Ask John: Who Are Shows Like Ichigo Marshmallow Aimed At?

Question:
What’s the target audience for anime like Ichigo Mashimaro? Even though shows like Ichigo Mashimaro and Rozen Maiden feature cute girls, are they targeted for 20-30 year old Japanese males only, or can they be enjoyed by anyone? Do anime like these have the same target audience in the U.S. or are they made only for anime fans?

Answer:
I don’t know where or how to find the official target viewer demographics for anime series. I think that American critics usually estimate a target audience by considering the nature of the program, its broadcast time, and second hand information or speculation. Speculate, based on these criteria, is all I can do.

The Rozen Maiden and Ichigo Marshmallow anime TV series were both broadcast around 2AM, suggesting that neither was targeted at young viewers watching in the morning or early evenings. Likewise, both series are adapted from manga published in monthly magazines that don’t seem to be marketed toward the same teen and younger audience that buys and reads Shonen Jump. I estimate that Rozen Maiden and Ichigo Marshmallow were both created and targeted specifically as viewers in their late teens, twenties, and possibly early 30s. But the fact that these shows may be targeted at a mature audience doesn’t mean that younger viewers can’t also enjoy them.

The Rozen Maiden and Ichigo Marshmallow anime series were probably primarily created for the fans of the original manga series, and young adult hardcore otaku. Rozen Maiden embodies and projects the “Gothic Lolita” fetish. Ichigo Marshmallow presents a relaxing, amusing, whimsical innocence which viewers can unwind with. The cultish characteristics of both of these shows makes them highly appealing to adult anime fans, and may be exactly the characteristics that also make these shows unappealing or inaccessible to average, non-anime fan viewers. The market for this sort of “moe” anime in America may be much smaller than it is in Japan, but otherwise I think it’s probably similar. In both Japan and America, Ichigo Marshmallow seems like it may be a show for little girls, since it’s a show about little girls playing together, but it’s not advertised to the little girl’s market, nor do I think it’s really intended for that market. Rozen Maiden and Ichigo Marshmallow both seem to be shows created for adult male viewers who want to watch something relaxing and cathartic.

However, the target audience for these series isn’t necessarily its only audience. With the exception of pornographic anime that’s strictly restricted to adult viewers only, I think that anime is, and should be, accessible to whoever enjoys it. There are countless grown men who love magical girl anime intended for preadolescent girls. There are countless girls who enjoy boys’ action and adventure anime like Yu Yu Hakusho. A show’s target demographic is a useful classification for producers to refer to when seeking advertising and corporate sponsorship, or when selling series to broadcasters and distributors. But intended demographics aren’t really relevant to viewers. For example, reportedly the Akihabara Cyber Team television series was intended for young girls, but ended up becoming most popular among male viewers. And Sailor Moon was ostensibly a show for young Japanese girls, but it became a cult hit among Japanese college students as well. Anime fans should watch whatever they enjoy, regardless of whom the shows were theoretically designed for.