The only way the medium grows is by taking chances and making good-faith attempts at tackling serious topics. Hopefully they do a good job and they're not bombarded by reactionaries.

I’m just thinking here, but maybe it has to do with the collectivist nature of Japan. An anime such as Naruto involves groups of people being able to access some kind of power that is common among them. Contrast that to superheroes, where most of the time each super-powered person has his/her own rules. That could…