One cultural export that Japan does very well is animation, as evidenced by the fact that the Japanese word anime describes its own special category overseas. But while old reruns of "Astro Boy" are still shown in the West, "Crayon Shin-chan" probably never will be.
Shinnosuke, better known as Shin-chan, is a smart-aleck, scatologically obsessed kindergartner. Potty-mouthed little boys have become international superstars via "South Park," but Shin-chan's brand of humor is peculiarly Japanese. And while a lot of Japanese parents would rather not have their kids copy Shin-chan's antics or speech patterns (which, of course, they do), they usually don't prohibit them from watching the show.
In fact, Shin-chan, whose vocabulary is more like that of a libidinous but socially ignorant middle-aged man, tends to appeal to adults as much as he does to kids, though you won't find many adults admitting to it. Shin-chan's parents experience adult problems having to do with sex and money and social relations, and while a lot of kids aren't going to understand much less care about these problems, a lot of adults aren't going to laugh at the sight of Shin-chan teaching some new friends a "game" that consists entirely of pulling down your pants, bending over and dancing around with your naked bottom exposed. Or maybe they will.
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