From someone that does voice-over, there's a very significant technically difference between American (western) animation and, Japanese "anime" animation. In japan anime doesn't represent the specific kind of animation that you or I think of, (big eyes, detailed bodies, unique plots) the term anime in japan literally translates to "animation" it's a blanket term for all things anime, including western animation.
Another interesting thing is how it's recorded, when a country's show is native to it's language, it's typically recorded through a process called "prelay", basically meaning the actors have little to know idea what the characters look like, and only have a picture or two, and the script to go off of. It also means that the actors will record their lines together in one room. When you hear the same show in another language, the proccess is called "dubbing", this typically involves actors to come in one-by-one to record their lines. They don't have each other to play off of.
For example MLP is recorded "prelay"animation in America (technically, Canada). Where as DBZ or Sailor Moon, is recorded via dubbing, and vis versa in japan.