Isnt Anime for kids? How do you respond?

[Oppius]

I know I this is out of topic but I want to reverse the situation. Is anime only for adults?

You may not know about this, the Japanese government is worried that the new child-friendly anime is getting fewer and fewer recently. To fill that niche, they have to dub some American cartoons like Ninja Turtles(there is an anime version in 2007), Powerpuff Girls(There is an anime version of it), Superman, Batman and other superhero cartoons. Someday Japanese kids like American cartoons more than their own. This is what the Japanese government is afraid of. Not just economically but culturally. I believe one of the reason behind this situation is there are too many 13 -episode otaku crap(some are not). They are made for small group of people, even in Japan itself. Not the larger audiences, in this case kids, both Japanese and international.

I may stray away from topic too far but I have my own opinion too. We shouldn't hate 'childlish' shows and people calling you childlish if you enjoyed them. Anime industries need them too if they want to survive.

I used to hate some childlish shows like Hamtaro, Digimon and Pokemon and now I understand how important these shows are to the whole industries. If I need to hate something, I hate School Days instead.

[anime_nanet]

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

"Go and watch Elfin Lied and come back and then tell me if anime is for kids" That would be my respond.

Actually, Elfen Lied would not be me finest choice to get that point in people head's. The gore it portrays can be just another reason for people to consider anime for kids / teens (in the sense that it's only violence and only immature people likes that kind of thing - words of unbelievers ^_^').

My choice would be something really philosofical and mature, like Serial Experiments Lain. That would put some people head scratching

[Hs Vi Germania]

I would say, it isn't only for kids, but also for them.
If I remember, even Elfen Lied I did watch when I was 16. Under 18 you are a kid, aren't you?

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by Hs Vi Germania

I would say, it isn't only for kids, but also for them.
If I remember, even Elfen Lied I did watch when I was 16.

Elfen Lied comes with an 18+ label, so that should give some indication that this is not a show intended for children. Of course, people mature at different rates, and there's no absolute answer to when you should begin, or stop, watching anything.

Anime as a medium has enough variety to please any age group, I think. Critics often underestimate how much variation exists within anime, and that an anime fan doesn't necessarily just watch Naruto and Pokemon. Personally, I don't have a problem with people thinking it's for children; it's their loss. I bet it's pretty annoying to deal with face to face, though.

[DraGnaR]

i hear that a lot ebout ure a child stop watching child video,s and so one
But dare them to watch 3 episode,s of 1 anime i recomand them

depandin on the person

Detroid metal city
golden boy ( english dub )
elfen lied

detroid metal city i gave that name to a co worker of mine
now his whole famly did see it

if u can get them to watch a great anime most of them get to understand what its like whit some shows

but if u cant reason whit them yest hold a mirror infront of tare faces :P
Show them tare own childish way,s every one has them :P
and thay would normaly get pissed and walkeway them selfs ( ore in rare acations start beating u :P

O and a ather good thing is that if thay self have childeren u know thay watch normal cartoon network crap shows together whit tare childeren and also like it most of the time sins thay are forced to watch it ( alwase a good point enoying them ebout that :P

[synaesthetic]

If anyone gives me that "animation is for kids" bullshit, I usually point them in the direction of Mnemosyne or Kite, or some other form of distilled seinen bait. On the Western side, Aeon Flux is as good an example as any, but arguably one could use Family Guy, King of the Hill or Simpsons/Futurama as well...

Animation is just a medium, like film or print. When people figure that out, we'll be better off.

[synaesthetic]

Originally Posted by Oppius

I know I this is out of topic but I want to reverse the situation. Is anime only for adults?

You may not know about this, the Japanese government is worried that the new child-friendly anime is getting fewer and fewer recently. To fill that niche, they have to dub some American cartoons like Ninja Turtles(there is an anime version in 2007), Powerpuff Girls(There is an anime version of it), Superman, Batman and other superhero cartoons. Someday Japanese kids like American cartoons more than their own. This is what the Japanese government is afraid of. Not just economically but culturally. I believe one of the reason behind this situation is there are too many 13 -episode otaku crap(some are not). They are made for small group of people, even in Japan itself. Not the larger audiences, in this case kids, both Japanese and international.

I may stray away from topic too far but I have my own opinion too. We shouldn't hate 'childlish' shows and people calling you childlish if you enjoyed them. Anime industries need them too if they want to survive.

I used to hate some childlish shows like Hamtaro, Digimon and Pokemon and now I understand how important these shows are to the whole industries. If I need to hate something, I hate School Days instead.

I agree with this. It's the inverse in America, where we have a disproportionately large quantity of retreaded crap comedy shows fed to kids, and the only examples of mature, plot-driven animation is either Avatar (which is technically still a kid's show) or simply don't exist.

I really miss the 90s, where animation for kids was well-done and oftentimes included the whole gamut, from comedy to action to fantasy. I miss shit like Gargoyles and The Pirates of Dark Water. That shit was awesome.

[GaijinOtaku]

"Some anime is for kids, and some is not."

It's that simple! 8D

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

I agree with this. It's the inverse in America, where we have a disproportionately large quantity of retreaded crap comedy shows fed to kids, and the only examples of mature, plot-driven animation is either Avatar (which is technically still a kid's show) or simply don't exist.

I really miss the 90s, where animation for kids was well-done and oftentimes included the whole gamut, from comedy to action to fantasy. I miss shit like Gargoyles and The Pirates of Dark Water. That shit was awesome.

hell, even Animaniacs, Pinky&theBrain, and TinyToons were actually 'written for adults'. Or did someone think the mountain of cultural references, homages, and double-entendres were for kids?

Actually, 'retreaded crap comedy shows' also applies to much of the live-action evening primetime offerings in the US :P (unless its reality?-my-ass-garbage shows).

[GuidoHunter_Toki]

Originally Posted by Vexx

hell, even Animaniacs, Pinky&theBrain, and TinyToons were actually 'written for adults'. Or did someone think the mountain of cultural references, homages, and double-entendres were for kids?

That was the great thing about those shows from the 90s. Heck I didn't catch all the references back when I first watched shows like Animaniacs (as I was just a kid), but they had all the things a kid would like in a show to keep themselves entertained. But it also had the appeal to adults as well and as I became older and understood many of the references, homages, and such I would always discover a new found liking for those shows and it added to the rewatchablility. I'm always eager to revisit a lot of those shows from the 90s because they never get old and I'll always catch a reference or two I didn't notice before.

[oompa loompa]

Not necessarily from the 90's either - I don't think I'll ever get sick of watching Looney Toons or Tom & Jerry on a lazy sunday morning.

[Vexx]

aye, all the Looney Toons and most of Tom&Jerry were written specifically for adults to be shown as a short before the main feature in movie theaters of the 1930s-1960s.

[ACSephiroth]

Weren't Looney Toons originally made to be propaganda?

[Craymel]

I just literally don't respond to this anymore. I just turn my head and continue watching my anime that I may or may not be enjoying and completely ignore the person who expected me to defend my harmless choice of entertainment. If they can't deal with it they can just GTFO for all I really care.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by ACSephiroth

Weren't Looney Toons originally made to be propaganda?

Not originally, but there were plenty of propaganda cartoons made during World War II. I remember seeing one that ends with Daffy Duck bashing Hitler over the head with a mallot. They were just using already popular characters for propaganda purposes.

[Woopzilla]

I guess back then they knew that even adults watched cartoons, although if they actually intended the main audience to be children then there's something wrong.

I'm not exactly for building animosity in young children towards things they don't yet fully understand... but in this case it was just Hitler so I guess there's no problem.

Regarding the topic at hand, I stand by my previous post that I wouldn't try hard to change the other persons opinion... battling ignorance in this world is a never ending fight it seems. I'd tell them to have a look at Elfen Lied or the last few episodes of Berserk () and then just let them decide for themselves if they would show that to their young children.

[JoeStoppable]

You just tell people

"cartoons are for kids, anime is for everyone"

[Kenn]

Just show'em something awesomely awesome (gore-y, romantic, intelligent, etc.) and ask them if they think it's specifically for kids xD

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Woopzilla

I guess back then they knew that even adults watched cartoons, although if they actually intended the main audience to be children then there's something wrong.

You're coming at this backwards -- it isn't "even adults watched cartoons", it is "cartoons were DESIGNED in the 30s/40s/50s/60s as entertainment for adults. Children were an afterthought -- it wasn't until that new-fangled television was looking for ways in the late 60s to fill their airwaves that the idea of "Saturday morning cartoons" arrived. That was when people started getting this bizarre idea that 'cartoons are for kids'.

[oompa loompa]

Originally Posted by Vexx

You're coming at this backwards -- it isn't "even adults watched cartoons", it is "cartoons were DESIGNED in the 30s/40s/50s/60s as entertainment for adults. Children were an afterthought -- it wasn't until that new-fangled television was looking for ways in the late 60s to fill their airwaves that the idea of "Saturday morning cartoons" arrived. That was when people started getting this bizarre idea that 'cartoons are for kids'.

Well I don't know if it was such a bad idea . I think cartoons are a great form of entertainment for kids, though thats just personal preference, a lot of live-action things I used to watch when I was a kid used to look too ridiculous, even at that age - I generally liked watching cartoons more for no real reason, but maybe thats just me. I don't oppose the idea of making cartoons aimed at kids at all, I just dont like the fact that the prevalent mentality is that cartoons are only made for kids