Korra and Avatar aren't Anime. This isn't a statement of quality for the shows, nor a statement of worth - they're a few steps above some of the Anime that's been released in North America in the last few years, but just because I think the quality is better doesn't mean I think it's Anime.

 

[Fifty-One]

Yes they can!*

*As long as they don't actually call it 'Anime.'

 

[Ukomba]

Which answer keeps M. Night Shyamalan from making another movie?

 

[TheScientificIssole]

Can Americans Make Anime?

I've watched Avatar and Legend of Korra


Short answer: Yes

I don't think that Legend of Korra is anime. Its style doesn't resemble anime that much. Some characters are anime-ish but most characters are more western animation-y. I'd also say that it grabs more inspiration from Chinese designs than Japanese animation. Like the towns seem inspired by a early 20Th century Chinese city.

 

[Navvan]

The only reason I think many fans of anime are so adamant about the whole "Anime is from Japan" thing is because a lot of us have heard the whole "Oh you watch those Japanese Cartoons" with the implication that cartoons are inherently for children. Personally I see all animation as just that, animation. I don't care where its from only whether or not I find it entertaining. I think most fans of "Anime" have similar thoughts.

The only other thing I will mention is that the west is lagging in terms of filling multiple branches of genre with animation when compared to the east.

 

[Traun]

You know, america has been producing cartoons for nearly a century now, I have no idea where you're going with this.

 

[Paragon Fury]

Anime comes from Japan.

Everywhere else its called a "cartoon". Said cartoon may be heavily influenced by Anime, but its still a cartoon.

Also, no article/thread that mentions Legend of Korra is complete unless it contains Asami. This thread does not, I shall rectify this.

Spoiler

There, now we have a picture of Asami in all her glory.

 

[MrFalconfly]

snip

As you said "to us westerners".

That disqualifies the whole argument from the start. and wether it was legally protected or not wasn't my argument. My argument was that the creators themselves don't use it (unlike any other style or genre or whatever the hell you want to say "Anime" is besides just a word used by japanese people for animation in general).

I couldn't give two shits about what a westerner thinks or calls something if it isn't the proper nomenclature. "Anime" as a term is basically just fanon taken to the most absurd extreme (ONLY western fans use it).

I don't see how it invalidates the argument at all. Firstly, the Japanese use of the word "anime" does not invalidate our use of the word in this discussion. In this discussion, anime clearly means "Japanese cartoon"; which is the typical western definition. Secondly, arguing about the word itself does not defeat my argument. The argument is, in other words, "Can anyone outside of Japan make Japanese cartoons? No, because they aren't from Japan. At best, they can make cartoons look Japanese."

Then why not call it a JToon (just like gamers usually say something is a JRPG one could say something is a JToon)?!? Same meaning (if not a more understandable one as it means Japanese Cartoon). Why use a foreign word which doesn't even have the sought after meaning?!?

If the creators used the word you might have had a case but as it stands anime is at most a term used to describe a distinct visual style (which means that YES. Anime's can be made by an American, or a European, or an African if they so wish).

 

[medv4380]

i think there's a stigma around western animation that comes largely from trying to capitalize on the success of Japanese animation. For every successful show you named there are 2 crap fests that we'd all rather forget. Looking back to the late 90's after the booming success of Poke'mon that brought anime mainstream, there were several shows that tried the formula and few made cut. That was when people actually began to check where it was made. America's knockoffs were instantly dismissed and the anime purists became a thing. The term Western anime still carries a stigma from that time despite the successes since then. It's basically a waiting game.

Eventually (hopefully), we'll get past this and just look for good shows.

You do realize that most of those "Nock-off" shows were probably Japanese in origin. Since you didn't meantion the "nock-offs" I'll just assume

Monster Rancher - Japanese
Fighting Foodons - Japanese
Digimon - Japanese
Magi-Nation - Canadian but not from the 90's it's only from the last 10 years
Medabots - Japanese
Bakugan Battle Brawlers - Japanese

Now if you want to find something that supports your premise then you have to go back to the 80s

Robotech - 3 Different Japanese anime Rewritten(they didn't know Japanese) and Re-Cut to make 1 series.
Transformers - Clearly influenced by Gundam and other Giant Robot Anime at the time
ThunderCats - CoDeveloped in America and Japan Rankin Bass Did a lot of work with Japanese Animation studios.

So just what are you calling American Pokemon/Anime Ripoffs?

If you call Monster Rancher, Fighting Foodons, Medabots, Digimon, or Bakugan "Western Anime" then you need to learn to read the back of those boxes better.