The Laws of Anime

In My Humble Opinion
21

I don’t know if this is true or not, but I heard that anime was originally the Japanese spoofing us! They thought American art looked so funny, with our wacky hairstyles that are all different colors, and huge eyes, they decided to parody it with anime. And the Americans just loved it. Then the Japanese just said “Uhhh, ok, whatever you want, we’ll make more anime.” I’m sure they’re all secretly laughing at us for thinking that “It’s Japanese so it must be good,” when it isn’t even authentic Japanese culture to begin with.

(I seem to remember reading it on the Straight Dope, but I didn’t see anything when I searched, so I guess I didn’t.)

22

Actually, my understanding is that the anime industry was inspired by American animation. Many of the anime-style things you see were actually a way to save money. It’s cheaper to animate and then add the voices, so the mouths look like they are flapping. Also, to show emotion without having to redraw the face, certain things are used, such as a large sweatdrop to indicate nervousness, or the “anime-style collapse” to indicate shock.