Comparing Anime to Western Animation

The Overlord

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Jun 4, 2005
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I thought it might be interesting to have a thread about comparing anime to Western animation. How do they compare, what are their strengths and weaknesses in regards to each other, etc.
 
Myself, I prefer anime over western animation. Anime, in general, just seems to find imagination and literally runs crazy with it. With films like Paprika, Howl's Moving Castle, and even Ponyo, anime is far superior in animation and storytelling.
 
Anime's strengths are evident; diverse genres, more experimental/esoteric subjects, LGBT friendly animations, etc. It's weaknesses can be just as evident, like its ability to get stuck in trends (like the Moe trend that's going on right now).

Western Animation is kind of the exact opposite. Aside from exceptions like; Aeon Flux, Adventure Time, and Avatar, most US/Western stuff tends to be more "safe" or nothing more than an advert.

Some of the best animation right now is coming from the art schools, but those students eventually graduate and become more of the "mindless masses" in the animation industry.

[video=youtube;bAQ56_dfOfY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAQ56_dfOfY[/video]
 
......

I was going to post something. I don't think that gap between western animation and anime is as wide as some people make it out to be, but I really can't work up the energy to make up the effort and I'm not versed enough to get tangled up in a long stupid argument. Let's just say, all you have to do is scroll through the Netflix tab of anime or step into a specialty shop to see that there's a LOT of garbage in the Japanese animation industry too. That's not a knock on anime, it's just the nature of any art form. The disposable garbage always greatly outweighs the gems and the health of the garbage industry allows the cottage industry of genuine art to exist. It's rare that you find anything sublime on a Barnes and Noble bookshelf, or a Best Buy CD rack, or network or mass cable television, but that's 99% of the profit for all those markets. And that's just how it is.

:D So, yeah. Carry on.
 
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