People tend to think that anime/manga is not a form of art because of how formulaic it is and how easy it is to draw. In no way do I agree with their thinking, but people whom I've run across with this opinion often say that it takes no skill to draw anime, and that there is a generic template for the way figures are drawn. For example, there is a very distinct way in which eyes are drawn, with little variation between different works of anime or manga.

In my opinion, a lot of the hatred towards anime/manga art style stems from the way in which it has influenced younger artists. Instead of developing their own style drawn from real life observations, these artists are copying the anime style in itself, resulting in a very watered down copy of the original artist's way of drawing. To be honest, it irks me a little too. It's completely okay to be influenced by anime and manga, but in the end people who call themselves "artists" need to be able to develop their own styles of drawing.