| JWeinCom said: In terms of animation (strictly visual) I think the US/West has the edge. In Japan, all the animation is pretty homogenized. Same character style, same art style, color palette, etc. US has a pretty wide range of art styles which is really good. In terms of story though, Japan wins out. Most US cartoons fall into a few categories. You have inanely random shows, kids action shows, kids comedy shows, and Simpsons inspired sitcoms. With Japan, you animation can be a medium for action, romance, comedy, drama, etc. Stuff like Serial Experiments, Death Note, Haibane Renmei, and Paranoia Agent show that they take animation a bit more seriously. Wish their art styles were as varied as the stories. |
This was exactly what I was thinking.
Most American cartoons are simply aimed toward comedy, and deal with mostly things like life lessons such as what friendship means, teamwork, working hard, etc.
Anime delves into minimalism, existentialism and nihilism, depression, slice of life, drama, action, society, death, cerebral crime drama, james bond-esque spy stories, comedy, etc, and questions things like "who am I", "what is life", "what is god", "why are we here", "what is right and what is wrong", "do we deserve to be here", "how do I accept myself", "what is love".
Hell, look at all the movies that were influenced by anime (or blatant rip-offs)
Ghost in the Shell -> Matrix
Perfect Blue -> Black Swan
Paprika -> Inception
Kimba the White Lion -> Lion King
Nausicaa -> Avatar
Fist of the NorthStar ->BookofEli/Thunderdome
Not to mention all the anime that have been remade by Hollywood
AstroBoy
SpeedRacer
StreetFighter
Dragonball
And a planned remake of Akira
Casshern Sins
