Growing up in a childhood which I am introduced to a variety of illustrated stories arranged in coherent panels (comics/manga) or a rapid display of a sequence of static images that minimally differs from one another to induce the illusion of movement (cartoons/anime), one may begin to start allocating these into labelled boxes in our minds based off genre, quality and origin.

If it’s a cartoon that introduces new experiences in new worlds, we call it an adventure cartoon. An anime which has scary elements, we call it horror. A comic that introduces superheroes into a setting that mimics our real world, we call it a superhero comic. A manga that induces an unstable emotional state onto the readers or portrayed by the main protagonist, we call it a psychology manga.

We deliberately differentiate them based on their genres in order to categorize them into boxes we can identify and are comfortable with. And through this process of differentiation, we begin to create categories from the origins of the production as well; East or West – Anime or Cartoon – Manga or Comics.

The defining factors that differentiates these two as based on general opinion are usually; style of the art, variety of genres, the way of storytelling, the ‘quality’ of the animation, quality of the music and even down to the expertise of the voice actors. Most perceive that the difference was in fact intended, and are also officially acknowledged by the Japanese themselves that there is such a term that replaces cartoons and comics if it were made by them.

Now, what if I told you, that there exists no such difference in actuality – and that this is made up by the fans unconsciously to the point that it is widely accepted and enforced? If one simply asks a Japanese in person, they will tell you that anime is basically cartoon in their own ‘language’. By that, anime, is simply a shortened form of the word animation. Similarly to manga, it is defined as the same as comics by the Japanese, as manga literally means whimsical drawings. As recognized by the Japanese themselves, and even the famous Osamu Tezuka, that the origins of anime and manga came from the cartoons and comics which were introduced to them from the American GIs.

But why is there a clear difference if one puts a cartoon and anime side by side apart from the origins and make? Why does anime seems much more profound, polished and are able to be enjoyed by people of all ages and tastes, unlike comics and cartoons which are deemed for children?

The defining factory comes to the growth of the industry. In the west, due to the skepticism and judgmental mindset of the mass, cartoons and comics are always deemed childish. Children are expected to stop reading or watching such material when they reach their teenage life. Bullying is also a defining factor, while everyone enters into a rat race of sorts in order to be one of the ‘cool kids’ – and everyone knows, the cool kids won’t indulge in childish materials such as cartoons or comics as these materials are enjoyed by the nerds and geeks, the polar opposite of what most western child seeks.

In the east however, anime and manga are enjoyed by all – young and old. With talents booming during the Occupation and Post-Occupation years, a variety of genres and those with targeted audiences in mind began to appear. With shounen and shoujo for boys and girls respectively, seinen and jousei for matured male and female respectively, the media itself has developed far more than the west had and as such, was widely accepted by all as an entertainment piece.

Therefore, one does not need to be too pedantic when it comes to defining comics as manga or vice versa. Because in the end of the day, they are still the same thing, which technically in fact is a pedantic point.