Is Anime for kids? What is the nature of anime?
Is this the face of anime?
Note: Incoherent thoughts about anime
Every single time I talked to someone about anime, the first thing that they will do is look at me with the skeptical look and asking me with a very straight face:
“Jan, can you stop watching anime and grow up?”
I sometimes wonder why this is the perception. No one ever complained that watching Idol-themed shows are for kids. To me, anime is just an artform in which to present a moving story. There is nothing kiddish about the artwork, simply for a more acquired taste. I really wonder why having a “cartoonish” framework (using the term of the layman) meant that meaningful and deep philosophy would not exist.
The thing is that to most, the only anime that they see is Pokemon and Digimon, in which it is targetted to a younger audience. That is why it is particularly hard for us to convince anyone around me to watch anime. They already have the pre-conception that anime is for kids and that the themes will be less complicated compared to a series of let’s say CSI.
The truth is that I always feel that anime has a place in the field of films and the like. It is definitely not for kids, with the various themes that were discussed in the show probably way too explicit and serious in some cases to be broadcasted on Singaporean TV. Let’s talk about simply the current series. Bokura ga Ita talked about pre-marital sex, peer pressure and the problematic relationships that teens faced in a soft yet dramatic way. I can perceive that it will look extremely cheesy in life television. Using animation, themes of such suspicious nature are given more leeway since it does not seem to occur to a real person.
However, to me, the theme is still there. It portrayed it so clearly that it becomes a topic of controversy. I bet if we try to do this as a live action, we will be affected who the actor is. Animation allowed perfection in the display of emotions sometimes. I wondered if someone dared to tell me that Bokura is for kids. It is clearly not so.
I can go on with various other current anime that talks about societal problems (Welcome to the NHK), philosophical meanings of life (Aria the natural), complexity of the human spirit (Mushishi) and so on. I wonder how people can convince these people that anime is not for kids, but it is simply a certain genre of anime that fits this face that most non-anime watchers think.
I am out of ideas seriously how to convince them to at least watch one episode. Do you have any?
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not possible, people will always think anime are for kids
hell, even I had the same mindset at 1 point.
Well, it can’t be helped jan, most animes on Central are mostly of the kids variety(yes, i categorise inuyasha under ‘kid’). Well, at least thats the case in SG.
In any case, if you wanna get people to see the more ‘mature’ side to anime. Might I suggest getting non-convert friends to watch feature films like Mononoke Hime, Ghost in the Shell, Grave of the Fireflies, Akira, etc…
You’d get people converted in no time ^_^
I would show Ergo Proxy to someone and tell him, “This, my friend, is the REAL I-Robot…..not even the one made by Americans could match its underlying symbolism, depth and philosophies…”
Anime is violent hentai meant for kids. Seriously though…
Nana and Honey&clover, if someone still says those are for kids they are either insane or stupid, probably both. And what’s wrong with kiddie shows anyway…
First, Can pokemon even be considered as anime?
When i say anime to my friends, they just say they ar too lazy to read subs, so they wait for dubs. Now, when i say gba games, the first thing they think is pokemon so i dont get the grow up dide speech very often from others.
Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back was serious stuff. Yes, there were flashy starfighter battles and big ships and wonderful special effects and epic sword duels, but the people and the themes which shined dwarved these aspects of the film.
Do people think Star Wars is overall a serious saga? No, because the lightsabers and the ewoks and the clonetroopers and the special effects and Jar Jar have flooded movie theatres like Pokemon and similar series has shrouded the anime genre.
And how did it come to this, one might ask? Because people want to see more of whats in the 2nd paragraph than the 1st paragraph. Kids, children, lots of teenagers, heck lots of adults, don’t want the deep mushy stuff. I can’t imagine the audience base for Yukikaze ever becoming greater than the number of people on Earth that want to watch Naruto kick ass, regardless of how good Yukikaze’s story and character progression is.
Is this permanent? I don’t know. You could blame the (American) entertainment industry for wanting to stick to a safe approach - having real people connect to real people. You could blame the cartoon standard in the US, which has never evolved beyond the Disney movie in terms of being taken seriously (I think we have terrible terrible TERRIBLE voice actors doing dubbing for the anime that is aired these days). You could blame most people for sticking with what they’re used to, instead of reaching out to experimental approaches like anime. Or you could attribute this phenomenon to the fact that anime has remained a Japanese thing, because the way by which anime, Japanese cartoon animation, is drawn is unique unto the Japanese (just compare any comic book to any manga series).
Maybe it will change someday, when people can get used to the idea of a serious theme espoused by a character drawn with a pencil. Or maybe the ideals behind (serious) anime will influence a growing CGI industry in the US, eventually becoming America’s anime profession. All I know is in Spanish class I had to team up with a girl to identify the authors of certain portraits, when she pointed out a Von Gogh painting to me. I know who Von Gogh is, but every painting of his I’ve seen is to me just some obscure painting. I couldn’t identify a Von Gogh painting for my life. She ended up calling me uncultured. But I thought to myself, “if you want something that’ll knock your socks off, try looking at some of the stuff drawn by CLAMP sometime.”
Maybe it’s just an individual thing.
For me, I say, yes, it’s kids stuff. No matter how much reason I try to give, I know they won’t understand. However, if they do say I watch Pokemon or Digimon, I’ll say, yeah, Digimon Tamers was awesome.
The problem at the moment is that the popular animes are the ones aimed at kids. The average person doesn’t get to hear of the serious shit like Ghost in the Shell or Akira. All they see are the Pokemons or Narutos.
lol, I guess the reason also that I did not include in my rant is that anime that has sophiscation usually has a problem with reaching a wide audience worldwide (I mean, how many kids will know how to watch Mushishi, Haibane, Ghost in the shell or Kino’s travels).
So that is pretty sad. I mean, i am not embarrassed i am watching anime but i do not like the misconception that anime means for kids. That is really myopic thinking. It’s almost like racism or any form of prejudice.
Soulshard, you really said everything in a simple way that I wanted to argue. Thanks so much for commenting. It is so true. I mean the biggest market per se is the american market and the way they brand it is …sigh.
To anga, pablo, ah ben, delta, I tried and suggest those anime, even somewhat getting them to watch it. Somehow, they just can’t go beyond the logic of artwork = anime = for kids.
SIGH, SO ANNOYING!!! Most of my school mates just can’t appreciate anime, it’s so hard to find anyoen to talk about it.
Most people just associate anime with american cartoons, so it’s no wonder they think it’s for kids. And plus, it doesn’t help that almost all the anime imported from Japan that plays on TV were made to target little kids.
Concerning how people just associate anything animated to be kiddish, it’s just that most people associate ‘adult’ and ’serious’ entertainment in the form of actors and cameras…some times people are too stubbon or shallow to realize that anything can carry a deep and thoughtful message.
lol jan…
I’m suprised really, I’ve converted people to anime watching by showing them stuff like Bleach, GITS, Howl’s Moving Castle.
I guess since they can’t see through the stereotype that anime=kids, then they are probably too narrow minded too to see that stuff like The Matrix, modern animation like Toy Story and The Incredibles, as well as some of the really crap shows on cartoon network were initially inspired by anime and the Japanese film industry.
And anyway, I do think that anime is growing outside Japan. I probably have too many friends following Aria, Ergo Proxy, Bleach, etc…
As for myself, I think the anime I do watch is testament that anime isn’t necessary just for kids. Try getting a kid to understand and grasp stuff like Akira, Eva, Ergo Proxy, Gankutsuou, Eureka Seven… etc…
Haha don’t talk about just schoolmates - most of my friends don’t even bother to watch any anime outside of the no-brainers ala Naruto or Bleach. Give them something like Eureka 7 and they’ll say it’s boring. Sometimes it’s just a lose-lose situation lol
Ah, yes. One of my motivations for ever starting my own anime blog. I agree that it’s been a brain-stretching issue for me how everyone here, even if I take a small sample of the Philippine population, still equate anime with cartoons… or worse yet, porn.
I made it my mission to let them reassess their evaluation of this underrated artform and how it can be categorized in the same league as motion pictures and tv shows. God knows how the diversity of viewpoints on a very “minor” issue can have an impact on a small group of people like us, who blog about it on their respective personal spaces on the Internet.
Sigh.
The only person in the house who says it’s for kids is my little sister LOL, yes my LITTLE sister, but then again she is still in the dragon ball z loop. she thinks that every anime is the same all shounen and crap, i bet that if i show her a shoujo manga she loves it.
As for my parents, well why would they bother, they don’t care, they care more for me not playing games (yes, a bit WTF?), well just my dad sometimes and my mother when we have a argument but that’s about it (typical parents using things we most love against us)
I don’t think they would mind if i go with a career related to art & animation, except for my father since he wanted me to join him in his work but sadly I don’t like electronics. even if it was computers i wouldn’t do it
I have stopped bothering trying to explain to people why i like anime a lot, its a cartoon and they automatically assume childishness. So now its ‘I like anime’ and that’s it. I’m sure some times they are waiting for an explanation on why but I know that most of them won’t see beyond the fact that’s it an animation and there’s no way it can portray human feeling and emotions in a mature fashion.
i just shove random copies of pirated eva into peoples mailboxes and tell them if they understand it good for them…now go do something about if you idiots….j/k but seriously the america’s(including canada) have the most messed up dubs ever…and it gets to be pretty depressing when fansubbers(the illegal ones) do better jobs than bandai and ADV….im so glad im not surrounded by such narrow minded tards at my school….well there are a few but im not gonna get into that clusterfuck….
@ anamesis — wahahahahaha… I think the fact is that most people who have contact with anime (I mean free to air tv) do watch only dubs and we know how dubs are generally of a lower quality compared to the subs. There are a few exceptions to the rule but they really dont take up too much of the space from the really awful ones. You are also a lucky person to have people to talk about for anime
@ crazymchan — Me too, i got tired myself >_>;;; Whenever i explain, they give me condenscing words.
@akarashy — Ouch. Nuff said ^_^
It’s all about the passion- seiyuus in Japan are a real industry while in America voice-acting is at a premium. If a dubbing company doesn’t want to pay so much, they hire sub-par voice actors who can’t put any passion into the dub and it makes the dubbed anime sound like shit.
Its really funny how a lot of people have preconceptions of stuff, heh, I personally love shattering those preconceptions here’s a few tips if you want to get people to watch anime and to shatter their preconceptions…(some are not to be taken seriously, but i actually did these)
1. recommend Elfen Lied (or any other title thats clearly not for kids) for their kid.
2. get their girlfriend interested in anime (I used DN Angel and Kodocha)
3. talk about how great a episode/movie/series is but neglect to mention its anime until AFTER they’re interested.
4. Give them anime for their birthday and insist that they watch it now.
All I can say is to list one of the few anime that is popular and somewhat well-known with a good dub: Cowboy Bebop. Gems like that are a pretty good introduction and it airs on Cartoon Network (still does the last time I noticed)
I’m still somewhat uncomfortable about anime: it bears the same stigma as one of my other passions, fantasy fiction. You do not know how much fantasy fiction has been derided and put down by the general populace. I find myself stymied by that as well. Obviously there are lots of duplicative unoriginal stuff just like in anime, but there are more than enough gems that it shouldn’t be put down. You have to remember that in anime, a lot of it is boring, repetetive, same-old, same-old. There just happen to be more than enough gems to make it worth the digging and time spent watching. One of the most interesting and strange things about anime (for me) is that I can watch a broad range of things without getting bored like Romance, which in practically every other form, I avoid. Those who avoid it out of mistaken impressions are missing out on a lot. And finally, I’m not sure that I would like anime to become mainstream. I feel that if anime became mainstream over here, they would make lots of repetitive American anime crap and see translating the Japanese ones as not worthwhile. I like the subtle additions that a Japanese anime can provide.
-Lan
hmmm, i guess you got the main guist of why people dont watch it. the fact is that most mainstream series that get attention are really similiar…sigh.
Oh well, i guess it’s just human nature. I will just go back to enjoying my own series. >_____>;;;;
ANIME!!!
ello pples I loved it
I’m in scool Right now JK
I would show them Pokemon.
It is one of the most adult anime ever.
Akira & Eureka 7 are shitty & borring.
Action & plot must both be paced well intermittingly so
a series doesn’t end up like the Eragon film with all
plot for an hour & hald & only 15 minutes of action.
Christopher Paolini has a tiny pennie.