Pandering in Anime?

[zoupzuop2]

I'm fairly new at this whole "aneemay" deal, but from what I do see of some of the newer/more recent series (newer than, say, Ranma), I have a few quips from my observations.

There seems to be a lot of references to the Anime culture within anime itself, sometimes to the point of absurdity, from the looks of it. It would appear to some that some of these series' are trying to cater to the immediate needs/desires of even the Japanese Otaku (I.E, the ones more looked-down-upon). Take, for instance, the English dub of Haruhi. You'll hear "otaku", "moe", and some other terminologies that only most "learned" fans would know about. That's a pretty small case in point, but I take you now to the synopsis of Lucky Star. A girl that plays video games and watches anime (at an age much like the average Otaku's) is more than thrilled to work at a Cosplay cafe? While the series is pretty nice from what I've looked into, something in me questions if there's some playing-to-the-clique action going down.
Is it just me and my n00biness? Or is there a small amount of pandering to the needs of otakus that I'm just now noticing and picking up? I mean, I believe an anime should be able to reference small facets of the anime culture, no problems there. But something smells of "dumbing down" from what I see. I could be absolutely wrong and/or just looking in the wrong places.

[Chun]

The majority of art direction and anime writing is also partial to the fact that the main audience is obviously the otaku population. From the various messageboards, extremely popular hangouts like 2chan, directors and producers actually look to them for some statistic as to what kind of show to expect/improve/change upon.

It's really heavily run by the otaku need, since anime sells in Japan on a highly competitive fad-based system. It needs what is "In" at that moment.

~Chun

[PyronIkari]

And I addressed most of everything you said in the "Anime for beginners" thread that turned into a flame war, because obviously others think that I have no clue what I'm talking about solely based on that I think "Good doesn't always mean good for newbies, and good for newbies doesn't always mean good".

Different series are made for different people. And many series are made for hardcore fans. Lucky Star is a great example of a show written for hardcore fans(though even that in itself, it goes up and down in terms of quality). Most comedy shows are written for hardcore fans. It's why I avoid suggesting comedies to newer people. the MOE wave has been rather large as of lately, but there are still plenty of alternatives to watch, it's just a matter of researching what the series are and picking out what interests you. As you watch more, you'll be able to get into the "deeper" series.

[mDuo13]

There are a fair number of shows that have become popular lately (Lucky Star, Hayate no Gotoku), that include a lot of references to anime and otaku culture. However, that's not to say that such shows have never existed. He Is My Master was packed full of them; Otaku no Video is almost a prehistoric Genshiken these days, in that it's the story of an anime club, of sorts. But there are plenty of shows with no such references even now - Darker Than BLACK, for example. It all depends on what you're watching.

EDIT: I take back my example of Darker Than BLACK. One of the side-characters is an otaku. There was a Death Note reference in episode 13. Well then, how about ARIA The NATURAL as an example of a show with no references to otaku culture? Also, Asatte no Houkou, as far as I recall.

[Stormfalcon]

As a side note, Otaku no Video is essentially the early (pre-Eva) history of Gainax with the names changed to protect the not-so-innocent :D