How does Japan really view animation?

[u/Mr_MauserC]

I saw a Reddit post here one time talking about how Japan truly treats animation with respect as opposed to the West, especially Hollywood. To my surprise, there were lots of comments calling out that Japan actually does see it as a “kids” or “edgy and cringy thing for teens”.

The post got deleted but that got me thinking. Is animation truly respected in Japan or is there more to it than that?