You know, I see a lot of people generalize animation in to a single category, a genre. But when you think about it, it doesn't make sense at all. Think about it, what does knowing that a TV show or movie is animated tell you? You just know that it doesn't have flesh and blood actors in it, that's all. You don't know the kind of plot it will have or anything like that. Animated programs still fall into the categories of drama, horror, comedy, etc. (Actually, every genre stems from Drama and Comedy, if you think about it) so why group them together when it doesn't make sense. I think the same way about anime. It gets treated like a genre, but it's not. If someone says "Let's watch an anime", you have no idea if it's supposed to be funny, scary, suspensful, dramatic, or anything like that. In fact, the writer and director of The Incredibles says this about animation as a "genre"
"I can't name another art form on the face of the earth that limits its
audience by saying it's aimed at one age group. I mean, you don't say,
"Opera—it's only aimed at 35- to 60-year-olds." I have people asking me
what it's like to be working in the animation genre. It's not a
genre. It's an art form that can do any genre, and it's been limited by
people's perceptions, but I think it can tell any story there is."
So the next time you post something like "I like anime!" or "Western animation isn't as good as anime", think about what you're saying, because most of the time it doesn't make any sense at all.
