Which brings up a point which really, REALLY needs to be brought up, IMHO...
if there is no single definable distinguishing characteristic which unifies
Japanese anime and manga, how can there -be- an anime flavor to a text story?

  For me the differentiation is a subconscious one, based mostly on the 
cliches
I see in the story.  Not a good explanation, I understand but that is 
what does
it.  It is more of a type of style than an actual characteristic.  That 
is what
gives me an idea of where something falls.  Certain things by default can 
never
be truely anime, and crossing the line between the two is not as easy as 
it
seems.  I'd find it very hard to envision a Star Wars done anime style, 
but
that is in a world by itself.  Even the Ranma 1/2 crossover wasn't quite 
the
right style by my feelings.  Perhaps that is all it can be, a feeling.  
In the
end only the overall quality of the story matters.