At some point in the near future, anime will no longer be seen as a "kid" thing by the masses. It will be seen as "nothing but shitty T&A." Of course, we already think it is that way.
I think in the near future, anime as perceived by the US crowd will be a combination of both. Just two extremes, either kid content or just bouncing breasts, or even outright tentacle rape.
Name:
Anonymous2005-06-12 19:20
It was the other way around in the UK. Manga Video used to be the only name in anime releases, and their sex- and violence-heavy catalogue meant a lot of people got the impression that all anime was like that (and also that the term for it was "manga" - that messed us all up for a few years). Now in these post-Pokémon times everyone thinks it's all kids' stuff. I doubt it will ever be fully accepted, in the same way that many people still see western animated features as "just for kids". Even a Japanese film winning the Best Animated Feature Oscar didn't do all that much for the public's perception.
That was pretty much the situation in the USA 10+ years ago. USMC's debut title was "I'll Give My All," an H title actually came packaged with a pair of panties. They had a whole press conference for its debut, and the results... well. After the reaction they got, the pulled the title immediately.