Forum - View topicDo adults in Japan *not* watch anime?
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Annf
Posts: 578 |
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There exist some comedy cartoons for regular adults, like Kaasan Mom's Life (Mainichi Kaa-san).
But the shows generally talked about on ANN are either children's shows or late-night anime-geek shows/OVAs. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7994 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Considering there's whole demographics for them, Seinen and Jousei, I'd say that yeah, there are more than a few Japanese adult anime fans. At lease enough to warrant marketing whole magazines and various animated programming to them. As an adult fan of anime from the states, I have more of a tendency to prefer seinen stuff, myself, over series aimed at lower demographics like shounen, if given a choice.
Last edited by Kruszer on Sat Dec 04, 2010 3:49 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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EireformContinent
 Posts: 977 Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land) |
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But what do you consider as a fan? Can we call one a person who saw a preview in newspaper and think that it might appeal to him, so he can give a try, but don't mind anime at all? I was asking about active fans who buy, collect, discuss and consider themselves as ones.
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Kruszer
Posts: 7994 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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I don't think you're going to be able to find an adult otaku headcount anywhere unless you can read Japanese and happen across some obscure Japanese anthropology survey.
A fan of "anime" is a person who generally admits that they like the medium and watches/has watched multiple shows. (lets say 3 or more) A fan of one show and only that one show is just a fan of the show itself not the anime medium. In the same way you can like a book but not be a fan of reading. Being a fan of a medium takes a bit more commitment than being a fan of a show. |
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Mushi-Man
 Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
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There are a few handful of anime titles that have non otaku adult viewers. But these are usually much more main stream and old school titles rather than Elfen Lied. The anime that have adult viewers are Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell, Lupin the 3rd, Detective Conan, Shin-chan, ext. These shows are usually pop culture icons in Japan and have manged to transcend the label of just being another "anime" and become tv shows with quite a large audience. There's also a few seinen anime that I think have gained a somewhat large non-otaku adult fanbase. The problem is that not to many seinen anime are ever made, so it's not really something that's very common.
There's also the situations where adults watch anime that they use to watch as kids as a type of "walk down memory lane". As I understand it this is what keeps allot of the older anime titles in large circulation in Japan. And it's also a factor that producers take into account when making new super robot shows. Allot of the marketing for recent super robot shows have basically been "hey middle aged working man! Remember Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, Tetsujin 28, and Combattler V? Well now you can watch (insert new anime title here)". But on the large anime is usually for younger generations and otaku. From what I have read manga is the more mainstream media over in Japan. Manga is usually seen as something that everyone, kids, adults, and otaku can enjoy equally. Sure some of the claims that "everyone in Japan reads manga" might be a little exaggerated, but it's not to far from the truth. It has huge circulation numbers and it's not very hard to spot an average working man reading an issue of Big Comic on their train ride to work. Note: These conclusions are all based on things that I have read or heard throughout the years. I have never been to Japan so I don't know any of this from first had experience. |
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ShinobiX
 Posts: 889 Location: NY |
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anime is a niche market everywhere. Including Japan.
Obviously Japan's market is larger. In Japan, I think it's safe to say that most adults don't care too much for it. They rather spend their time doing something productive like idk work |
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EricDent
 Posts: 997 Location: Georgetown, TX |
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Speaking of manga, I heard some rumor that apparently after they are done reading the manga (in Japan) they just toss it in the trash. Of course this is probably the "magazine" type of publications (like Shonen Jump and the like) and not the actual book versions...or is it?
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EricDent
Posts: 997 Location: Georgetown, TX |
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Speaking of manga, I heard some rumor that apparently after they are done reading the manga (in Japan) they just toss it in the trash. Of course this is probably the "magazine" type of publications (like Shonen Jump and the like) and not the actual book versions...or is it?
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dewlwieldthedarpachief
 Posts: 751 Location: Canada |
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I can vouch for the comments regarding "mainstream" anime. When you ask Japanese people what anime they like, it is more often than not Ghibli-related or something like One Piece. I like to joke that I prefer the two piece.
If you get the chance to live in Japan a while, it'll become pretty obvious anime isn't really on people's radar. People are basically familiar with whatever is popular now and/or was popular when they were youngsters themselves; this goes for most pop culture in general, as a matter of fact. However, I think people are generally more knowledgeable about manga; the stuff is everywhere - at convenience stores, laundromats, cafes, and so on. It's also comparatively much cheaper to buy some manga, especially secondhand. I think when you combine the availability, affordability, and opportunity of manga consumption, this is understandable. Many Japanese don't spend a lot of time at home, so consumption of anime is relegated to hardcore fans. |
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Mushi-Man
Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
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Yeah most people buy manga magazines and then just throw them away when they're done because they're cheap and if you try to collect them you'll run out of space quick. After all, those large anthologies are practically like phone books. And from what I've heard that's actually why they made tankobon in the first place, to let people collect and store their favorite manga easier. But I don't think people will throw away their tankobon, those are usually something they buy to keep. Also I have heard that some otaku in Japan will actually collect every issue of manga anthologies that they can to the point that they fill up their rooms. I guess it's a cheaper way to collect every manga. |
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ShinobiX
Posts: 889 Location: NY |
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Oh yeah? So what do you call home of the NEETS lol? General: IMO I just want to get something strait. Japan is a great country. That's OK. On this forum, I noticed that a lot of you talk about Japan in high regards. Most are lies and any person could tell you didn't do your research. However, be realistic. No country is perfect. |
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RHachicho
 Posts: 897 Location: Essex, UK |
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Honestly i really don't know whyt this is too much of a surprise. Unless somehow you imagined that nearly everyone wsa into Anime in japan and that is clearly ridiculous. People are different but more so relative to each other than between different cultures. I mean whadya expect that japan was some kind of Anime mecca where all the people like what you like? Only a tiny amount of things have ever managed to get widespread adult acceptance. And they are usually sports. And frankly i would start to get worried if everyone was into Anime. I would view that as a distressing turn towards homoginisation.
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Que_Tal
 Posts: 80 |
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i wished i was living in japan right now..not for anything anime/manga related, just for their superior health care.
for nothing else. on another note, i remember once seeing on tv a store or manga library in japan that contain ALL of the dbz manga releases. they were together, lined up like an A-Z encyclopedia, and having all issues lined up side by side, created a wide color drawing of something related to the show. since the binder part/side had a 'slice' of a long wide drawing of akira's dbz world,..with all of slices side by side and together, they made a complete picture. i'm guessing all manga issues that get completed are like that? maybe not. darn, that's something you'll never get to see here. for manga that is. maybe the japanese don't see anime as such an art form..even if it is one. since its native for them. maybe they see animated dramas as folksy art. then again, the ancient japanese didn't consider their native woodblock prints as an art form. the japanese of the past considered chinese paintings as art, and collected that, not their own nation's woodblock prints. then, 19th century french artists started collecting japan's woodblock prints that were used in transporting things like porcelain,pottery, and such, and were considered as worthless as what we use in wrapping packages which is old newspaper, and those french artists called those japanese woodblock prints "the greatest works of art they had ever seen!" after that the japanese re-considered their treatment of their native art form. so maybe that is what is going on here with anime, us, and them. p.s. good american movies, japanese anime, and mexican soaps is all i need on my tv. |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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Negative. Those people grow up with Doraemon, Candy Candy, World Masterpiece Theater, Mazinger Z, Gatchaman, etc., but they are hardly "anime fans" as we are. When TV reruns any series listed in Jason Force, those adults might watch it with their children for nostalgic reasons, but they wouldn't monitor current titles or even have in-depth thoughts of vintage ones.
Despite decried by fans, Animax Taiwan, the only channel broadcasts not-so-mainstream titles, started airing live-action Korean idol shows about two months ago. At the same time, Azuki-chan has been rerun for probably over a dozen times on different channels.
Initial D might not be a good example. From my experience back in the compulsory military service, Initial D has a cult-like status among automobile modifiers i.e. having a huge spoiler, a turbocharger, huge tailpipes (quadrupole minimum), and/or bazooka-like subwoofers. Outside the group the series is far less popular. |
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dewlwieldthedarpachief
Posts: 751 Location: Canada |
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How about 2% of people aged 20-34? (http://www.stat.go.jp/training/english/reseach/neet_eng.pdf) I suppose busy people can just watch it on their phones, though. I'm not too sure why active lifestyle and inability to consume anime came together in my head. :p I can contribute on the imperfect front: Japan has atrocious divorce laws, has yet to enforce the Hague Convention, has no laws against racism, and assigns very little in the way of human rights to non-Japanese. Big surprise, considering it took them until the late 90s to officially recognize the aboriginal population. Nevertheless, I don't recall the post-war govt. having opened fire on minorities or any protesters, so there's only so much to complain about... While there is certainly anime for adults and anime that portrays a more or less informative detail of Japan, it's not without its limitations. People need variety; game shows and dramas scratch a different itch than cartoons do. They can be every bit as vapid and repetitive as most anime is, just in ways that make the older crowd happy. I wonder, does anyone consider this preference shocking? |
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