Unpopular Opinion

Anime is just a specific subset of cartoon. 🤷‍♂️

Whether you agree with it or not, there is a significant cultural stigma in the West around the word "cartoon". As others have pointed out, for a very long time it was almost exclusively associated with comic strips in the newspaper and then animated children's television.

It's similar to how "comic books" was set aside in favor of "graphic novels". "Watchmen" is not, colloquially, a comic book. Neither is "The Killing Joke".

"Animated film" is another example of a term that was adopted to distance some content from the stigma of "cartoons".

For a very, very long time in the west animated content was the exclusive territory of children's entertainment.

Literal, dictionary definitions may allow the use of "cartoon" to describe any animated content, but it's a lot like the word "sports". Its usage has evolved to imply a specific subset (athletic competition), even if you can technically say you're doing a variety of non-athletic activities "for sport".

And I say all this as someone in their 40s who truly enjoys American cartoons, adult animated series, anime, and a variety of other media generally skewed towards a younger audience.

So yeah, I don't call anime cartoons for the same reason I don't call hunting a sport :)

I mean... yeah... sorta. That's like saying Comic Books and Manga are the same thing. Sure, there is some overlap, but they are both on a pretty different wavelength. I think the difference is the cultural weight behind them. Cartoons in the west are entertainment mostly aimed at children. Anime has that, sure, but there is a whole slew of it aimed at adults, too. You can argue that the West has adult cartoons, but I think you'd be stretching it to say they are even remotely the same. Only in recent years have cartoons really taken a transgressive turn in the public eye.

I'm not sure that's unpopular at all. They are objectively cartoons.

As someone who likes both Cartoons and Anime equally, I have yet to find someone who doesn't get offended by me saying that.

Hi, it's me, someone who doesn't judge what you enjoy. This does not affect me or put anyone down. I am unoffended. Pleased to meet you.

I mean ... some people say it to be insulting. "you still watch cartoons?"

It shouldn't be but you know how people are ...

Word

Word, Japan

I don't think it's inherently an insult, but most of the time that's how people mean it, so of course you'll get lumped in with them

Yeah I get why people don't want to call them cartoons. I will say though that animation in the us has changed so much that it is kinda moot.

I get it. I think you may be preaching to the choir here on the fediverse, but I think this is actually an unpopular opinion IRL.

There's a connotation of childishness or simple-mindedness to the word "cartoon", at least in my neck of the language, born of the era of newspaper funny pages and saturday morning cartoons for kids. Some people (but not all) use "cartoon" to mean any visual art (still or animated) that isn't either hyper-realistic or actual IRL footage, and I think those two things give rise to the notion that all animated or cartoonish media is only suitable for children. The natural next step in this chain of thought is that any adult who enjoys any animated or cartoonish media must be childish.

It's a stigma I learned as a child and had to get over as an adult, and I'm glad I did; there's a lot of great animated content out there that I would have missed out on if I hadn't. Some of it, like Bob's Burgers, is kid-friendly but still has some really great storytelling. Some, like Bojack Horseman or Archer, are more squarely aimed at adult audiences, and also have some really great storytelling.

I haven't mentioned anything that falls under the "Anime" umbrella; that's not because I don't like anime, but I am simply late to the game and there is an insane amount of content, and it feels paralyzing figuring out where to start. I keep having One Piece recommended to me, and I would like to start climbing that mountain one day, but 1000+ episodes and counting is a daunting mountain.

That's all, I'm just writing stuff because I should be sleeping but can't, and this is preferable to lying awake in bed with my thoughts. Hope your boredom is a pleasant one :)

the main difference is that cartoons are for children and anime is for people who are sexually attracted to children

“Cartoons” have an English interpretation for being narratively simple. Whether they’re 3-4 panel comic strips or political speech or 30-minute kids shows, they tend to be fundamentally bite-sized morsels of media and do not traditionally evoke notions of grand storytelling or significant narrative merit.

There is no shortage of anime series and films that I’d classify as cartoons. Cartoons are fine and respectable entertainment, but they are only a small subset of all animated media.

Fans of the anime art form are justified in bristling at someone who calls all anime “cartoons”, or animated media from any other country for that matter. Tokyo Godfathers, The Tale of Princess Kaguya and Mind Game are all dense, complex films, which pushes them outside the bounds of what most people categorize as cartoons. Yuri Norstein, Hayao Miyazaki and Jan Švankmajer make animated films, not cartoons.

Connotation vs denotation.

I find it a hairy topic because the terms mean different things for different people. A cartoon is something that's animated to me, anime is just Japanese cartoons with a distinct style.

It is japenese cartoon. So yes call it as it is

If you know both words why ever use the less specific one except to evoke a negative reaction. Why use the broad category if you know the subtype. If you know precise technical language and your Interlocutor is familiar with the same language, why use the more broad term unless you specifically mean the broad term. Why use the name of a set to talk about a subset of that set. Why convey less meaning in a word rather than more.

I just don't really get using cartoon when talking as and with people that know the concept of anime. Its not really perceived as an insult, but it does imply either yourself or your Interlocutor to not be capable or willing to distinguish the categories, which if both of you know both, will either come of as you insulting their intelligence or their preference, because if you both know both terms, the expectation is for the fastest and most precise word you'd both be expected to know to be used, with a deviation from that expectation at the very least causing friction.

The people you hang out with seem like giant jackass nerds. You should aggressively make them feel bad for their shitty gate keeping.

I bet you “acktuallly” is their most used vocabulary.

I mean, I kinda see it as calling astronauts cosmonauts. It's slightly less precise but still refer to the same-ish concept.

I feel the same and I think taking offense to people referring to it as such is kind of gatekeeping in a way.

I think on a technical note, in Japan, anime is just short for animation anyway. It's not actively trying to be it's own thing. They're literally calling out what it is: animation.

Cartoons are also animation. In my mind, whatever you call it, it's an animation. Retro Disney movies, people would commonly call an animation but not a cartoon in the similar way people take offense about calling anime a cartoon. Makes no sense to me. Then again, maybe that's just the engineer in me trying to apply logic to it all.

In any case, to me, they're all just animation. Different styles and target audience, yes, but just animation.

Well I won't deny someone who thinks avatar is an anime, but I am having a culture shock watching the show. And I am sure it's the same for cartoon watchers when they get k-on recommended as a cartoon. I mean would you count a peotry slam or a comedy act as a theater play, just because they perform on a stage? Or saying you go to a concert when you visit a club with live dj?

Or going back to your example, would you appreciate someone saying "lets grab a burger" and then go to the ramen place. What I want to say: it can be misleading.

I'm just writing this because I am bored that it