Does comic relief hurt kids?

[Hachiko]

An interesting read from the Japan Times:

By Tony McNicol

'Cuteness, eroticism, and violence are the essence of Japanese pop culture," says Ichiya Nakamura, executive director of the Stanford Japan Center and ex-government policy maker.
The saccharine cuteness of Hello Kitty and Sailor Moon has become almost as familiar to people in Europe and America as in Asia. From the Matrix to Kill Bill samurai, Japanese pop culture has never been more influential abroad.



Even the word "otaku," originally an uncomplimentary term for asocial Japanese manga and anime obsessives has been happily adopted by foreign fans.

But, what of the small, influential part of anime and manga that explores extreme boundaries of sex and violence, even pedophilia?

Japan Times

 

[ashuri2]

☝ my way of describing anime/manga is that's it's just like t.v.: you have kiddy stuff, stuff for older audiences, and then adult stuff that's the equivalent- or worse- than the spice channel. i guess its something we just kinda have to watch out for (pedophiliac suff, etc.) and try our best to keep it away from younger audiences. laws or whatever may help in curbing some of the worst stuff, but banning hentai wouldn't work, it'd just become more secretive and underground, cause some guys can't seem to live w/o the stuff < sad, lonely people>...not much you can really do about it.

 

[TyPe-ZeRo]

theres something for everyone, and everyone has something they like. It's like T.V., like the other guy/gal said , everyone has a favorite sitcom or genre or whatever they group certain types of series there are like cartoons, dramas, reality tv, funniest videos, etc. its just like anime! even though anim[e](ation) IS on T.V...

 

[Glenn]

One thing that I have wondered about for a while is why there are so many strong women and heroines in anime. I had thought that Japan was a patriarchal society, so this always struck me as odd. I kind of figured that perhaps the roles were changing, which appears to be the case according to that article and the Yale sociologist.

I had also wondered about the "Lolita Complex" prevalent in anime. One example is "Tenchi Muyo," in which Tenchi ends up with the young Sasami, instead of either Aeka or Ryoko, who are more his age (granted Ryoko is a centuries old demon, but she looks more Tenchi's age).

I guess the high school girl thing is restricted to shoujo anime, but I haven't watched enough of it to know. I think that it's kind of freaky that in many anime there are high school romances, and the younger classes no less. At least make the characters seniors! Anyway, enough of my speculation. I don't really know enough about sociology to make educated statements about any of this; I just think that some of it is strange.

 

[TyPe-ZeRo]

Yeah i've been thinking that too, as far as shoujo anime goes, i've yet to see an american based one, except powerpuff girls.. It kinda bothers me and this "lolita" thing going around in Japan, isn't underage prostitution there high? could anime be the result of this and these "get rich quick" schemes?

 

[ashuri2]

One thing that I have wondered about for a while is why there are so many strong women and heroines in anime. I had thought that Japan was a patriarchal society, so this always struck me as odd. I kind of figured that perhaps the roles were changing, which appears to be the case according to that article and the Yale sociologist.

I had also wondered about the "Lolita Complex" prevalent in anime. One example is "Tenchi Muyo," in which Tenchi ends up with the young Sasami, instead of either Aeka or Ryoko, who are more his age (granted Ryoko is a centuries old demon, but she looks more Tenchi's age).

eh?!?!? tenchi ends up with sasami? that's pretty scary, considering that she was teh youngest female in his little 'harem'. I thought the reason anime had such strong female characters soemtimes was for purely financial reasons: girls love those types of characters and the anime/manga will make more money than one that only features demure/submissive females.

 

[Glenn]

eh?!?!? tenchi ends up with sasami? that's pretty scary, considering that she was teh youngest female in his little 'harem'.

Well, that's what I've heard, and I have no reason not to believe it.

I thought the reason anime had such strong female characters soemtimes was for purely financial reasons: girls love those types of characters and the anime/manga will make more money than one that only features demure/submissive females.

Hmm, I suppose that could very well be the case.