Sparks heated debate about which type deserves worldwide recognition.

A lot of people outside of Japan have heard of anime hits like Your Name or any of the classic works made by famed director Hayao Miyazaki, like Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke. Filled with gripping plots and relatable characters, one can argue that such anime are the pride of Japan.

But opinions are split on what constitutes an “extraordinary anime,” and according to Japanese Twitter user @amamituhakushi, there’s a stark difference between what otaku consider to be anime masterpieces compared to the rest of the world.

(Their tweet has since been deleted, but we’ve managed to reconstruct/translate it using MSPaint technology!)

▼ “Using actual examples may make some

people mad, but it’s basically like this, right?”

“World-class anime hits” seem to be made up of films that depict the lives of people during turbulent periods in history (such as The Wind Rises and In This Corner of the World), or are science fiction classics featuring futuristic post-cyberpunk settings (like Ghost in the Shell and Akira).

“What otaku think are world class” is populated by anime like Sword Art Online (SAO), Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World and Steins;Gate, which all contain relatively new concepts like getting stuck in alternate or virtual reality worlds or time traveling. Also present is Clannad, a light-hearted high school drama that quickly shifts to emotional adulthood.

▼ Wait, so historical classics and sci-fi are well-received overseas?

As expected when posting such generalized opinions, the tweet sparked heated discussions:

“Fans of SAO and Re:Zero are all made up of kids and people who love cute animal girls. They’re the embarrassment of Japan. I think Clannad is a work we can be proud of, but I don’t know if it suits a global audience.” “This is deeply intriguing. If you show the four anime on the right to foreigners, you’ll get the same ‘ew gross!’ response like you would in Japan too.” “I’m sorry. The productions on the right might not be great, but the ones on the left aren’t that fantastic either. Anime on the right are popular in both Japan and overseas, so it’ll be wise not to lump them all together with otaku.”

Even animation legend Hayao Miyazaki once complained of terrible anime quality in recent years, but complicated debates like this will likely never reach a satisfactory conclusion. Rather than focusing on which kinds of anime Japan can be proud of, perhaps it’s better to appreciate how much variety the country has given the world.

Source: Twitter/@amamituhakushi via My Game News Flash

Featured image: Twitter/@amamituhakushi

Insert images: Twitter/@amamituhakushi, Pakutaso