Random Thoughts Thread

[stickem]

I never did watch or get into anime and always wondered why it just wasn't called cartoons.

Serious answer: at the time anime was starting to break into the US "cartoon" meant animated pictures geared towards children. Once you got beyond a certain age you weren't allowed to admit you liked cartoons. So referring to the stuff from Japan as anime was the R.O.B. to get it in the door.

And that wasn't trolling. I was a kid in the 80's, by the time anime was accessible, i wasn't interested.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I'm a weirdo and never got into anime until my mid-20s or so. It just wasn't even remotely popular here in rural Maine when I was young. And my first exposure to the anime art style was through video games: Magic Knight Rayearth and the like. Funny, I probably would have been into it earlier if so many old games weren't censored and "Westernized."

As such, I was never interested in "teen" anime like Naruto, Dragon Ball, One Piece, whatever...

And as it stands now I'm not crazy about anime, but I love the classic 80s and 90s stuff.

[MrPopo]

I'm a weirdo and never got into anime until my mid-20s or so.

Either you're a time traveler from a decade from now or you're actually as old as your avatar.

It just wasn't even remotely popular here in rural Maine when I was young.

Doesn't rural Maine not sustain a large enough population for anything to be considered popular?

[jp1]

Doesn't rural Maine not sustain a large enough population for anything to be considered popular?

Yeah, but Stephen King.

*Drops the mic*

[Nemoide]

In the "what counts as anime" debate I always thought it was funny that there's no special name for western comics and cartoons in Japan is there? Aren't they still just called anime and manga?

Actually in Japan most JAPANESE comics are now called "comic books" in bookstores and the like. Making the term manga seem even MORE meaningless.

But I think it's pretty simple/practical to just say that anime and manga are animated works and comics that were originally released/published in Japan.
So MBQ by Felipe Smith is NOT manga, even though it was manga-influenced (and marketed by Tokyo Pop as "Original English-Language Manga"). But Peepo Choo by Felipe Smith IS manga, because it was originally published in Japan.
There's still probably a little fuzziness (I'm not sure what country MD Geist II was released in first) but it GENERALLY works as a useful definition.

[Forlorn Drifter]

How fast does my internet need to be for Netflix? I can't seem to find anything that gives me an indicator, and from what I've seen, you don't have to have the best internet to run it.

[Exhuminator]

US "cartoon" meant animated pictures geared towards children

In the west "cartoons" are meant for kids. The vast, vast majority are actually created with children in mind. That's just the way it is. Yes I know adults enjoy them too, but adults are not the demographic. In Japan, anime is produced for all sorts of different age ranges:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:A ... emographic

For instance, Urotsukidoji certainly wasn't produced with kids in mind as the demographic.

So it makes sense when bringing Japanese animation to the west to differentiate it by calling it "anime" instead of "cartoons". An informed western consumer would know anime comes in multiple age demographics, whereas a western produced "cartoon" is more than likely safe for their kids to see.

[isiolia]

How fast does my internet need to be for Netflix? I can't seem to find anything that gives me an indicator, and from what I've seen, you don't have to have the best internet to run it.

https://help.netflix.com/en/node/306

[Nemoide]

I tend to personally associate the term "cartoon" with old fashioned animated films that are synchronized to music. I feel like the hallmark of cartooning is extreme exaggerations in characters' expressions and movements.

I also might be weird.

[isiolia]

I think "cartoon" tends to have that connotation, similar to "comic". Often see animated series and graphic novel used instead, when the content doesn't line up with that.