Is DragonBall a "Cartoon" or an "Anime"?

shenron002 · Post by **shenron002** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 3:42 pm

Through out most forums I check, people usually refer to Dragon Ball as a cartoon. Which usually makes me cringe, because I always thought of it as a anime. I would like to hear other people's thoughts on the matter!

Post by **desirecampbell** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 3:49 pm

An anime, in western vernacular, refers to a cartoon from Japan. Dragon Ball is a cartoon from Japan.

Kendamu · Post by **Kendamu** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 3:52 pm

Anime is "a shortened form of the English word 'animation' referring to Japanese cartoons" according to Google. So, being of Japanese origin, it's anime. However, "anime" is short for "animation" and while "cartoon" technically implies that the animation in question is supposed to be comedy, in common American slang "cartoon" is synonymous with "animation" to most people.

EDIT: Desire beat me to it.

Post by **VegettoEX** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 4:00 pm

This really all stems from any particular individual's own interpretation of what they want the terms "cartoon" and "anime" to refer to.

Even when it comes to what an "accepted" meaning of "anime" is to the American public, it's completely skewed in all directions. For example, we received an Avatar: The Last Airbender submission to the AnimeNEXT AMV contest last year, and I had an extremely difficult time trying to find a way to explain to our young entrant why exactly that wasn't "anime" and how it wasn't eligible for contest consideration. Right there, I think that explains a lot about just how difficult the distinction is to make.

desirecampbell and Kendamu have pretty much explained the vernacular meanings. Taking it even further, I find that most of the people that get so extremely upset about any anime being called a "cartoon" is because they're still clinging to that desire to be part of the "underground scene"... they want to like things that aren't completely mainstream, that are still unknown, and that it somehow makes them more hip.

Quite frankly, unless you were reading along with scripts to raw VHS tapes in sci-fi clubs in the 1970s (which I was not), you were never part of any American "underground" anime scene. I feel like today's youth are still trying to grasp back to that time, despite (probably) being completely naive about its history and roots.

Is DragonBall an anime? By all accounts and general meanings of the word that I can think of, absolutely... it's an animated show from Japan. Is it a cartoon? Absolutely. It's an animated program.

Do some people not like it being called a "cartoon"? Sure. Do some people use the term "cartoon" in a derogatory or otherwise downplaying meaning? Sure. The thing is, some of the American public don't even realize that they're patronizing a program by using the word "cartoon". Then again, you could take it in the opposite direction and tell people to stop taking it so personally if someone happens to use the term "cartoon"; that may simply be the only word in their own personal vernacular that they can comprehend to describe the medium with, and there's a good change there's nothing inherently negative about their intent or delivery.

Kendamu · Post by **Kendamu** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 4:08 pm

Very true!

Didn't you talk about this on the podcast once? It sounds familiar coming from you...

Anywho, I have no problem with DBZ being known as the "greatest action cartoon of all time" even if the word cartoon is used.

AnzuMazaki · Post by **AnzuMazaki** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 5:42 pm

Lot's of people call DB a cartoon, especially DBZ bashers, who prefer anorexic emo-men and hot schoolgirls to 80s anime.

But the sad thing is most people see DB as "that crappy 2000 fake anime made by the best dubbing company in the world,"

I like it though when people say DB is the best cartoon ever, even more when it's the best anime ever.

Well, DB isn't the only 80'S anime to be called a "cartoon from 1990s/2000s"

Noozles, Lil'Bits, Bumble Bee Hutch and Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (G-force/Battle of the Planets) were all anime from the 80s (Gatchaman was from the 70s) and were all dubbed into americinzed shows in the 80s and 90s.

FUNImation sort of americinzed DBZ before 1999, with stuff like "another dimension" and "I can see their parachuts"

Luckilly they changed their minds, apart from the names unlike 4kids, which has worse edits than FUNI had back then.

Rocketman · Post by **Rocketman** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 5:50 pm

AnzuMazaki wrote:who prefer hot schoolgirls to 80s anime.

Who doesn't?

Post by **desirecampbell** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 5:56 pm

AnzuMazaki wrote:who prefer hot schoolgirls and 80s anime.

Fixed.

Post by **Herms** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:13 pm

Rocketman wrote:
AnzuMazaki wrote:who prefer hot schoolgirls to 80s anime.
Who doesn't?

Non-adolescent non-pedophiles.

masenko · Post by **masenko** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:36 pm

Here's a thought...do people in Japan have a sweet name for American Cartoons?

Rocketman · Post by **Rocketman** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:56 pm

Herms wrote:Non-adolescent non-pedophiles.

Colleges are schools too, mang.

Post by **desirecampbell** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:57 pm

masenko wrote:Here's a thought...do people in Japan have a sweet name for American Cartoons?

They do. "Anime".

Post by **Herms** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 7:09 pm

Rocketman wrote: Colleges are schools too, mang.

Yes, but you generally find women in colleges, not girls.

Jerseymilk · Post by **Jerseymilk** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 8:03 pm

desirecampbell wrote:
masenko wrote:Here's a thought...do people in Japan have a sweet name for American Cartoons?
They do. "Anime".

From what I've always seen for the most part, the Japanese refer to everything animated as "animation". For myself, whether someone calls DB an "anime" or "cartoon", doesn't matter since they're both correct statements.

Super Sonic · Post by **Super Sonic** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 8:58 pm

Jerseymilk wrote:
desirecampbell wrote:
masenko wrote:Here's a thought...do people in Japan have a sweet name for American Cartoons?
They do. "Anime".
From what I've always seen for the most part, the Japanese refer to everything animated as "animation". For myself, whether someone calls DB an "anime" or "cartoon", doesn't matter since they're both correct statements.

Agreed. Reminds me once I asked a friend from Japan over whether over there people argue over seeing American cartoons dubbed in Japanese or in English with subtitles as many folks do here in the States. He said they really couldn't care less.

Big Momma · Post by **Big Momma** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:17 am

Super Sonic wrote: He said they really couldn't care less.

Why can't America be like that? You'd think that with us being one of(if not the) most diverse country in the world, we'd be showing are programs in their original language!

ETC123 · Post by **ETC123** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:38 am

Big Momma wrote:
Super Sonic wrote: He said they really couldn't care less.
Why can't America be like that? You'd think that with us being one of(if not the) most diverse country in the world, we'd be showing are programs in their original language!

Because of literacy rates and English (spoken English, mind you) being the primary language spoken officially.

Rocketman · Post by **Rocketman** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:42 am

Big Momma wrote:Why can't America be like that? You'd think that with us being one of(if not the) most diverse country in the world, we'd be showing are programs in their original language!

Because English is far superior. *nod*

Just kidding, guys, calm down.

Super Sonic · Post by **Super Sonic** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:02 am

Big Momma wrote:
Super Sonic wrote: He said they really couldn't care less.
Why can't America be like that? You'd think that with us being one of(if not the) most diverse country in the world, we'd be showing are programs in their original language!

What I meant was that according to him, there's no big deal about watching American cartoons dubbed in Japanese. The sub/dub debate for foreign cartoons doesn't exist. Said while in Japan he saw Simpsons dubbed in Japanese no problem.

YouTube · Post by **Hujio** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:39 am

Super Sonic wrote:
Big Momma wrote:
Super Sonic wrote: He said they really couldn't care less.
Why can't America be like that? You'd think that with us being one of(if not the) most diverse country in the world, we'd be showing are programs in their original language!
What I meant was that according to him, there's no big deal about watching American cartoons dubbed in Japanese. The sub/dub debate for foreign cartoons doesn't exist. Said while in Japan he saw Simpsons dubbed in Japanese no problem.

I have no problem with any animation being referred to as a cartoon or an anime. You just have to remember that over here in the states we see things differently than they do in Japan. For instance, in the 80's there was a show about a boy that lives in the woods all alone, and sometimes he gets naked when he swims. Then a girl comes along that's willing to use her woman parts to get what she wants. Now when the show comes to the states, all these parts have to be edited out. But not only that, some names had to be changed because they carried a satanic connotation with them.

It is much easier to dub in Japan because they don't find certain things so taboo as we do over here. Basically, in Japan they get to watch the Simpsons exactly as we do here. But when we get DragonBall, we have to edit the video, change character names, and of course change dialogue so that everything is acceptable to watch. That's what I have a problem with!

Kanzenshuu

Is DragonBall a "Cartoon" or an "Anime"?

Is DragonBall a "Cartoon" or an "Anime"?

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