IamLam said:

There is a lot of great anime around, but usually you have to hunt for it. The majority brought to the US and Europe is the lower quality stuff that people think is more "suitable to the audience". Generally though the linework is better than western animation regardless of the varied genres or stories.

Yeah, it's the exact same thing that happens with Hollywood blockbusters. They are made these days to have wide appeal by having simple stories and as little dialog as possible so people in China can follow them, it's why Micheal Bay's "films" have made more money then all other films every made combined.

Still you wouldn't say film is a trash art form and say there is no artistic worth to Citizen Kane just because Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was made to appeal to other countries and is one of the biggest hits of all time.

The same is true of Anime.

Some other favorites of mine are The Big O, Full Metal Alchimest, The original Mobile Suit Gundam,Neo Genesis Evengelion., and the movie Akira, just to name a few.

There is lots of great stuff out there and writing off the whole out put because of the bad stuff is just silly. Also just by virtue of the fact that Anime isn't only made for grade school kids means that there is more verity to it then american animation.