Differences between Anime and Cartoon

As I said in previous post, there are bunch of people that don’t know what anime is, in addition, due to animes are being presented in animated form, so most of them think that anime are equal to cartoon…

 

Anime VS Cartoon

Cartoon VS Anime

“Cartoon” is a term that once referred to fine art during the renaissance period. Somehow, the term’s meaning evolved into the Cartoons which are animated TV programs meant to entertain people, mostly children.

“Anime” is a term used by the Japanese to refer to animations. Somehow, the world started using the term, “Anime”, in reference to Japanese animation exclusively. Japanese animation was once called “Japanimation”, but this term was discarded when the term ‘Anime’ was put into use.

Some say that they see absolutely no difference between the two. Some even classify both cartoons and anime as “childish” because they are both animations.

Technically, there’s no official “laws” to prove the difference, but you only have to watch a single episode of any anime series and you’ll see that anime is far more than your usual stupid comedy man-tripping-on-a-banana-peal cartoons. There is a HUGE difference gap between the two besides their spellings: Anime is so much more than ‘just a cartoon’.

Story/Plot

Cartoons usually have a simple and defined plot. And they’re usually about the good guys fighting the bad guys. Cartoons rarely go beyond that border.

Most Anime series, on the other hand, are also about the same, good vs. evil, but the plots are rarely simple and rarely predictable.

You’ll find an element of politics, religion, humanity, and a score of several other abstract concepts within an anime. Whereas cartoons are just about ‘evil’ cats chasing ‘innocent’ mice or a hero defending himself and others from a very evil bully.

Anime can blur the lines between good and evil so much that you’ll be left wondering which side is really right. Look at the plot of Gundam, there aren’t any good guys or bad guys. They’re both fighting for a worthy one, and both sides are prepared to do good and evil to achieve their goals.

However, there are few exceptions to the ‘cartoons are simple’ rule. There are cartoon series that are far advanced like X-men and etc.

In terms of humor, anime goes beyond the stupid comedy that cartoons offer. There won’t be any corny joke about the chicken crossing the road and tripped by a banana peal.

Anime humor is deep and witty. However, it is to be noted that cartoons are mostly for kids. Anime can be for an adult audience, actually it is… HUNDRED times that some anime plots are HARDLY suited for children.

But, there is some animes which are made for children, such as Doraemon.

Characters

In cartoons, there’s a protagonist, an antagonist, and bunch-o supportive characters. Their roles are well-defined and clear and the characters always act according to their roles.

In anime, however, a small supportive character may very well become the antagonist, leaving the protagonist in distress. There’s no knowing what to expect in anime. Anime characters, a lot of times, are developing overtime through trials and growth, while cartoon characters remain the same from when the show started. (I don’t think Mickey has grown old) (Of course, there are exceptions in advanced cartoon such as X-Men, Spiderman and etc.)

Since there’s an ongoing plot, Anime characters actually grow up and may even produce the next generation for the series. Anime fans tend to get into the characters a lot deeper because of the characters’ depth and charm. Consider Shounen Onmyouji; viewers see the protagonist, 安倍昌浩(Abe no Masahiro) grow, the way he relates to people, the way he learns new techniques, and the way he evolves visually. That is one of the chief reasons for popularities of anime over plain cartoons.

Source of this article:

1. GOOGLE
2. The differences between Anime and Cartoon by Henry Hsieh

 

 

 

 

 

someone should give me a medal for writing this post…

more details on Anime, go Wikipedia by Click HERE

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