Anime is just animation from Japan. Anime movies and TV shows have very few differences. Obviously TV shows are usually longer and are broken into episodes. TV shows often have lower production values and smaller budgets. They also are shown on TV and not in theaters.
Other than that, they are the same. Some will be age appropriate for you, and some won’t be. Some are full of awful sexual objectification, and some are not. They cover ever possible genre you can imagine. Think about the diversity of western television animation. You have everything from Pepa Pig, Muppet Babies, Ren & Stimpy, The Simpsons, Spongebob, Beavis & Butthead, Dexter’s Lab, Duck Tales, GI Joe, Samurai Jack, Steven Universe, Rick & Morty, Mickey Mouse, Loony Tunes, the diversity is just insane. Anime is just as diverse, regardless of whether it is TV or movies. Same goes for manga.
You are absolutely right that there are a lot of anime with content we both find extremely distasteful. It’s also easy to see as how an outsider to anime you might only see the stereotype and imagery used by anime fans on the Internet and believe that is what anime is all about. Fans who do things like defend that sort of imagery are obviously not helping to remove that image from your brain.
So yes, it is completely understandable why you think what you do, and why that has completely turned you off. However, I also understand the frustration on the other side. You are dismissing not just a genre, but an entire medium. Imagine if someone dismissed all UK TV shows because they really really didn’t like Dr. Who. Obviously that is not representative of all UK TV!
It’s really just a shame because several animated Japanese TV shows are absolute masterpieces. There is a lot of frustration when someone refuses to even give them a chance, like you are, because they are just so unbelievably good we want you to experience their greatness, or at least give them a fair shake. I mean, I dismiss and don’t watch any of the Hollywood Marvel/DC superhero movies, but I saw a bunch before I stopped caring.
You know what the hottest TV anime is right now that everyone is talking about? It’s Carole & Tuesday. It’s a sci-fi show about a singer songwriter duo who live on a terraformed Mars. This is the opening sequence that looks nothing like the stereotype of TV anime you are imagining.
The show is on Netflix, by the way.
What you miss is that there are several shows like this every season. Those are the shows we are watching and you are ignoring in your efforts to avoid the really awful ones. And the fact you have cast too broad a generalization is what causes frustration.
As for everyone else.
If you like pervy stuff that doesn’t make you a bad person. Nothing wrong with that. I mostly don’t like it, but that’s just me.
I also don’t agree that it should somehow be censored or non-existent. Freedom of expression is fine.
The reason I say it is problematic and I don’t want it around is because of the effect it has on the environment. A lot like how actual pollution damages the real environment, this kind of content damages the community. It makes it an uncomfortable and unwelcoming place for many people. Yes, there are very good people who enjoy this kind of content. That’s great for them, and I have nothing against that. The problem is if that content is posted all over the community, or if people are making excuses for that kind of content, then it harms the environment.
There are obviously exceptions, like panfriedmarmot and their partner happily enjoying this stuff together. But for the vast majority of people, that is not how it works. Having that stuff, and defenses of it, here will, for the most part, attract ahegao hoodie type people that we don’t want. For the most part it will also repel people we do want. When I say we, I mean, Rym and I, and the kind of people we want in our community.