Did older generations had strong reactions about anime?

I read about how a lot of Japanese shows got into controversy when they started to become popular in the United States due to extreme violence and religious moral panics from Conservative leaning parents and news publications. It wasn't just Pokémon that had extreme reactions, Yu-Gi-Oh and Dragon Ball Z also had some pretty big controversy back when they first started being localized into English. Here is a snippet from a Wall Street Journal article from probably around 1999 when Cartoon Network started to air the at the time new FUNimation dub of Dragon Ball Z that was trying to make parents concerned about the level of violence in the TV Edited version of the show.
The reason these strong reactions happened were probably because of how different these shows were to the kind of cartoons produced in America. The only real exposure to Japanese animation that Boomers and Gen-Xers had was most likely Speed Racer if they had any exposure at all, so going from that to shows like Pokémon, DBZ and Yu-Gi-Oh is a MASSIVE jump. American action cartoons weren't even really as violent as these shows even with the edits made, and even they got some complaints. Even if parents weren't the type to go on tirades about how these shows were "Super violent" or "Satanic propaganda", they were probably extremely confusing and alien to them considering that generational gap and the comparative lack of exposure to foreign cultures which could cause them to feel uncomfortable or bored with what their kids were watching. I will say though as someone on the earlier end of Gen-Z, Millenials and early Zoomers show extreme and strong reactions to Japanese shows too, they just show it in different ways and its rooted in different concerns, so maybe this stuff is just cyclical.

@LSSJ_Gaming
That seems to be a trend of 80's and 90's: One side would accuse something of being violent/sexual/satanic/etc, and someone people would try to capitalize on that by saying "Yeah, we're like turbo violent and stuff, rock n' roll or something".
The "PARENTAL ADVISORY; EXPLICIT CONTENT" backfire being the easiest example, though this also happened with video-games due to Mortal Kombat.
The 90's in specific were a weird time were everyone, even corporations tried to appear edgy and "out-edge" one another.

Anime advertisement was no different after the initial failure to make it "sanitized" (Though, on the turn of the millennium, 4kids would succeed at that), which was strange, considering that everywhere else in the world outside of America people were just normal about it.

I read about how a lot of Japanese shows got into controversy when they started to become popular in the United States due to extreme violence and religious moral panics from Conservative leaning parents and news publications. It wasn't just Pokémon that had extreme reactions, Yu-Gi-Oh and Dragon Ball Z also had some pretty big controversy back when they first started being localized into English. Here is a snippet from a Wall Street Journal article from probably around 1999 when Cartoon Network started to air the at the time new FUNimation dub of Dragon Ball Z that was trying to make parents concerned about the level of violence in the TV Edited version of the show.
The reason these strong reactions happened were probably because of how different these shows were to the kind of cartoons produced in America. The only real exposure to Japanese animation that Boomers and Gen-Xers had was most likely Speed Racer if they had any exposure at all, so going from that to shows like Pokémon, DBZ and Yu-Gi-Oh is a MASSIVE jump. American action cartoons weren't even really as violent as these shows even with the edits made, and even they got some complaints. Even if parents weren't the type to go on tirades about how these shows were "Super violent" or "Satanic propaganda", they were probably extremely confusing and alien to them considering that generational gap and the comparative lack of exposure to foreign cultures which could cause them to feel uncomfortable or bored with what their kids were watching. I will say though as someone on the earlier end of Gen-Z, Millenials and early Zoomers show extreme and strong reactions to Japanese shows too, they just show it in different ways and its rooted in different concerns, so maybe this stuff is just cyclical.

It's because parents were not the target audience of Pokemon. They were watching a kids movie.

@Lucifrost
I know that, but still...
Was it something exclusive to Pokemon or did it happen to every kids movie?

Here's the thing: As a kid, I grew up watching cartoons early in the morning, Monday through Saturday, except for Sundays (some religious or car sales adverts). After school, there were more cartoons to watch in the evenings. Mind you, this was on regular TV or basic TV channels—no Cable whatsoever.

When Pokemon came out, I was 11 to 12 years old, and I was immediately glued to the TV. It was aired between 7 am and 8 am. VERY EARLY. Anime was in its early days; the main ones I was introduced to were: Saint Seiya, Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z, Pokemon, Cardcaptors.. to name a few. Mind you, these shows were HEAVILY censored because they were rated PG. At the time, it was mainly American cartoons that were dominant such as Looney Tunes, Ducktales, Amazing Spiderman, X-Men, Batman the Animated Series, Power Rangers (noncartoon). Hell, even Godzilla got its own cartoon show.

The anime landscape was very limited. So when Pokemon came about, it was considered a show that had cute animals and had a wide appeal. It eventually turned into a craze very fast, and I recall going to the movie theater to watch my first Pokemon movie. Because I was underage and had to be accompanied by a parent to watch the movie, you had so many parents in the movie theater watching a 'cartoon movie.' They did not understand it as 'anime.' It was just another children's TV show. It made NO SENSE to them much less the Pikachu short.

So yes, if you were in middle school and actively voiced your preferences for Pokemon, DBZ or Sailor Moon, Yu-Gi-Oh you were made fun of because you were supposed to grow out of the "cartoon phase." You were expected to act your age (listen to pop, boybands, etc.), and follow the village mentality. So many anime watchers had to keep a low profile or be outed as a geek/ nerd/ weirdo.

By the time you got to high school, you probably had cable, and that opened another part of anime: mecha such as Gundam, Cowboy Bebob, and so many others. This was not released in regular TV. Eventually, the glory of waking up early in the morning to watch cartoons phased out to what it now currently is. Morning news networks.

As an OG internet junkie and pirate, having DSL internet cable was opening a pandoras box to anime (subbed).

Again, I must stress, that in regular TV as well as cable, Anime was heavily censored. Until the cartoon network released the uncensored anime in its midnight run, which turned into Toonami... we were finally able to see DBZ in its full unedited glory (blood, etc.).

Everyone had already been watching anime on cable before that. DBZ and Sailor Moon aired on Toonami which was on Cartoon Network, a cable channel.

Gee, I wonder why adult people have no strong reaction towards an anime made for 8yo kids! It must mean that adults feel this way about all anime in general!
Another masterclass in idiocy from thewiru.

Older generations were idiots. Stop thinking about them and just do what you're doing (repeating the same mistakes lol what a fucking moron)

@Lucifrost
Sailor Moon and DBZ were aired on default TV Channels such as UPN 13, and I forgot the other one. Mind you, cartoons and anime were aired stupidly early in the morning. Typically, the first one would be aired at 6:30 a.m. And yes, I woke up this early to get my cartoon/ anime fix. I do not know what time Sailor Moon and DBZ were originally aired.

This was before Cartoon Network began carrying them. This specific Sailor Moon and DBZ were heavily censored and typically re-run the same season over and over. Cartoon Network picked them up, aired more PG13 versions (less censored), and continued to release other seasons that were never aired on regular TV channels. The Midnight Run had the uncensored versions before becoming Toonami's Midnight Run and, finally, arriving at Adult Swim. The only season of Sailor Moon that was never aired was Stars, for obvious reasons. Another cable network that started airing anime was the Sci-Fi channel (Serial Experiments Lain, Boogiepop Phantom, and others).

This is an informative thread. Thanks for the valuable scraps of newspaper articles. I have saved them.

@Kirika_Sakura
Recently, the “Voltes Fever” in the Philippines has been reported several times on Japanese TV with a speechless surprise. In particular, the scenes of supporters of a local candidate singing a chorus in Japanese lyrics during an election campaign are beyond the comprehension of Japanese people.

During the Marcos era, the banning of the broadcast of “Voltes V” was also reported. The point of this case was that the reason for the ban was reportedly that the swords held by the robots were reminiscent of Japanese militarism. Japanese otaku thought it was ridiculous and hilarious: “How can such a cheap-looking ray sword look like an old military one?”. However, the general Japanese public has become aware once again of the delicacy of foreign relations; the older generation still has memories of the feelings between the victim and the aggressor countries, which can be used politically as a material to appeal to the masses.

From the perspective of the Japanese, except during and immediately after the Pacific War, relations between Japan and the Philippines have historically not been worse than others. Trade was already taking place in the 16th century when Christian missionaries were based in the area. Among Southeast Asian countries with many indigenous languages, mutual communication was relatively easy. 50 years ago, Filipini women would have been the most common Southeast Asian people in Japan.
In 1983, the decisive moment of the sniper assassination on the airplane ramp of Senator Benigno Aquino, a leading figure in the anti-Marcos faction and the father of the 21st century president of the same name, received unusually large media coverage for a foreign event. Friendly countries were consistently sympathetic to Aquino's side, and the Japanese press, convinced that the situation in the Philippines was grave, proceeded to analyze the contradictions in the government's announcements (while since the U.S. still had military bases in the Philippines and wanted to avoid any conflict among its citizens, it began to pave the way for Marcos' resignation). The Japanese TV coverage was like an anti-Marcos campaign, day after day, until the fall of the Marcos regime, followed by the revelations about the lavish lifestyle of his wife, Imelda.

The Japanese witnessed the magnitude of “Cory Fever”(referring to Corazon Aquino, Benigno's bereaved wife who was the newly elected president), but at that time, no one seriously evaluated the “Voltes Fever” that preceded it.