

In my region, people don't know the difference between anime and regular
cartoons. When they see me watching anime, or they hear about it somehow, they
say that I'm watching a regular cartoon and hence I'm being childish.
Sometimes, they even display sarcastic attitudes, so that giving a serious
long explanation wouldn't be possible.

What effectively explains how an anime is different from a regular cartoon?


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anime-production
What differentiates anime from regular cartoons?


My personal argument:

Cartoons are _mainly_ produced for _kids_ , with topics about friendship, fun,
exploration and similar things.

Anime / manga and related media _mainly_ are produced for targets of _all
ages_ (except for Hentai and Ecchi series, of course). They can of course
contain the "kids content", but there are much more serious ones out there,
e.g. ones about love, death, conflicts, and wars. They're simply much deeper.
The drawing and character art of cartoons is often vastly deformed /
otherworldly to emphasize the disconnect from reality and the fun part of it.

Another difference is the way characters evolve. In most comics I've read, you
have episodic experiences which are, at most, loosely connected, and so
characters don't really evolve / grow up. I'm sure there are counter-examples
out there, but I think we can agree that the characters are not the focus.

For most anime and related media, the characters are _much_ deeper. Of course
you also have the occasional counter-example here, but the characters get a
much bigger focus.

You can think of anime / manga / visual novels / light novels as (Western)
books / series / movies with regards to the content, except they're drawn (or
have illustrative content) instead of being filmed / purely in written form.

* * *

Note that there are examples of anime that look and feel just like Western
cartoons (Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, for the "look" aspect, at least)
and the other way around (Avatar - The Last Airbender, Korra).


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Anime and cartoon are both used to identified an animated production, the
first made in Japan, the other ones in the rest of the world...

If we have to show more detailed difference I'd say:

**Visual characteristics**  
Anime: Distinct facial expressions. Wide variation in physical
characteristics. Physical features of characters are, on the whole, closer to
reality than cartoons.  
Cartoon: Characters usually have features that are not relative to the rest of
the body and therefore further from reality than anime.

**Topics/Themes**  
Anime: concentrates mostly on life issues or things tied closer to human
emotion.  
Cartoons: are generally made to make people laugh and so is more comical.

**Definition and Term:**  
Anime: English dictionaries define the word as ‘Japanese style of motion
picture animation’.  
Cartoon: was used as a model or study for a painting but is now associated
with caricatures for humor and satire.

[Reference](http://www.diffen.com/difference/Anime_vs_Cartoon)


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We all know Anime is "Japanese-style cartoons", and this often makes people
say they are both cartoons. Yes they are, but this doesn't mean _there aren't
differences_. Substantial differences.

First of all, the **audience**. The main _objective_ difference is that Anime
are not cartoons for kids, usually.

Some Anime get censored when dubbed in foreign countries and they are rendered
as quite childish (and this is sometimes really annoying), while the original
holds some adult references, scenes containing violence and so on. While this
is not true for all Anime, as some are really aimed to children, some of them
need a mature audience.

Also, the **characters** are treated quite differently. There is more growth
in Anime characters as it develops for a whole series. For example, _Zabuza_
in Naruto ends up being quite a likeable character because you go beyond him
simply being an antagonist.

Both Anime and cartoons treat **themes** like _life, death, religion, love,
betrayal, ethics, etc_. But cartoons really treat such matters quite
differently. Just think about Disney-style cartoons: do they share anything
with Anime in terms of _how_ they treat these topics?


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This is a pretty difficult question, but I may have some tips.

While _cartoons_ are meant to be watched by _kids_ , anime is meant to be
watched by _all ages_ : there is a series for everyone, for every theme, for
every age. From little kids, like Doraemon, for young kids like Pokemon, to
teenagers like shonen series or teen-shojos, to more adult like seinens or
even hentai. Everyone can enjoy something.


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No matter how you look at it, an anime is a cartoon. The main difference is
that an anime is considered a Japanese style of cartoons in the West.

Many English-language dictionaries
[define](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/anime) anime as "a Japanese
style of motion-picture animation" or as "a style of animation developed in
Japan."

However, in Japan, the term "anime" does not specify an animation's nation of
origin or style. Instead, it serves as a blanket term to refer to all forms of
animation from around the world (both foreign and domestic). The word "anime"
is loan word referring to "animation" or "cartoons," adapted from the English
word "animation."

Taking this from another perspective, in Japan, Disney movies are referred to
as "Disney Anime", This refers to a certain style, not the genre as a whole.

The Japanese Wikipedia on "anime" [specifically
notes](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A1#anime) that:

>
> アニメーションをアニメと略せる言語は日本語に限られるため、日本国外で「anime」という場合は日本製の表現様式のアニメに対して用いられる。日本国内では、製作国や作風に関わりなくアニメが使用される。

While in Japanese, "animation" was abbreviated to "anime," Outside of Japan,
the word has been used only to refer to media considered "Japanese animation."
However in Japan, the country of origin and literary style (of the media) are
not taken into account when applying "anime" to it.

Western cartoons and anime can both vary in drawing styles, based on the
staff, budget, and character/set designs. Anime series are typically more
detailed than your average western show as there is more of an abundance of
technically skilled artists overseas than there are available in the West.

Both can reach different age regardless of their initial target audience (
_Avatar: The Last Airbender_ , _My Little Pony_ , and _Adventure Time_ are
notable examples).

Typically western cartoons are more lighthearted when compared to Japanese
anime. However, both can deal with more mature themes, in both a serious (like
_Cyber 6_ , _Mighty Max_ , and _Dungeons and Dragons_ ) and humorous light
(like _Futurama_ , _South Park_ , _The Simpsons_ , and _Family Guy_ ). There
are western cartoons for mature adults just like there are 18+ anime in Japan.

If you ask the average person in your country and one in Japan, both will
consider them to be childish. The difference between anime and cartoons is
very subjective. It typically comes down to what you like and how you like it.


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The difference is only subjective, depending on yours and your peers'
perceptions. Keep in mind that MOST of the anime that is exported from Japan
is actually aimed at children. (defining 'children' as extending through the
teenage years)

> When they see me watching anime, or they hear about it somehow, they say
> that I'm watching a cartoon and hence I'm being childish.

Walt Disney didn't think
[Fantasia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasia_%28film%29) was for children
either. Having watched the film several times, I'm inclined to agree. The
point is that although they have tended in that direction (with a few notable
exceptions) in the western world, there is no particular reason to limit
cartoon themes to kids.

> **Sometimes, they even display sarcastic attitudes, so that giving a serious
> long explanation wouldn't be possible.** What are the effective ways to
> explain that anime is different from cartoons in these kind of situations?
> Are there any clever sentences that will make an impact on people who don't
> know about anime?

I realize you only included this for context... but if someone is being
sarcastic, it's not as if any real answer is applicable. This section of the
question is also probably offtopic.

* * *

The easiest method of convincing someone would probably be making them sit
through a showing of Grave of the Fireflies... although that's not
particularly quick or clever.


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This question is really usual, especially when you are an anime fan. In my
situation, I don't want 'anime' to be called 'cartoons' because they are so
different for me. The following are the differences I think they have:

  * Anime targets a vast audience, from kids to adults, while cartoons  
mainly targets kids, with the exception of course of adults who likes to watch
cartoons.

  * Anime tackles themes for kids, teens and adults and have stories that have depth, while cartoons tackles more themes that are for kids.

  * Anime came from Japanese productions, and cartoons came from US productions (or anywhere except Japan).

  * You can really tell if what you are watching is an anime or a cartoons by it's visual graphics (if you're an anime fan then, you'll know what I mean). You can notice that the characters from one cartoon show is very different from how cartoon characters in another cartoon show looks like. However in anime, you can notice some similarities on how they look like.

I think the best way for you to explain is to let them watch a very good anime
and have them watch some cartoons, then tell them, "Saw the difference?". Or
just let them think what they want. I experienced what you experience a lot
from my parents but I just let them say what they want or think what they
think. Respectfully ignore them. Just make sure that you don't disrespect them
as you try to defend anime and that watching anime doesn't affect your
attitude negatively.


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I don't want to get too subjective here, but there are some key aspects that I
discuss with others:

  * Art style; there is a distinct difference in how characters in an Anime series are drawn as opposed to Western style series. (Occasionally, you'll get a shout-out to the Anime style, too.)

  * Target audience; there are a wide variety of audiences and an even more diverse demographic of consumers of anime than there are of traditional Western cartoons.

  * Theming; as much of a culture shock as it may be (which I'll get to in a moment), many Anime have themes that wouldn't make much sense in the Western world, such as 108 for the Buddist number of temptations man will case, 4 for death, white for death, etc.

  * Culture differences; there are _quite a few series_ that are tolerated, if not acceptable, in Japan, whereas in the Western world, they'd be censored in some way or not permitted at all, or merit whomever is a fan of it some very dirty looks.

Some of the things that would cause controversy or be seen as "unacceptable"
in Western animation would be homosexual relationships (yaoi/yuri), large age
gap relationships, lolicon/shotacon (which is strangely _legal_ but heavily
frowned upon), and incest.

**Western animation wouldn't touch _that_ with a one-hundred foot pole.**


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Firstly, anime in English tends to refer to Japanese content. However, as
noted in [this answer](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/81/2604), "anime" in
Japanese just refers to _any_ animated content. That said, it's fine to have
this discrepancy -- similar things have cropped up in other English loanwords.
(For instance "Lied" or its plural "Lieder" refer to 19th to 20th century
styled German language art songs when the words are used _in English_ , but in
German, ["Lieder"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lied#History) seems to
sometimes take on a more general sense.) **So in this sense, at the very
least, _in English_ , not all cartoons are anime, because not all cartoons are
Japanese.** (Certainly it would be ridiculous for me to go around claiming
that _Spongebob Squarepants_ is anime to an English speaker.)

It is still unclear whether "anime" is simply a subset of "cartoons". The main
problem, which other answers have touched on, appears to be that in English,
"cartoon" often suggests something intended for young children, which does not
cover the content of a lot of anime. Certainly things like _Serial Experiments
Lain_ or the _Fate_ series are, by this connotation, not really "cartoons".

However, even shows animated outside of Japan are sometimes denoted as
"cartoons", even when their content or art style doesn't really fall into the
areas of the average person's idea of a "cartoon". For instance, a
[search](https://www.google.com/search?q=waltz%20with%20bashir%20cartoon&oq=waltz%20with%20bashir%20cartoon&aqs=chrome..69i57.3027j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8#q=waltz%20with%20bashir%20%22cartoon%22)
for `waltz with bashir "cartoon"` suggests that at least a few writers in
large newspapers ([1](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/26/movies/26bash.html),
[2](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/war-death-and-
animation-cartoon-film-stirs-israels-conscience-1021732.html)) described the
animated film [_Waltz with
Bashir_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltz_with_Bashir) as a cartoon, and
both its subject matter (the 1982 Lebanon War) and [its
style](https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=663&q=waltz%20with%20bashir&oq=waltz%20with&gs_l=img.3.0.0l10.112.1774.0.2505.10.8.0.2.2.0.116.635.7j1.8.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..0.10.654.qmuUDfV8Fy8)
hardly resemble the likes of the average cartoon, both in content and style.
(Compare to [_Arthur_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_\(TV_series\)) or
[_South Park_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park).)

The same goes for
[_Archer_](https://www.google.com/search?q=archer&oq=archer&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60.839j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8#q=archer%20%22cartoon%22),
which is, at least in the English-speaking world, markedly more famous than
_Waltz with Bashir_. I have not seen _Archer_ , but
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archer_\(TV_series\)) suggests that
it is hardly more appropriate for children than _Waltz with Bashir_.

**So insofar as usage _in English_ goes, either:**

  * **Anime _is_ different from "regular cartoons", but _only insofar as "regular cartoons" consists of children's shows_ and also fail to cover other animated content like _Waltz with Bashir_.** Anything outside of regular cartoon-appropriate content is best either described with a different classification if this gives more information about the content (e.g. "anime") or a broader one (e.g. "animated content").

  * **Anime _is not_ different from "regular cartoons", because "cartoon" covers anything at all animated.**

In either sense, "anime" is really only about the fact that something was
animated (and marketed towards the Japanese).

I am inclined to prefer the first view in terms of how I _personally_ use the
word "cartoon" (so describe _Doraemon_ and [_Chibi Maruko-
chan_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chibi_Maruko-chan) but not _Fate/zero_ as
"cartoons") because of the connotations of "cartoon". However, I would
consider the second to still be acceptable (in the sense that I won't get
upset about that view being taken) because it's obvious that people also use
"cartoon" similarly "inappropriately" on other more adult-oriented shows that
_are not_ from Japan.


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