Whats The Difference Between Japanese and American Animation

Ask the difference between American and Japanese animation, and you may get a fairly ugly response depending on whether the person you're asking is particularly invested in one or the other. I, personally, have no preference, and I'm not about to get in the middle of a hair-pulling fight over what's basically a difference in stylistic preferences...but I can provide a little insight into the visual and stylistic differences, and how you can easily tell the two apart regardless of your own preferences. Whether you think Japanese animation is lazy or think American animation is flat, there are reasons behind those characterizations - just as there are reasons why some find Japanese animation to have more depth, while others think American animation is richer and truer to form. Make your own decisions. I'm staying out of this one.