I know! It’s fucked up!
On the other hand, apparently everyone really DOES read Manga. 
(Okay, this may not be true, but my understanding it is much more widespread.)
You didn’t see even the tiniest bit of Sazae-san when you where there? The longest-running animated television series in the history of the world - not just Japan, but the whole world - a family-based situation comedy that has amazing cross-generational appeal? Sazae-San has been on the air since October 1969. It fits none of the preconceived notions of what “anime” is or who “anime” is supposed to appeal to, and is widely ignored by non-Japanese audiences, yet there it is, week after week, year after year, in all its tiny-eyed glory.
I wouldn’t say that it’s for adults without kids, but neither is the Simpsons, really. Maybe the various iterations of Lupin III fit the “popular primetime animated series for mature audiences” bill a little more closely.
The fascinating thing I found as an American anime geek visiting Japan was the disconnect between what was popular among the North American nerds and what the Japanese nerds were into. However, one thing I learned is that we all come together in making fun of Charge Man Ken.
The thing that turns me off the most about anime is the “shaky sweaty shitting” crap. DragonBallz is notorious for this one. Every episode seems to be padded with it. It begins with a character’s internal monologue going something like, “His power levels are X times 10000, far greater than I’ve ever seen!” This is followed by the character making a “Uh-uuuhuh-uhhh” sound for about 5 minutes with an incredulous look on his slack-jawed face, beaded sweat on his brow, jiggling eyeballs (yes, they jiggle), and shaking body. The animators basically managed to capture the look of an adult human being who farts, shits his pants, and had absolutely no warning beforehand that the pants-shitting would occur.
I just find it to be way too cutesy. There are an extreme few that I actually enjoy (such as Samurai Champloo), but other than that, it’s way too cutesy. I can’t think of a better word for it. Also, It seems every anime plays the same tropes over and over and over again: the hot girls all over the socially awkward boy, the overreactions to everything, the slapstick… I understand Japan has a different culture and different sense of humor than the West, but I either just don’t get it or otherwise find it funny after the 10th time.
And yes, the loli stuff creeps me out as well.
No, I’m pretty sure I never saw that show, but it sounds like something that would fall under “for children or families.”
Oh, that’s all she said? What I’ve heard was often closer to “morbidly obese social and professional failure that only leaves his house to abduct, rape, and murder little girls.” Okay, they’re not quite that explicit about it, but it’s there is a general undercurrent that they’re a complete failure, and creepy enough that they’re probably dangerous. I’ve actually talked to professionals (PhDs) who study Japanese culture, and researched this myself. The source of this cultural judgment seems to be generally accepted as the Otaku Killer case – the news coverage of which caused a large degree of cultural paranoia and hatred towards the otaku subculture (“otaku” itself originated as a bit of a slur, it’s a formal word for “house” i.e., they never leave their houses) – one built on top of a culture that already basically abandoned unsuccessful (whether it be socially or professionally) people.
I can see how the impression can be gotten that the Japanese love anime though. As mentioned, they don’t have a huge problem with manga (comics), they do like Disney and Miyazaki (family films and series), and they have an odd habit of plastering Pikachu and other cute anime characters on things like planes and debit cards. Hell, they made a show of appointing Doraemon as its first anime ambassador (though as that article alludes to, it’s more about “manga” than “anime”). They erected a giant Gundam statue for a while, and a few people had a wedding under the damn thing. There sure is a confusing bit of cultural pride in the really big series and anime-esque franchises (Pokemon/Pikachu, Gundam, Astro Boy, Doraemon) mixed in with their dislike of actual anime fans. It’s certainly not as simple as “anime is totally and completely verboten,” but there is a certain taboo element to it. Hell, the head of Gainax actually taught a class at Tokyo University about the anime industry and fandom in an attempt to “raise awareness and acceptance of it”. Not to mention that there’s a lot of people in Japan so even if the anime fandom is a “tiny minority” that’s still a hell of a lot of people – certainly enough for a company to make money and for it to have a visible presence.
That said, yeah, it’s still not an amazing idea to go around talking about your Naruto slash fics there.
Personally a lot of the aspects just don’t appeal to me, the round eyes, the 2-frame mouth animation, the jumping up in the air with action lines shot, everyone having superhuman sword skills, the over-developed underage girls, the power-ups, the halting uneven pace. I realize these are generalizations but they’re widespread enough for me not to stick with it.
There are a lot of great Anime, and I can say that the Japs does the best Steampunk animation.
But what turns me off are their twisted view of Europeans (especially the french and the dutch), curious enough they also do this to the biggest bosses in almost all the famous titles.
They portray them as a fruity flambouyant overly confident androgynous characters. Why do they keep making white warmongering soldiers with long beauty salon blond hair, sniffing flowers and wearing something liberace have in his closet.
For example the Iron Man rise of Technovore. The movie was doing great, until they revealed the very ‘original’ Fem Boy. Iron Man is an established comic character and I don’t think he ever had an enemy who broods every scene and talks in a very low, I’ll sodomize you voice.