Anime: Genre or Medium

gearoidof

I see this come up a lot on this board, so I think it would be nice to discuss this properly.

Is anime a genre or a medium?

Well, according to wikipedia, animation is an art form, not a genre!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_genre

That was simpler than I thought it would be.

Medium, Theory, Genre
So, a medium is TV, screen, book w.e, the method through which anime is given to us, thus Anime cannot be called a medium.

A Genre is more specific than Anime too. According to the wiki article above:

Fictional films are usually categorized according to their setting, theme topic, mood, or format . The setting is the milieu or environment where the story and action takes place. The theme or topic refers to the issues or concepts that the film revolves around. The mood is the emotional tone of the film. Format refers to the way the film was shot (e.g., anamorphic widescreen) or the manner of presentation (e.g.: 35 mm, 16 mm or 8 mm). An additional way of categorizing film genres is by the target audience. Some film theorists argue that neither format nor target audience are film genres.

I would take this as meaning that it can be correct to call an anime a genre, because all anime has the same format and target audience (to those who don't follow much anime, at any rate).
But for those who actively partake in anime, calling anime a genre would be too vague.

So, art form. Animation is an art form, anime could thus be described as an art form, and the genres of the anime can vary wildly.

Of course, it can also be argued that anime IS a genre, and that it merely has sub-genres of sci-fi etc.

Anyone have an insight? :P

cherryghost

Why cant it be both?

Karl Hungus

cherryghost wrote: »

Why cant it be both?

Because really, it's neither.

Anime refers specifically to animation from Japan, but the medium here is animation. Be it Japanese, American, or French animation, it's the same medium. I'd often be guilty of referring to Anime as a medium myself, but that's really more a term of convenience.

In no way can it be considered a genre though. Grave of the Fireflies is not the same genre as Naruto, and nobody could seriously make that claim.

cherryghost

yeah because theres genres within Anime, I get that no problem.

I myself would call Anime a genre with sub-genres tbh.

Karl Hungus

cherryghost wrote: »

I myself would call Anime a genre with sub-genres tbh.

By that logic, TV shows are a genre, and comedy or drama are just sub-genres of TV, which is nonsense tbh. Genres that exist in Anime are as distinct as they are in other media like film, or books. Sci-fi, whether it be in Anime, film or literature, is Sci-fi. The same with Drama, Comedy, Action or whatever else you have.

Lets take an example of sub-genres. Steampunk would be a sub-genre of Sci-fi, or Zombies or Slashers would be a sub-genre of horror. It's easy to see what is meant by the term sub-genre, a particular focus within an existing genre.

My Neighbors the Yamadas couldn't be considered as the same genre as Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade for example, or Perfect blue isn't the same genre as Howl's Moving Castle. Those films cannot be considered as being part of the same genre, or having the same theme. Anime is distinct because it's Japanese, the term for us refers specifically to animation based on geography, arguing that it's a genre is the same as arguing that "American" is a genre.

cherryghost

whatever tbh

i just watch for the enjoyment.

gearoidof

Surely that's why the term art form is used, Karl Hungus?

Cy_Revenant

This thread feels like more of a troll than a question.

Anime cannot be considered a genre, nor could it be considered a medium.

Anime is quite simply, animation which originated in Japan. The art form is animation.

It could be argued that anime is a style of animation, with a common artistic style, but I would disagree.

gearoidof

Well, it's more that I ask to provoke discussion. Also because it's nice to set standards on what means what, and I'd just like to see what people say.
a better question would be, what do people define as:
medium, art form, genre.