[cosmicenema]

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.