why are most anime characters children ?

wilsondaj · Post by **wilsondaj** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 3:54 am

I was wondering why most anime series are built around children or teenaged characters.

any threories are welcome

Thanks

suppy · Post by **suppy** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 4:04 am

this might have to do with the target audience of these animes; the target audience being children, children will have an easier time identifying with other children, and might not grasp adult themes as readily.

there are however lots of animes that are directed at adults which have mostly adult characters - but as adults once were children, adults will also be able to identify with children in alot of situations, so this means even in anime directed at adults, there can easily be children/teenagers around.

so in conclusion: since everyone has been/is a child, everyone can identify with children, where mostly only adults can identify with adult characters.

note the obvious exception of hentai anime - though I suppose there are mostly teenagers in those

for understandable reasons - and I suppose loli includes even children, so I'm not sure where I was going with saying this was an exception -_-; I suppose it is an exception in that you usually don't identify with the teenagers in hentai, but rather enjoy seeing them fucked out of their minds ;D

Paladin77 · Post by **Paladin77** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 5:34 pm

Well anime was originally created to target younger audience, thats why most of anime and manga creators and producers started making anime with characters aging near their targer Audience. However when the interest for the anime started in elder audiencew a new genre of drama anime Like honey and clover and kimi ga nozomu Eien emerged with elderly and mature characters.

Trilandian · Post by **Trilandian** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 1:51 am

Well, I think the main reason is that many anime have a comical element and it's more fitting for children/teens to act silly rather than grownups. Also, character-wise, adults are more pre-structured, which leaves less room for developement. Aside from that, an adult has a greater chance of saying: "Hey, where are you rushing off to, let's just kick back and relax", they have less of an adventurous spirit then younger characters, which, in some cases, makes young characters more suitable for adventure animes. Although, that does not apply to action/adventure animes which opt to be serious and broody (e.g. Gungrave and Vampire Hunter D).