My mom’s favorite anime
Although there are plenty of exceptions, most anime fans are teenagers or young adults. As with other things, the generation gap makes it difficult for older people to get into something like anime…
Since my anime obsession began with Pokemon in 1999/2000, I’ve shown my mom a handful of anime over the years. Before I get into that experience however, background info first would be best. My mom is older than most of the parents of people my age; she grew up in the 50s and 60s, when TV was just starting out and the closest thing mirroring the complex fantasy worlds so prevalent in anime would perhaps be Star Trek. She was never into fantasy though, and preferred tame old sitcoms and classic Hollywood films. However, starting in the 80s, having to hold down a job and raise me as a single parent caused her to completely fall behind on all the movies, TV shows, and technological advances of the following twenty years. She’s an open-minded person (with some things at least), but you can imagine how vastly different anime stories must seem to someone who’s only familiar with the relatively simple stories of 50s and 60s American media.
Surprisingly, my mom actually liked Pokemon for a while. We watched many episodes of the anime and movies together and I sensed that she was somewhat attached to the characters. We played the trading card game sometimes and once in a while she watched me play the games on N64. I even taught her the names of the original 151, and the kids in her class were thoroughly impressed with her Pokemon knowledge XD
My mom’s favorite pokemon
During my Pokemon years, I also showed her some episodes of subtitled Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura, both of which she liked. I showed her Princess Mononoke too. Despite its gory scenes, I believe the beauty and positive message of the movie won her over.
Much to my disappointment, in mid-2001 we watched a certain episode of Pokemon that was a little more violent than the rest, and that turned her off. Although I tried to convince her, we stopped doing anything Pokemon-related together soon after that.
Luckily, when my next big obsession, Tenchi Muyo!, came along in 2001/2002, she loved it. We watched all of the original three Tenchi series together, plus two of the movies. Even though Tenchi has some sci-fi/fantasy elements, I guess they weren’t enough to override her enjoyment of the humor and character interactions.
After Tenchi, I showed her the first two episodes of Magic Knight Rayearth. I should have known that her distaste for fantasy made her find the series boring. I had just bought the Trigun box set, so we started watching that instead, and she loved it. I think Tenchi and Trigun were her favorites of the early anime we watched.
She loved saying “Vash the Stampede” with a Japanese accent XD
During my Evangelion obsession in 2003, I made an attempt to show her the series, but it didn’t work out well. Even stronger than her dislike for fantasy is her dislike for machines/robots. She couldn’t stand watching any Eva vs Angel battles or all of the techno-talk that went on. Sensing her impatience, halfway through the series I decided to skip to the last two episodes. The character analysis in those two episodes were a bit more to her liking.
My mom’s the farthest thing from a mecha fan
After Evangelion, I don’t recall showing her any anime again until four years later in 2007. I knew I had to show her Death Note because she loves suspenseful murder mysteries (and the thought of getting rid of bad people). She liked it right from the get go – we even watched more than one episode per sitting, which is something we hadn’t done with previous anime.
Since Deaht Note, we’ve watched a few anime. Some, such as Noir and Mushishi, she liked, while others such as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Howl’s Moving Castle, and the last two episodes of Air, she was okay with.
I can draw some conclusions from my experience with showing anime to my mom over the years. Having grown up with 50s and 60s American TV and movies, she just can’t relate to the complex plots and post-modernism of anime such as Evangelion and Inuyasha. Her distaste for heavy fantasy/machines may also have something to do with this, or it could just be a personal preference. She also doesn’t like emphasized violence and gore. Thus, even if there’s an anime I love, if it has the things she dislikes or can’t relate to, I won’t ask her to watch it. Despite my Inuyasha obsession going on for five years, I never once showed it to her. Inuyasha is the type of show where some episodes are total comedy/slice-of-life while others are total action/fantasy. But I knew that the monsters, violence, and horrific stuff in the series, especially in the early episodes, would be enough to turn her away despite the fact that she could grow to like its other elements. And despite my Haruhi obsession now, I know the series is just too complicated and detail-oriented for her to follow. I don’t think she would dislike it, she just wouldn’t get it.
She couldn’t believe Lelouch, Inuyasha, and other “bishounen” were guys. She can’t stand the effeminate, overtly skinny look for male characters
It’s still a chore getting her to watch anime with me, even now that she’s retired. Especially for series as opposed to movies, she’s always reluctant at first. But there are still some anime I would like to show her. Fruits Basket and Itazurana Kiss are a couple, and perhaps Azumanga Daioh, though I wonder if she would like the Japanese style of humor that’s prevalent in these shows. I’ll never turn her into an anime fan of course, but I like showing her anime not only because I like sharing things with her, but I want her to see shows that are vastly different than the old sitcoms and Hollywood movies she likes. You’re never too old to experience new worlds =)
If you’ve had any experiences with showing anime to your parents or other older people, please share.
I don’t know if I should be envious of you or what. It’s just that I find it uncomfortable watching an anime or ANY show with your mom. But if my mom would be an anime lover just like me, then it would be okay if I make her buy anything anime-related stuffs I want. lol
Me getting my mom to watch Monster has so far turned out well and as much as she may rather not admit it, she’s intrigued by the characters. Not so much with 5 Centimeters Per Second though. She pretty much declared the main character to be a loser obsessed with a childish sense of puppy love (and I can see where she’s coming from there).
@ Kairu
I guess whether you find it comfortable or not depends on what kind of person your mom is and what kind of relationship you have with her. Sometimes I’ll indulge her and watch a few of her favorite old shows and movies, just as she indulges me with anime sometimes. Now that I know what kind of anime she would like and wouldn’t like, it’s been working out fine (though she still would never watch anime unless I pleaded with her a bit). Back in high school she would always buy me anime stuff though, as much as she could afford at least.
@ zzeroparticle
Monster has been on my “Plan to Watch” list for a while and I have a feeling that I’ll love it, and my mom probably will too. It just seems more adult-oriented than young otaku-oriented. I always make sure that I’ve seen an anime before I show it to her to warn her if there’s any potential elements she might not like (freaky monsters, violence, etc) or to help her follow along with all the complicated plots and subtleties that are common in anime.
And I totally forgot to mention that we watched 5 Centimeters Per Second too (it’s much easier getting her to watch movies than series). She liked it, more than The Girl Who Leapt Through Time actually, which I found surprising.
Wow. My mom is completly on the other end. She refuses to watch any anime. She finds them all to be boring and “don’t move much” which I have explained to her it is because of the lower budget. She has seen parts of Spirited Away but she found it too odd to her liking and since then has refused to watch anything. She, in fact, deems it all to be a “kids show”. I mean, I have tried in the past to get her to watch stuff but she just doesn’t want to.
My mom loved the dub of Spice and Wolf I got her, despite being a little put off at first. She was surprised that anime weren’t all about Japanese highschool kids and their apparent obsession with card games and collectible monsters.
Since then she’s watched a few of the dubbed Ghibli movies, and if it wasn’t for her slow English reading I’d have sent her a number of shows she’d love (if only Monte Cristo had an English dub..)
My dad’s a sci-fi buff, and I accidentally got him Legend of the Galactic Heroes when I played part of a fansubbed ep to test whether his codecs were installed properly one day. Last time I went round his way he had a copy of Cowboy Bebop in his DVD collection :)
@ Liza
Ah, your mom’s attitude towards anime sounds typical. I guess it’s just hard for people to appreciate the fact that animation can be just as viable a form of entertainment as live-action.
For her gripe about how anime doesn’t move much, you can explain to her that, to compensate for the lower budget, anime companies make each frame of animation look more detailed. You can point out how anime characters have more detailed clothes, hair, expressions, etc., than other cartoons. She sounds like the type who just won’t be swayed in her opinion, but it’s worth a shot =)
@ deaky
Spice and Wolf is another series that would probably be more appealing to adults. It might be too dialog-heavy for my mom, but I’ll consider it. And the universality of Ghibli movies is always a great way to get people into anime.
“She was surprised that anime weren’t all about Japanese highschool kids and their apparent obsession with card games and collectible monsters.”
I laughed at this because it’s true of so many people. Though at least she thought “high school” and not “pornography” like many others think of anime.
In your dad’s case, men are probably easier to get into anime than women ’cause they tend to be more attached to their “geeky” side, i.e., being a sci-fi buff XD
I was going to say that your mom has really good taste…..but Inuyasha is awesome, so it leads me to believe that there’s something wrong there. But then I see that she just doesn’t like effeminate guys, and neither do I (I don’t think that Inuyasha or Lelouch can be considered effeminate, but I guess Lelouch does look the part).
And Howl’s Moving Castle? THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME!??? You’re mom has awesome taste.
I don’t think that my mom even knows I love anime and watch it all the time, lol. But I prefer to keep anime to myself mostly. Not because I’m embarrassed about it, cuz I’m not, but because you have to keep the worlds separate. You don’t want world’s colliding…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPG3YMcSvzo&feature=related
Holy crap I might write a post about this….in fact…I have no choice. I must.
Also, I can’t believe how close this is. I expected to get blown out. Personally, I’d rather get blown out then lose by 2 votes, which is probably what’s going to happen. This coupled with the World Cup has given me butterflies non-stop.
My mom just points to anime characters and goes “that’s cute”. That is the limit of her interest, though she does have an interest in Japanese (and the culture). I should try letting her watch certain series/films though, she might enjoy them.
@ Glo
I think a lot of people see any guys with long hair as effeminate. I remember being in a store and looking at a bag with Sesshoumaru on it and the lady next to me thought he was a girl. Lelouch doesn’t have long hair but his other features are long and “pretty,” making him look a bit effeminate.
My mom wasn’t thrilled with Howl’s Moving Castle or The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, but she found some things to like about them. I also forgot to mention two other Ghibli movies she’s seen – Kiki’s Delivery Service and Spirited Away. She thought they were okay.
How do you hide your interest from your mom? I don’t talk about it much with my mom but my room is covered in anime and I’m always doing something anime-related with friends or going somewhere like a convention, so she can’t help but notice my obsession.
As of now you’re really starting to catch up! This match may end up being as close as mine and Eternal’s was.
@ Prooof
My mom thinks most female anime characters are cute, but for a lot of male characters she either thinks they’re creepy (the Bleach guys) or too effeminate (the Code Geass guys).
If your mom has an interest in Japan, that’s already a plus for getting her to watch anime. Anime that reveals a lot about an aspect of Japanese culture sounds good for her.
LOL! That’s so funny about your mom not believing Lelouch and Inuyasha were guys!
That pic of Lelouch, well… one can kind of see her point, but… Inuyasha at least has some muscles on him. ;)
I watched the (live vr) Death Note movies with both of my parents (my sister as well but she’s even more obsessed with DN than me xD) They LOVED it and they’ll see if they have time to watch the anime(we’re moving soon) . My dad also wants to see Evangelion, so we’re looking for the DVDs
Man, you’re lucky. Any time I try to get my mom to be involved with ANYTHING Japanese, she’s totally uninterested. She says that Japanese people scare her, and can’t stand Vocaloids (if that’s even related). She approves of us being into anime, thank heavens, but whenever I try to get her involved, she has a long list of excuses. It makes me sad…She’s never given anime a chance, but I know she’d like it if she did.
My mom is a language teacher and I usually share certain titles with her. I try to avoid trial-and-error tactics because I don’t want her to hate anime in general. Luckily, my mom is a movie fan so I choose the dark/mature/drama/minds-spinning for her to try. So far, she likes Now and then, Here and there, Serial Experiment Lain and Paranoia agents. My mom is just that awesome. :)
my mom likes the anime meant for kids like doraemon,perman and such. she did watch the first naruto movie with me though and liked it very much due to the magnetic personality of naruto…she showed feeble interest in bleach and now generally scoffs at my obsession…since she is religious and not very fond of death and things like that, trinity blood and death note were unsuitable options…i guess she likes beyblade. guess because she would NEVER openly admit it. we watched an episode of maid-sama too!!! overall, i would not want her to watch anime because, there are certain scenes in each anime which could be misunderstood by her and that would spell disaster for me
Same, my mom was born in the 50s.
When I was ten, I think she might’ve watched a little Pokemon with me, and I hounded her with my obsession. Although she got really really hooked into the “seal of orichalchos” arc in Yu-Gi-Oh, and we practically watched the entire season together.
Although her biggest love is the Miyazaki movies. She can’t get enough of them!
Last night, we watched anime together for the first time in..probably years. Which was Cowboy Bebop no less. She seemed a little shocked at the extreme violence, but she didn’t have any particular complaints, and was especially impressed at the detail of the church.
I also tried to get my mom to read a little of Eva a while back, and she didn’t like it. She also didn’t understand why I would prefer watching anime in Japanese than English.
But since she’s such a fan of the Miyazaki movies, I think that she’s really trying to open up a little more to anime and give it a chance.
@ Jan
I think she just saw Inuyasha’s long hair at a glance and assumed he was girl. I once showed her a romantic Inuyasha+Kagome AMV and I had to make sure to tell her he was a guy XD
@ Loli
That’s great. I’ve only seen one Death Note live-action movie but I’m sure the anime is better and has a better narrative structure. I hope they like it, and Evangelion too.
@ Lucis
At least she doesn’t put you down for liking it, but it’s too bad she refuses to find out why you like it. Some people are just scared of anything foreign, like Japanese and anime in her case. I hope you’ll keep trying to convince her =)
@ Canne
“I try to avoid trial-and-error tactics because I don’t want her to hate anime in general.”
Same with me. Since Evangelion, I totally cherry-pick the anime I show my mom to match her taste. It’s the only way I can keep her watching something.
My mom likes drama/psychological/mature titles, but she can’t stand too much brutal/gory violence, so Now and Then Here and There is out =P
@ Monica
That’s cool that she likes kids anime. But yeah, if your mom is religious, maybe you should stick with the kids stuff because they tend to be less objectionable that then mature titles.
@ Myna
Awesome! It’s great that you were able to share childhood interests like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! with her and that she didn’t put you down for liking them (like a lot of parents do unfortunately).
Cowboy Bebop is quite different than Yu-Gi-Oh! and Ghibli movies, so it’s no wonder she was surprised. But the fact that she didn’t dislike it makes it seem like she has potential to enjoy a wide variety of anime =)
I asked her what she though of it and she said that she thinks the story is interesting and the music is absolutely fantastic~
I showed her an episode of FMA:Brotherhood today, and she was of course, confused, but she expressed no distaste toward it.
What’s weird is that she immediately wants to know who the ‘good guys’ and the ‘bad guys’ are. I hate calling the pro/antagonists that. And she automatically dislikes the antagonists, what whatever, that’s my mom. ;P
For awhile during high school, the only Tv in the house was in my mom’s room, so I would watch some Digimon, Inuyasha, a couple anime movies I rented and such in her room. She liked Princess Mononoke and I caught her singing the Digimon Champions song once x3 My dad I never bothered with anime with him, but he might like it if he tired it, he’s into SciFi and such. But I was watching Ghost Hunt and in one part of the show, this ghost lady, her voice actor was REALLY good >w> It gave me chills and I -had- to show dad and he was impressed
I have actually never watched any anime with my parents, which is rather strange when I think about it. My mother probably thinks it’s pretty childish, she doesn’t get anime or anything like it at all. My dad however would probably love lots of series, I remember I already got a few episodes of Death Note so that we could watch it together… we just haven’t really gotten around to it yet.
I did have influence my dad’s brother though, he enjoys trying new things and learning a bit about anime from me he started trying to watch a few movies (starting with Miyazaki of course XP) and he now has a little collection of them.
I think I’m better at influencing people my age though, I got two of my friends to be anime fans, one just watching it sometimes for fun and the other a pretty hardcore fan, and I turned my oldest little sister and her best friend, who in turn introduced anime to a few of their friends.
I enjoy sharing this wonderful thing that I love with people that I love and it’s always fun when they enjoy it too. This post reminded me of the fact that I was going to make my dad watch Death Note and I think I’ll make time for it the next time I’m at his house. So thank you, for reminding me to share the wonders of anime with my dad ^^
Probably the only time my sister and I got my mom to watch anime is the Pokemon movies, which probably got her bored. Otherwise, we never tried because she thinks that they are cartoons, but she still let us watch it. I guess its better than dating or something, until we get out of college of course. :p
Maybe one of these days, I should try it out, but I doubt it works.
@ Myna
Yeah, the fact that many anime series don’t have the black-and-white “good guys vs bad guys” structure is hard for people to understand, especially when it comes to “kid” shows like Cardcaptor Sakura and the Ghibli movies.
@ Piper
Your parents sound like they have potential to like anime. Probably not becoming fans themselves, but at least being like my mom and watching a few select titles from time to time.
@ Tara
I hope your dad likes Death Note ^_^ And that’s great that you’ve introduced anime to so many people.
@ chikorita157
Hmmm, I think you should give it a try, at least with one of the titles that adults tend to like, such as Death Note. With something like that, she may not only enjoy it, but see that anime is much more than Pokemon and cartoons.
My failed attempts to show at least 1 episode of anything to my sister or mom, my father , lol forget it XD
Mhmm well my sister is quite interested in Kaichou wa maid sama, so dam im quite happy XD
@ Fabrice
If she likes Kaichou wa Maid-sama!, I’d say she’s a potential shojo fan. Better late than never!
I started watching Fruits Basket for a few episodes and decided to show it to my mum because I thought she might like it. She’s a doctor, gets home pretty late so typically anything I showed to her, she would just watch the few 5-10 minutes and then fell asleep. Not so with Fruits Basket. She actually told me that during the day she would wonder about what is going to happen next and want to go home and continue watching it! She definitely could relate with Tohru and the whole acceptance them of the anime. I consider getting my mum addicted to Fruits Basket one of my biggest achievement with regards to anime:) I have been trying to show her Haibane Renmei but it has not really had quite the same effect. Granted, se also loves the Ghibli films as well, but who doesn’t:)
I showed my mom Death Note. She and I were addicted and watched every episode at least 3 times.