You don’t get a pass because your 13 year olds of choice are japanese and drawn characters. It’s creepy as fuck and I am judging you for it.
I have to ask how this is an unpopular take? Like even in online spaces, I see people with anime PFPs getting a lot of shit and anti-lolicon sentiment is on the rise, thankfully.
In what space would this take be unpopular in any way?
There is a lot of anime that creeps me out.
There’s some good stuff out there, but Jesus Christ is there a large pile of problematic anime.
Its like the large pile of racist old cartoons you never see because they don’t run them anymore.
Sure, except we haven’t reached the stage of culturally condemming and not running the creepy anime shows yet and they’re still really popular.
It would be nice to not have to block all the people who post what look like drawings of children.
The majority of shows I actually enjoy either ignore that shit entirely or have the author’s self-insert moment of having a character go, “Now that’s fucked up” to any such things. The most recent one I saw was Spy x Family, the one character is madly in love with his sister. The child in the wildly dysfunctional family takes one look at the situation and in her hilariously understated and dry way just proclaims, “Yuck.” Mind, this is after the object of his affection beats him to a bloody pulp because stop that shit.
Why have the trait? Because there are funny situations that can come from it, especially if you’re willing to make the character almost entirely unlikeable. Which this show does.
I’m sorry, but imo it’s still not funny. To me, this would be like your show having a rape attempt and another character going “omg eww lol”. Like. Doing it isn’t funny, pointing it out isn’t funny, subverting it isn’t funny, conspicuously mentioning how you’re not doing it isn’t funny. It’s just disgusting.
I take your point, but the example I provided and the example you provided is a comparison between apples and battleships. As well, in my personal opinion the example I provided is merely (incredibly, wildly) distasteful while the example you provided is an actual violent crime. There’s an order of magnitude of difference between the two, and I also wouldn’t watch a show that attempts to minimize rape. Let’s not conflate extremely questionable kinks with actual violence and crimes. Adults of consenting age working out their differences in a way that makes an observer either laugh or roll their eyes is a very different scenario from criminal sexual assault.
I literally run a Mastodon server specifically for non-toxic English-first anime/etc fans and I understand where you’re coming from. I created the community for a lot of the same reasons
That said, you are projecting an extreme puritanical Western philosophy onto a culture that is dramatically different for deeply ingrained cultural reasons.
Teenage stories are prevalent because of the concept “seishun” (springtime of youth). Japanese culture is extremely rigid and conformist, and as a consequence highschool is viewed as the time in life where you have the most freedom to try new things, express yourself, and discover your passions. Watching teens experience their first love, for example, is a cathartic release for people who don’t have the freedom to make drastic changes to their identity anymore. It is a depiction of someone discovering a new identity, and embracing change.
“Kawaii” (cute) culture has deep roots in Shinto spiritualism. For a large part of Japanese history, due to mortality rates among children below the age of 7, children were literally considered not fully human until they reached a certain age. They were “close to the spirits” because they might be reclaimed by the spirit world at any time. This, along with some other tidbits, led to the trope where a spiritual being regresses to look childlike when they lose their spiritual power. It is “closer to the spirit realm”. And because there are many stories about being careful not to malign spirits, this became a reverence for childlike things.
Yes, especially among westerners, the are a lot of people with transgressive tendencies who gravitate towards the medium because it’s an easy mask for their predilections. But you would do well to more about the history of the culture and medium you’re attacking.
Because the way you present your position right now just makes you look like an ignorant westerner who didn’t bother to ask “why” before painting an entire culture with a single brush.
I hear this and sympathize.
…But. Honestly? It’s not just western fans that are the problem. A few anime shows I researched seem to use underage sex appeal (or other problematic depictions, like toxic relationships) to draw attention, to make money.
At some point that’s not a cultural difference or misunderstanding; it’s pandering. The showrunners know what they’re doing. I’d argue that is exploitation of Japanese culture.
And even if they’re rejected by fans like you, these problematic shows seem to be immensely popular.
And american tv shows don’t sexualize teenagers constantly?
every type of media panders to it’s fans… that’s the entire point.
and you are welcome to not watch if if that isn’t what you enjoy.
I have no doubt media you consume can be criticized as problematic from various POV that aren’t your own. And yet, you still consume it.
This is classic ‘it’s cringe when you do it/enjoy it, but based when I do it’
They didn’t defend american TV shows sexualizing teens, why even bring that in to the conversation like they are? Both are wrong. No one said one is ok and the other not…pedo is pedo is pedo.
A couple of things:
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Trashy western sex appeal (or tacticool fetish, drug glorification, or whatever) is a fair point. That’s a problem. Some of those trashy western shows are popular, too.
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But I don’t buy whataboutism. It doesn’t make either thing okay.
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Some popular anime really takes things to an… extreme.
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And even outside the notorious anime, I kept finding problematic tropes when I tried to get into anime, like these women written in a way that got me to squirm in my seat and turn off my TV. When I sample critically acclaimed western TV/animation, this is not such an issue; I don’t mean to make a comparison, but just to convey that anime sampling made me uncharacteristically uncomfortable.
It’s fine for you to not enjoy things. Why is it that other people shouldn’t be able to enjoy them?
I like to mountain bike. You might think it’s miserable and awful and dangerous. Should I not mountain bike because of your feelings about it?
A lot of people enjoy shit I find disgusting myself, but I am under no delusion that it my discomfort with it doesn’t mean other people enjoy it and it brings meaning and joy to their lives. Clubbing, for instance.
My point is that you, a westerner, being comfortable with Western media but uncomfortable with Japanese media, is not as much indicative of the character of the content as it is indicative of the things that have been normalized for you vs the things that have been normalized for others.
That’s the thing you’re missing: every culture has problematic content, every culture gets desensitized to their own problematic stuff but not others’, and every culture has complex reasons why those things developed there.
I promise you: people around the world squirm at your favorite media just as much as you squirm at theirs, because your cultural history, standards, Overton Window, and exposure to media are significantly different.
You have been describing your subjective experiences as if they provide objective facts about the content. It is hard to step back, recognize your own cultural biases, and remove them before assessing both other cultures’ media and your own culture’s.
Like, imagine an American saying “I’ve sampled a lot of American food and almost never find it disgusting. But when I sample food from other countries I frequently find things I don’t like.” Wouldn’t you be like “yeah? And? Obviously that’s because you grew up with American food”
Ah yes of course, your romantic depictions of children are ok because they’re nuanced and cultural and any adults who call it weird just aren’t cultured enough to appreciate all that n
uaonce.Did you even read what I wrote? Or did you find the first sentence you didn’t like and skipped straight to the reply button?
Because I never said it was okay. I flat out stated that there are shows I refuse to watch due to their problems.
These issues are complex. Most cultures around the world have serious problems when you step back from your own subjective experiences. Getting btfo about one media subculture or another without understanding the “why” is unhelpful and ignorant. And many of the things you interpret one way are intended and interpreted extremely differently by the other culture. Everything I’ve said is about identifying the difference between actual degeneracy and cultural norms, and gracefully putting all of it in the proper cultural context.
If you just wanted to come here and stroke your own sense of moral superiority then piss off.
The cultural and histotical signifucance of your horny demon child anime does not justify it existing or stop it from being pedo shit.
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Based cultural context here.
If what you said explained everything then there would be no need for the “looks like a 13yo, but actually a 1000yo dragon” trope.
Sure, some of it can be explained by cultural things that are totally acceptable. There’s still a lot that can’t be though.
I did actually already explain that one (spiritual beings regressing to younger forms as they lose power) but here’s the full version from a while back when I got curious about this specific trope: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18xJbetvBNam51ZJaj7jdaMppRXls6ilrK-IoOQ3Czt0/
And to be clear, my goal has never been to justify the inappropriate sexualization of minors. Rather, my goal is to share the context for why these things developed as they have, and provide guidance on distinguishing between actual degeneracy and cultural misunderstandings. There is certainly plenty of anime with highly degenerate content, but there is also a lot of anime with content that appears to be a degenerate sexualization of a minor to a Western audience while a Japanese audience does not perceive it that way at all (rather than seeing it that way and allowing it)
Here’s an excerpt, the summary conclusion:
The origin of the trope wherein long-lived, mature spirits revert to a childlike appearance when weakened is a convergence of religious history, folklore, and modern media mechanics. It is not a singular invention but a sedimentation of:
Theological Iconography: The Gohō dōji (servant child) and Wakamiya (new spirit) established the “divine boy” as a vessel of servitude and potentiality.
Folklore Dynamics: The Deceptive Disguise of Shuten-dōji and the Vital Fluid mechanics of the Kappa established that power can be masked or drained.
Modern Codification: Kishin Dōji Zenki systematized these elements into a “sealed form” mechanic, while Bleach and YuYu Hakusho added pseudo-scientific layers of “spiritual density” and “energy storage.”
Visual Culture: The SD/Chibi art style provided a commercially viable visual language for this “diminished state,” transforming the terrifying into the toy-ready.
Ultimately, the trope persists because it resonates with the fundamental Japanese spiritual worldview: divinity is not static or linear. It is fluid, capable of expansion and contraction, and intimately tied to the cycle of renewal. A weakened god does not end; they simply start over, small and full of potential, waiting for the prayer, the seal-breaking chant, or the return of faith that will allow them to grow once more.
I don’t think you understand the criticism. It isn’t the child entity existing that’s at issue. Yes, that paper gives context to how it started in the culture. That’s fine. It’s the sexualization that’s the issue. This does not provide any cultural context that makes that acceptable.
Western cultures also have similar cultural concepts, with all kinds of spirits and things inhabiting child bodies, but we don’t have (much) sexualized children spirit things in media.
Then you would need to point me to a specific instance of sexualization for me to comment on it.
There is a prevalent problem of western viewers seeing “3000 year old dragon in a child’s body” and immediately sexualizing it (“it’s just an excuse for …”) when the Japanese audience doesn’t view it that way. That’s what I’m trying to address.
If you have a specific character in mind I’m happy to help distinguish whether it is truly degenerate (certainly possible) or just a cultural misunderstanding of the intent.
I haven’t watched anime in quite a while (with the exception of CP Edgerunners, which does have a character that is sexualized and appears as a child, because of mods I guess). I can’t name any specific ones off the top of my head, and I do not want to search for them. You know they exist though. Saying “you need to point out specific ones” is trying to put it all on me. It’s not like this is some small thing that has only been done a few times.
I genuinely can think of only three off the top of my head that are overtly problematic. I’m not arguing that they don’t exist. We all know they exist. But people tend to talk like it’s the majority. That every time there’s a mismatch between mental age and physical appearance it’s a perverted excuse to creep on kids.
And it’s just not. It’s always easy to find examples of the worst things a medium has to offer. What I’m asking is for people to show me the things that make them think it’s the rule, not the exception. Because I could sit here and diatribe for hours about every instance I know of with a “old being in young body” trope but I know that just come off as making excuses. So I want to address your specific concerns.
EDIT: And it’s kinda funny when you bring up Edgerunners, since that’s a property managed by a Polish company with some insanely grotesque hypersexualized content that is deeply fucked up before even getting to the anime.
I don’t see anyone saying it’s the rule. They’re saying that it happens, and it’s excused. You apparently agree with that, and that it shouldn’t happen I assume too?
As for CP/Edgerunners, sure. I don’t think hyper-sexualization is an issue, but fine. The show is anime though, made in Japan I believe. It uses tropes that are from anime, like the character that looks like a child, which aren’t from any of the other Cyberpunk media. The whataboutism here is totally off topic. It doesn’t excuse anything. It’s purely just “but they do other things!” This topic is not about hyper-sexualization. It’s about sexualizing child characters.
Well that’s a bad faith response if I’ve ever seen one. Just pretending anime isn’t like 30 percent pedo shit?
lol ok buddy, 30%? How many have you watched vs being shown shit by people like you pushing a specific narrative about it?
Do I need to run down the Top 50 anime of all time for you, so you can do some actual math instead of posting ignorance?
Not sure this is an unpopular opinion. At least not the people I know unless they are defending it behind closed doors.
I wish there was a block anime feature to Lemmy
It’s super easy…
I filter what I can, but it ain’t 100%
I almost never see anime with my filters. Most anime posts are from anime comms or anime servers instead of random
it really isn’t, or if it is it isn’t intuitive and I would love to learn. (can I please stop seeing the idiots that think AI will just go away in a few years)
You are responsible for your feed. That means you need to actively block what you don’t want to see. You can block on 3 levels. Block the Author, Community, or Instance. It’s very effective. Start wide, then go narrow. After a few weeks of scrolling and blocking, now I don’t see any politics and I engage with posts I care about. Sure, there’ll be random comments still I encounter trying to bring that stuff into the discussion, but more and more time now passes between having to block individual people.
One thing I agree it is harder to do for are general communities like this one since there are no word filters. But again that’s a risk you take allowing general communities in your feed.
Maybe it depends on what client you use, but on Mlem it’s very easy.
can I please stop seeing the idiots that think AI will just go away
aw, someone yucking your AI slop yummy?
Aren’t you the guy that defends pedophilia?
no, mostly just tired of the wishful thinking that it will vanish / be regulated out if existence, I won’t deny I think LLMs can be helpful but are also extremely harmful to the internet.
well, good news: AI is going to go away. It’s bubble is going to pop, it’s going to take out a huge chunk of the economy, it’s foolish, single purpose infrastructure will go down as one of the stupidest investments of human civilization, and it’ll be a punchline for generations like tulip futures and the segway changing humanity.
edit: go back to reddit ffs, they love ai garbage
I don’t give a shit about the companies, the models aren’t going away.
the models aren’t going away.
sure bud.
that’s like saying: z80 microprocessors might go away but the software will stick around.
no, there will be better, newer things created. your models are LLMs. hardly worthy of your adoration
Adults with anime school girl avatars
Some of them, I’m sure. Some people I think just have a favorite character or look like them or relate to them somehow. I live in Japan and it’s not uncommon for adults to have a character for an existing anime or even something drawn for them in that style based on their own appearance (men and women, old and young) in LINE (messaging app) or whatnot.
As for the rest (i.e. being actually attracted to or overly-obsessed with), yeah, that’s getting in to creep/pedo territory.
Exactly, as someone called out in this post: I really just like Osage-chan. I find her super relatable and fun.
That said its not ok to be weird and have “waifus” that are not age appropriate for you.
If you watch anime as an adult you have to grow up and recognize you are watching media targeted for kids and teenagers. You can’t engage with it like you would if you were still that age.
If I were to watch Lucky Star as a teenager, I might have a crush on some of the characters. But as an adult I can recognize the best girl is their teacher Nanako. 🤟
Based opinion
Idgaf if the character you’re drooling over is canonically X, Y or Z; if they have been drawn like a child then the artist drawing them has done so intentionally (two points if you can guess why they draw characters like that)
I’m sure you’re reading into it too much. Artists don’t code their fetishes into things.
That might seem like a joke but it’s kno- ahem
Money?
If your argument was true, then GTA or other violent games should cause mass shootings and lots of killings. They don’t, because they in principle work the same as cultural works. But they don’t. Now you’re gonna go into an ad hoc argument filled up with fallacies, because what you’re saying is just simply false.
He’s not making a causal argument that the media causes something to happen. Just that someone who creates media has a specific intent when they do it. They’re not the same thing.
Your argument is fundamentally flawed because you’re discussing the media causing something, and the comment above is discussing media made for something. I don’t think anyone is making the claim sexualizing (things that appear to be) children in anime is causing people to have sexual relations with children. People are saying that sexualizing children in anime is done specifically to appeal to a subset of people that we should not be making media for.
No, because the problem is again that only if something causes real and verifiable harm, it can be considered bad, but as I exposed, that content doesn’t cause any harm at all and it can even avoid harm to be done because of the fact that they’ll release these impulses into/towards something safer and harmless.
If your only argument is moral repulsion or mere distaste, then your position is invalid by nature.
Normalizing it does cause harm. It makes them think their behavior is more acceptable than it is.
I feel like the normalization is a net negative, but not something grotesque. Obviously younger characters are necessary for specific narratives. It also allows for specific people (several standard deviations outside of normal) to feel comfortable with ever-more misanthropic fantasies.
But hey, so does AI, so…
Douses the internet in gasoline and lights a cigar
Yeah, AI is when everything goes into shit, because it’s trained with pictures and videos of real children. That’s fucked up.
Also it enable abusers to harass people online with deepfakes.
Now you’re gonna go into an ad hoc argument filled up with fallacies, because what you’re saying is just simply false.
Good job trying to get ahead of it, but unfortunately no, I’m simply going to ask what you think my argument is.
Adult curves are difficult. Same reason high fashion models all are shaped like boards.
On the contrary, the most common sexualization I found of young/child characters add/use most of the times mature sexual features, including curves: next time cover the face or immagine a face swap, if what remains is compatible with developed sexual attributes the sexyness is plain neuron activation… I only cold shiver when inmature body features or proportions are highlighted or detailed in a sexual context or attitude, those are the disgusting ones… at least for me
Ohhhh yeah. that shit. Yaah… used to be on multiple fake sites before AI took the fun out of it and it was common to get guys that would hit the forums with fakes made using headshots of actresses that were from when they were UA. Usually the site mods would pull down the image then have a chat with the faker and if they kept at it then they got them banned. The one that was top of the UA offender list for years was the actress that portrayed Hermione Granger from Harry Potter films. IIRC, that was Emma Watson. It was exasperating at times.
Sturgeon’s Law states that 90% of everything is shit, and this absolutely applies to anime. The worst of the worst can be disgusting as hell, and I hate how often minors are sexualized.
That said, the good stuff is good! I can name a handful of high school romance anime/manga I’ve really enjoyed (Kaguya-sama: Love is War, Horimiya, You and I are Polar Opposites), and what these series have in common is that they’re about romance, not sex. The characters aren’t presented as sex objects for the audience to lust over, they’re characters in a coming-of-age story, and the stories I just named are all kept wholesome and PG-13. I would honestly recommend watching these just to see if they change your opinion at all.
High school settings are popular because that’s often the most pivotal turning point in a person’s life - ideal for a coming-of-age story. For many people that’s often when they had their most active social lives, and for a writer it’s a pretty easy shortcut to giving the cast a reason to interact with each other.
And honestly, I think a large part of it also has to do with nostalgia for the audience. I’m sure you’ve heard the term ‘loneliness epidemic’ used a lot these days, high school settings can be appealing to those who lack much of a social circle today and maybe feel like their lives have all been downhill since then.
I don’t doubt for a minute that a good number of people with waifu avatars probably want to fuck the anime schoolgirl. But I think that there are a lot more people who just wish they could be the anime schoolgirl.
Anime about the dating lives of school kids is not something that interests me. Romance as a genre is not something I’m interested in, and as an adult, the lives of teenagers also aren’t interesting to me. I’d rather watch sports than teenagers kissing, and I hate watching sports.
If you (general) peaked in high school and like anime school girl shit because it reminds you of your ‘glory days’, lmao, ngl that’s just sad.
Adults wanting to be/be seen online as anime school girls are on par with the adults who have no qualms with sharing online that they want to fuck anime school girls. You’re both creeps imo.
Hopefully none of you work with kids/teenagers.
Sorry for enjoying some entertaining comedies I guess. If you just don’t enjoy romcoms at all then fair enough I guess, taste is subjective, but I think you’re just projecting too much outrage that other people enjoy things. There’s truly nothing wrong with any of the shows I mentioned, and even if they’re not to your taste I think you could at least get a better idea of why someone else might like it.
I think much of your post and position are fairly reasonable and common positions, particularly here on the fediverse, but I do kinda think you lost the plot here. Just cause you dont see the appeal of romance doesnt no one else does, and that the only reason someone would watch a romantic coming of age story is because they wanna fuck kids 😅
I like romance. I like seeing the themes of romance across a lot of people. Though generally queer romance, as it makes me happy to see stories of queer love and it feels like I have more cultural connection to the way romance looks in queer stories, regardless of pairing.
Romance frequently gets written as young people, because its a time of discovery and that heightens the tension as the characters are learning to navigate things together.
I didnt peak in highschool, I was going through a mental health crisis, I barely even got to experience highschool honestly. I just like seeing romance in media. The highschool ones usually aren’t quite as good though, especially in anime and manga- they tend to be fairly samey and rely on tropes, and as a result end up with underdeveloped characters. Not always though, sometimes they’re really beautifully written :)
I can understand by being grossed out by depictions of young people experiencing intimate things. But like, there are stories about people in all stages of life 😅 a coming of age story is a familiar structure because its a big experience that really shapes you as a human. And romance is a fairly core human experience for most folks too (though certainly not all). I think you just dont get the point, and thats okay but not everyone who finds joy or sees meaning in that kinda story is a wannabe child fucker
Why is my saying I dislike the romance and teen genres something people are interpreting as me stating blanket rules on what others are supposed to like?
I was sharing my dislike for the genres because I was replying to a comment reccomending shows from them to me to watch.
You can like whatever media you like, people will have opinions about it and judge you for it, just like people do with everything, and that is normal. You can like things other people have negative opinions about, it is allowed.
You like sexy children in anime and I don’t, good for you. I am judging you and think you’re gross, but you are still fully capable of continuing to enjoy your media despite this. See how it works?
You misunderstand- I do not think that your judgement means I can’t like something. I think your judgement is ill-founded and dependent on assumptions that you have as a product of not relating or enjoying the things you’re judging, and I’m passing judgment on it exactly in the way you’re passing judgment on what I’m saying. Only I think my judgement is actually well founded, and I think that’s reflected by the fact that no one but you disagreed with or disliked my comment, where many people have otherwise agreed with you.
You like sexy children in anime and I don’t, good for you
That’s a transparently bad faith straw man, and you look like a moron for saying it as though its anything less than a transparently bad faith straw man
I’m ace. I don’t generally find people sexually attractive lol. Not really a thing that happens for me.
You (GENERAL YOU) like sexy children in anime and I don’t, good for you (GENERAL YOU)
Hopefully this clarifies the situation.
I don’t know that I believe thats an honest reframing but frankly it doesn’t matter. A ‘general you’ still implies it’s true for me among others.
If its not true for me, maybe, just maybe, theres a way of relating to this you just don’t understand, and not everyone who enjoys romantic coming of age stories is a horrible person who wants to fuck children. Just maybe.
The fact that you just told someone who likes coming of age romance stories that they “are allowed to like sexy children” is telling on yourself. It means you cannot look at teenagers who are in love without getting aroused.
Your comments all over these threads make it very obvious that you are a self-hating pedo trying desperately to convince everyone, including yourself, that you aren’t one.
Most people don’t look at teenagers holding hands or confessing that they’re in love and think “wow look at those sexy teenagers”.
You have a genuine problem.
Get help.
(I’m ace, which personally I think makes it way funnier that he feels that’s a biting criticism lol)
Oh wow that really does make this even funnier holy shit 😂
Please see my comment here for information that directly responds to elements of this comment: https://piefed.social/comment/13300209
I was going to agree but then I remembered I just watched the new Carrie and enjoyed it. A show about teens in high school (though some of the actors look 30 lol)
Still, i generally agree with the sentiment. Seems like half the internet is creepy adult men with anime girl pfps. It’s disconcerting for sure.
You’re just posting wildly popular opinions now. Losers and rapists are there same kind of person? What is this, Thanksgiving in Chicago?
Sorry, but this is a very common opinion. Perhaps phrased in an unpopular way, but it’s still super common
So why is this not called out more?
If you all call Trump and Epstein pedos for fucking teenage girls, what makes your anime school girl yuri obsessions not pedo shit?
Peridot largely because there’s a difference between seeming creepy and being so.
It isn’t like your average anime waifu loving fanfreak started out obsessed in their thirties. While it’s true that anime isn’t just for kids, it is where most people first encounter it. Some folks just stay fans rather than developing other interests that replace it as a primary hobby.
It changes the landscape. There’s a massive difference between someone that’s obsessed with an anime teenager and someone that’s actively trying to fuck real teenagers. Hell, there’s a difference between that and pedophilia, but that’s a semantic quibble, not substantial thing.
It’s like the difference between fantasy and reality.
That being said it is called out to some degree or another. Not so much using an avatar, but the people that get obsessed with some thousand year old demon that just happens to look five catch hell a good bit. Even online, but most definitely in meatspace
One is real.
(I don’t get the anime shit either, but there’s quite a difference to real rape, international sex trafficing, etc and fucking cartoons)
Someone made a post below about one taking a liking to the stuff at an appropriate age… Never reassessing that one is 40 and still on about [insert trope]… Which is very valid.
Now apply that logic to fps games and school shootings
Yeah and do racism and misogyny next! Because everybody knows that a normal media diet full of race and gender based violence has absolutely no effect on the people who consume it, right?
And obviously any racist and/or misogynistic social behaviours from fans cannot be attributed as influenced or normalised by the media they consume, I mean clearly society just is racist and misogynistic anyway so that can’t be it, that’s just normal. Right?
We should totally defend all the racism and misogyny in our media and feel attacked if anyone points out that the media we like makes us look like racist misogynists!
I looked at your comment history and determined that it really not worth interacting with you. Goodbye
Because it’s not true.
i guess this is the one place where people in power actually get more shit. although you are comparing actual harm to content consumption, i do support adding one more thing onto the average guy judgement pile
Are “reborn as villainess” pedo bait? It’s still high school, even if it’s victorian/fantasy era, and have a lot of the same tropes.
I wish Japan would slow down with all of it. You get really deep and cool animes sometimes only to have it covered in weird stuff. I can count on my hand the amount of shows I can recommend in general without coming off as a creep.
I just started Re:Zero season 4 and Shaula is too much.
Re:zero has a great plot but has full episodes dedicated to lolicon fan service. It’s actually specifically the one I was thinking of. One of the witches in the rabbit arc was a child in a G-string. Very frustrating.
what’s that one show, Made in Abyss? i enjoyed it but you take a pretty big dose of “Japanese Culture” with your adventure plot
The anime somewhat cleans up some scenes that are in the very much more paedophilic manga where each release also features sexual nude drawings of the minor characters on the last page of each issue, or at least a lot of them.
Edit: Also I remember an interview with the author where he has a doll of the bunny character and sniffs her crotch repeatedly. It’s considered a “joke” in the community, he’s done this repeatedly. Nanachi I think? The nude drawing of her in one issue says “Nanachi won’t let you sniff it. Has a mild scent” in their backpage character profile.
I’m not a huge anime fan, but I have seen some anime and western animation that takes place in highschool, or highschool age, so I guess I get to have a casual opinion.
And that opinion is that when I see animated characters in highschool I don’t think of actual highschool kids, because highschool kids are gross children. Similar to how Hollywood will have a TV show about teens and cast a bunch of 28 year olds to play them, there’s not really any connection or association in my mind between these characters and real youths I might see on my walk to work or on the bus.
The reason that highschool keeps coming up is because the setting has a lot of constraints and dynamism. True children have no agency in the world, and adults are set in their ways or part of the system, whereas teens are becoming people, and so there’s a question about who they’ll become. There are adults and structures that have some level of authority over them, which can make the stories have conflict, but those adults don’t hold ultimate authority like they would with toddlers or something, so there’s a chance of victory. This is why even shows that aren’t about highschool, like Avatar the Last Airbender, still feature kids in an age where if there was highschool, they’d be in it. Or fantasy adventure + “highschool” like Owl House. They’re stories of self-discovery that most adults don’t experience because they already self-discovered and they’re through that now.
So my answer is that I don’t want to convince you of anything. If, when you see a character that’s meant to be in highschool, you feel like that is a highschool person in real life, that’s fine. And I could see that being creepy. But when I experience an animated character they don’t feel like a real person to me, they’re an abstract sketch of a person, lacking in detail, and one of the details they lack is “actual organic age and the implications of the body characteristics that come with it”. Instead they’re just “confident” or “awkward” or “shy” or “bold, but reckless” or whatever.
There’s nothing about them that feels anything like any real person I’ve met or seen.
I don’t think it unpopular, it’s the most normie take ever. Anime and Hentai are just another medium for every fetish that exists and there’s some really weird stuff out there. Personally I don’t get those specific ones, but also don’t see it as harming anyone, and also that it doesn’t “activate” the same part of the brain.
I worry about your social circle that you think this is unpopular.
I’m talking about the people I see online.
Just went to a retro video game convention and they’re was like 7 booths with with anime art. All the art is basically young girls with massive cleavage. It seems wrong.
Shit like this is why I stopped watching anime. The normalized pedophilia and xenophobia is too much.
(Unrelated but another reason I stopped watching was because I couldn’t stand the squeaky falsetto female voices that Japanese culture forces women to have. I always watched a dub whenever possible.)
There are plenty of great animes without any of the aforementioned, don’t think you need to quit it all together. Just avoid the obvious glorifying of sexual assault/harassment and child/teenager sexualization ones and call out people for supporting and normalizing those.
There’s still a ton of anime that don’t have the usual turnoffs. Shows like ACCA: 13 Territory Inspection Dept. and Mushi-Shi and Orb: On the Movements of the Earth. I have a whole list of them if anyone’s interested
