Anime Anime Demographics in Japan

[EVA Unit 100]

Can someoner help me figure out the demographics different animes have in Japan? I know it's different from America because America has more censorship so I need help with this.

From my understanding...

Your average successful anime (i.e. Gundam, One Piece, etc.) is aimed at kids/pre-teens, but might have a bit of cross-over appeal

Commercial animes (i.e. Pokemon, Sonic X, etc.) are aimed just at kids

"Art" animes (AKA Evangelion, Bebop, and all their inspired shows/rip-offs) are aimed at teenagers.

Anime on cable TV is made specifically for older teens/adults.

OAVs aimed older as well.

Movies range depending on the case. Kids flock to see the latest Draognball movie, teenagers will go crazy for Akira, adults might check out the latest Satoshi Kon film, and the whole family bundles together for a Miyazaki flick.

Ecchi is aimed mostly at pre-teens/teenagers.

Hentai is made for adults only.

Is that pretty much how anime demographics work in Japan?

[Dagger]

From what I know, you're basically right. The majority of adults watch little or no anime, but just about everyone loves Miyazaki. I don't think it's correct to assume that OVAs automatically skew older--although Hunter x Hunter is aimed at the same audience as other Shonen Jump anime, it's currently being continued as a series of OVAs.

~Dagger~

[EVA Unit 100]

[QUOTE=Dagger IX1]From what I know, you're basically right. The majority of adults watch little or no anime, but just about everyone loves Miyazaki. I don't think it's correct to assume that OVAs automatically skew older--although Hunter x Hunter is aimed at the same audience as other Shonen Jump anime, it's currently being continued as a series of OVAs.

~Dagger~[/QUOTE]

Well, OAVs are open for a wide range, but the majority of OAVs tend to be more adult-oriented than the majority of series. A good example would be the Kenshin saga. The series is a romantic action-comedy aimed at pre-teens, the OAVs are darker, sadder, more serious, and more violent than the series and obviously aim quite a bit older. Another example would be Ranma 1/2, where the OAVs are a bit more naughty than the rather innocent series. That, and stuff such as FLCL, Otaku no Video, The Animatrix, etc. are considered to be more for older audiences than most series.

[Dagger]

Oh, now I see what you mean. There certainly are few--if any--restrictions on what can and can't be shown in something which goes directly to video and DVD. Your first post just gave me the impression that you thought [i]all[/i] OVAs were for adult or teenage viewers.

~Dagger~