One of my friends put this up on our forum, and I really think its a great explanation of why "anime" is hard for a lot of Americans, especially Christians, to understand. I'll publish my own thoughts on this later.

Kimberly Eridon - Jun 10, 2004

Actually, from an American standpoint, even most anime that is aimed at young children can contain a lot more violence and mature themes than American children's television (though not all of it-A Little Snow Fairy Sugar comes to mind because I just finished it). When people say there are cultural differences, they're not just being flippant. A lot of the misunderstandings have to do with the difference in the general Japanese world view and a sort of more "relaxed" view where the Japanese don't feel the need to "protect" their children from real-life realites like death and senseless acts of violence and their consequences.

It's fascinating to study what scholars have to say about this whole issue (Japanese pop culture in general/anime in particular) because it really does make you think about the difference a world view can make. It's not as if the Japanese are saying, "Hey, let's ruin our kids lives by letting a main character die in a tragically sacrificial way" or "Let's make this character smoke in order to corrupt our youth" or "How about we give these characters short skirts and show cleavage to destroy the morals of the youth." That's just how Americans tend to interpret it because they have no world view framework on which to hang the anime but their own, which is not the one shared by the creators of anime.

For parents, it really comes down to spending time with your kids, knowing what they're watching and what it contains (same for American or Japanese television). The same is true for books. If parents take the time to know, there won't be as many surprises, and anime does present a lot of moral questions that would make great discussions for parents and children or just adults in general. Taking that time in practice is, as we know, really hard. Then there is the fact that what an adult may consider revealing may just be what people are wearing nowadays (in terms of exposure) and may not catch a child's eye at all or in the same way. I kind of wish more parents would talk to their kids about modesty when they have been walking around in public and seeing how people dress. Of course, I might possibly die of embarrassment if I had to talk to a seven-year-old about why that lady shouldn't be wearing a shirt that tiny or something like that.

Then there's the whole sex issue. Once again, it's a general world view issue. Since the Japanese have a very different view of human sexuality, the content of their popular culture is going to express that. If there's any major pot hole in letting your American kids watch Japanese animation without taking the time to talk about it with them, I would say this would be it. Common occurances include homosexuality, school kid crushes on the same gender (which they consider to be not quite the same thing), an emphasis on "real" anatomy, kids dating their teachers in secret, and more. How'd ya' like to talk that over with your eight-year-old? But just because it's hard doesn't mean it's useless or must be avoided.

And not every anime contains the same content or amount. Shows aimed at little kids can't have any out and out anatomically correct nudity in them, but they may contain communal bathing scenes because that's something they do in Japan where there isn't a lot of fresh water and most people don't have a nudity taboo. In general, I try to find out before I view things what's in them so I don't get blindsided. That doesn't mean I look up spoilers; it means I do research in a few places and find out about objectionable content. And when something in an anime flabbergasts or confuses me, I do more research to try to figure out what I'm missing. It makes anime and movies more than just something I brainlessly watch to be entertained. Then again, I am known as something of a nerd, and I put way more effort into most things than the average sane human being, so I'm probably overanalyzing this the way I do other things.

However, if you look, there is clean stuff out there. You just have to look. And maybe be forearmed with a little knowledge of culture (although it's kind of fun to learn about it after the fact when it leaves you scratching your head-communal bathing in Totoro, for example, or anatomically correct dogs in Junkers Come Here [Lady and the Tramp it ain't, though that movie was controversial for its very name in the beginning).

I think I shall leave you with a semi-random story. I was the biggest G.I. Joe fan in the world as a child and still am one (Did you know they're coming out with boxed sets now? I want to get that one miniseries about Shipwreck and his lost memory!). Scarlet is the coolest girl ever. She had red hair, and I had a red bathrobe, and I would put it on and be Scarlet. Or I would just jump off things and play fight until I kicked COBRA's butts from Bowling Green to Bulgaria. Scarlet rocked. She wore a suit that covered her entire body. It was kind of camouflage. She trained hard and could beat the hoohah out of the boys, too, and often did. She saved the world. More than once. A few years ago, I learned that there was a huge controversy surrounding G.I. Joe at the time it came out because the voice actor they chose to play Scarlet was a famous adult film actress or something. Parents were appalled at this and thought it would lead to the corruption of the youth. I've got news for you: your average five-year-olds didn't understand that and wouldn't have cared anyway. All I knew is that Scarlet worked hard, and she helped save the world from evil even when it was hard. She helped her friends and tried to protect her family. She was a great role model.