Beyond Anime High School: Anime For Grown-Ups

beyond-high-school-panel

Booklet Description:

“Getting a little old for high school anime? Looking for something different? Let’s look at some anime made for an older audience, about adult characters dealing with adult problems. About characters with jobs and responsibilities. Because there’s more to life than teenage angst.”

“Getting a little old for high school anime? Looking for something different? Let’s look at some anime made for adults, with adult characters and mature themes!” (Animazement 2018)

“With the number of anime that take place there, it can sometimes feel to older fans as though high school never ends. This panel seeks to do away with that horrifying notion by examining anime post-graduation: we’ll look at shows in which characters go to college, get jobs, and tackle adult problems as they find their place in the real world.” (2017-2019)

Summary:

This is a panel about anime targeted at an older audience looking for more mature themes and characters. Not mature as in gratuitous sex and violence, but mature as in things that adults can relate to more easily than a high school setting and teenage characters. I’ve featured shows about workplace and career struggles, adult relationships and family responsibilities, politics, greater societal problems, personal problems like addiction or depression, and lighten things up with some action/fantasy/comedy that features a primarily adult cast.

While the shows I feature are about adult life, and some may contain adult themes, the content of the panel itself will be kept to at most a PG-13 level.

For each title I feature, I give a brief synopsis, highlight what makes the show stand out, what adult themes it deals with, and who it might appeal to. Then I show a short clip that showcases as many of those aspects of the anime as I can. I typically aim to feature around ten titles, with one or two extras in reserve in case I finish early.

I shuffle the list of featured anime slightly at every convention depending on what I’ve shown at that con in the past, what other panels I’m presenting at the convention, and whether there are any that are particularly culturally timely. Usually I’ll try to make sure that all or most of the shows that I present are new to the convention I’m presenting at.

Out of all my panels, this is the one I’ve presented the most, and it is typically my most popular.

Original Summary (Naka Kon 2017-Sakura-Con 2019):

After a brief intro, I highlight anime (through pictures, summary, clips, and thematic discussion) that feature settings and topics that appeal to an older-than-highschool viewerbase. I ease into things by starting with college-themed anime before moving on to series set in the workplace and centered around careers, and then on to other aspects of adult life. The topics vary depending on what shows I pick, but some other ones I may cover are the way anime deals with romance and relationships beyond high school; some of the medium’s takes on societal issues like politics, law and order, and war; and a variety of other adult-oriented topics such as gambling, parenting, ageing, depression, etc.

Presented At:

  • Sakura-Con 2024
  • Naka Kon 2023
  • Sakura-Con 2023
  • Virtual Naka Kon 2021
  • Anime Lockdown Con 2020
  • Anime Central 2020 / Canceled ),:
  • Naka Kon 2020 / Canceled ),:
  • Anime Weekend Atlanta 2019
  • Sakura-Con 2019
  • Anime Weekend Atlanta 2018
  • Animazement 2018
  • Naka Kon 2018
  • Anime Weekend Atlanta 2017
  • Sakura-Con 2017
  • Naka Kon 2017

Featured Anime:

All titles were featured with a clip.

Sakura-Con 2024

  • Magical Circle Guruguru (Intro Clip)
  • Pluto
  • The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl
  • Space Brothers
  • Dorohedoro
  • Hataraki Man
  • Mononoke
  • Berserk (1997)
  • Hinamatsuri
  • Blue Giant
  • Brave Bang Bravern

Naka Kon 2023

  • Magical Circle Guruguru (Intro Clip)
  • Odd Taxi
  • The Tale of Princess Kaguya
  • Kakushigoto
  • Arcadia of My Youth
  • Dirty Pair
  • Monster
  • Nana
  • Wave, Listen To Me!
  • Thunderbolt Fantasy
  • Inu-Oh

Sakura-Con 2023

  • Magical Circle Guruguru (Intro Clip)
  • Odd Taxi
  • The Tale of Princess Kaguya
  • Kakushigoto
  • Arcadia of My Youth
  • Dirty Pair
  • Monster
  • Nana
  • Wave, Listen To Me!
  • Thunderbolt Fantasy
  • Inu-Oh (No Clip)

Virtual Naka Kon 2021

  • Magical Circle Guruguru (Intro Clip)
  • Paranoia Agent
  • Golden Kamuy
  • Hataraki Man
  • Dirty Pair
  • Kakushigoto
  • Thunderbolt Fantasy
  • Space Brothers
  • The Tale of Princess Kaguya
  • Armored Trooper Votoms (no clip)
  • Dorohedoro

Anime Lockdown Con 2020

  • Magical Circle Guruguru (Intro Clip)
  • Moyashimon
  • Girlish Number
  • Space Brothers
  • Golden Kamuy
  • Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
  • Legend of Black Heaven
  • Kaiji
  • Bonus: Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues
  • Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu
  • Kaiba
  • Astro Fighter Sunred

Anime Central 2020

  • Canceled ),:

Naka Kon 2020

  • Canceled ),:

Anime Weekend Atlanta 2019

  • Magical Circle Guruguru (Intro Clip)
  • Legend of Black Heaven (no clip, just announcing it’s on Crunchyroll)
  • Golden Kamuy
  • Space Brothers
  • Shirobako
  • Armored Trooper Votoms
  • Aggretsuko
  • Mononoke
  • Tokyo Godfathers
  • Bonus: Millennium Actress (no clip)
  • Promare
  • The Rose of Versailles
  • Thermae Romae
  • Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

Sakura-Con 2019

  • Magical Circle Guruguru (Intro Clip)
  • Moyashimon
  • Girlish Number
  • Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
  • Legend of Black Heaven
  • Roujin Z
  • Kaiji
  • Bonus: Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues
  • Welcome to the NHK
  • Mushishi
  • Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
  • Astro Fighter Sunred

Anime Weekend Atlanta 2018

  • Magical Circle Guruguru (Intro Clip)
  • The Tatami Galaxy
  • Bonus: The Night is Short, Walk On Girl
  • Girlish Number
  • Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
  • Legend of Black Heaven
  • Roujin Z
  • Kaiji
  • Bonus: Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues
  • Welcome to the NHK
  • Mushishi
  • Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
  • Astro Fighter Sunred

Animazement 2018

  • Magical Circle Guruguru (Intro Clip)
  • The Tatami Galaxy
  • Shirobako
  • Legend of Black Heaven
  • Legend of the Galactic Heroes
  • The Rose of Versailles
  • Rage of Bahamut: Genesis
  • Haibane Renmei
  • Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu
  • Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
  • Kaiji

Naka Kon 2018

  • Magical Circle Guruguru (Intro Clip)
  • Moyashimon
  • Girlish Number
  • Roujin Z
  • Kaiba
  • Bunny Drop
  • Thermae Romae
  • Welcome to the NHK
  • Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
  • Mushishi
  • Redline

Anime Weekend Atlanta 2017

  • Mr. Osomatsu (Intro)
  • Moyashimon
  • Shirobako
  • Legend of the Galactic Heroes
  • Haibane Renmei
  • Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu
  • Rage of Bahamut: Genesis
  • The Rose of Versailles
  • Kaiba
  • Bunny Drop
  • Legend of Black Heaven (No Clip)
  • Kaiji (No Clip)

Sakura-Con 2017

  • Mr. Osomatsu (Intro Clip)
  • The Tatami Galaxy
  • Shirobako
  • Legend of the Galactic Heroes
  • Haibane Renmei
  • Bunny Drop
  • Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu
  • Rage of Bahamut: Genesis
  • The Rose of Versailles
  • Legend of Black Heaven

Naka Kon 2017

  • The Tatami Galaxy
  • Shirobako
  • Legend of the Galactic Heroes
  • Haibane Renmei
  • Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu
  • Rage of Bahamut: Genesis
  • The Rose of Versailles
  • Tokyo Godfathers
  • Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
  • Legend of Black Heaven
  • Kaiji
  • Bonus: Monster
  • Bonus: Astro Fighter Sunred