Thursday Thoughts #6 - Why does it matter?

Good evening, fellow readers. Today, an alien will be writing a post. Please direct all your questions regarding this unprecedented writing to Mr Usagi.

Now, what matters, you may ask? It's not about wordly stuff and politics, but closer to home. Why does it matter if we are drawing in an anime or cartoon style?

If you hang around any kind of forum that discusses about drawings and the like, you are bound to come across people who go and say "ANIME SUX" without much to say. When people argue with them, they are very adamant, and continue to say that anime sucks while cartoons reign supreme. But really. Why does it matter?

Let's begin by dissecting anime and cartoons in the word-terms in as simple a layout as possible.

'Anime' is a Japanese word for 'animations'. 'Manga' is also a Japanese word for comics. In Korea, they are called 'Manhwa'. In Europe and Americas, they are called 'Comics'. 'Cartoons' is an English word used to describe drawings which aren't realistic. Tom and Jerry is an 'animated cartoon', because it's basically just drawings animated. So when you boil it down to that, there really is no difference between a manga and a comic, between an anime and a cartoon. They are just words, names for things the way a culture names them. Like how in Malay, we say 'udang' and in English, they say 'prawn', when in actual fact the prawn is still a prawn, and there is really no difference.

Since there is no difference, so why does it matter if someone draws anime or cartoon?

Let's say a person who is from Asia draws in an anime style. 'Anime style' being a way of drawing closely resembling the style people in Japan, China and Korea would use. It's not surprising that a person from Asia would draw the way an Asian would, because they watch shows and are exposed to drawings in the Asian style. This is the same with people in Europe. They draw in a cartoony style, because they live in an area where people ordinarily draw in that whimsical style. All those newspaper comics, they're all Western style. Since people in Europe are exposed to that style, of course they find it 'right' to draw in that style, as how we Asians find it 'right' to draw in our anime-ish style. It's really a matter of what we were exposed to, and whether or not we were interested in it.

Still, however, whether or not a person draws this style or the other, why does it matter what style they use? A person can draw whatever they want, whenever they want, in whichever style they want. In the end, a viewer can only help through advice. Advising them to get better, advising them to not draw that for their own good and advising not to draw because it's distracting the drawer from an issue much more important.

The thing is, when you go on drawing sites, like dA, where the people from Western countries flood in, and sometimes run into people from the East, these Western kids go and say "amg you draw ANIMU? YOU SUX." It's weird, because...when Eastern people go and come across Western people drawing cartoons, we don't say a peep. We don't care if you draw anime or cartoon or some sort of Dali or Picasso.

So, if you're a Westerner reading this, why does it matter if we draw anime? Why does it matter if we draw realism? Why does it matter if we draw cartoons? You're not our teacher, and neither are we yours. As fellow people who draw, we just advise each other. We have no right to direct the other person to draw in a style they do not like, nor want, to use. What's the difference? It just caters to your aesthetics. If the person who was drawing is planning to sell their works in the other region, then yes, that makes sense. But for people who draw as a hobby? Why does it matter?

All in all, it's not the style that matters in an anime/animation or manga/comic. It's the content. A pretty style with zero content is like having a drug that has no benefits to the body. It's just there to please you. There is no story. All you have is a pretty face with/without big boobs and butt to boot. A terrible drawing style with good content is like having an effective drug so bitter that it's impossible to consume. There is a story, but it might have been more effective to tell it in writing instead of drawing.:I

So, this Thursday, think about why it matters. Why are most Western youngsters so hating anime style, and why do they want to push their own style when there is no need to? Would you bend to their will, or would you just go 'bleh I draw what I want'...because... That's what the Western kids do.

And so this is your alien writer signing off. Happy thinking. -ZP