The modern landscape of anime is simply not for me. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t take any particular umbrage with modern anime as a whole. I’m certain there are shows that would interest me from a narrative standpoint. But, there is something about the anime culture of today that doesn’t intrigue me: it all feels incredibly safe compared to what I grew up with in anime which felt legit dangerous.
When anime was first really making its big bid in America, it was off the backs of feature films like Akira and Ghost in the Shell breaking out in such a way that they could not be ignored by American pop culture. A huge reason for this was how aggressively adult these stories and their executions were. Very quickly, anime in America pretty much started to consist of two distinct flavors: movies/shows aimed squarely at kids (even if that meant some heavy censoring), and movies/shows that sold anime on being controversial and even dangerous if kids saw it.
So, yeah, as a kid, that was the anime I saw a bunch of and I miss it being so prominent.
Anime That Ain’t For Kids
I watched tons of “kid friendly” (a stupid, censorial term that actually means nothing) animated programming and loved it. But, when I discovered anime and its origins in Japan, I sought out the kinds of “cartoons” I never could have dreamed would exist. The art form of animation is always fighting to be seen as more than a genre for babies. Anime taught me that valuable lesson by giving me a healthy dose of the drive-in’s Three B’s: blood, breasts, and beasts.
In my middle school days, I was imbibing the torrid adventures of the Guyver as he sliced through monstrous Zoanoids while the vampire hunter known as D did the same with gnarly beasts from a horror-fueled future. All the while, I was praying my parents didn’t walk in the room just in time to see a cel-animated boob or ink-and-paint decapitation. It felt thrilling to watch this kind of stuff and feel like you were getting away with something truly dangerous and transgressive.
Which is why I don’t feel much towards anime today, especially when it gets called dangerous or evil by idiots.
Anime Is All About Kids (And The Kid-Brained) Now
Naturally, there are still plenty of modern anime projects that have delightfully gratuitous material in them, but it’s more the nature of the beast that has changed. Anime is a bazillion dollar industry and you only get that kind of revolting wealth if you exploit the imaginations and excitement of children (and adults who can’t grow up). As such, the presentation and big pushes from the anime industry have to try to rope in kids (and the kid-brained) more than they don’t.
So, when I hear about some hot air holy roller lamenting how anime like Demon Slayer is dangerous and evil, I want to strap him down and make him watch every episode of Pet Shop of Horrors as well as the entire run of the original Berserk adaptation. Then, we can talk about the evils of anime and how awesome they are. Because nothing in the mainstream landscape of popular anime is doing anything as truly controversial or daring as when anime sold itself on being dangerous. If some of you watched even one episode of Mad Bull 34, your brain would short circuit.
I hope there will be a generation of anime fans who seek out the dangerous material of yesteryear. Things are only going to get more and more sanitized in anime as it continues its bid for the dominant form of popular entertainment on the planet. Don’t let them make you forget that you wouldn’t have One Piece if it wasn’t for the bloody, bad taste trail so many anime projects paved to get here.