Wow, this is such an interesting topic. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's points of view here. :) Personally, years and years ago I used to hate anime and manga and stuff, but I LOVED the style and began to draw based on the styles I had admired. Eventually, since I was so taken by the art and would watch the shows and read the comics all the time, I naturally grew to love it. But even within anime/manga, there are so many different styles just as there are so many different style of western cartooning and comics.

Throughout my life, I have heard many people argue that certain types of cartoons (not just anime) are not art because the style is so "sloppy" or "ugly." Personally, I disagree, since as been pointed about, art is a form or expression. When you express yourself on paper, with music, with any form of media, it is in fact art. Just because a person can argue that "the pointy noses are ugly" or "the coloring is messy" it doesn't mean it's not art.

I mean, even a bunch of paint colors plastered in messy lines on a canvas can be considered art. The people who argue that anime/manga isn't art, in my opinion, just don't like the style. There is probably something about it that irritates them, and that's fine. But they don't really have a right to argue that it's not art.