Is anime a genre or a medium?

I've heard arguments from both sides numerous times in the past, but while I lean towards genre, I'm not 100% sure where I stand. What do you all think?

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My guess would be that it's a medium, not a genre, because an anime film can be any genre.

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I would say that movies, comics, video games, etc. would be the mediums while anime would be genres within those broader mediums.

Also, animated films can be multiple genres as well. For instance: Tangled (romance), The Great Mouse Detective (mystery/crime), Coraline (horror), Waltz With Bashir (war/documentary), The Adventured of TinTin (action), The Iron Giant (science fiction), Stan Brakhage's films (avant garde).

Does it have to be one or the other? They're not really mutually exclusive. Maybe the reason that this question is so hard to answer is because technically, it's not either a medium or a genre, or maybe it's a combination of both.

True, it could. But I guess the main reason why I'm hesitant to label anime as such is that I don't think there's enough of a difference between anime and conventional animated films for them to be completely different mediums. The main argument I hear is that anime is culturally and stylistically different from animated films. However, I would argue that the works of Don Hertzfeldt and Jan Švankmajer, for instance, feel just as, if not more different from the output of studios like Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks than Japanese anime does.

It's a style.

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I think, in addition to the obvious physical characteristics of the characters, most Japanese anime is designed more for adults, while most conventional animation, (such as Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks, etc.), is designed more for children.

I would say that every form of media has a target audience in mind. I've always associated anime more with the younger generation, but idk. I can't claim to know everything about the age demographics of those who enjoy anime. I think something like Spirited Away though is as much for kids as the average Disney animated film.

I agree that there are clear stylistic differences between anime and other animated films. I think this is more about auteurs though than anime being a different medium. As I mentioned upthread, filmmakers like Hertzfeldt and Švankmajer have their own unique style to their work.

It just seems like anime seems to have more gritty storylines, and less "fairy tale" type of stories like conventional animation.

That's about the extent of my knowledge of anime, so hopefully someone else will come along with a better answer.

Not a fan, but it would seem animation is the medium and Anime is the genre, yeah?

Perhaps. I probably haven't seen as much anime as some other users here have, I would imagine. I would say that most superhero films have gritty storylines to them as well though.

Anime is neither. It is a style.

Not all cartoons are anime, but all anime are cartoons. The medium is "animated cartoon."

Anime can be Western, Horror, etc., so it's bigger than genre. Nevertheless, it involves a cluster of elements (neotony, movement, costuming, lighting, etc.). And these are stylistic elements.

To the extent that one can argue that thematic elements are essential, or deeply characteristic, I suppose, one could argue that it has genre-like qualities, but it's not a medium.


EDIT: Iroquois beat me to it. I'll keep this up as supporting analysis, tho.

Yeah, I might've misinterpreted Corax's post up above. Anyways, yeah, I think you're both right that anime is more a style than anything.

Animation is a medium, not a genre. Anime is neither. It is animation from japan.

/thread

"Anime" is the Japanese word (romanized) for animation, it was imported from another language. Whether it was from English and was shortened (which is a thing that happens) or just a straight pull from, say, French, where the word for animation is also animé (or so the internet has told me), I cannot say.


I see the term used for animation from other east Asian countries, like Korea and Hong Kong (or whatever the correct term for Hong Kong should be these days).


I do not know what the word(s) used in those neighboring regions are.

Actually, I think I've heard of things in the past decade or so referred to as American anime (continuation of my previous post).
Wasn't Avatar in that category? (I know lots of people praised it back in the day, but I never watched it).
For the sake of style answer, think of American mainstream animation between Walt Disney's Snow White up until Pixar.
Maybe ignore the Fleisher/Betty Boop stuff. And think of how the style of all of those is influenced each other and derived from each other, regardless of content or genre.


Now apply that to another epicenter of animation, with Japan, starting in the 60s, starting with Astro-Boy (whose style was also influenced by Disney, I believe), but kind of separated out on its own.


So, anime referred to animation from Japan, but as stylistically other countries started to mimic some of its styles, they're also referred to as anime. At least by people in the US.

OK, let's do sporks next. Knife or fork? You be the judge.

Yeah, it’s a fair point. I think these days you could call something an “anime” even if it isn’t made in Japan., as long as it’s in the style.