This question may seem silly. “Obviously I know when an anime isn’t an anime!” I hear you shouting at me but I want to say that this interesting question is more complicated than it may first seem. It isn’t as easy as saying that anime is simply animation that is produced in Japan with a Japanese crew and Japanese money. Instead, particularly in the modern age, we’re seeing more and more animation produced that blurs the line of what anime is. Therefore, I thought it might be interesting to share my thoughts on the question of when an anime isn’t an anime.
The first thing I should clarify is whose definition of anime I’m looking at. As I mentioned before, the word “Anime” in Japan simply refers to animated media, meaning all animation is considered anime in Japan. However, outside of Japan, anime is defined as “Japanese film and television animation“. This seems like a cut and dry definition but, as you start to dig deeper and deeper, you start to realise that this isn’t as simple as it first seems.
Let’s start with the most obvious example that most people are likely to think of when it comes to this question, anime-influenced animation. This refers to animation that is produced outside of Japan with a non-Japanese crew that aesthetically resembles the art-style of anime with some of the most popular being Avatar the Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, Totally Spies!, The Boondocks, RWBY etc. The rigid definition that most people adhere to would state that these series are not anime but it’s interesting to note that I agree for a completely different reason. The techniques behind anime can be quite different to animation produced outside of Japan and this results in anime-influenced animation adopting the art of anime but not the techniques behind the animation. As far as I’m concerned, this invalidates the possibility of anime-influenced animation being true anime.
However, other examples are not as easy to dismiss. While it’s true that The Legend of Korra is anime-influenced animation, it’s interesting to note that an anime studio called Studio Pierrot, best known for series such as Naruto, Bleach, Kimagure Orange Road, Fushigi Yugi etc., animated seven episodes from season 2 of The Legend of Korra. A question I’d have for you is whether or not that makes those specific episodes any more anime than the rest of the series? I would also pose this question to many animated series/films that were animated by anime studios such as the first season of Inspector Gadget, a portion of Batman the Animated Series, the 2011 Thundercats series, The Last Unicorn etc.
I’m also uncomfortable about defining anime based on the ethnicity of its crew. While it’s true that the vast majority of anime have a predominantly Japanese crew, it’s not unheard of to see non-Japanese working in the anime industry. Easily the most famous example of this is Michael Arias who directed Tekkonkinkreet and Harmony but there are also plenty of other examples of foreigners working as part of an anime crew and I expect that we’ll continue to see more and more of this in the future as anime continues its popularity worldwide.
For the most part, it seems pretty obvious when an anime isn’t an anime but there are plenty examples of productions that blur the line of what an anime is. For my part though, I believe that the techniques used are far more important in defining anime than the art-style or ethnicity of the crew. Let me know your thoughts on the interesting question of when an anime is not an anime, other examples you are aware of that seem nebulous when it comes to whether it’s an anime or not, how you personally define anime and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!