Shaolin

lol I remember when Drawn Together would air the real version late at night, animated breast and the fword everywhere lol.

The Batlord

Obviously animation is only a medium, but in general it is just for kids because that is the target audience. Even in Japan the age limit is just high school. There are a lot fewer animes that are legitimately targeted at people older than that and most of them are for college kids. Just because it doesn't have the same stigma as in America doesn't mean that a thirty year old obsessed with Naruto isn't considered a loser in Japan. I agree with Urban these days. I used to love anime, but for the most part I've lost interest, with the notable exceptions of Evangelion, Hellsing, and Studio Ghibli films. I'd rather watch Toy Story or even Justice League.

__________________

GuitarBizarre

The difference is the line between obsession and simply retaining an appreciation for those things that made your childhood.

How many girls do you know over there in america who still love all the old disney films and their princesses? I dunno if it carries over, but here in the UK, most any girl who isn't involved in some sort of defined alternative social "scene" seems to have that glow of nostalgia about disney films, and will show no fear whatsoever in clarifying their favourite princess or whatever.

There's nothing wrong with that and none of them will ever be called childish for it - Unless they're obsessed with it.

And that isn't really an issue with the thing itself, so much as it is an issue with the idea that as adults, the act of childish obsession is something destructive to other areas of our lives. The fact we have more responsibilities precludes our ability to *be* obsessed by something - whereas for a child, making something your whole world, even if only until the next fad comes along, is kind of...well, its just a thing that kids DO, and are expected to do.



Also there's plenty of animation, western and otherwise, that is absolutely not for kids. I mean, take for example DyE - Fantasy, which is french: (NSFW)

DyE - Fantasy - Official Video - YouTube

I don't think there's any doubt of two things here - One is that the video is actually very visceral and adult, and two is that its actually very well animated and directed - In fact, the director has arguably used the lack of credence given to animation, and/or the "Distance" created by using a medium which is obviously not real, in order to represent material which if this were live action would be unduly disturbing.

__________________

Black Francis

i have no idea why animation still has the stigma is just for kids
is not the stories, cause if you seen animation you know the stories can be quite mature it's the medium, it's the fact that it is a drawing
somehow ppl can't respect it as a medium to tell a serious story
yet they watched the lion king and cried when mufasa died, but in their mind Disney movies were an exception

idk were this stigmas come from but they are deeply programmed in us
it's like when someone says "The book was better than the movie"

There's ppl that say that just because there is this notion that books are smarter than movies

it's like some guy a long time ago decided that books are smarter than movies and animation is just for kids cause they are just drawings
compared to a painting animation is not even an artform to them

ppl think they are above this influence, but this mindset is passed down from generation to generation, they are inclined not to take animation seriously under the preconceived notion that is just for kids

__________________
"Hey Kids you got to meet the MIGHTY PIXIES!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbRbCtIgW3A

Plankton

This might throw a monkey wrench into the situation:

The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

IMO, it's whatever demigraphic they're trying to reach. Like the movie Heavy Metal, it was aimed at Sci-Fi fans which are normally not children. I believe some of the artistry in it was a nod at Frazetta, and/or Boris since it certainly had similar takes on the male and female form.

__________________
See location...

The Batlord

Again, irrational prejudices aside, they are mainly aimed at kids (from young young to high school age). The stories are aimed at kids, the writing is at a level that doesn't go over a kid's head, the characters are almost always kids, etc. At least as far as anime goes there are plenty of movies that break the mold, but as far as TV series goes, anime seems to be just one big cliche at this point. Not to sound condescending but it may just be that you're still in the target audience so you just don't notice.

__________________

GuitarBizarre

The majority of music is hypermarketed ****. Does that mean music isn't taken seriously outside of those demographics?

I think you're really stretching here. There's tons of adult oriented animation out there that is very good, to reduce "animation" down to "mostly for kids" and then use that to try and discredit people who think otherwise.

Most TV is ****. How much reality TV crap is there out there that isn't interesting? Actually tons. Doesn't mean we don't have series like breaking bad or Dexter.

On the same token, Anime has plenty of complete **** too, and a lot of it is very popular - So popular in fact that it seems to be all people talk about at times - The X Factor, or Big Brother of anime, hugely popular, utterly dreadful, say for example bleach or naruto, which are **** compared to plenty of other stuff.

That said, there's tons of TV that isn't **** and tons of animation that isn't either.

__________________

The Batlord

I think you're using a lot of words to say pretty much the same thing I said. Most anime is targeted at children, but there are some good things if you wanna look for 'em. What am I missing?

__________________

GuitarBizarre

You're phrasing it derisively, mostly. You're using it as a way of convincing people the medium is childish, pointing towards a set of examples within the greater whole.

I am saying that what a medium is "mostly" about is almost never a reflection of what that medium should be respected according to. If it were, TV would be shat on for being all about reality TV and Kim Kardashian. Film as a whole would be slated for being nothing but guns girls and explosions. Music would be seen as a childish, irreverent series of crazes and fads.

None of those things are treated that way, so why should anyone believe animation is just for kids? They shouldn't. It should be treated like any other artistic or creative medium since the dawn of time - Capable of great things, and usually not leveraged FOR great things.

__________________

The Batlord

First line. First post. Read it. I'm saying that since animation is targeted at children then, lo and behold, the vast majority of it is "childish". If I say this derisively it's because I've been watching anime for years and I'm getting bored of the vast majority of it. It's not like music, where if you're bored of the mainstream all you have to do is do a little digging and you find fifty billion bands that play fifty million different styles. With anime your choices are much more limited. Which is why I stick with manga these days.

__________________