It’s quite clear that there’s a huge difference between anime and cartoon. Both can have witty and humorous illustrations, but there are obvious things that can separate them. The term cartoon is commonly used to define animation works for entertainment purposes; that are developed mostly in Western countries, especially the United States. Anime is also entertaining animation work, but it’s usually made in Far East; especially Japan. Anime is often called Japanimation; although it’s not entirely accurate. Anime is often more about specific animation style. Anime-like animation is no longer produced only in Japan and we can see it released by South Korean and Chinese animators. It is easy to see the differences between anime and cartoons. As an example, while cartoons are often seen as childish; many anime work can have mature storyline and depictions that match typical films for adults. Also, anime is far more than the typical slapstick comedy that we often see on cartoons. Anime often has more complicated story line and the plot can be quite unexpected or even random. It may still about good guys beating bad guys; but things are often not so straightforward. The plot of anime is rarely predictable and simple. There are elements of politics, humanity, social, abstract ideas and even, mature content that shouldn’t be watched by any child. Anime is so imaginative that it may blur the distinction between animation and live action works. The popular sci-fi anime series, Gundam, is much more about blasting enemies with sleek robots. In fact, there may not be clear distinction between good and bad guys. The warring factions could fight one another for equally just causes.
Anime often attracts more sympathetic tears than typical Disney animation films. Obviously, there are some cartoons that are far from simple, such as the X-Men, but it’s quite a rarity. Also, in terms of humor, anime series are often beyond the normal slapstick. There are no corny jokes like characters that fall flat to the pavement from a 500 feet cliff and survive. In many anime series, we can see deep and witty humor. When allowing children to watch anime, parents should be aware that some of the scenes are suitable only for mature viewers, the plot can be hardly suited for kids. In cartoon, we often see the same old formula of protagonist, antagonist and the usual damsel in distress. They have clear and well-defined roles. Characters often have well-defined roles in cartoon and the damsel is often quite weak and one-dimensional. In anime, the damsel can have more unique character and there are some unexpected twists as well, including the damsel that turns into an antagonist Often enough, an anime series progressively develop into something that’s really interesting to watch. When watching cartoons, kids could directly watch the 100th episode and they understand the simple plot. But with anime, the story line has developed so far, than kids understand very little if they watch 10th episode directly.