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(Why) Is Anime usually for more mature audiences?

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Mattonymy Mr. Dr. from The Evils of Free Will Since: Jul, 2010
Mr. Dr.
#1: Mar 4th 2011 at 10:37:30 AM

First off, before anyone asks, yes this is still a Western Animation topic. And I have no real opinion, just something I've observed.

Disregarding Disney and PIXAR for obvious reasons, why is it that the majority of Western Animation is either portrayed as or thought of as a more "kid-friendly" medium to Anime and Manga particularly within the animation world? I mean, very rarely have I ever seen an Anime series get the same kind of mistreatment through the Animation Age Ghetto than Western Animation (ie just tell someone that you've started watching a new Anime series vs watching a new Cartoon series). Another thing I've also noticed is that on a lot of University campuses, there are quite a number of related clubs based around watching and discussing Anime which are considered educational or academic, but I've only seen a few select clubs ever dedicated to watching Western Animation and they're usually just about actually doing the animation than sitting around and watching it.

Now I'm not sure how much of it is either one's own personal connotations on the medium, because some of it is actually true. I mean, for every Western Animation series that takes death seriously, I can find you 5 Anime examples easily. Plus very rarely will you find a non-comedic dark themed Western Animation series (well except for this) than you would find one for Anime. Anyway, I like both Anime and Western Animation so I have no opinion, it's just something I thought about ever since that fat jerk in the comic book store who's obsessed with Anime said that he can't stand the "kiddiness" of cartoons.

please don't flame me

edited 4th Mar '11 10:42:56 AM by Mattonymy

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MousaThe14 Writer, Artist, Ignored from Northern Virginia Since: Jan, 2011 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Writer, Artist, Ignored
#2: Mar 4th 2011 at 11:36:59 AM

FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!

Okay, in all seriousness, I think it has less to do with "Anime being for mature audiences" and more having to do with the larger variety of anime means that there is a larger number for mature audiences. Nihon, for whatever reason, somehow took to the idea that animation and comics can be for e be for everyone for almost any interest and for some reason the West saw that these sorts of things had kiddish designs and were mostly geared towards kids and decided to keep it that way.

I have no idea why these things happened, they just did, but I'm always shocked by how wide and diverse the cartoon/comic genres are over there and I always feel the need to cite a gift someone gave to me which was a manga that taught you statistics. Somehow in Nihon they've decided to take advantage of the media's versatility. Somewhere along the evolutionary line in the West, we started typecasting. Sorry I don't have an adequate explanation for why this happened though.

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RTaco Since: Jul, 2009
#3: Mar 4th 2011 at 12:16:21 PM

It's not. It's just that Japan produces a ton of animation, and that means more cartoons of all varieties, including mature ones.

edited 4th Mar '11 12:17:36 PM by RTaco

chocoboxxx Since: Dec, 1969
#4: Mar 4th 2011 at 12:20:59 PM

Cultural differences in the way we raise children, I suppose. Anime isn't really that much more mature though. It's usually just empty philosophy and pseudo-intellectualism trying to disguise fanservice.

edited 4th Mar '11 12:22:40 PM by chocoboxxx

Alkthash Was? Since: Jan, 2001
Was?
#5: Mar 4th 2011 at 12:21:24 PM

I'd say merch. Older otaku have more money to spend on whatever drek anime studios shovel out.

OurGLORIOUSLeader Since: Dec, 1969
#6: Mar 4th 2011 at 12:22:33 PM

Different demographics, I suppose. It's sufficiently less "kiddy" to watch cartoons there than it is here.

Tzetze DUMB from a converted church in Venice, Italy Since: Jan, 2001
DUMB
#7: Mar 4th 2011 at 12:23:06 PM

What R Taco said, plus the general foreign ∴ better ∴ more mature bias in thought.

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.
chocoboxxx Since: Dec, 1969
#8: Mar 4th 2011 at 12:23:27 PM

[up[up]]Otakus over there are treated worse than over here.

edited 4th Mar '11 12:23:51 PM by chocoboxxx

truteal animation elitist from the great southern land Since: Sep, 2009
animation elitist
#9: Mar 4th 2011 at 12:51:52 PM

last time I checked, pedophiles do not count as a more mature audience

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harkko Since: Apr, 2010
#10: Mar 4th 2011 at 12:51:59 PM

Two words (or three if you count the particle): Standards and practices. In Japan even shows for young demographies can depict for example death, religiousness (excluding Christian channels) and underage drinking. You can find all these in both Anne Of Green Gables novel and its anime adaptation by Isao Takahata but I highly doubt you'll find them in Sullivan cartoon series.

Tzetze DUMB from a converted church in Venice, Italy Since: Jan, 2001
DUMB
#11: Mar 4th 2011 at 12:52:46 PM

Otakus over there are treated worse than over here.

I'm sorry, could you explain what this has to do with what I posted? I'm confused.

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.
chreen from In Your Mind Since: Nov, 2010
#12: Mar 4th 2011 at 12:55:25 PM

Usually, you see more R+ dramatic animes than R+ dramatic cartoons. Most cartoons aimed for adults are comedies, and the only real dramatic adult cartoon is Moral Orel, (probably only in Season 2 and Season 3), and it didn't even succeed due to it being too dark for it's target audience.

While I do like R+ comedic cartoons, it would be nice to see a R+ dramatic cartoon that could match the standard of animes praised for mature writing (like Cowboy Bebop).

It's metafiction about metafiction about metafiction. More serious message: Don't you wish you watch everything that happens in the wo
chocoboxxx Since: Dec, 1969
#13: Mar 4th 2011 at 3:06:08 PM

[up][up]the stupid forum software glitched my arrows dude, check above you. I refuse to be responsible for broken code any longer.

Alkthash Was? Since: Jan, 2001
Was?
#14: Mar 4th 2011 at 4:29:38 PM

I'm guessing you meant my post since I was the first to use the word otaku in this thread. Making shows to peddle merch to an older audience isn't really treating them better, it is just taking advantage of their greater spending freedom.

Jackerel SURPRISE from ur sentry Since: Feb, 2011
SURPRISE
#15: Mar 4th 2011 at 4:51:30 PM

Besides, what a lot of anime fans swoon over is meant for young adults (and the occasional successful attempt to get older than that).

I've seen a lot of comic-based western animation draw adults as well as kids, while still being "mature", like Justice League Unlimited.

Was Jack Mackerel. | i rite gud
Mattonymy Mr. Dr. from The Evils of Free Will Since: Jul, 2010
Mr. Dr.
#16: Mar 4th 2011 at 5:14:09 PM

I guess what I'm also wondering is that why is it that aside from super hero or comic book animated adaptations (ie Justice League, Batman The Animated Series, Teen Titans, etc) how come we almost never see a serious Western Animated series that doesn't rely on explicit comedic sexual references to sound mature. The only adult Western Animated series I can think of are South Park, Futurama, The Simpsons and Regular Show (although RS is more of a "How the hell did they get that on TV?") but even those shows are mostly light hearted comedies.

edited 4th Mar '11 5:14:25 PM by Mattonymy

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Shota Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: Dancing with myself
#17: Mar 4th 2011 at 5:26:37 PM

Because if you showed a mature anime to a citizen in Japan/Japanese person/fan they would be like "Cool! I want to watch that again," and if you showed the same mature anime to a citizen in the Western parts of the world they would be like, "YOU HORRIBLE MONSTER!! KIDS WOULD SUCK WEED AND DO DRUGS AND GET KILLED IN 5 MINUTES BECAUSE OF THIS GARBAGE!! GET OUT!!!! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE YOU LITTLE********!!!!!"

People are paranoid these days, and there are different cultural views than the rest of the world.

Scardoll Burn Since: Nov, 2010
Burn
#18: Mar 4th 2011 at 5:30:37 PM

Maturity is overrated.

edited 4th Mar '11 5:30:45 PM by Scardoll

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Tzetze DUMB from a converted church in Venice, Italy Since: Jan, 2001
DUMB
#19: Mar 4th 2011 at 5:32:23 PM

how come we almost never see a serious Western Animated series that doesn't rely on explicit comedic sexual references to sound mature

I think it's basically inertia. Cartoons are mostly comedic in the West, so any proposal for a serious cartoon is automatically strange.

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.
MoeDantes cuter, cuddlier Edmond from the Land of Classics Since: Nov, 2010
cuter, cuddlier Edmond
#20: Mar 4th 2011 at 6:38:09 PM

To be completely honest, Anime isn't usually for more mature audiences.

There's three forces at work here:

1) There are MORE ANIME being produced in Japan than there are cartoons in America. Sheer quantity has a way of inspiring diversity and branching out. Heck, it wasn't that long ago here in America that the profitability of cartoons was leading to works like Heavy Metal, Fire and Ice and Who Framed Roger Rabbit—all three came from a period where cartoons basically dominated airwaves.

2) The Import Filter. While said Filter isn't quite as impenetrable as is often claimed, the result is still that we get a skewered perception of the whole anime thang. The truth is, relative to the overall quantity, there are just as many "mature" anime as there are "mature" cartoons. Licensors specifically target the stuff that'll appeal to older fans though, so we rarely see the more generic/meaningless crap. It seems like this is starting to break down somewhat, now that Yu-Gi-Oh has opened the doors to more license-based shows and we're getting a lot more of the toy tie-ins.  *

Relatedly, back when anime was first taking off, much of what got licensed was either theatrical movies, or OV As—direct to video movies or series. You can get away with a lot more direct-to-video than you can with a television broadcast, and this skewered the US Otakudom's perception somewhat.

3) Different cultural standards. Simply put, Japan isn't quite the pussy the US is about what children should or shouldn't be exposed to (particularly in terms of violence), and more importantly they see cartoons as being less about preaching the moral value of the day and more as just needing to instill a general sense of idealism in the audience. So in short, what is "kiddie" to an actual Japanese person is mature to an American.

One example of this is religion: America is tight-assed about religion, so any attempt at symbolism or reference at all is mature and edgy. Japan though, is very laid-back about the whole thing (they believe in it, but in the same way that you believe in oxygen) so such things don't really mean anything to them.

If you want an example of the flip-side, anime that are "kiddy," I recommend watching any of the Transformers anime, or else Unico, Hello Kitty, or A Little Snow Fairy Sugar.

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RTaco Since: Jul, 2009
#21: Mar 4th 2011 at 6:50:26 PM

It should be noted that Japan does have an Animation Age Ghetto, one that's even harsher in some respects. While over here an adult who admits to watching cartoons will get called a dork, that same adult in Japan might be suspected of serious mental instability.

edited 4th Mar '11 6:59:45 PM by RTaco

MoeDantes cuter, cuddlier Edmond from the Land of Classics Since: Nov, 2010
cuter, cuddlier Edmond
#22: Mar 4th 2011 at 6:58:06 PM

[up] Considering that a Japanese who watches cartoons probably does so for all the wrong reasons, that's not entirely unjustified.

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chocoboxxx Since: Dec, 1969
#23: Mar 5th 2011 at 2:42:46 AM

[up][up][up]Hey now, don't diss Unico. He impaled one of his enemies on a church steeple.

edited 5th Mar '11 2:43:11 AM by chocoboxxx

Recon5 Avvie-free for life! from Southeast Asia Since: Jan, 2001
Avvie-free for life!
#24: Mar 5th 2011 at 3:52:49 AM

I wouldn't call all Japanese TF series kiddy. Headmasters, Masterforce and Victory were all quite a bit more grim than the US series with Masterforce being the darkest of the lot. RID is also edgier than the original series. The Unicron Trilogy is quite a bit lighter, but it still isn't as fluffy as G1 pre-movie. The Movie was almost on par with Masterforce in terms of grimdark, which may have inspired that series to take a harsher approach.

Noimporta Since: Jan, 2001
#25: Mar 5th 2011 at 5:39:08 AM

Yet Beast Wars and Beast Machines are significantly more "mature", tackling (or at least trying to) issues such as euthanasia, and having generally more developed characters.

Besides, Robots In Disguise edgy? Really?


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