The difference between genres and mediums: Sci fi vs anime

Let's talk about the difference between genres and mediums. Some fans (or opponents of certain genres and mediums) tend to confuse the two, and this confusion leads people to limit themselves to certain types of mediums, not exposing themselves to creative stories that may exist in other forms.

Genres are things that let you know what kind story you're about to encounter. If the genre is fantasy, the story or movie or what have you is likely to have elements of magic, wizardry, or otherworldliness. If the genre is mystery, you're likely to see people solving crimes. Typical literary genres are: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Mystery, Historical Fiction, and Thriller/Suspense. Anime has these as well, though within anime, "contemporary" is a genre of its own, referred to typically as slice as life. 

These genres can overlap-I have written science fiction/romance, for example. Twilight is Young Adult Paranormal Romance. Harry Potter is Young Adult Fantasy. There are also subgenres within each genre, which let you know a little more about the story. Hard sci fi is likely to have people living in spaceships, while cyberpunk, a subgenre of sci fi, asks questions about how technology affects humanity, and typically does not take place as far in the future as hard sci fi novels do.

Now we get to mediums. The medium is how the story is told-is it a movie? An anime? A book or tv show? A video game? Many people seem to think anime, for example, is a genre-"all anime is porn! All anime are children's cartoons!" Not true. Nor is it true that every videogame is a carefully orchestrated snuff film.

So, do genres and mediums overlap? It may be true that if something is animated, it is more likely to be fantastical or childish. If something is a video game, it is more likely to contain violence. Newbies to anime especially tend to think that all anime is wonderful and will contain elements they like. However, they learn quickly that it is difficult to judge something by it's medium. (Judging by genre, however, is a different story). Just because a medium tends to have certain genres does not mean it always will, and these genres change over time just as they do in the literary world. Anime in the 90s was often science fiction, known as "mecha anime." Now the primary genre is slice of life.

 It is fine to claim to like, or not to like, a medium because of the attributes of the medium itself. Disliking anime because the bright colors are offputting is a fair, if odd, complaint. Disliking video games because they are difficult to play is fine. But disliking an entire medium due to genre associations is naive.

With that in mind, I hope people who read this branch out to other mediums. There are many good stories out there, and sticking to only novels or only anime is limiting.