Isnt Anime for kids? How do you respond?

[Tripfag]

Originally Posted by King Lycan

so ur telling me that shows like Berserk and FSN are for kids

Cartoon =! made for kids.

Get with the program.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Originally Posted by Tripfag

Cartoon =! made for kids.

Get with the program.

You are still using absolutes. Life just isn't that simple.

[Tripfag]

Originally Posted by Spectacular_Insanity

You are still using absolutes. Life just isn't that simple.

Cartoon = animated.
Anime = Japanese cartoon.

Not complicated.

[DetectiveA]

Well, for me this question is like punch in the gut.
I tried telling my parent abouts some of the anime shows I was watching, like when I was trying to tell my mom about Death Note. Weird thing is that my parents don't respond to me when I talk about it. That drives me crazy because I don't know what they are thinking. In the end I know they are kinda disappointed in me because they think its for kids. My sister is starting high school and she don't even want to hear it, and I gotta tell you its a bad feeling when she don't want to take your advice because she thinks I am the immature one. So with my experience especially with past friends I just avoid the question all together. I never bring up the subject anime ever. When I watch anime I watch it alone and I try to talk about it on forums like now.

I look on the bright side, I know there is people just like me all over the world who after watching a episode sit back think about it for a while and just smile knowing that someone is doing the same thing lol.

[Triple_R]

One thing I'd like to add is...

A lot of folks here have suggested that the best way to overcome the "Isn't anime for kids?" question is to tell people about anime shows like Death Note, Elfen Lied, and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.

Using such shows to try to (rightly) convince folks that anime isn't just for kids is a risky gamble.

There is a good chance that you'll convince them that, indeed, it's not just for kids... but there's also a good chance that, well, you'll end up making them think that anime's sick and weird (keep in mind that if they think that anime's for kids, they probably have a strong cultural bias that would also make the premises of these three particular anime shows seem sick and weird to them).

I don't think that this is an improvement over "it's just for kids."

If you want to convince them that anime's not just for kids through using specific anime shows, I think that Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is the perfect place to start. Even people not familiar with Japanese culture are probably familiar with the Matrix movies, and hence won't be 'freaked out' by this anime. However, it's clearly sophisticated, and frankly, above the heads of most kids, I would think.

[Liddo-kun]

Originally Posted by DetectiveA

I look on the bright side, I know there is people just like me all over the world who after watching a episode sit back think about it for a while and just smile knowing that someone is doing the same thing lol.

Anime watching is a clean and decent hobby, I work 10 hrs each day Mon-Sat and the workload can get very tiresome and stressful.
Watching animes (at night after work) is a great way to remove work related stress.

[DetectiveA]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

If you want to convince them that anime's not just for kids through using specific anime shows, I think that Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is the perfect place to start. Even people not familiar with Japanese culture are probably familiar with the Matrix movies, and hence won't be 'freaked out' by this anime. However, it's clearly sophisticated, and frankly, above the heads of most kids, I would think.

I figure that best solution is avoiding it all together. And listen to this, most people don't watch anime and lets say you meet someone, coworker or anyone. What are you going to talk to them about? In my case "not anime thats for sure." But for the sake of argument lets say I do mention a series. And the magical question comes up, first is "what is anime" then "isn't anime for kids?" I think that person would think differently about you, and for people who think anime is for kids are probably going to think your a kid yourself. And why go through the trouble trying to convince someone that it is not? And like boiledliddo said "watching anime is a decent hobby" and I don't want to ruin that by stressing over other peoples thoughts.

[Liddo-kun]

Originally Posted by DetectiveA

I figure that best solution is avoiding it all together. And listen to this, most people don't watch anime and lets say you meet someone, coworker or anyone. What are you going to talk to them about? In my case "not anime thats for sure." But for the sake of argument lets say I do mention a series. And the magical question comes up, first is "what is anime" then "isn't anime for kids?" I think that person would think differently about you, and for people who think anime is for kids are probably going to think your a kid yourself. And why go through the trouble trying to convince someone that it is not? And like boiledliddo said "watching anime is a decent hobby" and I don't want to ruin that by stressing over other peoples thoughts.

That's very true. Trying to convince people is hard and you'd most probably be inviting an argument. My workplace is composed of people in their mid 20's and early 30's and obviuosly most of them aren't anime fans.

The only time I bring up anime as a conversation topic is if I know that the person I'm talking to has enjoyed anime at some point in his/her life. For example I know this officemate of mine (a married man in his early 30's) has watched DBZ on TV a few years back. It's easy bringing up the topic on what new animes are airing and he ended up borrowing my Claymore DVD's - now even his sister is asking if there's gonna be a second season of Claymore.

[roninhobbit]

Originally Posted by DetectiveA

I figure that best solution is avoiding it all together. And listen to this, most people don't watch anime and lets say you meet someone, coworker or anyone. What are you going to talk to them about? In my case "not anime thats for sure." But for the sake of argument lets say I do mention a series. And the magical question comes up, first is "what is anime" then "isn't anime for kids?" I think that person would think differently about you, and for people who think anime is for kids are probably going to think your a kid yourself. And why go through the trouble trying to convince someone that it is not? And like boiledliddo said "watching anime is a decent hobby" and I don't want to ruin that by stressing over other peoples thoughts.

While I agree with this entirely, sometimes it's just plain unavoidable. On my desk at work I have a few figures next to my monitor, from Gundam, Evangelion, Tenchi Muyo, and Disgaea. Not a ton of stuff, just a few. Inevitably, however, someone will come by and say "What's with the toys?" It's normally downhill from there.
Same problem with my DS. I was playing it at lunch once, and someone asked me what I was playing. I responded 'Pokemon', followed shortly by me receiving 'okay, weirdo' looks. I guess next time I should say I'm playing "Nascar StabBlood Boobsplosion"... maybe that will go over better.

Some people just won't get it. When they say "Anime, isn't that stuff for kids?" I normally just say "Not all of it" and leave it at that, knowing that nothing will convince them otherwise. But they can pry my Ryo-Ohki out of my cold, dead hands.

[aka Providence]

here's one way to respond to that certain question (true story):

friend: isn't anime for kids? (he said something like that, methinks)

me(reading manga without looking at him): it makes it easier for me to lure kids in my room.

me and friend: *silence*

a few seconds later, i can no longer resist and start laughing. he laughs in turn, then asks the real reason why i watch/read anime/manga. can't remember what i said, i probably gave him some not-so-interesting reason, but everything else passed through without any other weirdness.

the bottom line: a less-serious/important response makes a great ice-breaker.

[siya]

Originally Posted by aka Providence

here's one way to respond to that certain question (true story):

friend: isn't anime for kids? (he said something like that, methinks)

me(reading manga without looking at him): it makes it easier for me to lure kids in my room.

me and friend: *silence*

a few seconds later, i can no longer resist and start laughing. he laughs in turn, then asks the real reason why i watch/read anime/manga. can't remember what i said, i probably gave him some not-so-interesting reason, but everything else passed through without any other weirdness.

the bottom line: a less-serious/important response makes a great ice-breaker.

lol...I have to do that now. That's funny.

[oompa loompa]

Originally Posted by roninhobbit

My father doesn't understand why I enjoy anime, but he loves the movie 300 (as do I). I tried to explain to him how close 300 is to anime, in the sense that 300 is much like Beowulf, and Beowulf is almost anime. Not stylistically, obviously, but in the sense of RL versus animation + voice acting. For whatever reason, he can totally understand sitting down and watching Beowulf, but still thinks I'm weird for watching anime.

I think people, especially after a certain age, just can't get past the whole 'cartoon' aspect, no matter what you tell them. In their defense, I think it's silly for people to obssess over cars from the 70's, so to each his own.

(As a side note, a chibi-anime version of 300 would be the most entertaining thing in the history of time.)

gahaha i would kill to see that

[False Dawn]

I'd say to people like that "Well, Family Guy isn't for kids..."

I think there are less and less people who view the cartoon medium as "for kids" nowadays because of shows like The Simpsons, Futurama, Family Guy (and to a lesser extent, Sealab, Venture Brothers, Aqua Team Hunger Force). It's becoming just another medium. Also, more mainstream exposure to the more adult side of anime, such as the anime section in Kill Bill and Animatrix, is a stepping stone to making people see that anime isn't all Pokemon, Yugioh and Dragonball Z.

[siya]

Originally Posted by False Dawn

I'd say to people like that "Well, Family Guy isn't for kids..."

I think there are less and less people who view the cartoon medium as "for kids" nowadays because of shows like The Simpsons, Futurama, Family Guy (and to a lesser extent, Sealab, Venture Brothers, Aqua Team Hunger Force). It's becoming just another medium. Also, more mainstream exposure to the more adult side of anime, such as the anime section in Kill Bill and Animatrix, is a stepping stone to making people see that anime isn't all Pokemon, Yugioh and Dragonball Z.

lol..Yu-Gi-Oh isn't really a kids anime. Not to Americas standerds anyways...America ruined Yu-Gi-Oh. I mean, read the manga..there is alot more then just Duel Monsters and "Oo, wana play a card game? If I win I get your soul." It was violent. 1st graders had guns, and they played things like Russian Rulet and stuff.....Yu-Gi-Oh was a very violent anime.

[BritishBearBoy]

The US also destroyed Rave Master.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Originally Posted by BritishBearBoy

The US also destroyed Rave Master.

It's arguable that the US manages to destroy many things. For instance Pokemon. I really like Diamond and Pearl. In japanese, that is. For one thing, their names aren't so stupid and overall the voice acting is 100+ times better. The pokemon are still cute, though.

Originally Posted by aka Providence

here's one way to respond to that certain question (true story):

friend: isn't anime for kids? (he said something like that, methinks)

me(reading manga without looking at him): it makes it easier for me to lure kids in my room.

me and friend: *silence*

a few seconds later, i can no longer resist and start laughing. he laughs in turn, then asks the real reason why i watch/read anime/manga. can't remember what i said, i probably gave him some not-so-interesting reason, but everything else passed through without any other weirdness.

the bottom line: a less-serious/important response makes a great ice-breaker.

Oh my god that just made my day. That is too funny. Good one.

[Tripfag]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

One thing I'd like to add is...

A lot of folks here have suggested that the best way to overcome the "Isn't anime for kids?" question is to tell people about anime shows like Death Note, Elfen Lied, and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.

I'd like to interrupt by saying Death Note is for kids.

Originally Posted by siya

lol..Yu-Gi-Oh isn't really a kids anime. Not to Americas standerds anyways...America ruined Yu-Gi-Oh. I mean, read the manga..there is alot more then just Duel Monsters and "Oo, wana play a card game? If I win I get your soul." It was violent. 1st graders had guns, and they played things like Russian Rulet and stuff.....Yu-Gi-Oh was a very violent anime.

Originally Posted by BritishBearBoy

The US also destroyed Rave Master.

Also kid's shows. No matter how much Tokyopop or 4kids edits them, they still are kid's shows by heart.

[King Lycan]

~Tripfaq have u seen all this show's who are so called for kids

[roninhobbit]

Tripfag is either a troll, misinformed, or delusional.

No offense.

[Tripfag]

Originally Posted by King Lycan

~Tripfaq have u seen all this show's who are so called for kids

Originally Posted by roninhobbit

Tripfag is either a troll, misinformed, or delusional.

No offense.

They all ran in kid's magazines. And the most Deathnote could ever reach for is PG-13. It's not really an Adult comic.

By the way, I read all three of them.

EDIT: Also, real mature on the reputation thing. I would be so sad if it mattered.