Growing up, I had always enjoyed watching cartoons such as "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy," "The Kids Next Door," etc. Along with these cartoons were shows that stood apart from your everyday kids show during cartoon network's programming block. There was "Toonami," which aired such classics as "Dragon Ball Z," "Naruto" and "One Piece."
These anime were the gateway to the Japanese animation. I have seen countless shows and as I am writing this I have several tabs open each with different anime queued up for me to watch.
To the casual observer anime can be misconstrued for just an average American cartoon, but to everyone else, there are some major differences.
Anime illustrations are known to be exaggerated as far as physical features are concerned. Usually, one can differentiate anime from a cartoon by observing the physical traits of the characters.
Cartoons, however, approximate reality a little more and carry traces of day-to-day life in them. Striking resemblances to humans can be spotted in various cartoons.
One of the most important differences between anime and cartoons is the subject matter within the content.
Cartoons are usually intended to induce laughter; thus revolve around humorous concepts. Anime movies don't always follow a general concept. Their stories can range from pirate attacks, to humorous adventures, to tales of Samurai. The majority of anime movies and shows differentiate themselves from their American counterparts by creating a plot that stays in place throughout the entire series. Showing viewers morals and a certain level of complexity. In short, anime is aimed at people with longer attention spans who enjoy seeing a plot unravel over multiple episodes.
What I love about anime is the fact that like cartoons it can teach lessons of morality and at the same time paint those morality lessons in a much more entertaining fashion. The Characters in anime are also more fleshed out and the viewer can not help but feel more attached to show.
Anime also has darker themes and honestly, is more realistic than cartoon. For example, in life there are not always happy endings. This is shown in various anime whose endings are somewhat abrupt and do not necessarily tie up all storylines in a neat little bow like cartons do on a weekly basis.
For those who are hesitant to try anime, my recommendation would the classic saying, "don"t knock it before you try it." In the end, you will never know you enjoy a show until you watch it.
