2013-01-10, 19:50 | Link #1 |
Hen-Tie
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Hen-Tie pen
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What's with adults watching kid's shows?
Okay, not insulting any adults who actually saw those shows but I just want to make a simple retro-perspective of this issue. Roughly 10 years ago it was cool to hate a kid's show such as Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh for examples. In fact most anime forums back then are constantly filled with hatred to those shows, much like what most "kids" today did to Naruto, Bleach, random ecchi and moe shows.
Today things had changed. The kids who once hate those shows are now grown into adults and some of them are collecting cards, a hobby which they once hated. I can't say much about how it changed but I think introductions of Yu-Gi-Oh and Vanguard cards and exhibition duels in most anime-related convection may help to change their mentality towards those shows. If Cardfight Vanguard was shown in 1999 instead of 2009 and I don't think it is cool as it is today. Just wondering. |
2013-01-10, 20:08 | Link #4 |
Senior Member
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Actually, I think it's mainly because a lot of kids a decade or more ago did like shows like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh.
Then those kids grew up, but many simply continued on with their fandom into adulthood, because the show is continuing on and/or getting sequels/spin-offs. At least in Pokemon's case, I'm sure that the video games helped. The producers of these shows noticed this, and so they tried to make the show more appealing to adult anime fans in general, while still making it accessible to the kids of today. This is to ensure that these now adult Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh fans continue to stay around. This picture nicely sums up one way this is accomplished.
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2013-01-10, 20:14 | Link #5 |
Disabled By Request
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Nintensalem
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In my country, 20-something men are playing Yu-Gi-Oh and Vanguard in the public. Something you're not going to see in past 5 years.
I think the reason why some of the "kid's" shows are quite popular among adults, at least in my theory, because of the clever marketing campaigns for the card games rather than the shows themselves. How you mentioned anime conventions already gave the clue. |
2013-01-10, 20:28 | Link #6 |
:cool:
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Idaho
Age: 32
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I see two major reasons for this:
The first thing is that society is overbearing and critical of children and their hobbies, and liking things like Pokemon cards and other such "nerdy" devices is and was considered to be "nerdy" and caused you to be a social outcast. In order for something to be socially acceptable, people have to outwardly enjoy them. When you're a kid, you feel like you shouldn't do these things because they're frowned upon. When you grow up, you stop caring about what society thinks about what you do with your own money and in your own home. When you get older and you become a well-defined individual you no longer have to hold yourself to the standards of others to the extremes that children often do to fit in. The second thing is social media and the internet. Everything has scaled up. There are more conventions, more tournaments, and more everything for things that were once considered to be nerdy. People have the ability to go on forums, and talk on Facebook, and interact with each other in their hobbies over the internet. When there are millions of other people who enjoy the same things that you enjoy, it stops being an issue that some people think badly about your hobbies. As far as myself, I can be pretty critical when I really want to be. A lot of cartoons (especially those made by Tartakovsky and Faust, for specific examples) are actually very well made. They have all of the elements you expect in a Hollywood movie but sometimes do a better job of portraying them. Heck, Kids Next Door actually had a romance aspect to it that was pretty nicely done considering its medium and audience. I suspect a little bit of this enjoyment also comes from the fact that a lot of adults watched cartoons as a children, and society really doesn't provide us with any reason why we can't enjoy them as adults. Especially as long as animated movies from studios like Pixar are going to come out and be held to the same standards as every other kind of movie.
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2013-01-10, 21:14 | Link #8 |
Princess or Plunderer?
Join Date: May 2009
Location: the Philippines
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I admit that I have been an avid watcher of Courage the Cowardly Dog on Cartoon Network.
But heck, that show isn't made for kids! I don't think adults watching kid's shows is a problem. The problem begins when they begin a makeshift cult and type mysterious runes using their keyboards to look for fellow advocates.
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2013-01-10, 21:33 | Link #10 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
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I'm not sure what's hard to get about this. Kids' shows that are well made have entertainment value regardless of your age. This has always been true, and nothing's really changed. Sailor Moon was worth watching as an adult 20 years ago, and Precure is worth watching today.
The main difference is that teenagers are young enough that they don't want to be associated with kids' stuff, while adults don't have to care about that kind of thing.
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2013-01-10, 21:51 | Link #11 | |
:cool:
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Idaho
Age: 32
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Some real hardcore stuff. I having nothing but respect for a bold move like that.
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2013-01-10, 21:59 | Link #12 |
Senior Member
Author
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A person's teenage years are the years when they most want to prove that they're "adult". This is because it tends to earn them greater respect and trust from adults (which translates into more leeway on curfew, getting to drive the car, etc...), and greater admiration from their peers. Appearing "kiddish" will get you the opposite - Lack of respect and concern from adults, and teasing from your peers.
This makes sense, as a person's teenage years are about gradually transitioning into adulthood. Just about every culture in the world puts a certain emphasis on that "rite of passage". High school graduation ceremonies often aren't just about finishing high school, but also about (hopefully) completing that transition into being an adult. Once you're an actual adult, people will treat you like one as long as you appear reasonably professional at work and basically are self-sufficient. You're also not monitored the same way, generally speaking. People don't care as much about your entertainment interests unless you give them a reason to care (talk about it a lot at work, say). So a person's teenage years are actually the hardest years to be an "open" fan of certain things. Like cartoons aimed primarily at kids, and "children's card games", and collecting figurines. Being an adult can actually make being an "open" fan of this easier.
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2013-01-10, 22:29 | Link #14 | |
:cool:
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Idaho
Age: 32
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Ha. HA I SAY! The tables, they have turned!
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2013-01-10, 22:43 | Link #16 |
Also a Lolicon
Join Date: Apr 2010
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We're adults. We do whatever the fuck we want with our free time, and if we want to watch shows aimed at kids, we will.
It's not like shows automagically reduce in enjoyability as we age. Also, specific to anime: -Most anime aimed at kids realize they have big and growing (considering birthrate and population of Japan) periphery demographic of adults. -Some anime is explicitly aimed at two demographics. e.g. "shoujo" stuff that is girls 5-12, males 18+. |
2013-01-10, 23:02 | Link #17 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
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2013-01-10, 23:38 | Link #18 | |||
Vanitas owns you >:3
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Computer nerds, comic book nerds, fantasy nerds, sci-fi nerds, gamers. Anime nerds? We are cut from the same cloth. What movies got the most hype for 2012? The Avengers and The Hobbit. What TV show has one of the most highest ratings on a regular network? The Big Bang Theory. And what brand-new show is starting this month on TBS? King of the Nerds. Freaking Wal-Mart has Sailormoon and Naruto among their book section, and several mainstream anime series in their DVD selection as well. We nerds are no longer shunned or ignored.....at least "we who live in the USA". Quote:
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F*CK YEAH!
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2013-01-11, 00:11 | Link #19 |
This is my title.
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Philippines
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I did grow out of Pokemon though but I'd watch it if it was on and just stumbled upon it while flipping channels. I still play and collect the games though.
Other than that, I still watch cartoons. And like Random32 said, I'll watch whatever the hell I want. Lol
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2013-01-11, 05:34 | Link #20 | |
* >/dev/null
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Surrey, UK
Age: 39
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Now this was the era of the VHS recorder, and so my brother & I were taping shows whilst we were at school. He convinced me to start recording/watching Babylon 5 instead (on a different TV channel), and I pretty quickly picked up that a show/book/comic/whatever with a pre-scripted ending was going to provide a superior experience to any endless show jammed with repetitions and filler . So, to this day I have an aversion to any anime which looks like it doesn't have an ending; Hayate I think is the only exception to that, but then I only watched it for the comedy, not the story. Pretty much this. So long as you're not being annoying about your hobbies (i.e. broadcasting them to an audience that isn't interested), then nobody will care what you watch/do outside of work. |
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