Originally Posted by
shadowfox
Because most Western fans of Japanese animation use it as a way to distinguish between Western Animation and Japanimation. It's not complicated.
Keep in mind that many words that make their way into English from other languages have meanings that are subtly different from their meaning in their original language. And because of the influence of anime on it's western fanbase, it's quite pronounced.
I can think of a few other examples. For instance - hentai, which pretty much everybody in the west uses to refer to animated pornography. But the actual meaning of the word in Japan is quite different, and doesn't actually apply to pornography at all, animated or otherwise. In Japanese, depending on how you use the word hentai refers to perversion or abnormality.
I've heard that the fact that references to erotic works as hentai is actually cause for offense, but I have no idea how true this is.
