Anime considered childish by Japanese!? (2025)

This summer I had gone to Japan to visit some friends I had made when they did an exchange program over at myuniversity. While I was there, we had come across the topic of mangas and which ones we liked. The convo eventually leadto anime and my friends (both males and females) said that anime was childish, but reading manga was okay.

I tried to ask them for a reasoning, but they couldn't really come up with one, aside from "they usuallychange the anime from the manga." Which isn't really all that great of a reason. Of course there have beenexceptions that they have watched, such as Great Teacher Onizuka and Slam Dunk. I didn't pursue the matter anyfurther because I didn't want them to think I was an otaku (which is bad in Japan).

The friends I had asked were four girls (all four read manga but did not watch anime) and three guys (two read manga butonly one watched anime out of those two). The one guy who watched anime did not admit watching it during our discussion,haha.

I had learned he watched anime while he was in America from a conversation he had with another guy, but he was reallyannoyed at that person as all he would talk about was anime and how great it was, especially in regards to Cowboy Bebop.So I didn't talk to him about anime till we became better friends and met up in Japan, lol. Even then, he stilldidn't really like talking about it even though he likes watching it.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions as to why anime is considered childish while manga isn't? Even when an animeis usually derived from manga?

Hrmm. That's quite an interesting thought. I was reading manga and in that one of the characters were being accusedof being an otaku for watching Gundam and being childish for watching it and buying toys. I'm not exactly sure whyit's deemed as being childish... but if you ask me for my own personal opinion, reading and watching are completely2 different things... well... they have a different feeling.

When I read manga I have the book in my hands or I'm reading it on screen and it feels... like I'm reading anybook. When I'm watching some sort of animation on television, depending on what it is, I sometimes feel likeit's a bit childish. Perhaps it's also to do with social values- the father comes home from work, turns on theTV and watches the sumo wrestling. You'll growl "but I was watching anime!" and the father will go"you're watching that again?! Be a MAN! WATCH SUMO!" or so some dramas show that. And some songs evenlol.

But to be honest, I really don't know why anime is more childish than manga o_o Possibly because it's just abook. Maybe it's something else :\

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kuroimisia:
Hmm...you bring up a pretty good point. It's possible that reading manga would be considered like reading a noveland that it requires effort. Like learning the kanji and such (when there's no furigana).

andyloh006:
Lol, there is no doubt in my mind that anime is cool. I mean, I love it. But my question wasn't whether anime iscool or not, it's why do the Japanese find it childish while manga isn't. It might or might not be childish inother countries (depending on who you ask) but it definitely is when asked by the majority of Japanese.

Everyone has different opinions. IMO anime is not childish. Just because it's drawn doesn't mean it'schildish. It's prolly because in other places anything that's drawn is mostly for children. In other words,cartoons. Cartoons are mostly for children. So some people might find anime childish because it's drawn. Though Iwonder what's childish about boobs? XD

Anime is ok for me, cause at least I can see mangas in motion. =D

Thread kick no jutsu! (lol)

This thread caught my eye because I've seen firsthand Japanese men in 3-piece business suits reading mangacirculars on the Tokyo/Kyoto subways. I might've asked them about if they watched anime if I'd known moreJapanese at the time. <sigh>

But to address the question, I'd say it has a lot to do with social perception.

In America for instance, most mainstream animation for a long time was Disney-type stuff, and as such it had a"kid" stigma to it. Granted, there were exceptions (my grandfather has an extensive Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fuddcollection) but if most people make the mental connection "animation=kids" then the social norm would probablystay the same. Now the American perception has changed somewhat; for example, I certainly wouldn't show stuff likeBeavis & Butthead or South Park toyoung kids, and shows like The Simpsons and King of the Hill are prime-time television on major networks and have an impressive following.

I'll tentatively put forth the same theory for Japanese social perception on anime. I'll concede that I'mnot very familiar with older Japanese anime, but I'm certainly not aware of older series that push the envelope asmuch as, say, Elfen Lied. If the anime that most Japanese adults are familiarwith is material like Kiki's Delivery Service or Mononoke-Hime then social perception will lean toward the association "anime=kids". For thisperception to change, shows aimed at an older target audience would have to become more mainstream.

Edit: As for why manga is not considered childish (forgot that part- whoops!),it's probably because it's a much longer entrenched entertainment form in their culture. For some background,manga was around at least before WWII- the D-Day Museum in New Orleans had propaganda manga pages on display thatportrayed Franklin Roosevelt with devil horns on his head. (I say "had" because there's a possibilitythey fell victim to Hurricane Katrina. I certainly hope not.) Anyways, if a large percentage of adults read/collectedmanga as children, then their children would be influenced by manga, therefore manga would be considered more"mainstream."

Just my 2 cents. I'd love to see some opinions about my opinion!
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Anime is great.

Manga is Great.

Anyone who disagree's will be sentenced to watching pokemon till their eye bleed.

I would dare to speculate that, like someone mentioned above, it has to do with reading. I heard that in the not sodistant past, only the elite were taught how to read and write. I need to find some evidence to back this up. But thatwould make reading a noble art, even if it is Manga. Anyone can listen to a radio, or watch a TV, but reading ishonorable. I found a website that give some historical background : http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/japan/education_literacy.htm

By the way, Japan's literacy rate today is 99%, well above most other nations, including my own.

I think it's all about estereotypes. Remember that Japanese society is one of facades. All that matters is theimpression you give to other people.

If you haven't married by age 25: you're a loser. If you don't stay at work at least some hours afteryour shift ends: You're a slacker. If you're a foreigner: you're filthy and a heathen [just in some partsof Japan] If you wacth anime: you're a geek[otaku]. It's tabu. I know it sounds stupid for us westerners butthat's the way it is overthere.

I know it's hard to believe the first time you hear about this and you probably won't get much useful infoabout this topic out of a normal Japanese person, since admitting that they are ruled by estereotypes makes them lookbad in the eyes of the rest of the world. That's the sad truth.

For my experience, when I watch most Japanese TV shows and dramas, i found the contents nearly identicial to animes, theonly difference is one is drawn and the other is played by real people. (Splendid cooking competitions, romance dramawith handsome guys, sounds familiar?) In fact, sometimes the anime got a deeper meaning than real shows IMO :P

'Childish' or not, anime and manga is the thing that introduce Japan to the world nowadays.

WOW.....childish.....mmmm......well I really could not be all to bothered about the fact that they think it is childish.....I enjoy watching anime and will enjoy watching it until my last breath...

Ha...thread kick jutsu...lol

Anyway, I think to solve this dilema, we're going to have to get a straight answer from a couple of Japanese peopleof varying ages. That's really the only logical thing to do, not to sit here and speculate the wrong(or not wellinformed) answers. Lol, i know almost nothing of Japanese culture, so I'm not too much help...But in any case,I'd perfer the anime over a series as opposed to the manga because everything is played out right before your eyes.If it has a thick storyline, it can still be conveyed through anime. Let's take Neon Genesis for example. Ive seenit a couple times now, and im still not getting the whole picture. Also if anime was 'taboo', and the mangawas preferable, why did so many people complain about the 25/26 episode ending and pressure Anno to make the Death andRebirth/ End of Eva.? Come to think of it, it's probably something we'll never understand..(like why whitepeople who live in good neighborhoods try to act 'ghetto'...that's pathetic...) Hope I could be of somehelp