What big eyes you have

Lesson 2!

What's the difference between anime and a western cartoon? Aside from the obvious disparities in artistic style (anime tends to have a greater emphasis on facial expression for example), anime and cartoons tend to differ in terms of story.

Um... you can see the differences in art styles right?

Whereas western cartoons are generally intended to be humorous and hence have an episodic-nature, anime generally has an underlying story that remains for the entirety of the series. Furthermore, in anime, the "good guys" don't always win, which can be a little hard to swallow for people accustomed to happy endings. Also notice that "good guys" was in quotes there; it is not unusual for the protagonist to be an anti-hero.

Another difference is what I call "genre-shift". Comedic moments can occur quite often in stories that are serious overall and it is not unheard of for tragedy to strike in what is otherwise a comedic story. For some people, these brief "out of place" moments take a little time to get used to.