Anime

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Michaela

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Hi,
I’m asking if anyone knows if there is a Catholic “opinion” of Anime “cartoon-type” movies. My teenage daughter has a good friend who is really into watching and writing Anime. There is even an Anime Club at their Catholic High School, but I’m not so sure about it. Thanks for any info you may have…my daughter and I don’t know what to think but neither of us has a good feeling about it really.
 
I was an anime fan when it wasn’t as popular as it is now. I stopped being a fan because it quickly became the same-old-thing. It also occured to me that the USA was becoming the dumping ground for Japanese cultural junk (Pokemon anyone?). While there is plenty of anime no more offensive than any other thing seen on tv (which ain’t saying much), there is also alot that is every bit as offensive and subversive as some things on tv and films (all the way up to pornography). There is also unfortunately a strong tendency for enslavement to fantasy with anime. Frankly, it needs to be treated like regular tv and movies–monitored and limited.

On a lighter note, read So you want to learn Japanese. He’s spoofing of course, but he pegs the typical anime fan pretty well.
 
There are some nice Animes out there, but there are also some really offensive animes out there. I was in an anime club last year, and we watched mostly really mild anime. If you need to, try to borrow what they are watching or watch an old episode of it, and then approve it yourself. I really like mainstream anime like Inuyasha, Samurai Champloo, and stuff like that. You just need to watch out for the less mainstream, because it would be hard to actually know what it is like.

~Gabe
 
hayao miazaki’s movies (my neighbor totoro, spirited away, etc.) seem very wholesome and life-affirming. i can almost imagine he might be christian. my wife, who is japanese, agrees with me.
 
I’m really appreciating your perspectives, thank you. I think it sounds like there can be some decent anime out there. One title my daughter mentioned is Full Metal Panic? We haven’t really seen it…just snippits. My daughter’s friend is a very thoughtful and respectful boy who has a real talent for writing and I hope he is only exposing himself to the better anime : that which would not detract in any way from his Catholic faith.

I like Scottgun’s quote about contraception! I myself did not always embrace or understand our church’s teachings, but thank God my husband and I do now… Christopher West played a big role as well…everyone should check him out!
 
Epsilon_Omega said:
There are some nice Animes out there, but there are also some really offensive animes out there. I was in an anime club last year, and we watched mostly really mild anime. If you need to, try to borrow what they are watching or watch an old episode of it, and then approve it yourself. I really like mainstream anime like Inuyasha, Samurai Champloo, and stuff like that. You just need to watch out for the less mainstream, because it would be hard to actually know what it is like.

~Gabe
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Gabe,
You are worthy because you answer!!! “God does not call those who are equipped…he equips those he calls!” God bless you!
Michaela
 
Treat it like regular TV. There’s some good, and some bad. Just because it’s cartoons doesn’t mean it’s automatically a children’s thing. Some of it, like, say, Nana, is like regular TV dramas, and some of it is cute all-ages silliness (like Kiyohiko Azuma’s books Azumanga Daioh and Yotsuba). You find a fiction genre, you’ll find anime to match. Though I’ve noticed there tends to be more of a leaning towards goth fantasy **** in anime than in American TV (titles such as Priest, and like 500 million series about vampires).
Anime fans, though, you have to watch out a little for. It tends to draw girls obsessed with slash, for reasons I don’t understand. They’re a little weird, and they give the fandom a bad name, IMNSHO. I don’t like to admit to watching anime because people will assume I’m one of them.
 
Re: Neverlander’s comments- By slash, do you mean violence? Also, what is IMNSHO? Have you heard of Full Metal Panic…and do you think I should judge this boy more for his character he displays toward my daughter (which has really been impressive) or worry about the anime he watches and what that may say about him? I guess that’s a lot to ask, but anime is so unfamiliar to us that I really seek the opinions of those who know. Thanks for any you have to offer.

God bless!
 
Anime runs the whole spectrum, from shows for little kids to adults to porn. It is not regulated in the same way cartoons are regulated in the US. Also, the titles don’t tell you much, like Dragonball Z or Inuyasha (hard to say, I know). So, this is really a case where parents need to watch also.

The anime books sold in bookstores called manga (mahn gu) are either black and white or color and range from simple comic book stories to more violent subjects. They are translated from the original Japanese and are sometimes censored, but sometimes not. So, parents need to see them.

Anime appeals to kids because of the unusual Japanese style art and stories that are not like most American cartoons. Sailor Moon appeals to girls, for example. Hello Kitty is another Japanese import.

As a Catholic, it’s just a matter of watching and judging for yourself. Unfortunately, in Japan, anime cartoons sometimes mix in a little nudity or racy elements that I think are not appropriate for Catholic kids or adults for that matter.

It would be nice if there were a Parent’s Guide to Anime but I don’t know of one.

God bless,
Ed
 
Oh, no, “slash” isn’t violence, it’s the obsession some people (usually girls) get with pairing characters (usually boys) together in gay relationships. Pretty much every fiction teenagers like has fans like that - Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings movies are infamous for it, actually - so it’s not a “problem with anime”, it’s just that for some reason, the kind of girls who like slash also often watch anime. Correlation does not equal causation. Have your daughter find out who’s at this stuff and have her spend some time there to see if the girls are like that.

And “IMNSHO” is “in my not-so-humble opinion”. When people say “IMHO”, they don’t really mean their opinion’s “humble”, so I just use IMNSHO.

I don’t know anything about Full Metal Panic. I tend to watch girly stuff. Meet the boy for himself - there are some guys who watch it like they would watch porn (there’s enough out there like porn), but the ones who like the action stuff, like Full Metal Panic and Naruto, usually just like it like some guys like action movies.
 
Michaela said:
By slash, do you mean violence?
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“Slash” is a slang term usually applied to gay romance/sex scenes in fan-written stories.

Personally, I learned of it in Denise Crosby’s Trekkies where an interviewee talks about her “Kirk/Spock slash” obsession.

If you noticed how I wrote “Kirk/Spock”, you’ll see how the genre became known as “slash”.
 
tomarin said:
hayao miazaki’s movies (my neighbor totoro, spirited away, etc.) seem very wholesome and life-affirming. i can almost imagine he might be christian. my wife, who is japanese, agrees with me.
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Miyazaki has done some great work. I can recommend almost all of his (have not seen all of them yet) as being fairly wholesome and life-affirming. Spirited Away is especially good.

The other animes I have seen have had a fair share of violence and/or sex. Unfortunately you will probably have to investigate the titles yourself to be safe. There are some really good ones out there though.
 
Thanks for all the (name removed by moderator)ut everyone has given me…I will judge it one title at a time.🙂
 
Graing said:
Miyazaki has done some great work. I can recommend almost all of his (have not seen all of them yet) as being fairly wholesome and life-affirming. Spirited Away is especially good.

The other animes I have seen have had a fair share of violence and/or sex. Unfortunately you will probably have to investigate the titles yourself to be safe. There are some really good ones out there though.
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Yes, judge it one title at a time. Miyazaki has done some good stuff, but there is one I would watch out for: Princess Mononoke(sp?) is really scary, I felt sick for a week after watching it… But all of his other movies that I’ve seen are good. I’d recommend Nausicaa of the Wind especially.
 
Treat it like you would any other type of media.

You can’t judge all Japanese Animation, aka “Anime”, (I HATE that word) based on the junk you’ve seen here in the US on Cartoon Network and other stations such as Fox Kids and Kids WB any more then you can judge all American animation by the junk you see on Cartoon Network etc.

The truth is, the animation industry in Japan is a bigger industry then the live action industry because, frankly, the live action industry in Japan SUCKS.
So animation is used for almost EVERYTHING from action to fantasy to comedy to kiddie fare to romance to hard core pornography.

So, yes, there is “anime” that is very good (such as Miyazaki’s workd) and some anime that is downright awful (such as Pokemon).

99% of “anime” is junk. Pure an simple. Just like 99% of the TV shows and movies released here in America are junk.
 
Timidity said:
“Slash” is a slang term usually applied to gay romance/sex scenes in fan-written stories.
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Yuri for girl-girl relationship and yaoi for boy-boy relationship. This is still different from the rather more benign shoujo-ai (girl love) and shounen -ai (boy love), which often implies more to a close relationship, but is not specifically romantic. Many fanfics have these as a theme, for some weird reason.

Anyway, I like anime. I have always been a fan since I was around 7 or 8 years old, and I am a fan until now. I have quite a collection of anime videos (VHS, VCDs and DVDs) and merchandise.
 
It has been so long since I’ve watched anime. Rurouni Kenshin remains a favorite. 🙂
 
havemercy said:
It has been so long since I’ve watched anime. Rurouni Kenshin remains a favorite. 🙂
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One of my favourites as well. My top will always be Neon Genesis Evangelion and The Vision of Escaflowne. One of the funniest anime I’ve seen is Dragon Half.
 
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