Is anime only for children ?

[Strategist's icon Strategist Strategist]

There used to be a lot of R rated Anime back in my day that was direct to video. Anime that had violence, more grown up themes, and nudity, but wasn't hentai. Things like Akira, Ghost in a Shell, Battle Angel Alita, stuff like that. I'm not sure they still those type of movies. It seems like it is all shonen stuff nowadays. I miss that era.

 

[Yankee]

It's an easy misconception to have when you don't know anything about it.
The easiest way to explain is that anime is just animation and there's kid stuff and adult stuff like Spongebob and South Park.

 

[pingugaming]

you go ahead and try to show stuff like akira, m.d. geist, mad bull 34 or wicked city to a kid
see what happens

 

[Scotty]

This has gotta be bait. First off, anime isn't exclusively for children; the mere existence of ecchi anime, straight up hentai or gory anime like "Goblin Slayer" and a handful of shounen anime can can easily debunk that claim.

Plus, I've seen plenty of anime that are targeted towards kids and even they have more adult themes in them from time to time.

Post automatically merged: Jun 4, 2025

examples of anime that is not for kids:

devilman
angel cop
redo of healer
gushing over magical girls
hellsing
hell girl

[Sees "Gushing Over Magical Girls"]

PEAK MENTIONED!!

 

[Questless Knight]

No.

 

[Graw]

Anime isn't for children but the writing and story quality in 99% of anime is basically at a child level. The amount of suspension of disbelief needed to enjoy even the most grounded anime story is pretty staggering.

 

[popckorn]

LOL I would say most anime is not for children at all, lol.. at least not under our western sexual mores...
Innuendo and fan service is DELI for me, but I kids can be too tantalized by it.

 

[vulonkaaz's iconvulonkaaz]

examples of anime that is not for kids:

devilman
angel cop
redo of healer
gushing over magical girls
hellsing
hell girl

I know two titles from that list, it seem like a good list, imma watch the rest of them

 

[Spyrone]

Shounen and shoujo are. Seinen most definitely isn't- Ghost In The Shell, Hellsing, Terminator: Zero, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, MFKZ, Dorohedoro, Vampire Hunter D, Akira, Tokyo Ghoul, etc are very much intended for adults. All have massive amounts of gore and often touch on some very mature subjects, such as the the brutal killing of a loved one or the nature of consciousness and or the existence of a soul. Your coworkers are weird, and seem like they haven't consumed any form of anime since Pokemon was a saturday morning cartoon.

 

[Sfjeov]

I don't even think certain cartoons are for children especially with Bakshi's works and Aeon Flux.

 

[Spyrone]

Honestly, it's weird that that there's still the perception of an Animation Age Ghetto anywhere at all- from around the time I was in middle school most cartoons and anime I remember being exposed to had a lot of crossover demographic appeal and were slipping things in under the radar all the time. Cartoon Network in particular was really good at doing that, as were a lot of Nickelodeon's earlier stuff like Ren & Stimpy and pretty much every episode of SpongeBob prior to the release of the movie. Even most western kid-oriented shows did that a lot.

For instance, I remember watching an episode of Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends around 2006 where Blu started fast-talking about his nonsensical, rambling idea for the best movie ever or something, and there is one point during the rant where I'm pretty sure he says "shit" but the rant is so fast-paced it literally went over my head, and I didn't discover that was what he likely said until rewatching the thing on YouTube a decade later.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

LOL I would say most anime is not for children at all, lol.. at least not under our western sexual mores...
Innuendo and fan service is DELI for me, but I kids can be too tantalized by it.

90's cartoon had innuendos as well. I'm surprised how they got under the radar though.

 

[Zerpina]

90's cartoon had innuendos as well. I'm surprised how they got under the radar though.

You got that right
OG Animaniacs, for example, and for context for anyone to young or who has never seen the show.
This was indeed an afternoon cartoon for kids.
This is not even the Worst they got away with

 

[khumlars]

definetly not only for children, i think people say that just cause its animation

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Family Friendly =/= Only for Children all the time:

Mediums specifically aimed at children are family friendly but the reverse isn't always the case.

 

[MasterEn]

I had a strange discussion with some colleagues at work yesterday who think that anime is only for children. I don't think anime is only for children there is always something for young and old but well what do you think about it Is anime only for children?

have your colleagues watch some shows like panty and stocking, violence jack, cowboy bebop and mad bull 34. if they still think anime is for children after watching those, then something is severely wrong with them.
anime is like books, tv shows, movies and games. it's for anyone who finds it interesting.

 

[Deleted member 612095]

have your colleagues watch some shows like panty and stocking, violence jack, cowboy bebop and mad bull 34. if they still think anime is for children after watching those, then something is severely wrong with them.
anime is like books, tv shows, movies and games. it's for anyone who finds it interesting.

My colleagues have no idea what they are talking about, Anime has something for everyone.

 

[trickybus]

Do your colleagues also hold that view for Western animation?

 

[Deleted member 612095]

Do your colleagues also hold that view for Western animation?

They have no idea about such things, they just talk nonsense.

 

[Morgana Veil]

This is a loaded question.
Any genre of movies, music, or the like has kid only content targeted at them, and the same goes for adults. It's like asking if a certain food type is only for kids. Aside from baby food, which adults could eat

Are chicken nuggets only for kids? Mostly, but adults like them too. The same applies to anime.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Any genre of movies, music, or the like has kid only content targeted at them, and the same goes for adults. It's like asking if a certain food type is only for kids. Aside from baby food, which adults could eat.

Not every content is explicitly "kids only" when they are just being family friendly (aka both for the younger and older audience). Pixar movies are pretty good examples of that.

Also it depends of context but I'd argue that mixed food meant for babies (since they don't have teeth yet) can also be for elderly people that also have troubles masticating (or maybe any kind velvety soup for people that have a special regime).

Are chicken nuggets only for kids? Mostly, but adults like them too. The same applies to anime.

Nuggets were made to have less food loss so I'm guessing it depends. If they're dinosaur shaped to be more attractive to kids I can see why but food aren't explicitly meant for an age group (unless you consider alcoholic beverages).

 

[Morgana Veil]

Not every content is explicitly "kids only" when they are just being family friendly (aka both for the younger and older audience). Pixar movies are pretty good examples of that.

This may be the case, but animation still has that "for kids" stigma it has always had, and probably will for another 20 years until the original older generation who thought this way passes on and the generations now get older and into adulthood.

If you like Pixar that's cool or whatever. I don't care for them but that's my own opinion.

Also it depends of context but I'd argue that mixed food meant for babies (since they don't have teeth yet) can also be for elderly people that also have troubles masticating (or maybe any kind velvety soup for people that have a special regime).

I'll agree with you but I was only using it as an example, nothing more.

Nuggets were made to have less food loss so I'm guessing it depends. If they're dinosaur shaped to be more attractive to kids I can see why but food aren't explicitly meant for an age group (unless you consider alcoholic beverages).

I don't consider alcohol as food per se, and hey I'm an adult physically anyway, and I like Dino nuggets. You can buy them here in a fair-sized bag, actually get more for less money than a regular bag of chicken nuggets

I also know that chicken nuggets were made specifically to use the scraps of chicken so the company could squeeze a few more dimes out of each chicken they use.

 

[Anti-Law Savior]

No anime is for everyone...but like many have probably said before me kids are impressionable. A lot of stuff that's good for us probably wouldn't be good for a kid yet.

That being said, that didn't stop me from watching pilots being obliterated on Gundam wing or many DBZ characters being obliterated on well ... DBZ lol.

Post automatically merged: Jun 23, 2025

I had a strange discussion with some colleagues at work yesterday who think that anime is only for children. I don't think anime is only for children there is always something for young and old but well what do you think about it Is anime only for children?

That also being said despite anime being for everyone, not everyone likes or watches anime. Was it some kind of weird flex or something lol? I bet both those people probably DO watch anime and just wanna come across as "Grown up" whatever that means nowadays...

 

[Sleepstate]

Anime like all forms of Animation is a vast medium and has something that can appeal to all audiences

 

[Blamhammer]

I recently watched MoonChannel's new video on gatcha games (link) and it had a segment on animation origins. Apparently China made the first major animated film in the 40s, and Japan took inspiration from it and applied it to propaganda material.

There's also a bit about the shift in audience in the West compared to the East. Western take on it focused on younger viewers, so if you were to talk to a causal observer in the West about animation, or anime you'll have them associate it with something kids watch.