i have seen many people call anime "childish and immature" after only watching mainstream ones

I would suggest kingdom assuming they are not snowflakes.

@Lentus1 The best way to convince someone that your interests are Real and Mature is to show them porn. Brilliant strategy lmao.

@Killjoy_Kora well, p0rn art manages to promote animes made for children like the one I'm currently watching (and it's promoting the linked series, which I will probably watch because I've found p0rn art of those of my liking), I don't see why it shouldn't work to convince somebody that my interests are "real" and "mature". Static p0rn, hentai animation for the most part is terrible for what I've seen online.

Which mainstream anime are they even watching? Watching just the first episode of Attack on Titan is more than enough to prove anime isn't "childish", and AOT is as mainstream as it gets.

@SoumyaUkil73 Lol, I really love AoT, but it's literally a story about a group of kids saving the world by fighting mostly against another group of kids.

But, why are you think that you need "shut them up"? Mostly anime is literally childish and immature (made for teenagers).

Just avoid the ones that are full of the usual anime tropes and ecchi stuff. There are some like Death Note that are easy to recommend because they can grab the attention of a wide audience, but it really depends on people's preferences. Go for seinen ones from the genres or with themes they like, as these usually have mature themes and no gooner bs.

Some recs based on what I've seen: Monster, Pluto (mystery'n'thrill, psychological); Mushishi, Natsume's Book of Friends, Mononoke (mystery'n'chill, with fantasy); Nana (drama, good, contrasting characters, nice music); Vinland Saga, Orb (historical-ish, great storytelling); Berserk 97 (just f*ck my shit up, it feels like a historical piece with dark fantasy elements slowly creeping in and great storytelling again); Legend of the Galactic Heroes (if they have the patience for a long ass show with mostly politics in space, but in my opinion it's worth it).

@ProudElitist I don't think it's at all a good thing that media made for children is "promoted" by adults drawing pornography of characters from children's media. It's actually super weird and offputting. Showing someone hentai in order to convince them that anime is "Adult" and "Mature" will only reinforce the immaturity of the person showing the hentai because anime's depiction of sexuality is rarely ever actually mature. It's cartoonish sexuality at best.

berserk, perfect blue, akira, re zero.

@jacobPOL Re:Zero is like the worst of them all. It's edgy in the way that an 8 years old would think what maturity is lol

@JaniSIr Don't tell me you haven't watched re zero without telling me you havent't watched it...

@jacobPOL rezero is pretty juvenile show
the whole show is this whiny little kid crying and it goes on in loops and loops. season 3 was a total disaster
i had to hold my laughter when the brat didn't realize he was in a loop in the first episode.

@JaniSIr Don't tell me you haven't watched re zero without telling me you havent't watched it...

@jacobPOL I did watch it, and I hate it with burning passion. It's seriously one of the worst shows I have ever watched.
Okay, technically I dropped it at season 2 part 2, but that's still almost like 40 episodes with the 2 movies...

@jacobPOL rezero is pretty juvenile show
the whole show is this whiny little kid crying and it goes on in loops and loops. season 3 was a total disaster
i had to hold my laughter when the brat didn't realize he was in a loop in the first episode.

@JaniSIr Another person of saying "that sth is terrible" without ellaborating why from their perspective...


It's fine if you don't like it since not everything is for everyone and it's fine to drop the series in order not to force in to watching sth you does not like, but saying "it's seriously one of the worst shows I have ever watched" without any elaboration from your perspective I just don't take it seriously, I have seen it before these type of post in other places of the internet...

But, why are you think that you need "shut them up"? Mostly anime is literally childish and immature (made for teenagers).

I think it has everything to do with the fact that it's animation, a lot of people associate that with children's programming.

@jacobPOL Ye, well I didn't expect this thread requiring me to give a comprehensive review for that stupid show...
It was supposed to be about anime maturity, not everything wrong with Re:Zero.

Fortunately for you, I do have a rant saved from 2022:

@JaniSIr Unfornuately, this show is not about this. If the show wasn't this "not so mature" then subaru would have gave up long time ago knowing he would always end up the same way as previous loops ended yet he pushed forward and never gave up. The show is about accepting yourself and loving yourself, like subaru how he always blamed himself for the things not able to save people and hates himself for the power he posses, loneliness he has by knowing what happens next but he cannot tell because his own curse will kill him. Learning the value of his very own life. Obviously he will cry considering how brutal these deaths are and the overwhelming emotions he has after these repeated loops.

This also shows you weren't paying attention to the story, it's fine if you don't like the series and it's fine to drop in order not to force yourself to not watching sth you does not like but sth you like instead. And I respect that.

@Retro8bit This is 100% it. The story doesn't really matter; for most people, animation = for kids. This is even true for a lot of Japanese people. The correlation is slowly changing with Gen Z, but all other generations prior to this one continues to see animation as something for kids and it'll be difficult to change their minds even if you show them the most mature piece of work out there. You could probably show them Death Note but they'll say it's the exception unless they decide to watch other series.

It also doesn't help that, in the Western World at least, a lot of adult cartoons are quite juvenile at the end of the day. Simpsons, Family Guy, Rick & Morty,... even Arcane which won a lot of awards was pretty edgy.

@SoumyaUkil73 Lol, I really love AoT, but it's literally a story about a group of kids saving the world by fighting mostly against another group of kids.

@Stanis150 Yeah I don't disagree. I mean sure you can always throw out works, that can compete with adult literature, film etc, however, there is a reason those works are often cited...they usually are the exceptions to the rule.

The reality is, by %, there aren't a lot of works like Legend of the Galactic Heroes or Monster or Ghost in the Shell. The vast majority of works have always been targeted at a YA audience, or at least feel like they are (including many works that are in older demographics). And while, I may have issues with the over dominance of the YA fantasy, in anime, there isn't anything wrong with YA esque stories, and I think most people can enjoy them to some degree.

Really you just need to stop caring. "Yeah I enjoy my teen pulp stories, why do you care?" That should be the response. Don't be insecure about it. I read a lot of pulp, watch anime, play video games, etc. I have read classics and I do want to become more of a film buff (for my own enjoyment). That said, I think most would consider my tastes in media to be pretty pulpy, and "unintellectual" which is fine. I don't engage in entertainment to be smart, or be seen that way. If I want to actually gain knowledge I am going to read actual non fiction, not engage with entertainment.

.....It's just factual. Immature, and non adult media, still can have interesting themes or depth, that doesn't make it actual adult media. It's the style of writing that is very different. Death Note can have depth, however, how it is written very different from something like Crime and Punishment or Godfather.

When you look at the number of works, that come out on average, ti's mostly YA media. Plus while seinen works, do attempt to hit on older demographics, I really think there are a lot of works, in that space, that you could market as YA literature or New Adult literature (YA styled writing aimed at adults), over in the West. I mean again, that's fine, I enjoy YA, that's why I am still here. Still, if someone hates that style of writing, factually the amount of anime that will appeal to them is limited.

You do need to have an inner kid/teen to stay in this medium for the long haul.