Japanese animation. The word is derived from the
english word "animation" :D
Not necessarily better or worse than American cartoons, both have their good and
bad series/shows. In fact, one of the founders of Anime and Manga (comics) was influenced heavily by such american DISNEY films as
Bambi.
When imported to the US, much of it is edited, though it is not always so. Many times, it
may be edited for violence, sex, or nudity, but this does not apply to everything. Sometimes there is a subtitled, unedited release alongside a dubbed,edited version, or a
DVD might carry it unedited and with an option of subbing or dubbing.