Anime Banning Anime

[natetron46]

Yes exactly, I said the saem thing earlier, the responsibility goes to the parents. When children are young they cannot make choices as well as an older person, and they may not even know the difference between right and wrong. In those cases, the parents must be aware of what their children are watching so they can make a judgement as to whether or not its good.

[Solo Tremaine]

[quote name='k9-Girl']It is a pitty that preaching to the choir is just that... preaching to the choir...[/quote][COLOR=#503F86]Welcome to OtakuBoards, k9-Girl. Please be aware that posts this short are generally considered spam at OtakuBoards, even if they put across a decent point. Try and add as much detail into them as possible.

And since you're new, I'd best direct you to the [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/rules.php?]Rules[/URL], too. They're essential reading, heh.[/COLOR]

[IceRose]

[QUOTE=Heero Darkangel]Where i come from they're thinking of banning violent cartoons and animes such as all DBZ cartoons, Yu-Gi-Oh etc...Why? because they think it's not good for kids and teens to be watching that sort of non-educational programming...they say that it destroy's the youths minds and thats why there's alot of street wars, suicides, bullying, killing...etc...

My opinion on this...It's stupid, Fancy blamming cartoons for something that will always happen. They think that getting rid of Cartoons and Animes will bring down the violency toll and create more peace throughout the youth but what about the violence in movies, books etc..Cartoons and Animes have nothing to do with the violence in youth today...sure there have been some that have tried acting like their fav characters but thats just like acting like your fav sports star and yeah a couple have been hurt doing that but thats no reason to ban cartoons and animes all because of two teens who should of known better is it?...for crying out loud!!!! why punish all of the cartoon and anime lovers for two teens stupid mistake...this is totally screwed up...

Share your opinion on this, am i the only one who thinks that this is insane!!!!

I edited my thread a bit because of the i got a post from densuke (I think i spelt the name right) claiming that there are too many hotheads which naturally there would be because it is a touchy subject for cartoon lovers, I'm not looking for answers because that ruling is up to the government over here, i can't stop them if they decide to ban violent cartoons...Don't get me wrong I'm not impressed about what they're thinking of doing but as i said I just wanted to see what others thought of this. Now the name of the country i am talking about is NZ, this is where i'm from. A few years ago they were thinking of banning violent cartoons to keep the peace here but then noone heard anything about it until a while ago when the topic resurfaced, they had it on the news and they ran a servey about it on the Good Morning Show, some people agreed and some didn't. The government are still thinking about it and if there is anyone from NZ who is on here then YOU SHOULD KNOW! Now the only thing i wanted to know was what was your opinion on this...I didn't want to cause any conflict between anyone. I didn't want people thinking that this is a joke or someone asking for a summary on this subject all because they thought that there were too many hotheads and that i was looking for Answers! thats not what i wanted.[/QUOTE]

I totally agree with you, is like they use violence in any movie, video game and t.v. series so what is so bad about anime that includes violence and harsh language. It's just not fair, the worst part is that by baning anmations they are brainwashing kids just to watch Hello Kitty or Bugs Bunny(even Bugs uses violence)

[Dagger]

This morning's Washington Post ran an interesting front-page article about the rise of youth violence in Japan. The reporter implied, albeit indirectly, that Japan's pop culture (and specifically anime/manga) are at least in part responsible for some of the killings which have taken place.

On a side note, I edited the title of the thread so that it would reflect the better (i.e. more open-minded and calm) aspects of this discussion.

[quote=WashingtonPost.com]

[B]Youth Violence Has Japan Struggling for Answers[/B]
[I]11-Year-Old's Killing of Classmate Puts Spotlight on Sudden Acts of Rage[/I]
[SIZE=1]
By Anthony Faiola
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, August 9, 2004; Page A01[/SIZE]

[B]SASEBO, Japan --[/B] On a cloudless afternoon in this sleepy port city, an 11-year-old girl drenched in blood and clutching a box cutter walked into the lunchroom at her elementary school. Teachers and students froze, assuming the sixth-grader known for her lighthearted nature had gravely hurt herself -- but she quickly dispelled that impression, witnesses said, by uttering a few chilling words: "This is not my blood."

Minutes later, teachers found Satomi Mitarai, a 12-year-old girl, lying in a pool of gore in an empty classroom overlooking the sandy playground at Okubo Elementary School. The 11-year old killer, according to her own admissions as recounted in interviews with school officials and counselors, had led Satomi, remembered for her toothy grin, into the room. The attacker drew the curtains before slitting her victim's throat and brutally kicking the dying girl's head and sides, according to those interviewed.

The killing two months ago marked the latest and one of the most extreme in an extraordinary series of youth crimes in Japan -- including a number perpetrated by children who did not show unusual behavior beforehand. In many of the cases, the children involved seemed to snap without warning, in fits of [I]kireru[/I], sudden acts of rage.

The surge in youth violence has sparked calls for a reassessment of the increasingly violent and sexually charged youth culture in Japan, now exported worldwide through animation, comic strips and video games.

The young killer in Sasebo, whose name is being withheld under Japanese law, was an avid fan of "[B]Battle Royale[/B]," a popular teen movie turned Internet game in which students kill one another through blood sport. Although the girl is still undergoing psychological evaluation, she is believed to have been set off by a seemingly minor offense: The victim, one of the girl's closest friends, once called her "overweight" and "prissy" on a Web site.

"What is so scary is that she seemed normal to us in every way," said Masashi Watanabe, head of the Sasebo Children's Counseling Center, whose staff interviewed the girl after the killing. "She did not seem like a troubled girl; there were no warning signs picked up by her teachers or parents. She could have been any of our children."

The youth crime wave is damaging the national sense of personal security in a country so safe that young children often ride subways or walk home through teeming cities unaccompanied by adults.

In recent years -- particularly since 1997, when a 14-year-old boy cut off the head of an 11-year old and left it at the entrance gate of his school -- Japan has experienced a rising tide of serious youth crimes, including arson, assault, rape, manslaughter and premeditated murder.

Incidents of violence on school grounds have increased fivefold in Japan over the past decade to 29,300 in 2002, leading the national Mainichi newspaper to warn of Japanese schoolyards descending "into battlefields." Violence by younger children in particular has risen rapidly, with the number of minors under 14 processed for violent crime increasing 47 percent in 2003 from a year earlier. One study by a children's research institute found that as many as 30 percent of high school and middle school students had experienced sudden acts of rage at least once a month. In response to rising youth crime, Japan lowered the age for criminal prosecution in 2001 from 16 to 14 and might lower it further.

Experts blame the violence on low self-confidence among children, and cite pressures on family life during the country's 13-year economic slump. Finances in Japan, the world's second-largest economy, are on the rise, but years in the doldrums sent divorce, domestic violence and suicide rates soaring, tearing at traditional family life and alienating child from parent.

"In Japan, youth crime is not a problem related to poverty," said Akira Sakuta, a noted criminal psychiatrist. "But rather, you can say it's more related to stress and developmental problems from children feeling they are not wanted or are lacking attention."

Many youths have retreated into the virtual world of the Internet, now easily accessed out of adult view on their cell phones. Children can view popular short animated films -- anime -- such as "[B]Gunslinger Girl[/B]," a tale about murderous cyborg schoolgirls in plaid miniskirts.

Japan's top literary prize this year went to "Snakes and Earrings" by Hitomi Kanehara, 20. Shocking youth apathy, sex and violence are central elements of the book, a favorite of young people.

To be sure, violent crime is not the only social ill facing Japanese youths. Suicides by minors in Japan shot up for the fifth consecutive year in 2003, jumping 22.1 percent compared to a 6.9 percent increase for adults over the same period.

An estimated hundreds of thousands of Japanese students, from grade school to college, are suffering from a behavioral disorder known as hikikomori, meaning they are unable to leave their homes or cope with daily life, according to experts and sociologists who have studied the phenomenon.

Thousands of teenagers, mostly girls in large cities throughout Japan, have entered into what authorities describe as voluntary prostitution, marketing themselves to adults through Internet sites accessed by cell phone, mostly to earn money for designer handbags and brand-name clothing.

As society searches for answers, the Japanese tradition of discreet affection is coming under fire. A nationwide public service campaign on subways, trains and television is urging parents to hug their children.

"We are confronting a serious problem of how to reach out to our children and teach them the difference between right and wrong," said Kohichi Tsurusaki, superintendent of the Sasebo Municipal Board of Education.

In a country where parents and children traditionally shy away from expressing their feelings, the power of the virtual world has perhaps had amplified effect, experts said. Children, one government expert said, have become too used to dead characters coming back to life with the touch of a button on a game console. The young killer in Sasebo, for instance, did not appear to grasp fully the fact that she had ended her friend's life, telling the family court that she wanted to apologize to her friend in person for the deed, according to sources familiar with the case.

"Many Japanese children live in small block apartments with no pets and are not exposed to real death," said Takeshi Seto, a specialist in youth crime at Japan's Justice Ministry. "They may not understand the concept as much as they should."

Without doubt, some youth crimes -- such as a 12-year old who sexually mutilated and then pushed a 4-year old to his death off the roof of a parking lot in Nagasaki last year -- involve disturbed children with histories of psychotic behavior.

But many students in Sasebo have commiserated not just with the victim here -- but with her killer. According to school officials, the 11-year-old had been under parental pressure to get better grades and was forced to quit the school basketball team to study harder. Insults from her friend may have seemed slight, but students appeared able to understand the girl's rage.

"I wasn't so surprised," one junior high school girl wrote in an Internet chat for students hosted by NHK TV network. "I have experienced the feeling that I hated someone to an extent that I wanted to kill the person . . . a couple of times."

During another Internet chat organized by a local television station in the nearby city of Nagasaki, a student going by the handle "Arrow of Pain" wrote: "I understand so painfully how the offender felt. I have experienced being lonely, and being disliked . . . and of course forced to do things by my parents."

Sasebo, a city of 240,000 located about 200 miles southwest of Tokyo, was already reeling from the killing in June 2003 of a teenage boy by bullies at a local high school. The community is trying to heal in part by fortifying parent groups, encouraging parent-child conferences, and offering broader counseling to children and teenagers.

Part of the process was a recent memorial for Satomi Mitarai, whose father, Kyoji Mitarai, was the Sasebo bureau chief for the Mainichi newspaper and had lost his wife to cancer. Before his daughter's schoolmates placed large yellow sunflowers on a white altar topped with a large portrait of the slain girl at the local community center, Mitarai, fighting back tears, beseeched students to learn a lesson from his daughter's death.

"Please do not forget that right beside you are people who love you the most," he pleaded. "Please do not forget that there are people who would be very sad if you disappeared, even if not by death. Please treasure your lives."

[SIZE=1]Special correspondents Akiko Yamamoto and Sachiko Sakamaki contributed to this report.[/SIZE][/quote]

~Dagger~

[Solo Tremaine]

[color=#503f86]I'll really only be re-iterating what I've said before, but if families don't communicate with each other properly, things like this will always happen. It's not just the influences of the media, but if children don't learn to fully understand the consequences of various actions then they won't be any the wiser to do it.

When expressing of emotions happens only inside the home, things that happen during the day have a tendency to be ignored because they've passed, but the frustration can still run deep within the person.

It always seems to be the 'quiet' ones who get the press when they carry out attacks: this must be some symptom of the problem- at least when people have a history of violence you're able to monitor their process to some degree, but if a child never discusses or outwardly shows how they feel, they won't be able to be told or find out for themselves the right way about solving their frustrations.

So, if they see a programme in which a lead character is able to wreak gory justice upon people who annoy them, they won't necessarily know that it's wrong to do- the boundaries between fantasy and reality are blurred. And the consequences of the actions aren't taken into account. Once a character in a film or anime dies, there is no great long period spent without them- they're just not there, and more often then not the full consequences of a killing aren't fully explained.

The children exemplified in this article are aged 11-14, and they're at a dangerous age in which they're impressionable to ideas and able to carry out things they attempt to copy. I don't think anime in itself is dangerous [i]if[/i] it's watched responsibly and the age limits are obeyed. A child being able to see something like Battle Royale before they're old and responsible enough to know what they should and shouldn't be doing is wrong.

The article already said that they're able to download anime and films onto their cellphones. I think therein lies at least part of the problem- there's no way to forceably control what children watch all the time. But even so, parents should be able to teach their children the difference between fantasy and reality, right and wrong. Better education and better age restriction controls are needed to stop it from happening further.[/color]

[Dagger]

One thing the article failed to mention is that in Japan, most anime air either very late at night or very early in the morning. An eleven-year-old would probably find it far easier to watch [B]Naruto[/B] (which is actually fairly violent in its own right) or [B]Doraemon[/B] than something like [B]Gantz[/B] or [B]Elfen Lied[/B].

I don't know for sure, but I suspect that placing the reporter's remarks about cell phones equipped for Internet access in the same paragraph as his reference to [B]Gunslinger Girl[/B] was a bit misleading. Few anime are actually streamed online, and if a child wanted to download episodes of a certain series, he'd probably use Winny and a PC rather than his cell phone.

~Dagger~

[Sir Gawain]

Here's a little thought: those same people in the government will be replaced by our generation who are more tolerant of such things. Overall, the idea of banning anime is silly. For one, the US would become severly unpopular. There really are people out there in foreign governments who are that devoted. Second, no matter where you are in the world, you'll find a way to get it. If banned, it will only make the problem worse. And third, KIDS will protest. If Martin Luther King could make kids get involved in what they believe in, then the number of anime fans would simply take up a WHOLE LOT MORE than Washington. In case anyone has anything bad to say about my comments, I will detect it. Back to the topic. Sir, if your government wants to ban anime, simply do the following:
Sit down outside wherever the decision will be made.
If they say yes, stand up slowly.
Bring a magephone and laugh at them until someone happens to get ticked off enough to take you down.
Finally, run for it and start a revolution with as many people as possible. ^_^
Forget the last part. But you must take a stand. Everyone has a voice, use it now. Of course, there are some interesting legal documents that you should look for, especially the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
"We have the natural born right to the pursuit of happiness." -Thomas Jefferson. If they don't listen to the government, then they are as good as out of office. As for people who feel that violence is a big deal in anime; NEVER look for the Des Blood games! Ha! If you only knew what kids these days were capable of, then violence isn't the biggest problem. Some games aren't rated M for violence. I hope everyone here understands what I'm saying.

[James]

[color=#707875]I think that the article quoted above actually answers its own question to a large degree.

Personally, I find a lot of similarities between the "school killing" mentioned in the article and the Columbine tragedy.

In the Columbine situation we'd heard all of these reports about the kids liking Doom and so on. In this case we're hearing about the girl liking Battle Royale. Were we asking these same questions when youth violence occurred in the 50's and 60's? I mean, back then, I'd be interested to see if there was a focus on the kind of television shows that kids were watching.

TV isn't the issue. I think that much is clear and I think that it's always been reasonably evident to most people.

In the case of the schoolgirl, I think the issues are a lot more complex than what shows she is watching. We've already heard about Japan's culture and how it discourages displays of affection between parents and children (which is kind of ironic for various reasons). However, I think that this ties in with the pressure that many Japanese parents put on their children, in regard to academic performance.

I can tell you an example with a friend of mine, who's mother is Chinese (his father is from Pakistan). Now, just to be clear...I don't think any of this is [i]because [/i]she is Chinese (or because the parents are Japanese) as such. I think it's a cultural thing more than anything.

I remember that my friend's mother was [i]incredibly [/i]harsh and demanding on him, when it came to schooling. So much so, that she was quite willing to block out other aspects of his life so that he could focus on study (ie: she would have been quite happy to eliminate friendships from his life altogether).

Of course, he still loved her, but I do know that he felt very disconnected from her. It was very difficult for him to feel affection from her. I am certain that her desire for him to do well in school was the result of her love for him -- I'm sure she felt that she was doing the right thing in that sense. Problem is, she created a situation where he may easily have felt that he either wasn't loved, or wasn't wanted. When the majority of her communication with him related to how good his grades were, or how many hours he was studying, that obviously sent a very wrong message -- your grades are more important to me than your happiness.

I think the situation is very apparent in Japan. I remember reading a news report about a practice where kids would jump into a freezing cold river, to "prove their manliness" in front of certain teachers. There were rituals that occurred which mirror initiation rituals in some American colleges (I mean, some of the more nasty stuff that you occasionally hear about on the news). The worst part is that the teachers [i]endorsed [/i]that kind of thing.

So from the very beginning, these kids are being taught to compete, they are being taught that results matter and there is very little room for them to personally experiment, to express themselves as individuals and to relate to adults on a more emotional basis.

I just think there is a fundamental misunderstanding here.

With Columbine, the media failed to mention two important things. One, both of the guys were on medication for ADHD or something...and that medication has since been demonstrated to have various negative side effects. So on the one hand, you could say that this is partly the result of an eagerness to medicate kids to simply solve their behavioral problems.

On the other hand, we know that these guys were teased in school, that they were facing a lot of stress and pressures. And who knows what their home environment was like; presumably it wasn't all that loving or comfortable, if they had the desire to go out there and gun down fellow classmates.

I mean, I just think it's so easy to look at media (anime or otherwise) and suggest that it's to blame. But that is a simple answer to a very complex question.[/color]

[EVA Unit 100]

I have to say that anime shouldn't be banned.

First of all, anime ranges on a huge scale of content. You have the Totoros and Card Captor Sakuras at one end, the Lupins and Inu-Yashas somewhere in the middle, and the Beserks and GANTZes at the opposite end. If banning all anime means banning all things of the same content, than pretty much every form of entertainment would be banned if this was an equal world.

But it isn't an equal world. Funny enough, people seem to ban anime because of excessive FANTASY violence. Series showing real violence like crime shows and stuff on the news not only is not being banned, but parents encourage their kids to watch the stuff. Gundam is violent, but a kid can't go out to buy a giant robot and destroy an entire town. However, the mass murderer all over the news is real and can be imitated. But the newscasters are against murder, so that makes it acceptable. Oh, wait, Amuro hates the entire concept of violence and war. The logic of why the news is good for kids and anime isn't backfires into why anime IS good for kids. Go figure.

You know, several professional psychologists wrote a book titled "Fighting Monsters: Why Fantasy Violence in Movies, Video Games, and Cartoons is Good for Children." The book suggests that showing the consequences of violence teaches kids that use of violence is a dangerous thing, and that how action cartoons show that the feelings of agression can be used for good things instead of being used for bad.

[Guest Mana]

Yeah, I think that it is dumb to outlaw anime. I think maybe they could put it on at a later time or put up a message first saying that it's violent, but banning it is very dumb indeed. Look at all the other things that they put on television.
I have neverheard of banning aniime. I would write to your congressman or whatever to stop this nonsense. Good luck with whatever you do. Hope it doesn't get banned.

[rokas]

[color=sienna][font=comic sans ms][b][i] There was a concept mentioned at the begining of the thread about people who are already violent watching violent programs. When they watch it, it is as if someone is giving a nod to their violent side, that it is ok to come out. Although they can get that nod from anywhere, friends or Hitler. Hell, the only difference between Hitler and (seriously)Violent programs is that the programs don't usualy direct the violence. The people that where True Nazis in those times, there, could have easily been fans of some satanistic anime. Now I'm not saying that anime is devil sent, but it is naive to assume that there wont be products made specifically for people like that. Others might watch them for some entertainment, though if someone decided to ban "Batlle Royal" (I can't think of a more violent example, though I'm sure there must be) I would be Ok with that because it is just a bit of entertainment yet if a person views a film any other way, maybe in that case they shouldn't get to abuse it. Though right now thinking of how number of Pedophiles rose with introduction of internet making pedophilic videos available to them. So I guess the argument in this paragraph shouldn't apply here as it is about extreme cases. However this doesn't mean that such cases do not exist.

"Forbidden fruit, is sweeter". Just look at the number of M rated RPG's in Adventure Square and birth date's of people that sign up for them. If you tell a kid that he's not allowed to watch a cartoon, he will want to see it even more. Distribution of entertainment or information is beyond control of any government now (considering internet and illegal sources) . So in the end, baning is out of question(hence tread's title) it will only give people, who were likely to be influenced, an excuse to actualy take some action like downloading a banned video through internet or buying it of some dealer, who's probably gonna sell you some more serious stuff too, if you pay him more.

So what's the soliution. Well, like a very smart man once told me. "Don't fix what's not broken". I'm sure you all already knew that anime does not make people violent. Just walk up to your local huligans and tell them that you watch "Yu-gi-oh" or even "Ninja Scroll", then you will find out that they are aware of your sexual orintation far better than you are and that they are familiar, intimately, with your mother and stuff like that. People like that don't watch cartoons and see everyone who does in a bad way.

Pity. Maybe if they have watched it they would in fact be more peaceful. Anime ha a lot of good points. As already mentioned it helps you to relax forget about your own problems, it feeds childrens imagination and helps them grow into individuals. Anime also helps you socialise. Some of the oldest memories I got, is of playing as some(it happened too long ago to remember which) charecters from TV, wth my friends. Who just hapened to like the same shows I did. However there is always a risk that children might take a game too seriously. Like the teens who beat up each other pretending to be Power Rangers. The thing is, it's all part of growing up and it's better they make mistakes like that, early on so they could learn that it's wrong before they go and beat each other out of real anger over a lady or a wrong remark.

Just a question before I finish. [quote] [/color][/font][/b]Without doubt, some youth crimes -- such as a 12-year old who sexually mutilated and then pushed a 4-year old to his death off the roof of a parking lot in [b]Nagasaki[/b] last year -- involve disturbed children with histories of psychotic behavior.[/quote][font=comic sans ms][color=sienna][b] I thought Nagasaki was one of the towns which they tested nuclear bombs on. (Maybe it's not psicosis, maybe its mutation from radioactive leftovers.) Is this just a town with a similiar name to the one destroyed or is there some other stuff I overlooked. Any explanation would be apreciated.[/color][/b][/font][/i]

[Billy Shears]

[quote name='rokas][color=sienna][font=comic sans ms][b][i] Just a question before I finish. I thought Nagasaki was one of the towns which they tested nuclear bombs on. (Maybe it's not psicosis, maybe its mutation from radioactive leftovers.) Is this just a town with a similiar name to the one destroyed or is there some other stuff I overlooked. Any explanation would be apreciated.[/color][/b][/font'][/i][/quote]

Nagasaki, along with Hiroshima, were the targets of the U.S.'s atomic bombs, that forced Japan to surrender in WWII. They weren't tested on, they were the attacked. The atomic bombs were tested on remote islands.

Anyways, there are several things the government are going to attack for having violent content. Several videogames, CD's, and movies have been pointed out. But, since you live in New Zealand, I don't know how your system of government works. Maybe you can strike up a petiton with several other anime fans out there and send it to your nations' authority figure.