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What elements define an anime's target audience?




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DemonDragonJ



Joined: 01 Dec 2005
Posts: 116
Location: Somewhere in the United States
PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 2:33 pm Reply with quote
Anime, as with live action media, can be aimed at a wide variety of audiences. Action, romance, comedy, and drama are all elements that can be found within anime.

My question is this: how is the target audience of an anime determined? There is no doubt in my mind that such a question has already been asked on these forums, but I am new here, and would like to hear everyone's opinion on this matter.

I shall use several well-known anime series as examples.

Pokemon is listed, on this website, as being an anime for "all ages," with the criteria for that rating being "no objectionable material."

Dragon Ball and Yu-Gi-Oh! are rated for "older children," because they "may contain mild bad language, bloodless violence."

Bleach, my current favorite anime, is rated for "teenagers," because it "may contain bloody violence, bad langauge, mild nudity."

Hellsing and Cowboy Bebop are rated as "mature," because they "may contain sex, drugs, and extreme graphic violence."

Bible Black, my favorite hentai anime, is rated for "adults only," because it "contains explicit sexual content."

In my opinion, Bleach and DBZ should have the same rating, either "older children" or "teenagers," because while they are two vastly different series, they are similar in the fact that they both contain violent action, occasional swearing, and some comedy.

I also believe that Yu-Gi-Oh! should have a higher rating than what it does, because the show becomes, in my mind, quite dark and disturbing in later episodes, and it seems to me that adults in this country feel that children cannot handle dark and disturing stories.

I am also wondering why Cowboy Bebop has such a high rating. Is it because it has guns, cigarettes, and a good-looking woman, or another reason?

WOW!!!!! What a long post! I apologize for the length of this message, but this is an issue that I have been wanting to discuss for quite a long while now! Any responses will be much appreciated.
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angel_lover



Joined: 22 Apr 2005
Posts: 645
Location: UK
PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 2:39 pm Reply with quote
The age ratings on the site are ones recommended for US audiences by the ANN staffers, and don't necessarily correspond to the original target age group in Japan. The main type of target audience selection is by the demographic indicators shoujo, shounen, josei and seinen - see the lexicon for explanations.
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joel_s95387



Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 1804
Location: California... The Village Hidden In The Porn
PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 2:46 pm Reply with quote
The Right Stuf International Inc. has this posted on their website regarding age ratings:

Quote:
ALL
Generally acceptable for children. No Nudity. Possible mild violence.

12+, 13+
May contain violence, brief nudity, and/or mild language. May suggest sexual situations, but no situations are shown. Parental discretion advised.

15+,16+,17+
Strong violence and strong language. Prevalent Nudity may be contained within the picture. Mild sexual situations may be shown.

18+
Extreme violence, Explicit Nudity, and/or Extreme Language may be contained in the picture. May contain sexually explicit material. Absolutely not for anyone under 18 years of age.

Please note: Ratings used within our system are oftentimes provided by the manufacturer of the product. Because of the differences in ratings used by these companies, we have combined their systems, with the descriptions of the ratings listed above. TRSI does not set ratings (except for its own products) and is not responsible for errors, omissions, or inaccurate ratings. These ratings are guidelines only, and are subject to change.


So I guess the company releasing the DVD chooses which age label to slap on it. It's not up the "Anime Motion Picture Society Of America/Japan", because I don't believe one exist, but rather the show distributor. ANN has pretty much the same age rating system. Some shows do get the wrong ratings IMO like some of the DBZ movies. On Bio Broly Uncut Trunks moons Brolly and gives him a nice "Fruit Bowl". That should be rated higher than 13+ IMO. DBZ also almost always draws their males anatomically correct and this does not deserve a 13+ rating. I always thought the people who rate American movies and Video Games where in charge of rating our Anime DVDs as well but I guess I was wrong.
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