What shows qualify as "American anime"?

[rocklobster]

I was watching the audio commentary on the Gargoyles Season One DVD when one of the people said that a fan told him he considered the show "American anime". What other series or movies do you think qualify and why? Here's my list:

• Gummi Bears
• Batman the Animated Series
• Justice League
• Thundercats
• Pirates of Dark Water
• Transformers and Transformers Beast Wars
• The Iron Giant
• Simpsons (especially since it even has fan service)
• The Last Unicorn
• Watership Down (excellent adaptation of the book)
• Fantasia
• Spider-man the Animated Series

[Roy Mustang]

Exo_Squad
X-Men Animated Series
IA


Wingzero22

[Hitokiri]

I don't think Simpsons could even be considered "american anime". It's not the content which makes a anime but the style of it.

Teen Titans defiently.
That new He-Man show
Invader Zim possibly.

Oh and isn't Thundercats actually anime?

[Jasdero]

Heh.. maybe Teen Titans?

Edit: Okay.. according to Hitokiri.. it is.. XD;;;

• Watership Down (excellent adaptation of the book)

O.O I watched that movie when I was about 8.. It scared me like no other... But now.. I want to see it again and find out why I was scared of it... or maybe not.. <.< >.>

[agasfas]

Captain Planet... "Go Planet!"
*remembers the ending theme song*
"Captain planet, he's our hero. Going to take pollution down to zero..." Okay nevermind

Teen Titans
Static shock
Justic League
Family guy
Futurama
(the list goes on and on...)

[Hitokiri]

Disney could be considered "american anime" as well. Like Mulan (awesome movie by the way).

[Sam*ron]

Well, doesn't anime mean "Japanese Cartoons"? And we call ours cartoons...

But anyway..

[Hitokiri]

Well, doesn't anime mean "Japanese Cartoons"? And we call ours cartoons...

But anyway..

Yes in a way but it's also a type of style developed from Japan. For instance teen Titans uses alot of the anime-esque elements and style however made in the U.S. Technically, it can be considered anime even though not made in Japan.

Another series is "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust" which (correct me if I'm wrong) was in made in the US however is considered anime.

[Roy Mustang]

Oh and isn't Thundercats actually anime?

I know that Thundercats artwork was done in Korea as so was GI Joe.

Transformers is actually anime (or I thougt it was), but not sure about Thundercats.


Wingzero22

[Hitokiri]

Talking bout Thundercats, I'm wearing a Thundercat T-shirt with the lion amblem on it

[Mangafanatic]

American Anime!? That's blasphemy! Blasphemy I tell you!

J/k. I don't. Alot of poeple would say teen titans. But as my above statement would indicate-- I try to never attribute the word anime to any American born entertainment.

[Maledicte]

HOw about Jackie Chan adventures? I dunno...

[uc pseudonym]

We cannot hope to qualify any series as such unless we first specify what exactly "American anime" means. A show that uses many elements commonly used in anime? The term itself is meaningless, in that it combines two languages without any real purpose. "Anime" itself merely implies animated content, so if we ignore the base word all American animated series are "American anime."

[Arnobius]

I don't think that there is, properly speaking, American anime. More properly, you can have Japanese-inspired animation/comics. I'd be happy if more American programming stopped doing the status quo episode endings (everything goes back to normal at the end), quit worrying about appearances/style and started putting more emphasis on story and acting.

I think it's unfortunate that there is little innovation in American programming. Somebody comes out with a talented original hit and the result seems to be that everyone tries to copy that instead of realize that it's the fact that it's original and talented that made it succeed. I think with American cartoons they're trying to imitate the style of Japanese animation instead of the substance.

...of course I've just become hooked on Gundam Seed, so the quality of that one is probably making me forget that there's a lot of mediocre anime out there too

[ZiP]

I agree with the Heretic,
anime is

A style of animation developed in Japan, characterized by stylized colorful art...

So it can't be American.

[Ingemar]

Technically, no animated show/flick can be classified as "anime" unless it is Japanese. So, to the dismay of many "mature" fans, Pokemon is indeed anime.

[Straylight]

Technically, no animated show/flick can be classified as "anime" unless it is Japanese.

I'm inclined to agree with you there

[Mave]

Technically, no animated show/flick can be classified as "anime" unless it is Japanese. So, to the dismay of many "mature" fans, Pokemon is indeed anime.

Yup, preach it brother!

Same goes for "American manga", for whatever that means.

[Mangafanatic]

Yup, preach it brother!

Same goes for "American manga", for whatever that means.

Yeah, I'm just a tiny-tiny-bit upset with Tokyopop for promoting such foolishness. American manga. Hmph!

[Arnobius]

Yeah, I'm just a tiny-tiny-bit upset with Tokyopop for promoting such foolishness. American manga. Hmph!

Maybe if they just called it "anime/manga inspired," that would be no problem. I don't have a problem with people who like it and want to try their had at their own, but they seem to start with the misconception that anime/manga means "more mature content."

[Kenshin17]

American Anime!? That's blasphemy! Blasphemy I tell you!

J/k. I don't. Alot of poeple would say teen titans. But as my above statement would indicate-- I try to never attribute the word anime to any American born entertainment.

I agree with Mangafanatic. Anime in the definition of the word means Japanese animation. Therefore it cannot be used when refuring to American animation.

I pretty much agree with the lists posted above, as to what is American animation made to appear as anime

[ashfire]

How about a Japanese anime created just for American audiences and then returns to Japan for audiences there or for both at the same time?

[Arnobius]

Seems to me it's technically still anime, in that it's animation made in Japan. Anime is different to us, because we didn't grow up with that culture and outlook, but I don't think this means the content itself defines anime.

[Ingemar]

How about a Japanese anime created just for American audiences and then returns to Japan for audiences there or for both at the same time?

That reminds me of Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust. It was made by a Japanese staff, but initially voiced over only in English.

The guy who played H.M. Murdock in The A-Team was on it.

[Arnobius]

That reminds me of Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust. It was made by a Japanese staff, but initially voiced over only in English.

The guy who played H.M. Murdock in The A-Team was on it.

Ah, yes I remember that one. It's a good way to torture a purist (like me) by asking: "Do you want to watch it in the Original English or the Japanese dub..." (stupid emoticons not working for some reason, so imagine a :sweat here...)

[uc pseudonym]

I have been severely tempted to create, directly beside this thread, another thread entitled "What shows qualify as "Japanese cartoons"?" but that would be very pointless and only asking for spam. Still, I think it is an amusing concept to pursue. Cultural exchange goes both ways...

[rocklobster]

What I meant was cartoons that aren't anime but come awfully close to achieving the quality we love so much in MOST anime ( I did say most! I know some stink, like FLCL:bang:.).

[Kura Ookami]

I have been severely tempted to create, directly beside this thread, another thread entitled "What shows qualify as "Japanese cartoons"?" but that would be very pointless and only asking for spam. Still, I think it is an amusing concept to pursue. Cultural exchange goes both ways...

Agreed.

You're asking what is american anime. The opposite question essentially would be "what are Japanese cartoons?"

What I meant was cartoons that aren't anime but come awfully close to achieving the quality we love so much in MOST anime ( I did say most! I know some stink, like FLCL.).

Kinda raises the question. "What is anime?" doesnt it?

Besides if you want american made anime essentially if anime is just Japanese cartoons no cartoon made in america is an anime so american anime can't exist.

All you get is american cartoons copying the anime style.

What do we love in most anime is another question that comes up as well. Most people say storyline and characters. Then an american movie could be american anime despite not even being a cartoon.

No american cartoon has come close to the storyline and characters of japanese cartoons therefore no american cartoons are american anime. in my view.

[uc pseudonym]

Quite a few people are pretty harsh on American comics, and I think that (by large) this is somewhat unfair. Writers and artists, American and Japanese, are only and no less than human. There are good writers, there are bad writers. Good anime, bad anime; good cartoons, bad cartoons.

If you wish to criticize American comics/cartoons, ask yourself a question: can you name many American series other than the primary superhero stories? If you can't, then I feel you do not have the right to criticize the medium, as you aren't really familiar with. This is perhaps a bit worse, but that is similar to assuming every anime is like Dragonball Z.

Have any of you ever read Watchmen? It is an American comic book, but you will note that I treated the title like a novel, because I feel it is just that: a graphic novel. The general balance, serious look at life and characterization within it have never really been rivaled by any Japanese anime I have seen. [Do I claim that it is unrivaled by any Japenese anime? Certainly not. I imagine it has its counterparts, but these have probably not been brought to America, or at the very least I am not familiar with them.]

[Arnobius]

I remember Watchman from when I was in college. A lot of depth to it. I remember a roommate of mine from Taiwan who had experience with manga asked to borrow it. Afterwards, he said he didn't understand it, partially due to the language barrier and partly because of the complexity of the story (all those little notes things at the end of each chapter were filled with clues ). [BTW, it didn't start as a graphic novel. Back around '85 or 86, it was an actual comic book, running for 12 issues].

As for other non-Japanese things that were good:
Maus was a good graphic novel. I don't know if it's still in print or not. The first volume of Persepolis was good too. There's one called Blacksaad that looked interesting, but didn't want to spend so much money on something so thin. I always liked the old Belgian "Tintin" series even after all these years. The French "Asterix" was pretty good too. Dark Knight Returns was rather disturbing. I didn't like a lot of the story, but I thought it was fascinating with the implication that Batman was as crazy as the villains he fought.

On the other hand, the number of enduring western series are small. Most of them were long forgotten (How many people remember "Killing Joke"?).