"Anime is not for kids."

One thing that really gets me is how many people say "Anime is not for kids." To me, that sounds like saying "Books aren't for kids," or, "Movies aren't for kids." For one thing, I've seen plenty of anime that most definitely are for kids. Examples: Pokemon, Digimon, Dragon Ball, etc. Wouldn't it make more sense to say that not all anime are for kids?

It seems to me that a lot of people are mistaking anime to be a genre, when it is actually a medium. There's really nothing in common between the movies My Neighbor Totoro and Akira besides the fact that they're animated. I think one of the reasons why anime isn't mainstream in the US is because the name groups together too many unlike genres. When I mention Ghost in the Shell and say that it's an anime, my friends automatically associate it with stuff like Pokemon and Naruto, which wouldn't make them more likely to watch it, much less take it seriously.

ITs japanese cartoons? what makes it not kid friendly. some of it is but not all. All the kids over there watch it, why cant we?

I completely understand your argument, and have had it with my parents before.

I always hear people saying that it must be for kids because it's animated...but there's loads of adult animation out there, outside Japan. =/ So yeah, you're right - not all anime is for kids.

To be fair, Pokémon itself, which I still watch, is certainly aimed at children.

In the media store I frequent the most, HMV, Pokémon is in the kids TV section and not in the anime section that's over by world cinema.

True, a lot of people say Anime is for kids. But then, Anime is just an art style like western animation. Western animation has plenty of different genres and so does Anime. It just doesn't seem fair to categorise an art style as a genre seeing as Live action shows such as Friends or stuff like that isn't classified as such. There are plenty of Anime that aren't suited for kids such as Ghost in the Shell or Blood+.

The reason most people associate Anime with cartoons and aimed at kids is that most Western animations are aimed at children therefore they assume that Japanese Animation should be the same. In my opinion, that's kind of racist.

I have never heard that saying, well besides having a discussion with a friend, about how careless parents let their kids watch what ever they want and when a kid goes out and does something stupid. The parents would then try to see that it is banned or do something else stupid... [lolnotreallyontopic]sorta like the game rating classification system here in Australia, we have no R18+ rating because we're still in the 80's were pixel deaths still exist (b'-')b. A parent will let their 8 year old child play a MA15+ game and when that child kills someone the video game will get the blame and not the vast amount of stupidity the parents have ^_^[/lolnotreallyontopic]

But yeah a lot of anime isn't for kids due to the vast amount of language, violence, sexual themes etc so no harm in saying that anime isn't for kids and there are books and movies not for kids :P

Break. said:

What I hear most is "Anime is for kids, why do you like it?", which would give a totally different argument then "it's not for kids" sooo I won't go into it. xD; But yeah, people who are uneducated about Anime in general normally think that all Anime is aimed at one age group. This depends on the person, though.. since as I said, some say it's 'for kids', and some say it's for adults. In reality, it's aimed at both depending on the series, and I've gotten so tired of hearing otherwise. :/

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Yeah, get this a lot more too. Often I get looked down on watching Anime because they think I'm watching some crappy watered down 4Kids Anime, =/
But yeah, the above stands in favour of the title too. 4Kids and a few other dubbing companies are what created the impression that "all Anime must be for kids", so in the UK and probably most of NA people think Anime is animated so it must be for kids (a rather stupid first impression, really :/). If you don't know much about Anime, then you're going to assume that it's all kiddy stuff until you look into it and realise that Animes out like (like Death Note, Akira, etc.) aren't going to be suitable for children. I also agree with icomeanon6; if 'Anime isn't for kids', then that's the same logic as 'books aren't for kids' or even 'movies aren't for kids', it's stupid idiotic. And I leave yet another thread wiht nothing but backing up what's already said. >_>

Whenever someone tells me "Anime is for kids",

I bring them to he nearest computer and show them the first 7 minutes of Elfen Lied.

solopy567 said:

Whenever someone tells me "Anime is for kids",

I bring them to he nearest computer and show them the first 7 minutes of Elfen Lied.

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Hell, any episode will do.

I have heard this said before but the thing is I see anime the same as like regular TV shows. Some shows are good for kids while other shows are not. The idea that 'anime is for kids' and 'anime isn't for kids' kind of keeping it out from the mainstream TV since people are thinking either one or the other. I mean right now there are some cartoons that are much worse then some of the 'teen' animes that are being shown in Japan.

I understand that there are some animes for kids and some that are not. I mean I would be watchin anime on TV or on the computer and there will be some where I don't mind letting my little brother watch over my shoulder like Pokemon or Shugo Chara. But when it comes to some animes like certain episodes of One Piece or Bleach then I tend to push him away.

This isn't limited to Japanese animation but to almost all animation that is created. It's the mind set that many adults share these days.

I'm suprised this topic exists. I like anime, but guess what I hear mostly; "Why do you like this Pokemon or Digimon stuff?" I am a lot more offended when people assume that all anime is for kids. Granted there is a lot of anime for kids (BTW watch the original DBZ it's not for kids...at all >_>), but I see more not for kids. I mean for kids animes I can see: Tokyo Pig, Pokemon, Digimon (some of the seasons. Tamers is like Evangelion and Five was made for ages 13+), Megaman (Rockman)...yeah that's all I can think of. I mean about half of the anime shown in America for Kids is subbed by 4Kids (and when I mean dubbed I mean butchered). I mean it's really hard to think of an anime for kids now a days.

I think people mistakenly see anime in one way.

Either they only have seen animes like pokemon and digimon or they have only seen Akira and Elfen Lied. So they end up generalizing that all anime is for adults or its all for kids. When in fact its like any other genre. Like Dramas can be for a child or an adult. A Christmas Carol is kid friendly while Cold Mountain is more for Adults.

Hehe.... this brings back memories.
I had some classmates say this to me... I told them it wasn't they said proove it... So I showed them select scenes from Elfin Lied, Perfect Blue and Devil Hunter Yohko (for the obvious "love" scene) and Higurashi (there were others too, but these freaked them the crap out). You should have seen thier faces at certian scenes of Higurashi. Epic...simply epic


I've never laughed so much in my life. -__-

But, in all honesty, some are directed more towards the "younger" children, like "Risky Safety", "A Tiny Little Snow Fairy Sugar"

Autumn27 said:

I think people mistakenly see anime in one way.

Either they only have seen animes like pokemon and digimon or they have only seen Akira and Elfen Lied. So they end up generalizing that all anime is for adults or its all for kids. When in fact its like any other genre. Like Dramas can be for a child or an adult. A Christmas Carol is kid friendly while Cold Mountain is more for Adults.

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I completely agree with you. I mean most people I know have seen really one of those on either side of the spectrum. Sadly, the vast majority has seen Pokemon or Digimon so of course they assume all anime is for kids. Like one of the previous posters, I then show them Mnemosyne (not Elfen Lied...a six episode OVA that is so much more disturbing).

Mostly what I get is "Anime's for kids; why do you like it?" Well, as several previous posters have stated, it's not all for kids. How do you think a six year old would react to anime like Blood+ or Elfen Lied? BADLY. VERY BADLY.