Should we consider The Boondocks or Avatar:TLA to be anime?

Ishbalan · Post by **Ishbalan** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:37 pm

There seems to be some confusion on the internet and in the media about what anime really is. I believe that it is animation made in Japan, by Japanese people, usually stemming from the Japanese manga style of art.
This is the definition from wikipedia:
Outside Japan, the term most popularly refers to animation originating from Japan.

Despite this distinct definition, many people consider anime to include anything that looks like anime. The two that are mistaken the most are Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Boondocks.

Several of my friends have referred to The Boondocks as an anime, and I once read a newspaper article that referred to Avatar as an anime. (It was, of course, a very small article. I believe it was about Afro Samurai.)
I also recently stumbled upon a public-uploader website similar to YouTube that is devoted to anime. Both of these shows were allowed to be uploaded.

These two American animations may appear to be in the anime style, but a quick look into their origins will reveal they have no such relation.
The Boondocks may have originated from a comic strip, but the strip itself neither resembles a manga, nor the style of animation in the TV series.
Avatar: The Last Airbender has foreign charactersabove the title, but these are Chinese characters, not Japanese characters. These characters are meant to reflect the Asia-resembling setting in which the show takes place.

My opinion is that these two shows, being of American origin, should not be considered anime, but I want to know what the opinion of the public is.

Chrono63 · Post by **Chrono63** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:08 pm

AniDB has a nice, detailed definition of 'What does anime mean?' with some examples (with reasons) given.

Also, one of the mods was so irritated about the 'Avatar = anime' and such things, that he added a special feature to the site and the bot on irc.
Example of a normal anime search:

<Chrono63> !anime haruhi
<Chii> ANIME: Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (3651), also known as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, 14 eps, Year: 2006, Categories: Seinen, Clubs, School, High School, Goddessess, ... Rating: 8.61 (5999 votes), Reviews: 22 (avg: 8.6), DB: 35 eps/497 files, More info: http://anidb.net/a3651

And now see what happens if you search for Avatar:

<Chrono63> !anime avatar
<Chii> ANIME: Whatever you searched for is NOT anime... (4552), Rating: 7.32 (28 votes), Reviews: 1 (avg: 10), DB: 0 eps/0 files, More info: http://anidb.net/a4552

PS. click the latter link given by the bot for some more info (and fun

).

Big Dumb Face · Post by **Big Dumb Face** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 11:54 pm

While there is still no lock on this topic, I'd like to take a minute to talk about something that I think bothers at least one or two of us.

These two American animations may appear to be in the anime style,

There is no such thing as "Anime Style" It's that kind of thinking that holds back anime from being more accepted as an art form in itself as opposed to a "genre" All anime have their own style. Yes we all recognize the big-eyes-little-mouth-microspopic-nose and other conventions seen often in many anime but it could be argued that anime is more diverse in it's animation style than even american animation.
Its actually kind of come full-circle in a way, with all these american cartoons being drawn in "the anime style"

as the old school anime were japanese artists interpretation of old AMERICAN animation pioneers, i.e. Disney and the like.

Purge · Post by **Purge** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:52 am

i would soooo, have to consider there is such a thing, as anime style - as in hollywood style and bollywood style.

borpii · Post by **borpii** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 3:26 pm

Anime = "Japanimation" = Made in Japan. Boondocks and Avatar are not. End of story. I absolutely hate it when people mis-classify series like that. Just because the animation style isn't totally disgusting like some of the crap they have on Cartoon Network nowadays doesn't automatically make it anime, although I suppose I can see where someone who's not an anime buff could get confused.

While we're talking about Boondocks, has anyone else noticed that the opening is very similar to Samurai Champloo? They also have Champloo-like fight scenes. It makes me happy-- I believe Aaron McGrudder (I think that's his name) is one of us!

MycathatesyouAMV · Post by **MycathatesyouAMV** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 7:43 pm

Meh, I never consider something an anime just cause it was a cartoon made in Japan. For me its the style and whether the creator of the show intended to do an anime or if he didnt. Just cause its made in America dooesnt mean its not an anime. There are tons of people in America that like to draw anime. So basically if your saying the show has to be made in Japan for it to be an anime you can see the anime drawings are cartoon drawings. I would conisder Avatar an anime cause it looks like an anime and it looks to me like the creator was intending that. Boondocks I wouldnt cause there are some differences from a regular anime in the style of the art. Plus it just doesnt give me the anime feeling and the storyline are point isnt really animaish. And dont think the creator intended anything towards an anime style.

BasharOfTheAges · Post by **BasharOfTheAges** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 9:27 pm

mycathatesyou wrote: Just cause its made in America dooesnt mean its not an anime.

Quite the contrary - that's exactly what it means. That's fact as things are concerned here.

requiett · Post by **requiett** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 11:37 pm

If you go by the official a-m-v.org rules, then Afro Samurai can't count either, because it premiered in America.

YouTube · Post by **Kionon** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:25 am

There will always be a blur now that anime and manga are mainstream here in America.

I always point out that Rivkah doesn't consider herself a manga-ka, per se, and yet as an American artist, her manga-influenced work won her awards from the manga community in Japan, and her Austin, Texas based comic was picked up by Tokoypop and is presented in stores as a manga.

So Is it not manga even if the Japanese say it is, and give someone an award like "best up and coming manga-ka"? It seems that if the core of our belief of what constitutes anime and manga is based on Japanese standards, and what they consider anime and manga, then Rivkah's work is manga. And any other such awarded work by the Japanese would also be anime or manga.

I don't think this applies to either of the examples above, but it certainly makes a good defense that an American can, indeed, be an anime or manga artist.

And for that matter, Jan Scott Frazier is an anime artist. She worked with several Japanese companies, including working with my beloved Matsumoto Izumi, creator of Kimagure Orange Road on a few projects. If Izumi considers Frazier to be an anime artist, than so do I.

Tono_Fyr · Post by **Tono_Fyr** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 2:30 am

Meh, the only importance it holds for me at all is that I can't host any Avatar AMV I were to make here.

Far as I'm concerned, Avatar outclasses most anime by a spectacularly large margin in nearly every imaginable respect.