Why not just call Manga ''comics'' and anime ''Cartoons''?

[Jabare]

In practice cartoons and anime are technically the same, but referring to them differently generally highlights the different styles and techniques not to mention histories of both mediums and there are several notable difference once you get past the shallow comparison that they are just art.


As for Manga and comics I think thw two are very distinct in a lot of ways, yes they are both drawings/artwork. I think its fine to acknowledge the cultural difference and the aesthetic difference that comes along with both of them. If you read comics than read manga you will see a very noticeable contrast. If your unfamiliar with one or the other grouping them together makes sense, but if you are familiar with both genres you'll be aware of some of the big differences the genres tend to have with one another

HA! JAU, you pervert! Tentacles is hentai.

I get that 'cartoon' has the implication of childlike/-ish. Which is why I'll say 'animation'. And so do the Japanese, except that they like their little cute diminutives, hence 'animé'*







*Source: Japanese Lit. Prof. SO.

hentai is a subsett of anime

[Alex L]

Generally those are called OGNs, or Original Graphic Novels. Even the ridiculously short ones

Persepolis however, was serialized.

How do you feel about serialized prose novels? Still novels or are the bulk of Dickens, etc, just collections?

Hm. Hadn't put much thought into that, actually. I do know there are some books that are compilations of magazine articles and whatnot, and obviously there are book series like A Song of Fire and Ice or Wheel of Time that are not standalone novels. Not really sure what I'd call them.

I've always been of the opinion that Japanese anime is MUCH more sophisticated than American made cartoons in terms of style, substance and story, so, in my mind, there IS a difference between the two terms. Can you imagine U.S. studios, forever hamstrung by the FCC, holier-than-thou religious groups and legions of overprotective parents producing shows chock full of violence, bloodshed, rampant gunplay and swordplay, yuri, hentai, nudity, harems, horror, girls with guns, girls with monster boobs, the whole nine yards like Japan does? That's why the U.S. has done boatloads of goofy, funny and cutesy-pie stuff while Japan brought us classics like Akira, Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion and so forth.

Apparently you haven't watched very much anime other than what you described. I never said anything about popular, just sophisticated. Other than the examples I mentioned, throw in the Gundam franchise, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ghost in the Shell, the films of Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon, Hellsing, Black Lagoon, Clannad, ARIA, the samples are many and varied. Bottom line, there's much more to anime beyond what you've seen on Cartoon Network. And besides, who's to say anybody is right or wrong, I was merely expressing an opinion.

But you're not comparing the two equally. The American cartoons you're limiting to what's mainstream, whereas with the anime you're going "well, obviously you have to do some digging beyond Cartoon Network" (as though CN didn't show Cowboy Bebop or Trigun back in the day). Either you compare what's mainstream and easily accessible, or the entirety of their catalog.

[Selena Musić]

It's Japanese culture. There's no point in changing names. Style is completely different from American comics and cartoons.

"Manga" just means "comics" in Japanese and likewise "Anime" just means "cartoons" or "animation" in Japanese.

[Beacon]

Those terms exist in the western world for the same reason “graphic novel” and “sequential art” do; so pretentious people don’t have to admit to reading comic books. "Comic books" are for kids and nerds.

Having said that, at least Manga generally exists in a format that is unlike most other comics.

I cannot figure out any real difference between “anime” and “cartoons” though.

[Carabas]

Those terms exist in the western world for the same reason “graphic novel” and “sequential art” do; so pretentious people don’t have to admit to reading comic books. "Comic books" are for kids and nerds.

Sorry, but the USA still isn't the entire Western world.

Having said that, at least Manga generally exists in a format that is unlike most other comics.

They're in paperbacks. Seems like exactly the same format most comics are printed in.

[mathew101281]

To me the word manga means a particular type of comic. I don't use the two terms interchangeably because doing so wouldn't be saying much. If you were telling somebody that you watch tv or read books they would ask you what kind of tv show or book? It's the same thing with comic. Manga has its own set of conventions and norms that separate it from what we call comics.

[TroubleWithTrebles]

Tap dancing and A Chorus Line are both dance but not the same. Film Noir and RomCom are both film but have jack crap to do with each other.

Collected underground newspaper cartoons collected into graphnov print format are no more a graphic novel than 120 pages of Garfield strips from 1979 -1982, despite being in a book format.

The intention of the inception of manga for the desired semiotic response of the audience is worlds away from that of Super Thong Babe issue #1. Thus from start to finish they are disparate enough to need separate classifications.

[heretic]

Speaking as one who was there in the late '80s/ early '90s rise of imported Japanese stuff; one major point on the (perceived) Anime/Manga vs Cartoon/Comics distinction is the breadth of subject matter (including what one could and to a degree still can get away with) in the former.

Now the more cartoons in the West get away from the SatAM/Disney template and American Comics diversify from the Superhero one, the less that division makes sense.

[Xalfrea]

I always make the distinction and nobody gives a crap.

But sometimes I say "American animation" and "Japanese animation". There's nothing wrong with using the word "animation" now, is there?

[Thor2014]

I always make the distinction and nobody gives a crap.


But sometimes I say "American animation" and "Japanese animation". There's nothing wrong with using the word "animation" now, is there?

nothing at all. I like the term 'japanimation' myself.