I've seen a few episodes.  It seems like an average cartoon put through a random filter.  I feel like its just quirky for the sake of being quirky and I'm supposed to enjoy it for that.  Like Aqua Teen or something.  Just not my thing I guess.  

Japan

US

Japan

US

Take your pick.

I judge things individually. there's no such thing as x or y is better solely because of it's country.

Eh.. I'm not trying to be rude to anyone who actually does enjoy the show, but do adults actually enjoy the show for what it is, or is it a more ironic thing like My Little Pony?

If this were the prime time of the Hanna-Barbera or the Ted Avery's shows, it would be a fair competition with Osamu Tezuka and the early works of Miyazaki. Nowadays, there is not even a competition.

My Little Pony has a very hipster fanbase.  It's a decent enough kids show.  Probably above average, but to a large degree the fanbase enjoys it in the same way that people enjoy memes.

Spongebob wasn't just about quirkiness though.  Spongebob  had a really old school abbot and costelloish comedy vibe, at least earlier on.  Some of the early episodes were sheer comic brilliance.  Really well thought out jokes and not just weirdness.

I think it comes down more to your age group rather than saying that either Anime or USA animation categorical better than the other. Apart from a small selection of adult friendly animated sitcoms, USA Animated series are more widely aimed at more children based market compared to Anime which is divided more equal to more ages groups. It quite easier to say that the Anime industry better because their are more good adult in tone Anime titles out there. But they simply produce a lot more adult based animation series than USA Animation industry ever does.

Japan for me, easily. I find anime to be more interesting in pretty much every category except for maybe humor, and it certainly offers far more variety. While US cartoons mostly focus on comedy, superheroes and other family-friendly stuff, anime covers genres like science-fiction, romance, sports, drama and even "porn" besides those, daring to tackle any kind of topic or content. Just think about it, what are the cartoon equivalents for Evangelion, Clannad, Slam Dunk, Monster or Bible Black ? I can't think of any...

I'll always have fond memories of the many cartoons that accompanied me through my childhood/adolescence and I still watch some of them from time to time, but the impression anime has left me has been far more deep and lasting, despite being less in quantity. Series like Captain Tsubasa, Saint Seiya, Rurouni Kenshin, Evangelion, Dragon Ball, Naruto and Sailor Moon managed to inspire me in a way cartoons never did, going further than just a good time.

When it comes to modern US animation, there's very little I care about. It mostly comes down to sitcom-like series like Family Guy and in a lesser way American Dad, both by McFarlane. I loved the old Simpsons but I stopped watching them many years ago when, in my opinion, went down the drain, and everytime I see a new episode it just confirms my decision. I haven't being able to enjoy any of the recent stuff I've seen from Marvel and DC, leaving me with a feeling of being cheap and watered-down compared to their stuff from the 90s. The new comedy series like Adventure Time or the anime-inspired ones like Ben 10 don't interest me in the slightest. And I much prefer 2D animation over CGI, not to mention the fact that I don't care for Pixar and Dreamworks stories anyway.

On the other hand, the pile of anime that I want to see keeps increasing, and I just don't have the time...

lensman, 8 man after, casshan robot hunter, vampire hunter d, robotech, tenchi muyo, rahxephon, mars daybreak, ah my goddess, full metal panic, dears, please teacher,vandread, tenchi gxp, tenchi universe,tenchi tokyo, macross 7, cat planet cuties,sekirei, galaxy railways,blue gender, full metal panic 2nd raid, and so many more i could mention to prove my point that japanese anime completely and utterly destroys american animation.