Is anime better than American animation? We have continued the discussion from the last post which covered reasons 9 to 5. This post will continue the rebuttal from reasons 4 to 1. For those who want to see the original post that started it all, go over to Mania.com and read. Now without further interruptions, on to the rebuttal:

4. Adult Animation
Animation of a sexual nature aimed at adults is almost non-existent in the West. The diversity of animation aimed at adults with sexual content is quite striking when you get down to it. Every kind of fetish is dealt with, stories are important in quite a lot of them and there’s a lot that deal with emotions and relationships in a serious way as well. Many come from visual novel games where the characters are given a lot of life and fans want to see that translated into the shows. Though it’s certain kinds that get all the notice when released in the US, there’s a lot of other types as well that come out that are sweet and endearing or have an engaging story to tell with sex as a component of it.

You know, it would be a good point if there was a damn example to go along with it. A picture of Black Bible doesn’t mean anything if I have to search for someone else’s summary of the show. And what is this about adult content being “non-existent” in the American animation? The Simpsons, Beavis and Butt-Head, anything Seth MacFarland makes, Rocko’s Modern Life, and South Park are just a few titles that are experienced in adult themes. I should point out something I’m seeing as well. The author seems to be viewing animation for all ages, yet uses the “animation is for kids” idea to reinforce his or her argument. It is not only ineffective as an argument, but generalizes the overall reason as to why anime is superior.

3. Culture/History Is Important
Many Western animation shows tend to celebrate other pop culture aspects and rarely into our own history does it go, at least not since the days of Bugs Bunny. US animation tends to celebrate the stupidity of our culture more than anything else. Culture plays a bit part in a lot of shows, even those that take place out of the norm such as science fiction shows. The past is made into the present and future often, taking lessons from the culture of the past and how it affects everything since then. In addition to basic cultural aspects, there’s quite a lot more history to work with as shows take place across the centuries, providing tales of characters–historical and imagined–within these periods that are often done with exacting detail.

Again, an example would be most helpful here. But so what if certain American animated shows “celebrate”, though another word would be “parody”, cultural stupidity? It’s called comedy for a reason. Though it is hard to doubt culture playing a part in anime when Japanese culture is plastered all over anime. Even the western influenced Cowboy BeBop contains parts of Japanese culture many natives would be familiar with. The author may think there isn’t cultural aspects in American animation, but I would argue there is. Wouldn’t superheroes, Batman and Superman, be considered part of our cultural identity? Readers identify with these superheroes taking matters into their own hands when the government is too corrupt and complex to do anything. The theme of government verses the individual is huge in American superhero animation. Vigilante justice is considered a lot of things, though pop culture aspects wouldn’t exactly be one of them.

2. The Budget Is on the Screen
After the popularity of shows like South Park and the advent of new tools for animation, a large chunk of what comes out in America tends to feel like flash-based animation rather than real animation. Anime had a bad couple of years with some experiments in digital animation after the turn of the century, but by and large many shows have a feel of quality about them because the budget is right there on the screen. Many shows work hard to provide a very detailed series of backgrounds – unique one time use backgrounds no less–in their shows in order to make it feel even more real and lived in that when you get away from anime, you realize how plain and dull–and repetitive–so many backgrounds are. The character animation is no slouch either as most shows feature changing costume designs, hairstyles and locales.

SO? Better art does not equal superior animation. You’d be surprised what a good story, or at least some good lines, can do with mediocre animation. Total Drama Island and 6 Teens have okay animation, but the dialogue between each characters are easily the highlights of the show. Besides even if the production value is visible on the screen, a crap storyline won’t make it anymore appealing (it may hinder the anime to a worst state of viewership).

1. Hayao Miyazaki
The simple fact that Hayao Miyazaki exists in Japan and has created so many movies as well as being involved in a lot of Lupin the Third makes him one of the big reasons that anime is superior. With his works influencing so many others for years now including some of the biggest moments in Pixar films, anything from him and studio Ghibli should be considered required viewing. Much of anime has influenced animation in the West, but none more than Hayao Miyzaki and Studio Ghibli.

I won’t underhand Miyazaki’s work because they are indeed influential to today’s animation. But I could say the same about Chuck Jones, Max Fleischer, Tex Avery, Charles M. Schulz, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and even Walt Disney. Their works may be older, and give Miyazaki an unfair disadvantage, but it doesn’t mean American animation is the best (and the same can be said for anime). One influential icon doesn’t equal automatic win.

If you want my opinion on whether anime is the superior form of animation, you won’t get it. I like all forms of animation, but anime is certainly not the most superior. There are somethings I like about anime and somethings I like about American animation. This is a matter of opinion. If you have any thoughts on the case or the entire posts, leave a comment. Would love to hear what others think.