Ok, sorry for the wait, I just couldn't get the time to sit down and make a detailed post. Tough, now it seems you've already done your research so idk if it makes any sense if I continue.
First of all outsourcing to eastern countries doesn't change the animation methods that given country uses. Also, things like Korra are anime-influenced, so the term on its own points to differences in style and production. Besides, I never said digital methods aren't used in east. Since the 90s the anime industry has been digitalized greatly. I stated that most anime is drawn in a traditional 2D way.
Now the differences between drawing digitally and drawing traditionally are great. Just because there is a layering proces doesn't make them identical. (And I never denied east getting its animation basics from west.) When you draw traditionally on pen and paper you have a far greater control on the individual layers due to the most simple things like being able to rotate the paper with your hand precisely how you need it. You also have the holes in the bottom of the papers (I can't remember the correct term in english) wich help a lot when making in-between frames.
The tablet on the other hand has plenty of its own advantages, most notable ones being skipping the scanning in phase and not having to go over each frame 2 times. (First for drawing, second for refining the lines once the animation is approved) Not to mention lower cost and the very nature of software that allows you to ctrl-Z your problems away instead of having to errase the whole thing. Now, what it lacks in is the precision of the classical method to aim straight at the middle between the 2 keyframes.
The purpose of me posting this isn't to say wich method is better. It's just to sort out the differences. Now the funny part is that I indeed made a mistake in my previous posts. For some reason I made digital drawing as a whole more prominent in the west. This is indeed wrong, because what I was reffering was the level on wich the digital tablet is used.
For instance, there is animation like Ultimate Spider-Man, Young Justice and similar shows wich are pretty close in terms of animation to many anime. I somehow managed to forget that the main fight scenes in some of my favourite anime (most notably YGO 5D's) are done digitally. Also, several episodes of Naruto Shippuden have also been made digitally, like Obito vs Kakashi, Madara vs Shinobi Alliance, Obito vs Mist Ninja etc.
However, most of the episodes in these shows are done classical 2D ways. Examples being most of Naruto, Dragon Ball, and even Attack on Titan. Yes, I was suprise to find out Attack on Titan was drawn on paper. Pretty crazy.
Now, what I meant by different levels is kinda obvious when you compare these said shows with stuff like Kid vs Kat, Billy and Mandy, Phineas and Ferb, Kickbuttovski, and other shows. You can clearly see the difference in the movements of these characters. The said cartoons don't draw each frame individually, but deform the same frame over and over again. An example of this would be a character walking. The first frame will have a fully drawn leg, but for every other frame (of animation of a step) the leg will just be rotated, and slightly curved. This isn't exactly how it is done but is just there to illustrate what I'm trying to say.
So in short, they both have access to technology, however the level at wich they use it to replace the traditional methods is a reason for distinction.
Now this was just a technical aspect. We have to also look at the targeted audience of western and eastern animation. While both do shows for all demographics, there are differences. For instance, most western animation is for kids, aka cartoons, while most anime is made for a bit more mature audience. Where do I get this, just take a look at the list of anime being made each season. Only a part is for kids.
There is also a cultural aspect such as things that are shown in these 2 types, and other things like requirements for employment and the state of these industries. (This could be a cool topic to throw in since the anime industry is in deep shit currently.)
I'm sure I missed quite a few things that I intended to say but w/e. That's my stand on the subject.
