Forum - View topicCan you get too old for anime?
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Hachiman76
Posts: 19 |
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Really, age has nothing to do with it in my book. Anime is my passion, anyone who knows me knows this. i literally cannot get enough of it, it's actually bordering on addiction. it's even taken the edge off my videogame habit (wow, anime AND videogames...Hi folks, my name is Hachi, and i'm a nerd. *Audience: Hi Hachi...). i've been a fan since i was 4 (18 now), and can't see myself losing interest in the foreseeable future.
although, admittedly, when i do have kids and a wife (although, if theres a god, she too will love anime with my zeal) i can see myself having less time and funds to indulge my passion, and it might not burn with the same roaring intensity it does now. but the way i see it, tastes might change, but i dont think you can "age out" of liking anime. some people just lose interest, like some people lose interest in a T.V. show, regardless of age. |
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Ktimene's Lover
 Posts: 2242 Location: Glendale, AZ (Proudly living in the desert) |
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Age is but a number and old habits die hard. There will be a day when I say "No more" to kodomo anime and "Hello" to more seinen/josei anime. I just need to decide when.
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SirWence
 Posts: 107 Location: North of Boston, MA |
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Hmm.. this is very subjective .. for me , I highly doubt I will ever become 'too old' for anime (or mangas or light novels for that case either) It's a matter of personal taste - and what you enjoy.
So while I am nearly 24 thats a fair bit from 40 I admit.. I have been following animes mangas and the like unknowingly since probably 8ish and knowingly since I was 12 .. in my state of being No I wont get to old. But my state of mind and perspective are my own - hence I can't speak for anyone else as its a very subjective question 
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Ktimene's Lover
Posts: 2242 Location: Glendale, AZ (Proudly living in the desert) |
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This is one of the more interesting threads I've seen because it has you analyze when you are truly too old for something when that time comes.
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doctordoom85
 Posts: 2093 |
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I think C.S. Lewis said it best: "Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." I fully agree. Another issue is the definition of what is "mature". Personally, I find watching sports to be something very silly, to me it's nothing but watching tiny people run around and throw a ball, something a child might do. But I understand that it's pointless to worry about such a thing. I don't understand it, but apparently others find it entertaining and acceptable, so more power to them. I certainly won't worry if I never tire of anime. I believe the people in my life that truly matter certainly won't judge me for it, because that's what family/friends do, they love and support you for who you are. |
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The Third Doctor
 Posts: 70 |
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I don't think so. There are serval genres and age groups within anime. One can be tired of anime in general though.
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Cuprin
Posts: 63 Location: Sacramento - Life stinks |
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I'm 46, and not as much a fan of ANIME as a fan of ANIMATION. There just happens to be a big overlap
There's a freedom in animation that live action hasn't had - the ability to go wherever and do whatever is only limited to the imagination of the animator. Special effects are getting closer but it's not there yet. For a short while after I was married (in my 30's), I had to cut back on my animation intake, but slowly picked a few select titles with a "just watch it, dear", and now my wife and I enjoy the titles together. |
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dennou_san
 Posts: 14 Location: Manila |
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I have to agree with Cuprin: your love for anime will soon be outgrown and supplanted by the love for its form which may soon motivate you into creating it.
by the by--- You can never grow too old for anime. I personally do not think there is anything regressive or childish or escapist ( to coin a few terms thrown at most fans who adore the medium) in liking it. Either you simply enjoy yourself watching anime (whether vicariously or not) or you indulge in criticising every aspect that is stereotypical of it. If one seems trapped and rubbed in with all the derision, there ARE shows specifically targeted to older audiences: Seinen, for instance, an anime demographic catering to young male adults, and Josei, one for the female adults. Besides, it's not like anime can be attributed to the detriment of smoking by allowing others to push you into quitting it. Rather, you can always come back to it because, unless there is a propensity to have a fixation, there is little contempt to it. Be it a glorified hobby, a template used to catch up with your nephews, or perusal and scrutiny of Japan's ever-growing vision and inimitable culture, anime is just there to remind you that there are lots of things to savor in life. Watching bad anime is, well, another story. |
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The King of Harts
 Posts: 6712 Location: Mount Crawford, Virginia |
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I ponder this sometimes when I'm at work. I'm a trashman and have several elderly pick ups and I wonder, "When I'm that old, will I still be watching anime or even intersted?" 98% of the old people I have usually spend all their time working on their flowers and grass (who the hell throws away 30lb bags of grass and dirt?). I almost have it ingrained in my head that old people don't have hobbies outside of their yards. But I still wonder if when I'm 60 if I'll have this monstorous DVD collection and I'll have to buy a house with a basement big enough to hold them all.
I just have trouble picturing myself being 60 and going through Rightstuf's bargain bin, but I also have trouble seeing myself losing interest in anime. Watching DVD's is something you can do forever and seems like the perfect hobby to have when you're old, but I just don't know what the future holds for me. I'm also an anime fan as a youngster as opposed to the people I see, so that greatly changes my life from the other old people I see. |
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doctordoom85
Posts: 2093 |
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You'd be surprised some of the stuff old people are into. A few years ago, I was in line at Waldenbooks, and this elderly lady in front of me was asking when the final Dark Tower books would be available in paperback (and while I thought she might be buying them for someone else, she mentioned she was eager to read what happens next). To add to my surprise, her purchases were an Agatha Christie novel (not surprising) and Watchmen and one of the volumes of Sandman (VERY surprising). Old people can have unique interests as well. |
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Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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I'm sure there was another thread like this some where back here. Oh well. I've been captivated by animations from Japan since the late 70's with Star blazers, Magnificent Cities Of Gold, Ulysses 31. I was in my middle 20's back then. I'm 57 now and probably even more an addict of anime and manga than I was back then, and so are my children.
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FaytLein
 Posts: 1260 Location: Williamsburg, VA |
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As someone who has been watching anime for 23 of my 28 years, I can say with pretty good certainty that anime is my hobby, far outlasting my comic book collection, video game habit and even baseball. And barring a massive lifestyle change, I don't really see it falling by the wayside for a long time. Anime is, just like 99% of things in the world, open to just about everyone regardless of age, so regardless of age, you can still enjoy anime.
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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Frankly, that's rather insulting. I'm almost sixty and enjoy both gardening and anime. I also play videogames, program computers, play golf, read books, root for the Red Sox, and post on anime forums, not to mention parenting my daughter and a few other activities as well. I'm willing to forgive you if you're under thirty, since young people seem incredibly ageist, but if you're over thirty, you should be ashamed of yourself. |
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egoist
 Posts: 7762 |
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Well, if what a 20 years old inexperienced boy says help you two yuna and The King of Harts.
I also enjoy anime and gardening, though the garden ain't mine (the house ain't mine but that won't change the fact that I'm the only one enjoying the garden). Just like I said before in this thread, I find a 20 years old boy watching anime weirder than elders doing so, mainly because we're the ones meant to be full of energy(well, watching anime clearly doesn't require much energy). I would also put anime in the list of one of the laziest hobbies out there(laughs). There's no way a hobby is branded by age, just no way. Age doesn't matter, I refuse to believe something indiscriminating like this. Actually, I truly envy the wisdom older people have. So The King of Harts, please respect your elders. That might prove to be a much better way to live according to your own beliefs. |
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pparker
 Posts: 1185 Location: Florida |
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Sorry, this made me laugh actually. Being over 50 myself, and a truly avid fan of anime for two years now with a large and growing collection both on DVD and harddrive, some of the viewpoints of younger fans are quite interesting. Yes, Watchmen is somewhat unique for a retiree, but still nothing really strange about her liking it from the perspective of an older person. Dark Tower is a fantasy/sci-fi series from a long-time popular author, so I really didn't understand the surprise on that one. What might be missed is that reading, especially novels, was a primary form of entertainment for the youth of older generations, since we didn't have video games, VHS/DVD or the internet. I became an avid fan of sci-fi around age 12 (the "geek" literary interest back then) and still re-read the classics occasionally. I've collected and read the 15 or so volumes of both Frank Herbert's (father and son) and Isaac Asimov's "universe" timeline novels several times over the years, and still have many other sci-fi novels from the 60's-70's especially. Dark Tower is an excellent series overall, and one I'll read again as well. I love film and got bored with live action, and by chance had watched a little anime with my kids back in the 90's so decided to check it out. There began the obsession But I think it relates back to my interest in sc-fi as well, since much of anime contains fantasy/sci-fi elements. That and the Eastern philosophical and religious base, which is much closer to my own viewpoint on those matters. Plus I find the Japanese culture very interesting. Due to the various historical and geographical factors, they are quite a unique study.
Anyway, enjoyment or appreciation of quality literature or entertainment isn't related to age, and content is just what appeals to the individual. Quality for me transcends the medium, so literature, live action, anime, whatever--the form doesn't matter. Certain forms or styles of storytelling appeal to a person, and the variations in quality are often forgiven in that case. But either way, it's an individual choice. Maybe that's the lesson one learns as they grow older. Mental age has no relation to physical age unless one buys into that idea (or gets lazy or disinterested in mental pursuits). But also that no one else's opinion, including "society's" makes any difference whatsoever. At least in (the relatively) free countries, you can choose to watch or read whatever you want, and should. No point in spending the short time you have here doing only what others think you should do instead of what you want to do. Yes, you make compromises with spouse and family where they don't share your interests, and economic factors may require that your work conditions and choices turn out less than your ideals. But that's still all aside from what gives you personal enjoyment in the free time you have. ADDED... I just realized something else in terms of age. I am midst watching Kodocha now, having passed on it long ago when I rented the first volume, thinking it was just a kiddy show. Now, after the first few volumes, I see the quality of writing that makes it so popular regardless of its target audience. Anyway, I thought of how a young person, with less life experience, would view an anime as opposed to how I do. Then I thought about the fact that much anime is written by "older" writers or adapted from works by older mangaka. There are things that older people see in the writing, or that older writers put into it, that younger ones might not. That could partially account for not understanding an older person having an interest in anime. I just thought that idea interesting in relation to this discussion. |
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