History Analysis / ValuesDissonance

* The most obvious example is FamilyUnfriendlyViolence in {{shonen|Demographic}} series: what's acceptable for relatively young children in Japan, such as Piccolo blowing a hole through Raditz and Goku's torsos in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', the entire Chimera Ant arc in ''Manga/HunterXHunter'', or the entirety of ''{{Manga/Guyver}}'', is generally ''very much not so'' in the West, likely due to the perception that [[AnimationAgeGhetto animation in general is only for kids]]. This has slightly leveled out in the age of globalization, however, as graphic violence has become slightly less acceptable in these works in Japan, and America has learned to target these works towards teenagers and up rather than attempting to [[{{Bowdlerise}} edit them]] for eight-year-olds. France is also very permissive of FamilyUnfriendlyViolence, to the point that they aired ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' in a kids slot during the 80's (albeit as a heavily-censored {{Macekre}}). Though unlike Japan this attitude is met [[FrenchJerk with mockery]] rather than criticism. Attitudes are however changing there as well as a lot of French people, being a prime victim of UsefulNotes/TheJapaneseInvasion, have become very familiar with Japanese terminology and started accepting that sometimes anime is [[{{Seinen}} meant for adults]], though it is still messy what they think about it. American dubs often record two versions: One for personal sales, and another deemed "safe" for TV broadcast. This process has become less common as streaming becomes more popular, as streamed content typically has fewer restrictions than what traditionally would be allowed for public broadcast.

** In Japanese "meta-fiction" about art and/or fiction creation, expect any critic of the author/artist's work to be portrayed as a [[StrawCharacter shallow]] {{Jerkass}}, and the producers of adaptations as [[ExecutiveMeddling meddlesome]] jerks who go out of their way to mess with the protagonist's art for no real reason other than [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]] or something similarly shallow that makes the protagonist look better by comparison. This not only stems from the above attitude toward criticism, but also due to several high-profile cases of anime directors and writers making changes to original works in ways that the creators didn't approve of around the turn of the new millennium (the most infamous of these being ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003''), leading to any form of AdaptationDecay being viewed as only the domain of ExecutiveMeddling. In contrast, the West tends to have a low opinion of control-freak creators due to both their acceptance of the profit-driven nature of entertainment and periods such as the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era, where auteurs with ProtectionFromEditors caused massive critical and commercial film flops. In a situation like that of ''Literature/{{Oreimo}}'', where Kirino demands that her light novel's anime adaptation be done exactly the way she wants, Japanese viewers will see a strong-willed creator who's admirable for not letting her work be insulted, but Western viewers will usually see a prima donna who's making life difficult for everyone but herself by refusing to compromise on anything. Of course, since MostWritersAreWriters, creators will tend to be biased toward the creative side of things rather than the business side, so the views expressed above are opinions that Japanese artists tend to hold to more than the public at large.

* The [[UsefulNotes/MediaClassifications age ratings]] you'll find on anime and manga—specifically shonen and shoujo—outside of Japan will often not match the intended target demographic. For example, Creator/VIZMedia has a separate "Shonen Jump Advanced" line, which publishes more mature Shonen Jump titles such as ''Manga/DeathNote'', ''Manga/FoodWars'', and ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' with at least an "Older Teen" rating and sometimes parental advisory labels. Despite this, these same titles are read by elementary and middle schoolers in Japan, and no one bats an eye with them being shelved/ran in the same magazine as tamer titles.

** Translations of Japanese media can run into PronounTrouble when it comes to a character with an AmbiguousGender or AmbiguousGenderIdentity, due to a language quirk. In Japanese, referring to others except for extremely close family and friends by second-person pronouns is considered to be rude, so it will be avoided in polite society whenever possible. The only thing that gives a clue to a speaker's gender is the [[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns first-person pronoun they choose to refer to themselves as]], but there are several gender-neutral first-person pronouns, and Japanese speakers will switch between different forms of the word "I" depending on who they are talking to. Even in the case of pronouns with a gender connotation, sometimes [[{{Bokukko}} women will use male personal pronouns]], such as in song lyrics where it's needed to fit the rhythm of the music, or vice versa, like in the above case of CampGay men sometimes using the feminine "atashi". Because of all this, it's extremely easy to write a character in Japanese fiction as completely gender-neutral, usually in order to make it a mystery for the readers. In contrast, most European languages frequently use gendered second- and third-person pronouns, meaning that translators have to pick and choose what they refer to certain characters as...and sometimes they can get it explicitly wrong. In other cases, it can end up like [[WholesomeCrossdresser Ryuuji]] from ''Manga/BluePeriod'' going back and forth between being referred to as "she", "he" and "they" multiple times in the series. While in TheNewTwenties English translators have started to attempt to clear this up by referring to characters with AmbiguousGender with the third-person pronoun "they" more often, in English this carries the connotation that someone explicitly does not identify as either male or female, instead of showing that the character's gender is not known. It's gotten to the point where ''any'' sufficiently androgynous character, no matter how they identify, gets called "they" in recent localization, which is its own can of worms.

* A character being PutOnAPrisonBus creates much more FridgeHorror in some Western countries than it does in Japan. Prisons in Japan are fairly safe and their conditions aren't even expected to be much of a punishment...it's the shame that being sent there causes that provides it. In America, the UK, and some other Western countries[[note]]save for a few Nordic countries, such as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_Norway Norway]][[/note]], readers are more likely to associate prisons with [[HellholePrison hell on earth]] and see the implications as being far less benign.

* Japan has a very odd view on humility when it comes to talking about family members within their vicinity. In places like America, we tend to agree when other people say "your child is so good at this-and-that." For Japan...when someone says your child is good at something, people respond like this, "Oh, no! She/He's such an embarrassment to the family!" This has been going on since ancient times, and this is considered the highest form of humbleness and humility, while Americans might construe it as either demeaning or even verbal abuse. The Japanese consider bragging about their child's talents to be impolite and rude. It's not restricted to children, either--when given a compliment in Japan, you are expected to deny it. Agreeing makes you sound extremely arrogant. This is even {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in a comedy manga called ''My Darling Is A Foreigner.''