Why Adults Should Watch Anime, Even If You Feel "Too Old" For It

Here’s the OFFICIAL definition of anime:

“a style of Japanese film and television animation, typically aimed at adults as well as children.”

And yet adults still believe anime is for children. Why is that?

When an adult comes across “anime”, the first thing they think of is this…

–

The name of this anime: Is The Order A Rabbit?

It’s a slice of life about cute girls who work in a café together. This is the kind of content ADULTS picture when they think of “anime”. Because that’s the stereotype animes been associated with.

The reality is though: mature for children. And that’s true for at least 80% of shows.

So if you’re an adult on the side-lines, thinking about watching anime. Or you know adults who you’ve tried persuading into watching anime, share this post with them.

Let’s get into the reasons…

Why Adults Should Watch Anime:

1. There are genres targeted towards adults

There are two anime genres targeted to adults:

Seinen (aimed at men).
Josei (aimed at women).

Both Seinen and Josei are aimed at the ages of 18 to over 30+ years old. But ignore the numbers because they don’t matter.

Let’s use an anime like Black Lagoon to make my point.

Black Lagoon is about independent mercenaries who ship weapons, kidnap people, and do whatever it takes to make money.

They all work under the name: The Lagoon Company. With Dutch being the boss of the business.

It doesn’t matter what age you are. If you’re:

In your 20’s.
In your 30’s.
Or 40’s – 50’s.

You’ll still get value out of a show like Black Lagoon.

It’s gritty, dark, and dives deep into the underworld of our society. Exposing the hardships and truths about crime, prostitutes, death and the unfairness of being born in the wrong place, wrong time.

Seinen and Josei alone have enough content to satisfy any adult of all ages.

2. Meaningful life lessons

You don’t have to watch Seinen or Josei to be entertained as an adult. And you don’t have to watch Seinen or Josei to learn meaningful life lessons either.

Clannad is the perfect example of a “non” Seinen/Josei series that offers life lessons and deep meaning.

Initially it’s a series about Tomoya Okazaki and his love interest: Nagisa Furukawa.

The first season explores their “friendship” and the friendships of others in school. With a little comedy here and there.

Season 2 goes deeper and explores the relationship between Nagisa and Tomoya. Not to mention the painful, emotional side of having kids and how it can drastically change your life for the worst.

Adults, young or old, can learn something from Clannad. And better yet: you’ll be able to relate to the painful, stressful experiences of the main characters.

Adults can also watch:

Jormungand.
Alice & Zouroku.
Code Geass.
Monster.
Hell Girl.
Akame Ga Kill.

And plenty of others for meaningful, deep life lessons and interesting stories.

3. There’s always something to learn

With more than 20,000+ anime shows to date, there’s too much to watch in a lifetime. Which is good.

It means there’s a lifetime of knowledge to gain indirectly, and plenty to learn from the diversity of characters, stories and plots (whether realistic or not).

Little Busters taught me about a condition called: Narcolepsy. When a person feels relaxed, they’re body shuts off and puts you to sleep at ANY time of the day. Making it difficult to keep a schedule.

I wouldn’t have learned about Narcolepsy if it wasn’t for Little Busters. And it’s not the only anime I’ve learnt things from.

Jormungand taught me about the “realistic” lifestyles of arms dealers. How war is correlated with arms dealers. And the things they get up to.

There’s too much to learn to pass anime up as”just some childish cartoon”.

That statement is more propaganda than it is truthful.

4. Anime has “fresh” comedy compared to traditional comedies you’ve watched

Who doesn’t love a little comedy? Age doesn’t matter when it comes to laughter. It never did.

Unlike modern comedy you see on TV, anime is in another league of its own. Because it’s taken from the perspective of Japanese people. And their culture references, ways of living and what not.

I’d recommend these comedy shows:

The Disastrous Life Of Saiki K.
Nodame Cantabile (part comedy, part romance + music).
My Bride Is A Mermaid.
Good Luck Girl.
Assassination Classroom (part comedy, part action).
One Punch Man.

5. “Slice of life” shows are nothing like anything you’ve seen so far

What is slice of life? It’s exactly as it sounds. A slice of the lives of everyday people.

The thing about slice of life is:

It highlights the “boring” parts of our lives, and makes it relatable.
- Boring parts like: going to work, washing the plates, going shopping, paying the bills.
Slice of life is one of the most realistic genres in the anime industry. Because it cuts out the BS.
These types of shows are relaxing, chilled, laid back, and you don’t have to “think” too much about it.
And you can expect some comedy occasionally too.

Slice of life is my favorite anime genre, because the realism is fresh and relatable. And it’s a good alternative to the typical “supernatural” shows that are prone to being too cliché.

I’d recommend starting with these slice of life series: