投稿類別英文寫作類

篇名：
Japanese anime Vs American cartoons

作者：
林冬蓮。陳美芳。國立華僑高級中學。高三誠班

指導老師：
林佳樺 老師
I. INTRODUCTION
Over the last few decades, there has been many studies done comparing anime and cartoon, especially
Japanese anime and American cartoons. For some time, there has been evidence that Japanese anime and
American cartoons has significant differences. The anime fans and cartoon fans have extensively discussed
about how to provide excellent methods to figure out the differences between them. However, a few people
have still debated on it.
In this paper, we present the similarities and differences between Japanese anime and American cartoons.
The purpose of this report is to present evidence that Japanese anime and American cartoons remain certain
levels of discrepancies. This examination was guided by the following research questions:
 What is it that makes anime so special?
 Do you think anime and cartoons are the same thing?
 What are the major differences between anime and cartoons?
 Which is more popular Anime or Cartoons?
The study will be conducted based on the perspectives of visual characteristics, background and stories. It is
hoped that the results of this study may lead to a better understanding of Japanese anime and American
cartoon.

II. THESIS
Before we represent the answers of our research questions in conclusion, we will give a brief
introduction about anime and cartoons. For the next chapter, the methods we use to tell the differences
between anime and cartoons are making a comparison chart, but we’ll not only tell the differences between
it but also tell the similarities between them. In order to make it more clearly, we also will give an example
for each of them.

2.1 Brief Introduction

“Anime” (pronounced AH-nee-may ) is the prevalent style in Japanese comic books or manga . Manga
(漫画 Manga) are comics created in Japan, or by creators in Japanese language, conforming to a style
developed in Japan in the late 19th century. In Japan, the comic book is a popular form of entertainment for
adults as well as for younger audiences. Story lines are often very sophisticated, complex and can be
extened into episodic series. The term manga (kanji: 漫画; hiragana: まんが; katakana: マンガ) is a
Japanese word referring to both comics and cartooning.

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 Cartoon, on the other hand, was initially used as a model or study for a painting. Cartoon is a form of
two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage
refers it as a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature,
humor, or to the artistic style of such works. An artist who creates cartoons is called a cartoonist.

2.2 History

2.2.1 Anime
Japanese animation began in the early 20th century, when Japanese filmmakers experimented with
the animation techniques, and it also pioneered in France, Germany, the United States and Russia.
Anime dates back to the birth of Japan’s own film industry in the early 1900s, and has emerged as one
of Japan’s major cultural forces over the past century. Much of the work done in these early years was
not the cell animation technique that would come to be the dominant production technique, but a host
of other methods: chalkboard drawings, painting directly on the film, paper cut-outs, and so on. One by
one, many of the technologies used today were added to Japanese animated productions—sound (and
eventually color), the multiplane camera system, and cel animation. But due to the rise of Japanese
nationalism and the start of WWII, most of the animated productions created from the 1930s on were
not popular entertainments, but instead were either commercially-oriented, or government propaganda
of one type or another.

Speaking of anime history, Stevenny M.Gingeran (2010), Anime is more like comic book for
teenager or adult and cartoon is more like child story book. In 1914, cartoonists were among the first
Japanese artists to experiment with animated motion pictures. Japan's first world-wide success was
Kitayama Seitaro's short film Momotaro(1918). Although the Japanese animation industry continued to
grow slowly, its one, last pre-war milestone was Chikara To Onna No Yononaka. Appearing in 1932,
the short film was the first animated "talkie" in Japanese. Being inspired, Jonathan Clements (2011)
stated that anime is for adult and the picture in comic book more suitable for adult and there is no
English book that contains the history of Japanese animation. So, he write the concept of anime
succession. He also want to write about the meaning and definition of anime that can even cause major
otaku to scratch their heads.

Long before anime being so popular, Hiroshi Okawa (1950), the president of the Japanese film
company Toei was impressed by anime. To add the variety of children show, he wanted to make anime
become a movie, not only a comic book. He also stated that it was his dream to create an Asian film
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studio that would produce animated features similar to those put out by Walt Disney Studios in
America. In 1956, Toei Animation was founded and, two years later, the company released its first full-
length feature The Tale of the White Serpent. After watching the movie that Hiroshi made, Muhammad
Hidayat (1999) indicated that the main character in most anime is a human (at least they have human
body). On the other hand, the main character in cartoon can be animal, human, things, or plant. In 2005,
one of student in University Indonesia said that after watched an anime movie, she had a conclusion
that from the story perspectives, it is harder to guess what will happen in the next part in anime,
because maybe the main character will successfully defeat the villain with 50:50 percentage. For
example : there is a kind person have being bullied by a person who is jealous with her. The result may
to fight for freedom or being bully for the rest of her life. So this story is kind of monotone.

2.2.2 Cartoons
Animated Films are ones in which individual drawings, paintings, or illustrations are photographed
frame by frame (stop-frame cinematography). Usually, each frame differs slightly from the one
preceding it, giving the illusion of movement when frames are projected in rapid succession at 24
frames per second. The earliest cinema animation was composed of frame-by-frame, hand-drawn
images. When combined with movement, the illustrator's two-dimensional static art came alive and
created pure and imaginative cinematic images - animals and other inanimate objects could become evil
villains or heroes. Animations are not a strictly-defined genre category, but rather a film technique,
although they often contain genre-like elements. Animation, fairy tales, and stop-motion films often
appeal to children, but it would marginalize animations to view them only as "children's entertainment."
Animated films are often directed to, or appeal most to children, but easily can be enjoyed by all. For
example it was children’s family films, that can be enjoyed by all.

When it comes to cartoon history, Walter Disney (1925) said many cartoonists who work for him
often use traditional way to make cartoon movie. He said the only way to fix it is by doing intensive
practice with me as a tutor. Therefore, with practices it can make a good movie. Angeline (2014) said
that cartoon comes from America, but anime comes from Japan. Cartoon is more like a 3D movie.
Cathy (2001) leave a comment in yahoo questioners that said in cartoon things can walk, think or speak
like a human being. For example in the movie Beauty and the Beast, there is a tea pot who can speak
and walk like a human being. There is also many cartoons which have already made into 3D movie,
one of them is UP. Angelina Robert (2006) recently said cartoon becomes so popular especially for
children and adult. The animation pictures provided in cartoon is simpler than anime, but there sre
some cartoons which have a better animation pictures than anime. Many children like to watch cartoon
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 because it has 3D movie. In addition, Davin Gliardo (2008) also said that animation is just a technique,
with which you can express every possible emotion to every possible audience. The producers of the
movies have a movie that suitable for kids and adults, books for kids and books for adults, as well as
cartoons suitable for kids and adults. Because of the story and some 3D effects in cartoon many adults
not only being entertained by it but they also continuously to watch it.

Many people think that cartoon is only to entertain yourself because the flow of the stories is funny
and can make you laugh. Mike Pangestu (2011) one of comicus in Indonesisa said that a cartoon is not
only a funny comic. Some cartoons have a secret meaning behind the story. For example, in my country
if they didn’t like the government who rules the country, usually some cartoonists will make some
funny pictures to tease them in the soft way and then put it in the newspaper. He also mention that
some of cartoon drawings are very detailed, and master’s hand, can be very valuable. There is also
some effect of cartoon makes it more clearly.

III. ANALYSIS
In this chapter the methods used will be illustrated, before we reached the conclusion part. The method
we used was to compare the data about Anime and Cartoons based on the perspective of visual
characteristic, facial expression, background and stories.

3.1 The differences between Anime and Cartoons

For following chapter, we will tell the differences between anime and cartoon from the perspectives of
visual characteristic, backgrounds, stories, and then analyze it. Furthermore, we will provide more detail
examples to make it more clearly.

3.1.1 Visual Characteristic

 Physical features

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. Anime characters include "large eyes, big hair and elongated limbs" and — in the
case of manga (anime comics) — "dramatically shaped speech bubbles, speed lines and onomatopoeic,
exclamatory typography."

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. However, cartoon characters are still caricatures,

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so they are often diverged from reality (e.g., Marge Simpson's large, blue hair or Brian, the talking dog, on
Family Guy).

 Facial expression

Facial expressions for anime characters are often different in form than their
counterparts in American animation. For example, embarrassed or stressed
characters produce a massive sweat-drop (which has become one of the most
widely recognized motifs of conventional anime). Characters that are shocked or surprised perform a "face
fault", in which they display an extremely exaggerated expression. Angry characters may exhibit a "vein" or
"stress mark" effect, where lines representing bulging veins will appear on their forehead.

3.2 Background
Many anime environments are inspired by the real ones in the real life. For example, amine characters
often go to Tokyo Tower to take a gaze at the city. When the criminal being caught, they will take them to
the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the transportation they take to go to the school was exactly
the same as the reality.
The followings are some examples of the environments in the anime and reality to give more vivid
images:
 Tokyo Tower  Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department

Tokyo Tower Detective Conan – Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department
 Osaka Castle

Osaka Castle Detective Conan – Osaka Castle Detective Conan - Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department

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 If anime has an environment based on the reality, Cartoons has opposite
environment from reality. Most of the cartoons environment was only an
imagination. The environment in the cartoons was impossible for you to
find it in the real life.

Spongebob Squarepants

3.3 Stories
Anime concentrates mostly on life issues or things tied closer to human emotion and sexual themes.
Anime doesn't shy away from epic storylines, which can run for dozens (sometimes hundreds) of episodes.
Most of anime can turn into reality actions. Cartoons are generally made to make people laugh and so are
more comical. Most of cartoons can’t turn into real actions.

3.4 Example
In this part we want to show you the differences between anime and cartoon from the story
perspectives. For example of anime we’ll explain Dectective Conan, and for cartoon we’ll explain
Spongebob Squarepants.

3.4.1 Detective Conan

The story follows the adventures of Shinichi Kudo (also known
as Jimmy Kudo in Case Closed), a young detective prodigy who was
inadvertently shrunk into a child's body due to a poison he was force-
fed by members of a criminal syndicate. Neighbor and family friend
Professor Agasa strongly suggested Shinichi hide his identity to
prevent them from killing him and the people he cares about, so
Shinichi takes the name Conan Edogawa. He goes to live with his
childhood friend Ran Mouri and her father, Kogoro, and tries to use
Kogoro's detective agency as a way to find the people who shrank
him—without letting Ran figure out who he really is.
 This stories was adapted from the manga
detective written and illustrated by Gosho
Aoyama. This serialized has been realized
since January 19,1994. The anime resulted
in animated feature films, audio disc
releases, and live action episodes.

3.4.2 Spongebob Squarepants

Relentlessly optimistic SpongeBob SquarePants lives in the
undersea township of Bikini Bottom, along with an assortment of
many supporting characters. Among them is his best friend, the
lovable - but dim - sea star named Patrick; the irritable perfectionist
neighbor named Squidward; and an athletic squirrel named Sandy
who lives in an undersea treedome. SpongeBob is employed as a fry
cook at the local burger place, The Krusty Krab, which is operated
by a penny-pinching crustacean is named Mr. Krabs.
After the first SpongeBob SquarePants episode aired on May 1, 1999. Pittenger Kenny later in Nov 9,
2004 when the SpongeBob’s new movie realized, he said that up until now this cartoon had never realized
the live action episodes because its quite impossible to do that.

Anime Cartoon

Physical features of characters Characters usually have

Physical are, on the whole, closer to features that are not relative to

features reality than cartoons. Larger the rest of the body and
Visual
eyes and smaller mouths therefore further from reality
Characteristic
make for a cuter style. than anime.

Facial Angry characters may exhibit Angry characters may exhibit

expression a "vein" or "stress mark" a volcano erupted effect.
effect.

Many anime got the same Almost all of cartoons

environment as the reality. environment was only an

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 Background Environment imagination.

 Anime concentrates mostly  Cartoons are generally

on life issues or things tied made to make people
closer to human emotion and laugh and so are more
Plot
sexual themes. comical.
Stories
 Most of anime can turn into  Most of cartoons can’t
reality actions. turn into real actions.

Example Detective Conan SpongeBob SquarePants

table 3.4.2

IV. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, anime and cartoon has many differences, such as visual characteristic, background and
story. These data tend to support that ideas. As for “the things that make anime so special” is anime story
and their visual characteristics which make anime so special. Because most of the characters in anime have
perfect body, for the woman they have slender body with big boobs and for man they have a muscular body.
Besides, anime can turn into real action. Many people think that anime and cartoon are the same things.
Actually, they are different and most of anime fans can sum this up in two words: "It's different." Anime is
as unlike most American cartoons as, say, Batman and Spider-Man are different from the comics that run in
daily papers. The major differences between anime and cartoons are the background, the character, and the
plot. Based on our research, we figured out that nowadays people more like anime than cartoon.

V. REFERENCES
1. Otakon program book. (1999). History of Anime, O'Connell, Michael.

2. British Film Institute. (2013). Anime a history, Jonathan Clements.

3. Globalization of Japanese Popular Media. (1999). Anime history and cartoon culture, John A. Lent

4. Anime cartoon. (2013). Cartoon Culture. Tracer, Johny.

5. Wikipedia Anime History. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime#History

6. About Entertainment, a brief history of anime. Retrieved from

http://anime.about.com/od/animeprimer/a/Brief-History-Of-Anime.htm

http://anime.about.com/od/animeprimer/a/What-Is-Anime.htm
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7. Digital Artist Daily, a brief history of manga. Retrieved from
http://www.digitalartistdaily.com/blog/2012/03/a-brief-history-of-manga-part-1/

8. Amazon, History Cartoon in United States. Retrieved from

http://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-United-States-Series/dp/0062730983

9. Movies about, Animated film and movies history. Retrieved from

http://movies.about.com/od/animatedmovies/a/history-animated-films.htm

10. Technology metro tv news. Why fans want to makes the difference about anime and cartoon. Retrieved
from http://teknologi.metrotvnews.com/read/2015/09/21/172135/anime-dan-kartun-mengapa-fans-ingin-
keduanya-dibedakan

11. Frame Headline News. The differences between anime and cartoon. Retrieved from
http://www.bingkaiberitaterkini.blogspot.tw/2013/06/perbedaan-anime-dan-kartun.html