Ask John: How Are American & Japanese Animation Similar?

Question:
What are the commonalites of Japanese and Amercian animation?

Answer:
As anime otaku, we are instinctively cognizant of the differences between Japanese and American animation. We don’t often consider the commonalities between Japanese and American animation because many of those similarities are the same ones that connect all animation from everywhere in the world. The similarities between Japanese and American animation primarily serve to highlight by exclusion the unique characteristics of Japanese animation. By definition, 2D hand-drawn animation remains the same thing regardless of its country of origin. Two-dimensional animation is also typified by its ability and tendency to incorporate exaggerated expression and motion that seems natural in context but wouldn’t seem natural in live-action. Wile E. Coyote repeatedly falling off a cliff or merely getting toasted by a point blank explosion seems believable in animation, yet the same situations happening to a human being in live-action cinema would be laughable and unbelievable. Characters being struck hard enough to send their bodies flying through walls, launching characters into the stratosphere with punches, and materializing massive weapons out of thin air are anime tropes that rely on the same Wile E. Coyote principle that informs American animation. Action and motion is also frequently stylized. American animation depicts running as a blurred windmill of rapidly moving legs. Anime sometimes does the same. Both American and Japanese animation may depict dust clouds or smoke trails following behind running characters, which would be literally impossible in realistic live-action.

Although animation isn’t as exclusively perceived as a children’s medium in Japan as it is in America, the perception is still pervasive. As a result, the massive majority of animation produced in both Japan and America is targeted at children. Adult protagonists are exceedingly rare in American animation. The vast majority of Japanese animation stars children. American viewers may believe that anime is more “mature” and “adult” than American cartoons, but much of what Americans perceive as “mature” in anime is deemed entirely appropriate for children in Japan, due to Japanese cultural conventions. Adolescent protagonists in anime may seem mature to American viewers, but we should remember that these programs are targeted at preadolescent and adolescent Japanese viewers, which by definition makes them children’s programs.