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I guess we just grew up and Japan still mostly treats and creates anime as media for kids and teenagers, not unlike how cartoons are still mostly “for kids”.
I don’t “hate” anime, like many people here, but some stuff just doesn’t entertain me anymore. I’m too old to find Dragon Ball Z and every other similar shonen even minimally entertaining. Hell, I was probably too old for that shit back when I was 19, I remember checking Bleach and giving up on episode 7 or whatever, though I think it was Naruto that “woke me up” when I was 16, I was watching it but wasn’t enjoying it for quite a while, until I just dropped it around ep 120, “this shit ain’t going nowhere”.
I’ve only watched Evangelion the first time during covid years, and it was clear it was two stories in one: the one they wanted to tell, which was kinda interesting, and their struggles with budget and how that affected the product.
The thing is that the anime that reaches mass appeal is meant for the masses, much like movies with mass appeal are the ones that require you to shut down your brain. The last 2 anime that I watched, enjoyed and wouldn’t mind watching again are Legend of Galactic Heroes and Taxi Driver, both are low on nonsense and bullshit.
More often than not, it’s just better to read the manga, when the anime’s based on one. Slam Dunk is a much better read than watching the anime, plus you end up knowing about the author’s other work, Vagabond, which is amazing.
I read Bleach until the characters convinced me to stop reading the manga after the last two arcs.
How can you care for the heroes if they’re breaking the rules and getting themselves in trouble for it while also being disproportionate?
Then I read Sankarea: Undying Love on Azuki which seemed fine at first but then things went off the rails and the heroine ended up bathing with a girl explicitly younger than her. Yeesh.
You clearly have never seen Animes from the “Seinen” genre.
Usually pretty dark or adult topics. You will notice it at some points in the story.
My current favorite is Oshi no ko which goes a bit behind the media industry and actually does show a fair bit of young adult topics (e.g. murder, intent to murder/revenge, child PTSD among other more lighthearted topics to keep it from being a depression show), Tokyo Ghoul would also fall into the seinen category.
For movies I liked Akira (an older movie) with the cyberpunk theme, Your Name,
Thanks for ignoring the mostly in my original comment and implying I was talking about all anime