Ask John: Why Aren’t There Anime Similar To American Cartoon Sitcoms?

Question:
Why can’t Japanese animators make shows that are like Family Guy, South Park, Simpsons, or Loony Tunes? Why do they always make anime based on reality? Can’t they make something all funny without dramatic situations?

Answer:
American cartoons like Family Guy, South Park, and The Simpsons are created by American artists and designed to appeal to the tastes of American viewers. Logically, it’s natural that Japanese animators wouldn’t naturally create programs that emulate American pop culture. Japanese animators create works with their own, Japanese perspectives, and design their creations to suit the tastes of Japanese viewers. Programs including Family Guy, South Park, The Simpsons, and Loony Tunes represent animated series that satirize their native culture and maintain a lighthearted, episodic format. There are, in fact, anime that adhere to these characteristics. But since Japanese shows with these criteria uniquely address Japanese family values and culture, they’re usually not exported to America, and most Americans are not familiar with them.

Anime series including Sazae-san, Chibi Maruko-chan, Atashin’chi, Nono-chan, and Crayon Shin-chan are long running and popular domestic comedies that present a humorous and satirical illustration of everyday Japanese life. Similar to Family Guy and The Simpsons, the characters and families in programs like Sazae-san and Crayon Shin-chan never significantly change. They remain the same age perpetually, and events that occur in episodes don’t necessarily have a lasting effect on future episodes. But precisely because shows such as Sazae-san, Chibi Maruko-chan, and Atashin’chi deal with the mundane routines of commonplace Japanese life, they’re not very interesting for foreign viewers to watch. Mainstream American viewers can’t relate to Japanese domestic comedies because Americans aren’t familiar with the minutiae of Japanese life, like Japanese household habits such as not wearing shoes indoors, cooking Japanese style, limited time supermarket bargain sales, Japanese bathing, and so forth. American hardcore anime fans generally have little interest in Japanese domestic comedies because they’re slow paced and relatively uneventful. Shows like Sazae-san and Atashin’chi aren’t trendy looking, glossy, or well animated, so they have nothing that interests average American anime fans. As a result, the type of shows you’re looking for do exist; they’re just not well known in America.