There seems to be some confusion on the internet and in the media about what anime really is. I believe that it is animation made in Japan, by Japanese people, usually stemming from the Japanese manga style of art.
This is the definition from wikipedia:
Outside Japan, the term most popularly refers to animation originating from Japan.
Despite this distinct definition, many people consider anime to include anything that looks like anime. The two that are mistaken the most are Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Boondocks.
Several of my friends have referred to The Boondocks as an anime, and I once read a newspaper article that referred to Avatar as an anime. (It was, of course, a very small article. I believe it was about Afro Samurai.)
I also recently stumbled upon a public-uploader website similar to YouTube that is devoted to anime. Both of these shows were allowed to be uploaded.
These two American animations may appear to be in the anime style, but a quick look into their origins will reveal they have no such relation.
The Boondocks may have originated from a comic strip, but the strip itself neither resembles a manga, nor the style of animation in the TV series.
Avatar: The Last Airbender has foreign charactersabove the title, but these are Chinese characters, not Japanese characters. These characters are meant to reflect the Asia-resembling setting in which the show takes place.
My opinion is that these two shows, being of American origin, should not be considered anime, but I want to know what the opinion of the public is.


