Adults can enjoy watching Japanese anime – Really!
If you think that only children should watch Japanese anime, then think again. Plenty of such shows are meant for a mature audience.
The definition of “mature” may vary from person to person, but some scenes in Japanese anime are definitely not suitable for the target audience of Pokémon.
For example, the main female protagonist in Freezing is the victim of sexual molestation. That fact isn’t mentioned in the dialogue, but it is revealed by the way that the character acts at the beginning of the series.
If the show’s viewers cannot immediately figure that out, then they learn it upon watching the show’s second season Freezing Vibration. It is then that identity of the molester is revealed: He is the half-brother of the main female protagonist.
The series Neon Genesis Evangelion features a protagonist who is a 14-year-old German girl of Japanese descent. From the time that she is introduced, the girl acts like she is carrying emotional baggage that has transformed her into a real jerk. Later, the show reveals the source of the girl’s emotional problems: Her mother’s suicide by hanging. The girl was probably no older than age 6 when she was the first person to find her mother’s corpse still hanging.
Yes, Japanese anime can be quite dark in tone.
Certain themes tend to run throughout Japanese anime. One is the endowment of special abilities. When a protagonist has one, it is supposed to be a benefit or blessing … or is it? What others may consider a blessing may actually be a curse to the one who has it. Such is the case in Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside.
A second common theme pertains to enemies. A group of protagonists are shown training together in order to defeat an enemy that is outside of the group, but the protagonists eventually learn that the true enemy is within the group.
A third common theme is that of relationships. In Japanese anime, the action often serves as backdrop to the relationships between protagonists. The relationships may be between family members as well as between close friends.
Yes, an anime series may also show a romance developing between the main male protagonist and the main female protagonist, but such a romance isn’t necessarily a given in Japanese anime. When such a romance is depicted, the two protagonists may be fighting for their lives, or they may simply be pursuing a quiet life together. The latter is depicted in this post’s featured image.
A fourth common theme is sexuality. Japanese anime goes head-on in dealing with the trials and tribulations of adolescence, especially sexual maturation. To Westerners, anime may appear sexist with teenage female characters depicted has having unrealistic oversized breasts. That is because anime tries to show sexual maturation from the viewpoint of young people going through puberty. What they perceive isn’t necessarily reality, but it is the source of their angst.
A Centaur’s Life, for example, features an episode in which three 14-year-old girls discuss their feelings of embarrassment about their bodies. Other shows depict main male characters who are trying not to notice the “curves” of the female characters. Often the main male protagonist is forced against his will into an embarrassing situation involving a girl, with other girls mistaking the boy as being a sexual aggressor.
The inclusion of embarrassing situations is something that makes Japanese anime popular. Such shows are appealing because they depict personal struggles that audience members can relate to.
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