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[The "Anime" called "Torkaizer" which will be created in Alter Ego Productions
animation studio in Abu Dhabi](http://thenational.ae/news/uae-
news/heritage/meet-an-anime-hero-who-speaks-arabic) is created outside Japan
but is called Anime officially, can a cartoonic show created outside Japan be
called anime?

[This is](http://youtube.com/watch?v=I9AyVYTqZC0) the official trailer by the
official account of the studio on YouTube, in the description it officially
states that it is an Anime.


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anime-production
Can an animated show created outside Japan be called Anime?


Anime is a Japanese loanword used to refer to any sort of animation. Outside
of Japan, in other countries, anime is generally considered to be a type of a
cartoon.

You can make a cartoon in a style similar to anime, but it can't truly be
considered an anime. Why not, you ask? Animation differs by region. This can
be because of the different techniques used, ideologies present, and resources
available to each production or studio.

Sure, anime can have various different styles and also emulate styles of other
countries, and lines might sometimes be blurred when there are collaborations
between studios from different countries. What makes them unique is the
efforts of people, the people that come together to make them. Anime is what
it is today thanks to the efforts made in Japan for the sake of the genre.

It's just like having your ethnic food in a foreign country. Some times it
gets close but most of the time it'll have to acknowledge that it's not the
same as if you had it in your home country. This may be due to a variety of
reasons, like the availability of ingredients, skill of the chef, or even the
recipe. While you can say it's ethnic food, it's just not the same.


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To the Japanese, it's still considered anime. This is because, for Japanese,
[anime refers to any work that is
animated.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime#Definition_and_usage)

To anyone outside of Japan, it gets murkier. Americans specifically use the
noun to mean "animation created within Japan". So, since it wasn't created in
Japan, it's not an anime as Americans would recognize it.

There are certainly [other schools of
thought](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime#cite_note-ae-7) on it being more
an art form than a genre, but that's a different matter.

Ultimately, the answer depends on what dictionary you're looking at, but if
separate the actual meaning of the word from the use, then yes, a work can be
called anime even if it wasn't made in Japan.


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Strictly speaking, 'anime' is just animations produced within Japan, as it's
the Japanese word for cartoons/animations, but their distinctive style
sometimes dictates how people define them term 'anime'.

For example, Avatar:The Last Airbender is produced in America, but takes on a
lot of the distinctive characteristics of anime: ![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/lZjjf.jpg)

Conversely, Panty & Stocking looks a lot like some western animation and is
produced in Japan. ![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/yOsdC.jpg)

The definition of anime is a topic that is frequently debated, so there seems
to be no finalized answer. It's probably best to describe shows outside Japan
as 'anime-styled' rather than as 'anime'.

Also, this question might be of interest: [What differentiates anime from
regular cartoons?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/69/what-
differentiates-anime-from-regular-cartoons)


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"Anime" was actually ORIGINALLY meant to describe animation, but that used a
particular number of frames per second, before becoming a term just for
animations in general. Anime doesn't HAVE to be strictly Japanese, but some
rules have to be followed for this (the same applies to "manga," the comic
book version of anime).

If an anime is made in Japan (especially if the original language of creation
is Japanese) then it is free to be called anime. Same goes for manga. However,
if it has the same or a similar enough style to anime or manga but is made
OUTSIDE of Japan (for a good example, see the Korean-made "[March
Story](http://myanimelist.net/manga/13387/March_Story)" series) then two
actions could be taken; calling it either a "cartoon" or "graphic novel"
depending on the medium, to differentiate it; OR, you may call it anime or
manga, if the country or origin/main release is SPECIFIED (so March Story
would be Korean Manga, and Avatar would be American Anime). This implies that
it looks like anime, maybe even has similar themes or stereotypes as anime, or
manga, but that it ISN'T because of the country of origin. This appeases
everybody, and makes sense.


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