The Difference Between Cartoons And Anime
In the United States, a lot of people – mostly adults –
think comic books, graphic novels, and animation are
only for kids.
That’s not true in Japan – comics and
animation are as popular and widely accepted as books
or movies. (That’s also why some Japanese comics are as
violent and sexually-oriented as they are. Some series are
written and illustrated specifically for adults, not for kids
or teenagers.) Also unlike in the U.S., Japanese comics
and animation often tell stories about “real” or “normal”
people, not just about super heroes or super villains.
Some manga produced in Japan is published weekly as
part of huge 300-page anthologies of comic stories. Just
like many people read newspapers on trains on the way
to work, Japanese commuters read these anthologies.
They’re considered to be cheap entertainment, so they’re
read and thrown away. While American comic books
(like the Action Comics issue I mentioned earlier) are saved
and stored away by people hoping they’ll be worth a lot
more someday, there’s no “collector” interest in manga
in Japan. Saving one of the 300 page anthologies would
be like saving yesterday’s newspaper – no one does it.
The anthologies are incredibly popular, and manga artists
have crazy schedules, many having to pump out sixteen
or twenty pages per week to keep up. Being an average
manga artist is probably really fun, but it’s also very
demanding.