Or we would totally ignore anything that they liked because we didn't like it, just as our parents didn't like anime.

...

Now, this is a story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I liked to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel Air

In west Philadelphia born and raised
On the playground was where I spent most of my days
Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool
And all shootin some b-ball outside of the school
When a couple of guys
Who were up to no good
Startin making trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little fight and my mom got scared
She said 'You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air'

I begged and pleaded with her day after day
But she packed my suite case and send me on my way
She gave me a kiss and then she gave me my ticket.
I put my walkman on and said, 'I might as well kick it'.

First class, yo this is bad
Drinking orange juice out of a champagne glass.
Is this what the people of Bel-Air Living like?
Hmmmmm this might be alright.

But wait I hear there're prissy, wine all that
Is Bel-Air the type of place they send this cool cat?
I don't think sow
I'll see when I get there
I hope they're prepared for the prince of Bel-Air

Well, the plane landed and when I came out
There was a dude who looked like a cop standing there with my name out
I ain't trying to get arrested
I just got here
I sprang with the quickness like lightening, disappeared

I whistled for a cab and when it came near
The license plate said fresh and it had dice in the mirror
If anything I can say this cab is rare
But I thought 'Now forget it' - 'Yo homes to Bel Air'

I pulled up to the house about 7 or 8
And I yelled to the cabbie 'Yo homes smell ya later'
I looked at my kingdom
I was finally there
To sit on my throne as the Prince of Bel Air

...okay~ O.o;;
welp my mom watched Full Metal Alchemist with me and my brother... but she's not so into anime... and my dad was only into Dragonball... so... I think they understand I just think they dont understand completely.... (maybe the same goes for your parents) anyway I actually prefer to watch anime alone...

lol I'm in the mood to listen to that song now. I haven't seen the music video in years.

Edit: Just realized how old this thread was. ><

Unless your an anime fan, get married to a hardcore anime fan as well...

which would produce more "mini-you's"

The OP is wrong. Anime is like american cartoons. A lot of american cartoons do have plots. The issue is whether the plot is suited for your age or what else.

Death Note for e.g. is suited for my age (17). Naruto, Bleach are more for poeple the age of 9-13. Also there are anime for different kind of ages. Most of the anime come from Shounen Manga (suited for 9-13 aged kids).

Naruto might teach you some morals, but the way the characters act are not so believable to older people, thus they find it ridiculous.

What parents don't understand is that there are anime which are suitable for your age, but if you say the anime as a whole, they are somewhat correct.

My mom listens?... but she still doesn't get it alot of the time. ToT I wish she could though because my sister is always at work so i have no one at home to talk to about the newest anime or manga. So I get ya. my mom actually called inuyasha a cartoon when it used to come on Adultswim. I practically cried.

I think some other generations (aka parents) will have difficulty even with fully adult cartoons with complex subjects (Ghost in the Shell 18+). There's a 'cartoons are for kids' kind of standard among older generations. I think the kids growing up in the 1980s have started to change this as they've held onto some of the hobbies they had as children such as cartoons and video games.

My impression is that this is true in Japan as well as America/Europe though I think Japan has a bit more of a head start. Are there a lot of 40+ year old anime fans in Japan? More so than the states?

edit:// fixed spelling and I wanted to add that comics/manga fall into this category as well.

Hm, it seems to me like one of the defining differences between American animation and "Japanimation" ;) is story progression. Cartoons are entirely episodic: something happens in episode 30, something completely unrelated happens in episode 31, and so on with no real change or developments in that universe. Whereas, anime consists of individual episodes taking place within the framework of a larger story.