It took me a while to find an answer to Kisu (and others)'s article. There were many points that I agreed with, of course; anime is definitely more than just simple entertainment and little "moral lessons" that are so abundant in American cartoons. But at the same time, I thought that if the general public is unable to understand the point of a program, maybe there is something lacking in it that makes it unable to transcend the cultural barrier.

When people talk about showing anime on American TV, they're probably wishing that it could be Maison Ikkoku, Macross Plus, or other cool titles, right? These deal with the more "mature" themes that we as college students find appealing - but is that all there is to anime? We keep forgetting that anime WAS originally for kids - I know, you want to say: "Wait a sec, isn't that the exact opposite of what we want to convince the general public?!" Well, let me ask you: what we really want them to feel is fondness for this media, right?

I grew up with a different kind of anime, the ones that typical fans here never hear about or probably care to see. They were the so-called classics like Heidi (it was a different experience watching it as an anime every week), The Sneezing Genie, and Dog of Flanders (no, it's not the Simpson's neighbor's dog!!). These are animes that ANYONE in Japan, not just the fans, probably remember. It was like PBS almost, like family showtime. They were just anime that were the ordinary everyday events that are so significant when they happen to yourself. There weren't any dramatic wars or fighting robots or anything, but life itself was dramatic. I wasn't sitting on the edge of my seat, but I felt fondness towards the characters, more than I felt for Kyoko or Ai. They were geared towards children, but they weren't afraid to portray death either. The last episode of Dog of Flanders was the most moving thing I ever saw in my life - it will always stick with me until the day I die, and it's too bad that all of you sitting here in CJAS will never see it. So, yeah, watching Dirty Pair and others was fun, but these other, less flashy anime that you don't immediately think of when you think "anime" were the ones that I feel contributed most to its culture. They are anime in its "purest" form in that they would not need to be modified for a larger audience to enjoy.

I want to share anime with as many people as possible - my job as translator has made most of that wish come true. But I want to go beyond that. I think anime can be geared towards children and be mature at the same time, and these are the kinds of anime that I would do anything to see here. Maybe this isn't exactly "mainstream" in the way you were thinking, but maybe we need to establish that first contact to create a whole generation of people who would think fondly of anime. Maybe then, they'll grow up to appreciate the intricacies of the anime CJAS is used to. I don't know if these family anime would be taken seriously by the American producers, but it's our duty to stand by and make sure that they do.