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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 2032895" data-attributes="member: 151">Which was, in itself, quite a reversal from the Meiji period, when Western culture was all the rage, as you can see a distorted view of in "The Last Samurai".  Well, you're hitting questions of taste as to the quality ratio, but there are quite a few serious shows out there.  Shows like Gantz, Witch Hunter Robin, Ghost in the Shell: Stand-Alone Complex, Beserk!, Gungrave, Gasaraki and Paranoia Agent are all examples of recent totally serious shows.  How many reach our shores in large numbers is another question entirely.  Painting anime with a broad brush is the equivalent of saying that all SF and Fantasy are the same...which may be true to someone who doesn't enjoy it.There's no question that there are quite a few series that aren't terribly serious...and there's quite a few series that mix and match their comic elements in a fashion that's altogether odd to US sensibilities.  There's no debating that much of the material can be silly.  I'm not sure that I'd group a show like Crayon-chan (for 5 year olds) with Paranoia Agent (purely for adults).  That'd be like grouping Dora the Explorer with The Shield.Funny, but I remember a similar argument like this against Anime in general 20 years ago....but here we are, with conventions 20,000-strong being held across the country.  I'm not saying that anime isn't a niche market, nor SF or any confluence of the two: what I'm saying is that it's an equally economically viable possibility as any other niche market in the U.S. for viewing, such as westerns, historical dramas or date movies.  I mean, they did build it, and they DID come.  Roughnecks, for example, was considered a good show by many...but it was buried, even as a kids show.  Ever see Exo-squad?  Terrible toy-line, wonderful show.  But it was still seen as a kid's show.  Justice League and Clone Wars shows that there is certainly a market for such show, and that if agressively marketed and well-produced, they could certianly be solid, economically.  Not to mention the Riddick: Dark Fury and Van Helsing prequel one-shot videos, or the Animatrix.I agree...the general american public's opinion isn't going to change any time soon: but it has changed, and may change again.  When I was 12, there wasn't an Anime section at the video store, or a channel dedicated to it, or several stations that showed it in specific time slots.  But just as it's taken time for video games, board games and RPGs to be seen as something adults play, the same applies to anime.And for that matter, I like that some anime is silly.  I don't think my kids would enjoy Totoro, Spirited Away or Kiki's Delivery Service nearly as much without the silly parts.  But by the same token, the relative lack of silliness in Princess Nine didn't stop my daughter from watching the entire series, and ask for more.</blockquote>

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