It is a topic which is discussed ever since anime took a foothold outside of the Asian countries. How should anime and manga be categorized and presented in the public? Which viewer groups are appealing? Fan bases around the world and publishers of anime and/or manga series often have different opinions about this. I myself have argued about this question a lot with an old friend of mine, an employee of the company .
In western society animated series and movies are often associated to be made for children just by the often friendy look of it and the fact that western productions mostly focus on a young viewer group.
A debate about detaching art
Opposed to that in Japan animated TV shows are by far more integrated in the every-day life and also have a wider variety of genres. There are shows created for an adult audience as well. Those movies tend to have deeper movie plots and cover like real movies. But the often cute and characteristic looks stay the same. Even TV shows produced for a young audience often depict far more detailed scenes of violence or sexual innuendos. While my friend of the company told me this is common in Japan problems often occur when those formats are about to be exported to western markets. Instead of adjusting the overall rating, publishers tend to spend ridiculous amounts of money to cut out scenes and sometimes even rearrange content to make it meet demands for the children’s viewer group.