What do you think of anime and manga?

A netizen asked an interesting question on [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Why do grown Japanese men still watch anime '' - I used to watch cartoons as a kid but only until I was 12.

Below are some feedbacks from people in different countries. Read them and share what you think.


DannyChoo, the forum host:
Well for a start, folks like this interpret the world on what they consider to be standards that they set themselves. Just because they "don't", they expect others "to not" and anybody who "does" is strange by their definition. What surprises me is that some reporters who should have open minds (to enable them to convey an unbiased message) have the most narrowest minds one can possibly imagine.
A few reporters have tried to suggest that Japanese adults like to cosplay/read manga and watch anime because they are forced to find a channel to escape to from the stress of society. While this may be the case for a few, its certainly not the case for the majority.
But I do try to explain to reporters why instead of saying "you narrow minded git."
Folks in Japan are brought up on a diet of anime and manga. They watch it from a young age and is part of Japanese culture. Manga characters and mascots are to be found in all aspects of daily life from signboards at construction sites to instructions on medicine labels.
Characters from anime and manga are loved by all ages by just about everybody over here.
The question I would like to ask is whether you are surrounded and brought up on anime and manga in your culture and if not how you got into it?
I discovered anime and manga through Japanese game machines back in the UK. I went to the Japan Center in Piccadilly to pick up game mags which had a load of cute 2D girlies with anime info and manga too.




TheAndySan in Ohayo , posted on 2009/10/18 02:03JST
For me, I've been into cartoons as far back as I can remember (late 80s - early 90s when I was a wee lad). Although I was watching Japanese-based shows like Power Rangers and Samurai Pizza Cats, I didn't begin to discover anime until around the late 90s when I found DragonBall-Z and others on Toonami.
When my best friend Eriopolis bought Excel Saga and we watched it together, I started to look for anime outside of what Toonami was showing, which included stuff that was in Japanese (a first for me at the time).
I think it wasn't until I watched the Tenchi series (Tenchi Universe I believe) that I began to get interested in the Japanese culture.
I discovered and got into reading manga when Shonen Jump first came to America in 2002. I've collected nearly every issue short of two. The thing I love about SJ is that it's like a manga sampler platter so if you're not sure about reading (read: investing in) a certain series and you don't wanna get it illegally over the internet where the picture and translation quality can also be dubious at times (but has greatly improved over the years), read a couple chapters of it in SJ.


YuKi-To in Singapore/Indonesia, posted on 2009/10/14 01:22:25 JST
was fortunate that japanese manga is quite widespread in Indonesia since the early 1990s, started with doraemon manga and eventually lots of other manga including shoujo manga
anime craze comes later along with internet... and I still enjoy both anime and manga till now and probably will, for the rest of my life :3c



Micchi in Toronto, Posted on 2009/10/14 01:31:46 JST
Well, when I was small, being in HK, I watched a lot of Doraemon, Laputa, Totoro, etc. After moving to Canada, anime really wasn't that popular. I did watch a bit of dubbed Sailor Moon. However, it was around the time Pokemon came out that I started getting back into anime, with Cardcaptor Sakura (anime) and Love Hina (manga). Having been away from it, it still felt 'right' (possibly appeasing my Asian background). I think I'll never really stop watching it, although most likely the genres I watch will change as time passes.



punynari in Yokosuka, Japan, Posted on 2009/10/14 01:42:27 JST
I've been into anime since around 1995. My old friend introduced me to Evangelion via some old VHS tapes which had copies of the dub. I was hooked! The characters pulled me into their world. The fight to save humanity from angelic invaders with huge biomechanical mechas piloted by teens around my age who were also trying to understand their place in the world in a sea of difficulties of getting close to others. Not to mention, Rei and Asuka were smoking hot, especially to a 13-14 year old guy at the time. Very much older now, and they're still hot. ^_^
Growing up in a Catholic family, Evangelion quickly became banned as they were fighting against "angels" who exploded into crosses when destroyed (among other things)... When something is forbidden, I only wanted to watch more. When I heard that the Evangelion Movie and Death and Rebirth had been fansubbed and was being distributed on fan made VHS, I just had to watch it.
Ever since then, I have always been into anime even though I am around 25 years old. Not because I need an escape from the real world, but because I genuinely like the characters, compelling plot lines, cute girls, and epic battles that you would be hard pressed to find nowadays in other media which has become overly focused on remakes, sequels, political correctness, and special effects.



k2 in Egypt, Posted on 2009/10/14 22:19:15 JST
same here i was sorta raised on anime and manga but not in japanese native language it was in english and arabic due to were i live then the internet came and i had my freedom .... btw most of the reporters tend to make things bigger so they would make money out of nothing



yihsieh in CA, USA, Posted on 2009/10/14 04:21:12 JST
I grew up in Taiwan. Every kid read manga like Doraemon or Dragonball as part of their childhood. It was just something that all the kids do, so I guess I was brought up with anime/manga. I think in this respect, Taiwan is very similar to Japan in that anime mascots can be found on many different labels, signs, and such. In fact, I was never aware of anime as a distinct entertainment medium from other animation, such as Disney cartoons, comic books... etc. until much later when I moved to the US



XSportSeeker in Brazil, Posted on 2009/10/14 05:08:02 JST
Started watching Anime and Manga at age 19. Back then (I'm 29 now), the anime/manga "fever" was still in the beginning, but most of the anime/manga public in Brazil up 'till now is composed of kids and teens. What happens here is that most of the material brought to Brazil is purposedly restricted to younger ages. So this ends up reinforcing the "for kids" stereotype. And also why I don't really keep up with the mainstream animes from my own country... despite having watched tons of titles, I almost know nothing about the stuff brazilian fans are familiar with.
What I try to explain is similar to what you said. We, from western countries were brought up watching cartoons and animations as something to be exclusively for kids and as comedy (rare exceptions), much like (in Brazil), red meat is always eaten with lots of salt. So, when we go somewhere where red meat is eaten with a bit of sugar, it might feel weird at first. Doesn't mean that the whole world has to accept that salty meat is to be the standard or the only way red meat is to be enjoyed.
What I mean is, Anime - for all the adults who watch it - is more or less viewed like us westerners see Hollywood movies or TV series. Animation in Japan isn't just about light content (sometimes brainless) that serves as past time for kids. It not only has all sorts of genres (from drama to horror), but also has philosophical content that is rare even on live action movies. The fact that it's a cartoon or animated doesn't get in the way, since the most important thing is usually a good plot.
Another interesting thing is the new trend of Hollywood taking up anime stories to adapt them to the movies. This only happens because western viewers can only accept movies as a "serious" mean of portraying adult stories. And even then, they keep getting the whole thing very very badly.
Still on that, it's interesting to see that the most "adult" western comics are also being adapted to the big screen... Marvel, Vertigo and DC stuff for instance. For those in the know, can we really say Sandman, From Hell, Hellblazer and Sin City are "for kids"?
All it takes for some of these people with misconceptions is watch a couple of animes that are not the stuff they are sick and tired of listening about... like Pokemon, Sakura Card Captors and some others that can understandably be seen as for kids only. Still, it's kinda hard for some people because they created such an image that they don't even want to try, with an open mind.