The Like/Hate Thread

[Kaden]

First and foremost there is the difference of connotation. Anime comes with a lot of baggage as a word, a) and b) Japanese animation is starkly different in story telling styles, tropes, and pacing, as well as straight up looking different. They both fit under the umbrella term of animation and by the strictest definition 'cartoon' but language has evolved past that.

I'd actually argue that Avatar, the animated series, has much more in common with Japanese animated series than it does American. The story-telling, tropes, and all involved overarching themes that were weaved throughout the main story by following the various characters and dealing with their own unique personalities, backgrounds, and flaws.

I agree with Ashe in that "anime" is more a reference to the style an animated series follows ("style" here applying to both story-telling and artistic direction) than where, geographically, the animators are from.

Having said that, I wouldn't call Avatar an anime, but I would also hesitate to call it... whatever we're calling "American cartoons." I think they did a great job of taking the clean, child-friendly artistic style of more American cartoons and combining it with the intriguing, complex, relateable storytelling more commonly found in Japanese cartoons.

It's neither. And both. And, at the end of the day, we're just arguing semantics. We all obviously agree on the underlying themes and spending much more time on back-and-forth about labels... well... it's just silly.