There's a gentleman plugging on his Ph.D in a local university. He is not an immigrant, but is actually a teacher in some Japanese university. Somehow or other he obtained a 2-year sabbatical and used it to pass comps and take classes here. I hear about his exploits through the grapevine sometimes.

He brought his family with him, including his two children. And recently he revealed that he does not allow them to watch anime, because it's harmful for their development. They are too impressionable, you see. Instead, he lets them watch Disney cartoons.

The idea of a Japanese parent forbidding Japanese cartoons from his very Japanese children seems rather strange at first. But then I remembered the reaction that my retelling of events in Hanamaru received from generic populace. You would think it was Kodomo no Jikan! And Hanamaru is the most gentle, heartwarming, and wholesome anime on TV this season (unless we include Sazae-san and such).

Poor FUNi. They still suck, but I sympathize.

UPDATE: Jonathan Tappan explains this as anime familiar to us being not aimed at the young children. Which would be understandable in case of late-night anime (which is meaningful, because apparently Japanese are not very good with TiVo), but then he says that children's anime is no better than American cartoons either. I have to wonder if he watched Binchou-tan.