Possibly? Some anime are timeless and some ages not so well. Some are a zeitgeist and others are universally human.
It’s worth noting your favorites, if you have the will and discipline or a journal of some sort you might even do it chronologically so that both you and your kids or future generations could see what you were into at different parts of your life. You can often find as you age, that anime or any media really, there are things you remember being great that even 5-10 years later you just don’t see the appeal, and things that you might live and be able to watch over and over your whole life. So if you feel like it, recording down your favorites isn’t a terrible idea. Your kids or even future partners or whoever else might or might not care, or they may watch some or just enjoy reading what you liked and maybe your thoughts or notes or reviews.
I will say this- how you feel can change with time. I mentioned that a bit earlier but it goes beyond what you like or don’t like. There have been some anime that had some content in them that is very graphic or intense. You might have enjoyed it immensely at a certain age but you may not want your kids seeing those same things at the age you were. It’s also possible that you, who you are, your life experiences might have prepared you or steadied you to see things that your eventual kids might not be equipped to handle. I don’t believe in one size fits all ratings where we say “oh kids shouldn’t see that because it has this or that..” perhaps yes- there are some things kids shouldn’t see period- but when we are talking about saying a kid is too young for a scary movie or a crime movie or a violent movie or a war movie etc etc etc.
Different kids can handle different things at different ages. What imprints or scars one child for life might not affect another one. What one child doesn’t understand or goes over their head might be perfectly grasped by another- for better or worse because… often times when you rewatch things as you age you see things you didn’t see when you were younger. Things you didn’t understand or for whatever reason didn’t pick up. The internet is full of the delightful PG or PG13 and such “adult jokes” sometimes slipped into “kids programming” in ways most kids and even many adults miss. So sometimes you see things that are direct like this or you pick up subtext your didn’t understand as a kid and suddenly something is a lot less digestible. So just because YOU were fine or you think you were fine doesn’t mean you were- but it especially doesn’t mean your kid will be. They grew up in a different world and with a different life most likely.
And lastly… things can get cringe. Especially if you are recording a list over time as you age. You may or may not care of your kids or spouse etc. see that you watched a bunch of titles that maybe as an adult you don’t feel so great about or identity a certain theme or phase about you. Anime as a media tends to gravitate heavily to power and sexual or romantic fantasy and a list of your top anime can be a peak into what exactly you are into and what goes on in your head.
Beyond that.. there is a decision every parent must make about honesty and parenting styles. I grew up with one parent with no boundaries and another parent who had such tight boundaries that I didn’t know what they did for work most of the time and and into my 40’s I would one day find out that I had a new step parent and they’d been married for a year or more and my parent just didn’t think it was my business and it didn’t come up so I obviously didn’t need to know. Those are opposite extremes of parenting.
but you have to decide the boundaries you will set with your kids and the relationship you want to build. Honesty is a tricky subject with kids because while young people shouldn’t be treated like pets or idiots, they also are not fully developed mentally or emotionally. They lack the time to have accumulated certain experience or perspective. The common refrain- most adults did as kids or young adults and most adults will hear it as an adult- “hypocrite.” If you share your history with your kids- they may turn it on you later or use it as justification. “You did this..” “this was ok for you…” “why should I listen to you about this when…”
It is case by case. Some kids understand context better than others. Some get that it is ok to see certain things or do certain things with adult supervision but not so much alone.
Plenty of kids can watch cartoon with violence or language or suggestive themes etc. and not have issues and other kids are why we need so many warning labels.
Most parents want to believe their kids are smart or mature or emotionally developed or whatever else- parents are often both the people who know kids the best and the least. And again- it isn’t just about what content you watched at what age or what content is appropriate for your kids- your choices can give your kids perceptions of who you are or who you were. What you think is right or wrong. Look- you can’t discuss anime without either ignoring the whole things or dancing around it or just saying it outright. Let’s hit this word head on: “loser.” Anime has long been stigmatized. It currently is enjoying a period of relative destigmatization and main stream acceptance or even popularity. Even at that there are still stigmas that vary. Some titles carry stigmas and inside and outside of anime viewers or fans demographics there are certain titles associated with certain things or types.
There’s no telling what your choices will be looked at as years down the line, and it’s up to you wether you care or not how those choices are received by your kids or what they may think of you for them- but there is one other peril yo sharing these things with your kids… often times your kids will hate things you love. Sometimes, especially with older kids and teens they’ll do it just to be contrarian- but most kids when I was growing up didn’t exactly think all our parents music and favorite shows or films were great or even good. Effects often sucked. Things often seemed corny. Narrative styles and tropes and tastes tend to change with tike. Very young kids can’t follow a narrative and often lack the attention span for any real plot or character driven media. They may enjoy bright colors, music, dynamic movements, certain shapes etc.
There is a sort of formative period between this stage. The average person starts having conscious memories around 4 years old. That tends to be around the age kids can loosely follow plots, but attention spans and comprehension tend to still be weak.
In much of the world kids aren’t really in formal school yet and their peer groups are still pretty controlled. Shortly after this you start to lose control over their development a bit usually. They start to spend more time with friends and teachers than parents and family in average. They start being exposed to more media through school and friends and such. They start developing their personal tastes more strongly. After this period- most parents will have little if any sway over their kids choices in preference for media beyond what controls they have to access in the home.
So by the time kids are old enough to watch and enjoy much of the anime that a teen or adult today might like, in the same sense as they would, those kids likely have their own preferences in media and conceptions which may or may not align to your list. It can hurt for many parents to try and share something they love with their kids and have it be rejected or even mocked. The parent that lives camping or lives a sports team doesn’t always raise a child that shares that love. It happens- it is especially common with parents that have interests like sports- but that can be a little different because…. Sports people are everywhere and they are crazy. They hang their MC’s dirty clothes on the wall if they are lucky and rich enough. Plaster posters and figurines and prop replicas everywhere and have regular viewing parties. They cosplay and go to cons and Larp and the fandoms even get violent pretty regularly. They have entire leagues on fantasy ships that they sink real money and
Hours and hours into. Only the most hardcore weebs can compare to the “average sports fan” or lord forbid the “super fan” complete with fandom based tattoos and vehicle decorations and matching outfits and such. They name kids after their MC’s. It’s deep water.
Kids that grow up in a house like that tend to get a clear message- mommy or daddy lives and breathes this and if you want positive attention and time you need to as well. But at large the sporting fandoms are more common, more vocal, and more in the open. So you raise your kids on the sports- they go to school and probably have sporting class mates. As they get older, liking sports and discussing sports and playing sports tend to be ways to socialize and make friends and gain status and they too find in the shakey world of finding yourself as you mature that the fandom provides a pretty complete cookie cutter indemnity. It comes built in with instant friends or “team mates,” rules, a hierarchy, rituals and morals and
traditions and a sense of belonging and acceptance. All you have to do is be a fan or be a player or such. So it’s a big thing the sports. Now- anime in most places- less so. At any random school any random kid probably has an easier and straighter shot up the social ladder showing up in a player jersey and discussing football (you choose which type) at a new school than showing up in a graphic print of their favorite character and talking about the latest simulcasts of “my teacher was a deer until he tickled the demon kings taint and now he’s cursed to live as a man with a harem” or whatever. So that peer reinforcement is.. questionable. The zeitgeist of the time and place your kids grow up will probably decide it but at least historically, liking anime wasn't something that brought the social rewards that certain other things do, often it could make life harder on a kid as far as being accepted or liked by most people.
I’m not here to go into wether it’s better to be liked in a shallow way by a lot of people or have a close group of friends that share particular interests or whatever- it’s a moot point because you don’t know what your kid will like, but you do have some control over what they start to develop familiarity and early exposure to. So I mean- meh. It’s probably not all that deep. Show your kids what you want to share with them. Even toddlers tend to have their own preferences on what they watch. Not every toddler likes the same shoes and due to their inherent communication ability it’s generally a bit mysterious why they like certain things and seem to not be interested or dislike others.
Your kids will probably give you a pretty good idea what they are interested in and it’s up to you if you want to try and present them thing you think they’ll like because of who they are or things you want them to like because of who you are.
It’s worth noting your favorites, if you have the will and discipline or a journal of some sort you might even do it chronologically so that both you and your kids or future generations could see what you were into at different parts of your life. You can often find as you age, that anime or any media really, there are things you remember being great that even 5-10 years later you just don’t see the appeal, and things that you might live and be able to watch over and over your whole life. So if you feel like it, recording down your favorites isn’t a terrible idea. Your kids or even future partners or whoever else might or might not care, or they may watch some or just enjoy reading what you liked and maybe your thoughts or notes or reviews.
Beyond that.. there is a decision every parent must make about honesty and parenting styles. I grew up with one parent with no boundaries and another parent who had such tight boundaries that I didn’t know what they did for work most of the time and and into my 40’s I would one day find out that I had a new step parent and they’d been married for a year or more and my parent just didn’t think it was my business and it didn’t come up so I obviously didn’t need to know. Those are opposite extremes of parenting.
It is case by case. Some kids understand context better than others. Some get that it is ok to see certain things or do certain things with adult supervision but not so much alone.
Plenty of kids can watch cartoon with violence or language or suggestive themes etc. and not have issues and other kids are why we need so many warning labels.
In much of the world kids aren’t really in formal school yet and their peer groups are still pretty controlled. Shortly after this you start to lose control over their development a bit usually. They start to spend more time with friends and teachers than parents and family in average. They start being exposed to more media through school and friends and such. They start developing their personal tastes more strongly. After this period- most parents will have little if any sway over their kids choices in preference for media beyond what controls they have to access in the home.
Kids that grow up in a house like that tend to get a clear message- mommy or daddy lives and breathes this and if you want positive attention and time you need to as well. But at large the sporting fandoms are more common, more vocal, and more in the open. So you raise your kids on the sports- they go to school and probably have sporting class mates. As they get older, liking sports and discussing sports and playing sports tend to be ways to socialize and make friends and gain status and they too find in the shakey world of finding yourself as you mature that the fandom provides a pretty complete cookie cutter indemnity. It comes built in with instant friends or “team mates,” rules, a hierarchy, rituals and morals and
Your kids will probably give you a pretty good idea what they are interested in and it’s up to you if you want to try and present them thing you think they’ll like because of who they are or things you want them to like because of who you are.