Top 10 Reasons Anime is Better Than American Cartoons

The Top Ten
1 Better Characters

Yeah that is true anime characters are great with different personalities and different looks and they are realistic and relatable. Cartoon characters are mostly weird or cute nothing else they can't be realistic or cool or dangerous. Anime characters make me feel like I'm a part of them too like when they are sad I'm sad when they are happy I'm happy too when they cry I cry when they laugh I laugh too. That's why anime characters are way better than cartoon characters.

Many times American cartoons try to achieve good characters, and they get exaggerated, or creators try to make them fun and energetic, only to come off as annoying. The only counters I have to this are spongebob characters and gravity falls characters. Anime, however, character are actually real. Even in fantastical anime like one piece, you have a boy who has an ultimate dream, and tries to achieve it, but stumbles through obstacles along the way,

2 Better Story

Anime has lots of depth in the story. There usually is a deeper meaning you can get out if it. Unlike, American cartoons, it can get really serious with certain topics. Cartoons are based around light topics. In animation, characters grow a lot in person. They change through their experiences. The characters in cartoons usually stay the same. I think anime also can grasp the watcher's attention even if they don't like the art because of the story. (That's how I ended up loving One Piece even though I vowed to never read/watch it because I thought it was a childish, stupid anime) I think the plot lines in animation are really clever and well thought out.

3 More Emotional Connection with Characters

Due to anime being able to have an actually serious nature, I feel for the characters. American cartoons are all about comedy without plot so I never give a damn about the characters. I mean isn't there an entire video on youtube devoted to all the Kenny deaths from South Park? How am I supposed to care when he dies literally every episode. Anime is different because they let me connect by making the characters real and relatable. Even if we're not talking about heavily emotional anime where I cry over characters dying or being seriously injured (Kagari from Psycho Pass and Izaya from Durarara), I still feel emotions for the characters.

4 Stronger Female Characters

Hello, cartoon fans that came here to comment! (Nothing wrong about that, anime fans do it too.) I have a neutral opinion. Please, no hate. I am a big fan of anime, but cartoons are amazing as well. The reason may be that I don't watch them as much. Anyway, I'll try saying this respectfully.

While lots of female characters in anime have the 'big boobs that bounce around every time they move' characters, they also have many characters with normal and small chests. Not every strong female character has big breasts. From the top of my head, I can name Mikasa Ackerman, Morgiana from Magi, Yona (from Akatsuki no Yona), and Olivier Armstrong.

5 Better Animation

All of the above, they draw better, there is more action, and nobody beats Japanese imagination. The best Anime/Cartoons I have ever seen in my life were all Japanese: Ninja Scroll, Akira, Battle Angel, The Hakkenden, Neo Tokyo, Doomed Megalapolis, Karas:The Prophecy, Princess Mononoke, Ghost In The Shell, too many...The American cartoons bore me with their stiffness, thick lines, and blocky look...All the Batman Cartoons, to date, are a perfect example..

Hell yeah! You gotta love how the animation on every anime looks like. It's beautiful and really, I like the mouth dub kind of thing, unlike the cartoons where the voice must be on sync and animated at the same time or something, you know what I mean.

6 Better Fight Scenes

Anime scenes are pretty realistic. But in cartoons you see that the fight was off-screen or just a cloud spits out with stars and swirling lines. Alternatively, you also see a tornado (which it was from the old Looney Tunes).

I love fight scenes more than any other scenes BY FAR and anime exaggerates them so you can't help loving them! Don't believe me? Watch Naruto/Bleach and you'll see.

The fight scenes can be incredibly violent almost as violent as a Quentin Tarantino movie characters bleed bones are broken and some of them even die.

7 Better Romance

All anime love stories are better than American cartoon love stories. Especially Sword Art Online. Who says a virtual reality series has to be only about fighting and epic moments? Romance was the main thing that helped compel me to watch Sword Art Online. I really liked Kirito and Asuna as a couple and never ever regretted watching this anime ever.

Seeing Kirito and Asuna be number 1 on a Top 10 Anime Romances video by WatchMojo was one of the reasons I finally watched Sword Art Online. And guess what? I really loved the romance and the anime as well. I'm a boy and I love romance, so I loved Kirito and Asuna and how their relationship developed over time. And I find it quite stupid how people hate romance when it's supposed to be a part of their life if they ever wanna get married.

8 Better Villains

Cartoons always portray their antagonists as losers. They try to send the "good guys always win" message, which is not very realistic. However, the antagonists of anime are very dangerous and present a real challenge to the protagonists. It is impossible for the protagonists to defeat them without undergoing rigorous training. In Bleach, for example, Ichigo Kurosaki had to risk losing his soul reaper powers in order to reach the final Getsugatensho and defeat Sosuke Aizen. Many characters in anime even die while fighting the antagonists, as seen in Naruto when Pain (or Nagato) killed Jiraiya.

9 Anime Breaks Stereotypes and the Status Quo Rather Than Following Them
10 Better Humor

Everyone has a different sense of humor. One guy might find a joke of lifting a girl's skirt to be hilarious, but the guy next to him finds the joke to be immature and creepy. The cartoons and anime I have watched have a variety of comedy, and even though I didn't find some jokes funny, I could see effort put into it.

A Lot of American cartoons rely too much on slapstick humor & random gags that its just annoying, Anime does it better because its not constant its funny when it wants to be and can be dead serious when it needs to be.

The Contenders
11 Anime Characters Express Their Feelings Better

In anime when a character is in despair or is sad it is often better than in American cartoons. An example is when anime characters feel pain or sorrow they scream out in pain somewhat a real scream but in American cartoons I hear " IT HURTS" or "DOH" which isn't very appealing to me at least.

12 Better Intros

Anime intros are well crafted, long, and professional like. Cartoon ones on the other hand are short, plain, and beginner like. Cartoon intros look like that it has no art or creativity in it.

Although some American cartoons do have catchy intros (look at Rick and Morty or even the Simpsons), it's the fact that anime has MORE great intros that makes this reason valid.

Anime intros are the best. Most are one and a half minutes long, but the songs are so good I'd listen to them even outside of anime. For cartoons? Nah.

13 Better Music

Just because it has good music doesn't mean it can't be a bad show. A good show should have a creative conflict, story and characers, not just good animation and music.

Take anime openings, sure the music can be good, but I perfer it when the actual opening shows more than just 2 second standing character introductions, scenery and fighting (Looking at you, SAO). Baccano is a example of a great opening. The character introductions show they're personality, and not a single word is said in the opening, instead playing some jazzy music to go along with the opening, with matches the theme of the anime. Most cartoons are short so that they can get more on to the actual thing, instead of one minute of an opening.
Now background music is different, yes it can be awesome, but sometimes it isn't necessarily. I've only cared to listen to two anime soundtracks, which were Madoka Magica and Nichijou. The rest I just didn't care, unlike the millions of video game soundtracks I look up because I actually care about the music, because it fitted with what was going on. Both animes and cartoons can be in the problem of awesome music, but at the wrong time.

14 More Genres

I like some American cartoons, but anime has always appealed to me a lot more. In my opinion, many American cartoons are super stupid and unfunny. Anime is usually a lot more serious and easier to take seriously.

In the world of anime (and manga) there is something to watch for everyone no matter age, gender or preferences. You can find anything from thriller, adventure and action to romantic comedies via any kind of childish theme you can come up with. No matter the theme you can think of, there's sure to be an anime about it!

15 Character Deaths are More Meaningful

It adds more to the plot and changes what is going on in the plot line! It's crazy and I love it!

In Madoka Magica, none of the other Puella Magis were brought back to life until ultimate Madoka revived them In the new world she created. And their deaths In the previous world (Madoka kind of died because she rewrote the universe while destroying herself and Homura probably died) actually helped on Madoka's character and had storyline purposes. If Mami survived the fight with Charlotte, Madoka would be a magical girl, Kyoko wouldn't come to Mitakihara and Homura had to reset the whole thing (and worsen Madoka's fate without noticing It), If Sayaka didn't turned into a witch, Madoka wouldn't thought of the wish to erase witches and would wish for something else like the cake idea Mami gave her, If Kyoko killed Sayaka's witch and stayed alive, Madoka wouldn't be that desperate or thought of the wish. But Madoka being that powerful DOES make sense. Let's say, at first, she wished for a loaf of bread, in the other one she wished for a lettuce, and then meat and another one cheese, later a tomato and a loaf of bread, thus at the end she wished for a full sandwich. In other words, not only that Homura adapted a colder personality every time she reset time, but Madoka's potential and powers as a magical girl will increase every time.

16 Better Supporting Characters

Anime does, in fact, feature a lot of great supporting characters who help out the main character. In Dragon Ball Z, you have Master Roshi, who was Goku's master, King Kai who teaches Goku the techniques that help him fight against the Saiyans, and there's Bulma, despite her constant nagging, proves to be a real help with her technology, especially the Dragon Ball Radar. In Fullmetal Alchemist, there's Winry, the very Auto Engineering who gave Ed his auto mail that got him back on his feet, and let's not forget Pinako. And there's Maes Hughes, who becomes the closest thing to a real father to Ed & Al.

17 More Characters Age

It's not really that important but it does annoy me that certain characters haven't aged at all The Simpsons have been on the air for over 20 seasons yet Bart and Lisa are still in grade school don't you think by now that they would be in college by now will at least Lisa.

Goku is 12 at the end of Dragon Ball and he's 45 at the end of DBZ.

Most characters in the american ones are like the whole series 10 years old or someting (except for adventure time, steven universe, etc.). In anime they actually AGE (okay except Ash).

18 Characters Have a Larger Variety of Outfits

I haven't watched that much anime but I saw 2 anime series that changes clothes every episode. and in Gravity Falls, the only character who changes clothes is Mabel, I've seen a few characters in Clarence change clothes a few times, and some characters in Steven Universe, Adventure Time, Regular Show, etc.

19 Less Toilet Humor

The only legitimate anime series that contains toilet humor is Gintama, but other than that, that's just only ONE anime with toilet humor. Plus, it doesn't overuse toilet humor and at least the toilet humor can be funny. While most cartoons such as Sanjay and Craig, Breadwinners, Fanboy & Chum Chum, and Uncle Grandpa have overused toilet humor. Sigh... sure, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy had a lot of toilet humor as well, but at least it wasn't overused. Now most cartoons that aren't well-written superhero shows don't seem to be like that anymore...

20 More Interesting Plot

I'm not saying all cartoons have a cheap plot and but most do. For example, SpongeBob SquarePants has no direct plot along with cringe-worthy characters and as well as Phineas and Ferb. But in most animes, they actually have a plot that you can understand. For example, Eren and a few other characters from Attack on Titan main goal and plot is to defeat Titans and bring humanity back. Soul and Maka from Soul Eater is to make Soul a death scythe and Maka to be a powerful meister like her mother. But that also doesn't mean that every anime in history has a great plot.

21 More Relatable Characters

Yes I can relate to Kirito from SAO because I win everything (Including a harem) by being edgy and saving girls.

I can relate to Kirito from Sword Art Online, Eren from Attack on Titan, or Shinichi from Parasyte -the maxim-.

Eren Yeager from Attack on Titan is a really relatable character.

22 More Cute and Compassionate Characters

I personally think that the characters in anime, both boys and girls are cuter/prettier/handsomer than most cartoon characters. Many boys in anime are so attractive. Sure, they all look like they have the same face, but that's the point of ART STYLE. Each anime has different art styles from each other which makes it quite refreshing. And they don't have the same body builds and bodily features.

I totally agree! Most American cartoon characters who are meant to be "cute" are not cute at all! With a few exceptions of course.

23 Gets People Interested In Japanese Culture

Yeah it does, but usually for the wrong reasons.

And maybe virtual reality if they watch Sword Art Online.

Yes because this actually inspired me to learn Japanese.

24 More Depth

Cartoon use to be really great but lets be honest the days of Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Hannah Barbara and Mel Blanc are long gone, cartoons toady have lost their appeal and are only getting worst just look at Uncle Grandpa, Phineas and Ferb, Fish hooks and Regular Show not exactly living up to such a great legacy not to mention that some cartoon characters have completely diminished over time.

Death Note lesson: Too much power and greed can lead you nowhere.

25 Better Plots

Yeah, even anime like Sword Art Online, Attack on Titan, Blue Exorcist, Gurren Lagann, and Parasyte -the maxim- have actual plots. Even Americancartoonssuck is right (by the way, loving the username). Pokemon isn't the only anime you know!

I have seen plenty of both anime and American cartoons and I can say for certain that anime is more common to have big plotlines than western cartoons.

Anime have real plot's not a bunch of random things happening for no reason.

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