It wasn't so long ago that anime was only considered a weird, violent and pornographic alternative to normal TV viewing, but since it has become more common place with children and adults, the wonderful eccentricities and downright zaniness of the format is now well known. Anime still has a reputation as an overly gruesome and perverted medium and, whilst this is often ludicrously exaggerated, sometimes, this view is disturbingly correct.
A few anime guide sites I've found often lump anime into 'appropriate', 'needs parental guidance' or 'burn and wash hands afterwards' and more often than not these divisions are far too black and white to give an accurate understanding.
One Western family, for instance, might find a male character pretending to be a girl more outrageous than blood soaked violence and another family may believe the exact opposite.
There is also a considerably large gap between what's considered appropriate to Western and Japanese children, with what's considered ok for Lucy to be enough to put Lucy in therapy. I will give a bit of background information on these cultural habits when they appear.
Some anime could not, by any argument, be considered child friendly, which I will point out.
Ultimately this blog is meant to be a quick synopsis and reference guide for those becoming interested in anime or the parents of anime viewers. Take from it what you like.
At the bottom of this blog you will also find a quick keyword list of common phrases that describe or pop up in anime from time to time. This can be invaluable when having to say yes or no to your ten year old daughter asking for a futunari guro anime with a harmless looking cover. Believe me you'll thank me later. Oh buy it yourself.
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