&quot;normal adult interest&quot; doesn&#x27;t have to imply reverence, only general familiarity. I doubt as many Japanese people even know who Akira Kurosawa is, as know Doraemon or Gundam or Attack on Titan or whatever.<p>Here is a list of the top grossing films in Japan[0] - note that #1, #5, #6 and #10 are anime. Windows in Japan has official anime mascots[1,2] and Mercedes has used anime to sell cars, at least twice[3,4]. Examples abound of anime covering adult (not necessarily pornographic but that too) themes[5], and of being used as a cultural referent to market to adults[6,7].<p>It&#x27;s not even that controversial that anime is mainstream in Japan. They put Pikachu on some of their commercial airplanes[8], ffs.<p>[0]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;List_of_highest-grossing_films_in_Japan" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;List_of_highest-grossing_films...</a><p>[1]<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.digitaltrends.com&#x2F;computing&#x2F;microsoft-unveils-its-latest-japanese-anime-mascot-for-windows-10&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.digitaltrends.com&#x2F;computing&#x2F;microsoft-unveils-its...</a><p>[2]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=fNfCEL4M_ac" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=fNfCEL4M_ac</a><p>[3]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=qv7PodxyyWs" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=qv7PodxyyWs</a><p>[4]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=ucTwMQG1vuE" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=ucTwMQG1vuE</a><p>[5]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;anime&#x2F;comments&#x2F;239jkw&#x2F;what_are_the_best_grown_up_animes&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;anime&#x2F;comments&#x2F;239jkw&#x2F;what_are_the_...</a><p>[6]<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.rocketnews24.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;10&#x2F;27&#x2F;rice-rice-baby-strains-of-japanese-rice-get-turned-into-cute-anime-girls-on-new-packaging&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.rocketnews24.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;10&#x2F;27&#x2F;rice-rice-baby-strains...</a><p>[7]<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.rocketnews24.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;10&#x2F;10&#x2F;japanese-employment-site-reimagines-web-developers-accountants-and-more-as-anime-rrg-heroes&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.rocketnews24.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;10&#x2F;10&#x2F;japanese-employment-si...</a><p>[8]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Pok%C3%A9mon_Jet" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Pok%C3%A9mon_Jet</a>