Idea for another book I'm writing

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I am writing a book with a series of reviews I’ve done on different Japanese animation and comic books. I’m at a loss on why parents should let their kids watch these cartoons, especially since many have fantasy themes and violent imagery. My reasons are as follows:

  1. *]They allow children to receive a different viewpoint
    *]They can spark discussion because a few have misconceptions on Christianity (I won’t get into specifics in this post, but I will later if anyone’s interested)
    *]Because they are made in a culture that is not based in Christianity, the children will get a unique perspective on things. Also, every religion has some aspect of Christianity in it.
    *]Many cartoons teach values that coincide with the Christian religion (again, I won’t get into specifics)

    So what do you people think?
 
I watch some anime, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to let kids watch it unless it is a piece specifically made for their particular age group. For example, my two year old loves Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro, but I wouldn’t let him watch Princess Mononoke.

Also, a good deal of anime - shojo anime in particular - deals with mature sexual themes, such as gender switching/confusion and homosexuality. I think parents should watch any anime their kids want to view first, because you’ll never know what’ll “pop out.” The Japanese, being generally non-Christian (there are Japanese Christians, but they are a minority in Japan), have a different view of how human sexuality is to be used. Having a male lover if one is male, for instance, like ancient Greece, is considered in some cases to be acceptible. This is especially true in period pieces–it was more true of ancient Japan than of the present.

Like any other medium, be it books, TV shows, plays, movies…you have to be aware of the content of what your kid is watching. I have a little boy, so more than likely he might like some of the shonen anime like Gundam–robots and such. But some of these can be extremely violent. I’m trying to get myself more educated on all the anime out there so that when he does show an interest, I can make an educated decision as a parent.

I also think that when these films come to the U.S. they should get an audience rating. Not sure if they do now, but that would be helpful to parents.

Note to everyone else reading this: Just because it is animated, does not mean it is always meant for kids. Be aware of what your kids watch.
–Ann
 
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Sparky:
I watch some anime, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to let kids watch it unless it is a piece specifically made for their particular age group. For example, my two year old loves Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro, but I wouldn’t let him watch Princess Mononoke.

Also, a good deal of anime - shojo anime in particular - deals with mature sexual themes, such as gender switching/confusion and homosexuality. I think parents should watch any anime their kids want to view first, because you’ll never know what’ll “pop out.” The Japanese, being generally non-Christian (there are Japanese Christians, but they are a minority in Japan), have a different view of how human sexuality is to be used. Having a male lover if one is male, for instance, like ancient Greece, is considered in some cases to be acceptible. This is especially true in period pieces–it was more true of ancient Japan than of the present.

Like any other medium, be it books, TV shows, plays, movies…you have to be aware of the content of what your kid is watching. I have a little boy, so more than likely he might like some of the shonen anime like Gundam–robots and such. But some of these can be extremely violent. I’m trying to get myself more educated on all the anime out there so that when he does show an interest, I can make an educated decision as a parent.

I also think that when these films come to the U.S. they should get an audience rating. Not sure if they do now, but that would be helpful to parents.

Note to everyone else reading this: Just because it is animated, does not mean it is always meant for kids. Be aware of what your kids watch.
–Ann
Click to expand...
The different distributors actually do rate the anime. If you look on the back of the box, you can often see a suggested rating. THis tells you how old the viewer should be.
 
Rocklobster,
Your question is a little confusing. You’re at a loss as to why parents allow kids to watch this, yet you’re writing a book to explain why they do? So you can’t really be at a loss.
Your reasons seem reasonable, though it seems that many parents just allow it because it’s animated and they assume it’s all right for kids. Bad idea, as Sparky says.
The topic seems a little thin for a book, unless you have lots and lots of reviews to fill it with. Maybe it’d be more suitable for a magazine article?

Have you seen Howl’s Moving Castle? What do you think of that?
 
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Viki59:
Rocklobster,
Your question is a little confusing. You’re at a loss as to why parents allow kids to watch this, yet you’re writing a book to explain why they do? So you can’t really be at a loss.
Your reasons seem reasonable, though it seems that many parents just allow it because it’s animated and they assume it’s all right for kids. Bad idea, as Sparky says.
The topic seems a little thin for a book, unless you have lots and lots of reviews to fill it with. Maybe it’d be more suitable for a magazine article?

Have you seen Howl’s Moving Castle? What do you think of that?
Click to expand...
You misunderstand. The book is to help parents decide which titles to watch and which ones to avoid. And yes, I have lots of reviews. What I’m planning on is to start with a few chapters explaining what one needs to know about anime, and then starting the reviews from there.
And no, I haven’t seen it yet. But I want to sooo bad! Miyazaki is my favorite animator.
 
Hey!

I grew up watching Astro Boy, G-Force (Battle of the Planets), and Starblazer (Spaceship Yamato), and I always foubd these cartoons though cheesy at times to be way ahead of their American counterparts, and it never conflicted with my Christian beliefs. It also gave me a context to appreciate The Matrix series (O-o-o! Animatrix was totally awesome!) And one of these days I’ll get around to watching Akira…I’ve heard it to be the greatest of anime, just never got around to seeing it yet…

emp
 
empacae, don’t bother with Akira , unless you must in order to consider yourself an otaku (read: rabid anime fan, for those who don’t know)
Anyway, I thought it might be a good idea to pst a link to the Christian Anime Alliance in this thread, along with my own anime review site so that people who are interested in some Christian-oriented views of popular anime shows on TV and DVD as well as manga (Japanese comic books, which is where many anime shows come from) can see whether they are appropriate:
Christian Anime Alliance
my anime review site
 
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