Anime has always be a popular form of entertainment for teenagers and young adults, but do we think those teenagers and young adults will stick to their enjoyment of this genre? It is not uncommon for people to outgrow certain things, but I am starting to think many adults will be inclined to continue to enjoy anime and all that comes with it.
Anime has a much farther reaching influence and personal inspiration for people than typical cartoons do. There are certain similar aspects to both with the more comedic or simplistic animes. But I've had friends who told me that anime changed their lives, it helped make them stronger and better people when they grew up. So I feel less certain about certain people "outgrowing" it. But, realistically, even I have found myself turning away from certain things that I used to think were important to me, and yet I'm also finding where other things are still firmly cemented. The way I look at it, anime is not something so small that you can just toss it all aside because it doesn't relate to you anymore. There are so many sub-genres, styles, stories, and levels of maturity, that I treat each anime the same way I treat anything else: on a case-by-case basis. Maybe one day I'll decide to stop looking out for new animes, or watching anime tv series the same way I have (which honestly have never been all that frequent), but the shows and films that I have watched, and have greatly enjoyed in very recent years, I don't see myself ever turning a blind eye to. They are very engaging, very well crafted, and they deserve my patronage and viewership for a very long time. – Jonathan Leiter9 years ago
As someone who read/watched a lot of manga/anime when I was younger but fell out of the habit of it as I grew older the thing that brings me back to the mediums is something unique and genuine. I found myself growing increasingly impatient with agressively 'anime' tropes and genre conventions.
I find myself rarely bothering to even attempt watching high-school anime because I feel like the premise has been so overdone. Likewise there have been a number of anime whose description I read and interested me until it said "in a high school". Maybe that's just my own preference but I think the main reason I've fallen out of watching anime for the most part is from what I precieve as stagnation. While I grew up and developed more sophisticated tastes the anime industry seems to be committed in large to putting out the same 'cute girls doing cute things in a school' ad naseum. – MattHotaling9 years ago
I have met many adults who have returned to anime and animation. Many adults even discover it when they are older. In Japan, at least, many animes are aimed at adults, and contain content that would certainly not be appropriate for younger viewers. Even in the US, where most animation is aimed at children, there are some animes that have gained an adult audience (most notably the classic Hayao Miyazaki movies). Perhaps it is the youth-culture aspect of anime that prompts adults to lose interest, or perhaps it is simply because the US doesn't have a good way to market adult-oriented animations? Many of the adults I know who watch and enjoy anime do so from outside the mainstream market, streaming anime from free online sites. Anime is certainly able to attract adult audiences, but perhaps its not as popular because it is a little harder to find. – sophiacatherine9 years ago
The more gritty, edgy, mature series are the ones that are hard to stumble across ("Michiko to Hatchin," "The Woman Called Fujiko Mine," "Black Lagoon," "Hellsing Ultimate," "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex," etc.). These shows are also not the ones easily streaming on any major site like Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu. Whereas shows that focus on adventurous teenagers in magical lands, or slice-of-life high-school moments, are the ones that permeate the US market. – Jonathan Leiter9 years ago
What I don't get is the word 'America' in the title. – T. Palomino2 years ago