Anime And Manga Has To Be From Japan (Rant)

Before I start going off on this topic that really gets my goat sometimes I feel the need to point out that in no way am I saying Americans can't become manga artists or create anime. They most definitely can (yes Nii-san that means you), but the purpose of this post is simply to say that it must be from (like published in) Japan. To anyone planning to go into the anime/manga industry please do not get discouraged by this, I have no problems with it, in fact somebody very close to me is going to become a manga artist, so by no means am I discouraging anybody ok? Ok, now lets get started.

My whole reason to make this post is because I find it dumb how people seem to consider things like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Code Lyoko, Invader Zim or W.I.T.C.H to be anime. THEY ARE NOT. I'm not disputing the quality of these shows at all, personally W.I.T.C.H is among my favorite shows, the art style is very similar to that of anime, but it's Italian, not Japanese. There is a Japanese language version (I think), but it was not created in Japan and is therefore not anime. W.I.T.C.H came from a comic, however the comic is not manga because despite the similar art style, it was not created in Japan so it is not anime. Though for now I'm going to get off the topic of W.I.T.C.H specifically because it's a tad confusing and I'll come back to it later.

Probably the most common misconception of this kind is that of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It was based off the anime style of art and story format (continuous, unlike most American shows which are episodic)
however it's creators even said that they simply used anime for inspiration, it's not actually anime because it was created...I forget if it was here or Korea, but it's not Japan.

I'm well aware that some people classify anime based on the art style, and I suppose that makes sense in it's own right, but anime is a Japanese word used to refer to Japanese animation. And yes I'm well aware that 'anime' simply translates to 'animation' and is not country specific, however when referring to animation from other countries, in normal spoken Japanese other cultures cartoons are referred to with that country. For example, Avatar would be referred to as "Amerika no anime" (translates to America's animation) rather than simply anime.

By this point I'm probably already rubbing many people the wrong way with this post, but first off nobody is forcing you to read this. Also please keep in mind the title of my blog, it's my opinion, it just so happens that this opinion is shared by many others and is fodder for much debate in the anime subculture.

Lets move on to manga now shall we? It's always been beyond me as to why some manga websites will host manwha as well (Korean version of manga for those who don't know) when they call themselves manga websites. Because like anime, manga is something only from Japan. Now that's not to say Americans or any other ethnicity or people can't draw manga as a profession, they most definitely can. But in order to truly be considered manga it would have to be published in Japan, in Japanese, but to call a comic published in America manga is just...eeehhhh not so much. It could still be completely awesome like what I said about Avatar and W.I.T.C.H, but not traditional manga. Obviously you don't need to be Japanese, honestly who cares? Just as long as the manga itself is Japanese (originating/published in Japan) it's still manga. For an awesome example of somebody who definitely could pull this off in the future click here.

Now finally back to W.I.T.C.H like I was talking about before. There are...I want to say 4 versions of W.I.T.C.H, the original Italian comic (not manga, despite the art, because it's Italian), the American Novels based off the comic, the American TV show...or is it Italian?...I forget. Based off the Italian comic which was aired on Jetix. However throwing a wrench into the mix, is the lesser known manga form of this series, which is in fact created in Japan. But as far as I know, other shows/comics that are commonly mistaken for anime/manga don't have any such tie, however if they do I'd be interested to find out.

I guess my whole reason for this post isn't even to persuade anybody of anything honestly, it's just because I get sort of annoyed when people insist that Avatar and Invader Zim and such are anime, which they are not. No demerit to them of course, they're good in their own rights. Again, not to discourage anyone and not to step on anyones toes of you just so happen to be one of the people that insists that Avatar is anime, but it's really not. And quite honestly it disgusts me when I see it on an anime website. Opinions on this anyone? Agree? Disagree? Heh, I hope I don't lose any readers cuz of this post, but this is just MY OPINION as per usual. Also, look foreward to a special Valentines Day related post in the coming week or so. Till then I shall leave you with a picture of the awesomely adorable Gir, proving that I have nothing against him simply because he isn't anime.

Adorable and Funny, but not anime.