“What do u think bout ANIME?”

In Japan, anime is used as a blanket term to refer to all animation from all over the world. In English, many dictionaries define it as, “a style of animation developed in Japan.” English usage the term most popularly refers to material originating from Japan, a subset of animation. Anime is distinct from American cartoons in their depth of characterization and plot (among other things). For the most part, the quality of animation in anime far surpasses that of American cartoons.

While different titles and different artists have their own artistic styles, many stylistic elements have become so common such that they are described as being definitive of anime in general. However, this does not mean that all modern anime share one common art style. Many anime have a very different art style from what would commonly be called "anime style", yet fans still use the word "anime" to refer to these titles.

Major genres and designations that are specific to anime and manga.

Demographic

Shōjo is Japanese for "young lady" or "little girl"

Examples: Fruits Basket

Shōnen is Japanese for "young boy"
Examples: digimon

Seinen is Japanese for "young man"
Examples: oh my goddess!

Josei is Japanese for "young woman"
Examples: honey and clover

Kodomo is Japanese for "child"
Examples: hello kitty

Thematic Bishōjo is Japanese for "beautiful girl"
Examples: negima

Bishōnen is Japanese for "beautiful boy"
Examples: fushigi yugi

Sentai is literally a "fighting team" in Japanese
Examples: cyborg 009

Robot/Mecha features super robots
Examples: mobile suit gundam

Post-Apocalyptic simply deals with a post-apocalyptic world
Examples: fist of the north star

Mahō shōjo is a subgenre of shōjo known for "Magical Girl" stories
Examples: cardcaptor sakura

Mahō shōnen is a male equivalent of Mahō Shōjo
Examples: fullmetal alchemist

Moé features characters with perky, cute, weak, or naivè behaviors
Examples: a little snow fairy sugar

Topics range from sports, the arts, and cooking
Examples: yakitate! japan with bread-making

Janna....