So
what's the difference between anime and a cartoon?
Anime has a more consistently stuff art style. (yes, I know you know the difference, Chrono. I just wanted to get that one out for a while)
Steamboy was good. I haven't seen a more recent series that hasn't made me want to throw up. Manga and anime tend to have poor as forget storylines -- you watch/read them for the visuals. Only, when the visuals are stuff, you realise that it's really just a bad "I want to be unique!" trend.
Anime is so much higher brow. If you like it you're so much more cultured than the unwashed classless masses.
I'm pretty sure this is what these people actually believe.
Then again, without the stuff, we wouldn't have the glories of things like Gundam/etc. I would feel incomplete without my gundam kits.