This is true, and this is mainly due to people's association of animation with children. However, I have began to see a shift in this thinking, movies like 9 were a part of a subculture movement to break the correlation of animation as a kids only genre, Classic 2d animation is also coming along for the ride. In recent years, far more serious comics and animations have been created, darker interpretations of well established series like spiderman, for example are becoming more popular. I think all of this is shifting the correlation away from kids at least exclusively. for better or worse, anime is along for this ride as most people associate any type of comic and animation into a similar group. These subcultures started with mostly kids, but now they have been around long enough that some of the first generation kids are now adults, and they aren't moving on they are demanding more mature, intelligent material.
In the coming years (possibly sooner) I think people will acknowledge that animation, comics, of all kinds is not just for kids. But I can't imagine it will push into the mainstream well. The sub-culture will become its own larger culture, but will most likely remain a separate niche.
