# What is anime? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2001, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-anime/52424 "2001-01-30T17:21:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-anime/52424/41 "2001-02-06T05:09:48Z")
Oh! Well, now I see why he was offended. He doesn’t do tentacles. His stips are sort of humorous. And people have sex-- a lot. Still, those naked Sailor Moon girls with big tears in their eyes-- that seemed kinda strange to me. He certainly was right about there being a lot of rules, though. ---
**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-anime/52424/42 "2001-02-06T06:58:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Osakadave \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > Also, in the kana system, n is a separate character. So it would be written as a-n-i-me, if pronounced as an-i-me. > > Picking a nit here. While there is “n” in Japanese, there is also “ni”. So it would be “a-ni-me”. Also, “anime” is the shortened form (as is common with load word in Japanese) of “animeeshon”. \*\* I know. I said that if it were **pronounced** as an-i-me (meaning a pause between n and i, as if it were “an ime”), then syllabic n would be used (perhaps I should say could here). But I also pointed out that no, that’s not how it works, in my last sentence (and as others pointed out in foreign words, not like that either). So no, anime is not an-i-me, it’s a-ni-me. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-anime/52424/43 "2001-02-06T07:03:57Z")
I watched some hentai recently, ‘Cool Devices’, a friend has 20 episodes of it on DVD. Some seriously hardcore stuff. I’m assuming it’s legality in Japan is questionable, as it shows pubic hair frequently. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-anime/52424/44 "2001-02-06T07:20:54Z")
Ura-Maru - For the record, I was simply commenting on what someone before me mentioned about Batman Beyond (and maybe the Powerpuff Girls too; I’m too lazy to look right now). At any rate, regarless of where C Mac drew his insipiration, PPG clearly isn’t anime. I mean, _look_ at it. Stock characters from countless other made-in-America 'toons (the dopey mayor, the “assistant” who really runs the show, the brainy scientist with all the improbable-but-somehow-true explanations, the Al Capone-era gangsters, etc.), American culture everywhere (watch Jewel of the Aisle for some great examples), the really, really fast pacing…say, did I mention this on a different thread? 😉 Pokemon is, Sailor Moon is, not PPG. Although I am glad the show made it in Japan. Should be a nice change of pace from the likes of Dragonball Z or Sailor Moon. Literally. (You have ANY idea how fast those girls do things on PPG?) ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-anime/52424/45 "2001-02-06T08:55:22Z")
> [@](#): > > I always thought it was purple-haired girls who looked 12 with 20 year old bodies being raped by 60 year old > guys. What are you guys looking at? - frolix8 - No, no, silly. That’s _hentai_, when they actually do it. Anime is only sexual overtones, and everyone’s body (either male or female) is drawn like a teenage boy’s, except for the token older man chasing the kids around and trying to “conquer” them. - MC ---
**Author:** ![Kyberneticist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kyberneticist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyberneticist)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-anime/52424/46 "2001-02-06T09:28:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hibernicus \* > \*\ ***OsakaDave** > … your other point, that “anime” is short for “animeeshon”, and not from French “animer” is correct, AFAIK. \*\* Actually, that is definitely under debate. 🙂 I seems a bunch of other people agree with me on the French origin. Although tracking down how a word made its way into a language is very difficult, a quick Google search found a few hundred sites that agree with me. 😛 [http://www.noahsays.com/article.asp?aid=2274](http://www.noahsays.com/article.asp?aid=2274) [http://www.haze-studios.com/gloss.htm](http://www.haze-studios.com/gloss.htm) [http://www.bellaonline.co.uk/entertainment/anime\_feature\_000608a.html](http://www.bellaonline.co.uk/entertainment/anime_feature_000608a.html) [http://www.cabbit.com/anime3.html](http://www.cabbit.com/anime3.html) [http://lavender.fortunecity.com/wargames/666/info.html](http://lavender.fortunecity.com/wargames/666/info.html) ( you do NOT want to load the background on this site, trust me) [http://www.suntimes.com/output/answ-man/ebert03.html](http://www.suntimes.com/output/answ-man/ebert03.html) ---
**Author:** ![Osakadave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f07891/32.png) [@Osakadave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osakadave)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-anime/52424/47 "2001-02-06T10:27:39Z")
Just curious - any dictionary or etymological cites for that Kyberneticist? Some of the pages you linked made the claim that it was from the French “animer” and at least one claims it was “anime”. I’m fairly sure that “anime” doesn’t mean “cartoon” in French, and I didn’t see any evidence other than claims that it was “animer”. Both online Japanese-English dictionaries I use have enteries for “animeeshon”, and list “anime” as the abbreviation. [http://www.notredame.ac.jp/cgi-bin/jedi](http://www.notredame.ac.jp/cgi-bin/jedi) > [@](#): > > [anime] (abbr) animation > [animeeshon] animation > [animeetaa] animator [http://enterprise.dsi.crc.ca/cgi-bin/j-e/dosearch?sDict=on&H=PS&L=J&T=anime&fg=r&S=26](http://enterprise.dsi.crc.ca/cgi-bin/j-e/dosearch?sDict=on&H=PS&L=J&T=anime&fg=r&S=26) > [@](#): > > anime\* (abbr) animation > animeeshon\* animation > animeetaa\* animator ---
**Author:** ![bwanasimba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/53a042/32.png) [@bwanasimba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bwanasimba)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-anime/52424/48 "2001-02-06T12:06:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kyberneticist \* > \*\*_mentally mumbles ka, ki, ke, ko, ku to verify his scanty knowledge_ 🙂 \*\* …er…that’s actually “ka, ki, ku, ke, ko” - time to hit those books and practice your kana - _ganbatte kudasai!_ **Lion Killer** ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-anime/52424/49 "2001-02-06T15:53:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Badtz Maru \* > \*\*I watched some hentai recently, ‘Cool Devices’, a friend has 20 episodes of it on DVD. \*\* That’s awesome but, um, aren’t there only 11 episodes of Cool Devices? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-anime/52424.md?page=2)