>> Option 1: Merge the Anime category with Cartoons and the Manga category with Comics. >> Option 2: Create a new category, Animation, for the combined Anime and Cartoons categories. Merge the Manga category with Comics.
No and no. This will only ostracize anime/manga fandom even further than it already is. Merging the categories erases the origins of anime and manga, and displays an ignorance or dismissiveness regarding feelings held within the anime/manga community. Anime and manga aren't just mediums; they're fandoms in their own right, even as they include fandoms for specific anime/manga series'. They should remain separate with their own categories.
(As a side, I recommend changing "cartoons" to "animation" anyway, since "cartoon" carries a connotation for being silly or childish, while animation doesn't so much. Cartoons can also be still images, just like a comic, so animation would be a clearer category name.)
>> Do we want anime movies to be in the Film category?
If it's had a theatrical release, I don't see why not.
>> Anime/Manga may also need a separate Fandom by Source Community category (and what should we call it?).
I don't follow what this means. Could you explain?
>> One issue we’ve become aware of is that the terms “anime” and “manga” may exclude similar material created in countries other than Japan (manhua in China, for example).
Yes. Yes it would. Perhaps it should, because it's an identity of its own. "Anime" and "manga" are specifically Japanese terms, are recognized as Japanese by their English-speaking fandoms (which is relevant as this is for the English-language wiki), and encompasses styles, tropes, and a history unique to the Japanese industry. While styles are definitely adapted and shared within the global animation and comics industry more often now, (e.g. Teen Titans, Batman Beyond, and Avatar: The Last Airbender all drew heavily on the anime style despite being American cartoons,) especially with its Asian neighbors, anime and manga are specifically Japanese.
The articles would be richer to note the influences (professional and fandom) and acknowledge the confusion of boundaries, as well as acknowledge material that might be commonly thought of as anime/manga despite not being from Japan. But "anime" and "manga" are Japanese. Don't erase that.
There was a similar "issue" (i.e. non-issue) in the Doujinshi article, if I remember correctly. Doujinshi is also specifically Japanese, but English-speaking fans will draw comics in doujinshi-style and refer to it as doujinshi, and a few "doujinshi" also come out of China in Chinese, creating a gray area of classification. And that's okay. But generally, doujinshi is Japanese, which is what the article is about, even while acknowledging the expanded definitions and uses. Just as anime and manga are Japanese, the articles can still acknowledge wider uses of the terms and material. As for the categories, if an English-speaking fan did a comic in doujinshi style and called it doujinshi, and I wrote a Fanlore article on it, I'd add the doujinshi category. For sources and fanworks not from Japan, let the fandoms decide if it should be tagged as "anime" and/or "manga" themselves. Or create new categories. But let them decide how to handle that.
The OTW's relationship to anime/manga fandom is shaky at best at the moment, and the suggestions in this post are not going to help that. If you want to show inclusion and respect, please don't mess with how we define ourselves.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
>> Option 2: Create a new category, Animation, for the combined Anime and Cartoons categories. Merge the Manga category with Comics.
No and no. This will only ostracize anime/manga fandom even further than it already is. Merging the categories erases the origins of anime and manga, and displays an ignorance or dismissiveness regarding feelings held within the anime/manga community. Anime and manga aren't just mediums; they're fandoms in their own right, even as they include fandoms for specific anime/manga series'. They should remain separate with their own categories.
(As a side, I recommend changing "cartoons" to "animation" anyway, since "cartoon" carries a connotation for being silly or childish, while animation doesn't so much. Cartoons can also be still images, just like a comic, so animation would be a clearer category name.)
>> Do we want anime movies to be in the Film category?
If it's had a theatrical release, I don't see why not.
>> Anime/Manga may also need a separate Fandom by Source Community category (and what should we call it?).
I don't follow what this means. Could you explain?
>> One issue we’ve become aware of is that the terms “anime” and “manga” may exclude similar material created in countries other than Japan (manhua in China, for example).
Yes. Yes it would. Perhaps it should, because it's an identity of its own. "Anime" and "manga" are specifically Japanese terms, are recognized as Japanese by their English-speaking fandoms (which is relevant as this is for the English-language wiki), and encompasses styles, tropes, and a history unique to the Japanese industry. While styles are definitely adapted and shared within the global animation and comics industry more often now, (e.g. Teen Titans, Batman Beyond, and Avatar: The Last Airbender all drew heavily on the anime style despite being American cartoons,) especially with its Asian neighbors, anime and manga are specifically Japanese.
The articles would be richer to note the influences (professional and fandom) and acknowledge the confusion of boundaries, as well as acknowledge material that might be commonly thought of as anime/manga despite not being from Japan. But "anime" and "manga" are Japanese. Don't erase that.
There was a similar "issue" (i.e. non-issue) in the Doujinshi article, if I remember correctly. Doujinshi is also specifically Japanese, but English-speaking fans will draw comics in doujinshi-style and refer to it as doujinshi, and a few "doujinshi" also come out of China in Chinese, creating a gray area of classification. And that's okay. But generally, doujinshi is Japanese, which is what the article is about, even while acknowledging the expanded definitions and uses. Just as anime and manga are Japanese, the articles can still acknowledge wider uses of the terms and material. As for the categories, if an English-speaking fan did a comic in doujinshi style and called it doujinshi, and I wrote a Fanlore article on it, I'd add the doujinshi category. For sources and fanworks not from Japan, let the fandoms decide if it should be tagged as "anime" and/or "manga" themselves. Or create new categories. But let them decide how to handle that.
The OTW's relationship to anime/manga fandom is shaky at best at the moment, and the suggestions in this post are not going to help that. If you want to show inclusion and respect, please don't mess with how we define ourselves.