Forum - View topicDo "other" people think anime is childish?
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jetz
 Posts: 2148 Location: Manila, Philippines |
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Enlighten me a bit..
Here in the Philippines, anime is still thought of as kid stuff. The mentality here is that people who watch anime are either children or childish. Even some Filipino Otaku think of themselves as childish because they watch anime/collect anime toys/etc. Our media regulation board even does a lot of editing to make anime more suitable for kids. Huge boobs (fully covered) are even blurred just because they think it's too obscene. Ecchi-heavy scenes are always cut, and sometimes when they find out that a station is showing anime that has a lot of material that is unacceptable (according to Filipino standards/tradition) they stop airing it (Burst Angel was cancelled by one station). Plus most of the anime we have here are shonen. I'm not saying that shonen is childish, but series such as Naruto, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Pokemon targets kids and preteens more than adults. We barely have series here that are adult-oriented, or at least series for a more mature audience and when we do it's usually shown past 1 AM - when most kids are asleep and they're still heavily edited. I know we're a conservative country, but Filipino anime fans (the really hardcore ones, including me) are heavily affected by this, that's why a lot of us don't even watch anime on local TV anymore because we know it's going to be totally different from the original format. So I'm wondering - is it like this in other countries? Are anime fans still thought of as childish or immature? Will there always be people who judge anime as kid stuff? |
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
 Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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It's generally not a problem where I am, since just about everyone in my school is either an anime fan or has at least been exposed to anime somewhat. For example, if you mentioned "Bleach" or "Death Note", 90% of the student body will have heard of/watched/read both of them. So, I'm fortunate. The reaction here is mostly, "Oh, you like anime? That's cool, have you watched (this)?" |
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jetz
Posts: 2148 Location: Manila, Philippines |
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Definitely luckier than I am. Recently a classmate found out I was into anime. I'm not really ashamed of being an anime fan, that's why I shared that I'm into anime and I even have a list of the DVDs I have. I told her since she had "the otaku look". I was also tired of having no one to talk with about anime and since we're pretty close I told her. When I was done talking she laughed and I wasn't offended at that point (since printing out a list of my DVDs was pretty weird anyway). What offended me is what she said next - she said "I don't watch anime cause anime's for kids." |
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Time and Space
Posts: 167 Location: China |
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Unless I have a severe mental disabilty that prevents me from finding anime, I can safely say that the only anime shown on TV in the UK are like those you mentioned, currently on the chidrens cartoon channels are Yu Gi Oh, a new Pokemon series (which I can't stand, the original rules!) maybe One Piece, I think that's about it, I don't watch any of them, I acquire my anime from DVD's and the internet. There is definitely no anime shown aimed at older audiences at all.
However, someone who is into anime is not usually considered childish, they are usually thought of as being 'memebers' of a cult. Anime is a cult thing in the UK, probably because you have to be really devoted to find any of it. If you were only a fan of anime shown on the cartoon channels (in the UK), and didn't strive to find 'good' anime, then I would call that person somewhat childish. Being a fan of anime myself, I may be giving a favourable opinion. When I tell someone I enjoy watching anime, their face changes in a way that makes me suspect I accidently crapped myself, spat crap in their face or smell of crap...something to do with crap. It''s actually very likely the case that anyone who likes anime consider themselves not childish, and anyone who knows absolutely nothing about anime think they are, unfortunately. |
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hentai4me
 Posts: 1313 Location: England. Robin is so Cute! |
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Where I am (also in the UK) anime is definitely not considered for kids or childish...no...it's considered porn and hence is in the pornographic section of any shop that may sell it.
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covah
 Posts: 39 |
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I think a lot of people consider anime kids stuff because the only "anime" they see is stuff on kids networks like Pokemon, Yugioh, Naruto, ect. But once they see stuff like Samurai X with swords going places you never thought they would, then they don't think you're kiddy... just really messed up for watching that hahaha.
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BigSmokin
 Posts: 100 Location: Arizona |
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Oh man, your lucky. In my school, all most everybody (except around 20-30 kids out of 600) think that anime is quote "gay". I was on my school laptop, and I was looking at the artwork of the One Piece manga, and this kid next to me said "Anime? Your gay". I also hate my school with a burning passion, and am glad I'm moving sometime in the future. |
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Asako
 Posts: 751 Location: Hawaii |
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Waaait second... You're saying kids don't think it's childish. But then again this is kids we're talking about! How would they know what's childish and what's not? O.o Wait, I'm totally saying this incorrectly... Childish implies that it's something they might not want to deal with because it's below them. Something that is not worth their time. So when you say people from school do not think it's childish, it might not be the same for people who are out of school, have a job, and have kids. Now, I'm not saying that you're wrong to think it's not childish, but you're saying that it's not a problem where you live because most people know it's not just for kids but the base of your determination were kids from your school. Well a school is far from the general population. They do matter, but normally typical society is separate from school. There's a lot of things outside of school that are the "realities" of the world. You're kinda sheltered in there, in a way 
I think most of society doesn't realize what anime is and doesn't know that cartoons can be something other than kids stuff. So yes, I think most other people believe that anime is childish. |
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Xlll
 Posts: 49 |
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Not necessarily, since "90%" of that fragment is mostly made up of personal opinion. I mean c'mon, if your going to atleast state a generalization make it sound more realistic. I can't help but think your school is either small, or the next "best" anime club for socials. Reality check. |
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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Okay, let me rephrase: Not a problem for me. See, if these kids are my peers and these peers are the people I talk to and associate with everyday and they are accepting of anime, then I don't really have a problem. I believe we're talking about two different things here. You're talking about the society in general. I'm talking about peer acceptance and being "outcasted" for having a "childish" hobby, which I have not encountered, so I have no problem. And it's generally those immature who brandish others as being childish in the first place. Those who are still childish tend to accuse others of being childish/having childish hobbies the most anyway.
(1) High school, not very large. (2) 75% asian, the white students in the school mostly are much more knowledgable about asian culture than the typical white student in the US. (3) "Heard of" Death Note and/or Bleach =/= Anime fan. Thus, I don't believe my 90% figure is inaccurate. So before you accuse someone, make sure you know what you're talking about. |
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BigSmokin
Posts: 100 Location: Arizona |
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Sweet. I only have....umm.....I think 2. 1's Chinese and I have no idea if the other is asian or something weird. Yeah my school is full of whiteys. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16961 |
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One thing I've noticed that helps make people think of anime as childish are anime clubs. I am sorry if any of you are in one and take offense to this but seriously, have you guys ever seen one anime club that wasn't annoying? Whether or not the whole club is like this there are almost always those members that take anime fandom too far. The ones who in the little cafe at your college decide to talk about who's so much more awesome Ichigo, or Naruto. Or how Rei from Evangelion is so hot and totally misunderstood.
 I have yet to find an anime club where members can simply sit and watch anime and enjoy it with light conversation free of the fanboy/fangirl taint. There's at least not one like that in MD as far as I can tell. 
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Xlll
Posts: 49 |
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Which makes my third statement undeniably true.
Seventy-five percent Asian, which leaves the remaining fifteen percent to be white and or "other". You then go on about the "white students" in your school and how they are more knowledgable in Asian culture than the "typical" white student in the US, which still doesn't change the fact that they are still white. Please tell me what exactly is the typical white student in the US since your statement still doesn't add up.
Accuse? I was simply stating how your generalization isn't realistic considering you live in California and most of its population isn't just made up of Asians and Americans. I wonder where the Mexicans and African Americans fit in? In any case, I'm going to stop here since I believe this isn't going anywhere other than shifting off topic. Also, I'm well aware of what I write about; and mind I suggest you open your eyes more often? |
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Kouji
 Posts: 978 |
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There are still a lot of people who consider anime to be childish but I also think it's slowly starting to be more accepted by mainstream audiences. What I mean is like anti-fans who bash anime still think it's childish and I think there'll always be ignorant people like that, but at least in the U.S. it seems like networks and companies are slowly starting to try and change that negative stigma. For example, 4Kids is pretty much done with dubbing anime and has even given up their rights to One Piece and Pokemon. You no longer see heavily edited dubs of anime on Saturday mornings other than maybe Yugioh reruns. There's a larger demand for high-quality dubs these days than there used to be. Cartoon Network airs more uncut anime on Adult Swim targeted at an older teen demographic and the Sci-Fi Channel is starting their own mature anime block this summer. Even Toonami is getting less strict on censorship regulations than they used to be. While Naruto is still being targeted towards kids and preteens, the dub still leaves in far more violence and brief nudity than your average edited dub does. And with the exception of some of 4Kids' titles, pretty much most anime that's been heavily butchered in the past has had some kind of uncut release on DVD. So, while outsiders still stereotype anime as being childish, I think the companies are trying to improve anime's image in the U.S. and I don't think things are as bad as they used to be.
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Nerv1
 Posts: 601 |
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That's good, having more asians at a school means that there won't be as much people who think anime is "gay".
My high schools full of white kids also, only there are way more asians here than at your school(only 2!?), around 200 out of the 1300 or so students here are asian(including me).
At my school, almost everyone thinks that "anime is for losers who don't have a life," or "Oh, you watch anime? You're f***ing retarded." Most of the people are inexperienced with anime so only the nerds(wapanese kids) here even know about anime. But there are some people in my classes kind of like anime, but they aren't all that into it. Last edited by Nerv1 on Sun May 13, 2007 4:20 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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