Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Should Kids Watch Anime

Should Kids Watch Anime?
By Sabrina Murray
sailormoonyes
Sailor Moon
 
This is a question that many parents ask. I know my parents questioned it when I started to watch anime. Parents, you don't have to worry though. Anime is just another form of a cartoon. Yes some cartoons are geared towards teenagers, just as some are for adults.

When you question letting your child watch anime, just remember this, Looney Tunes started out as geared towards adults. They would show them before showing clips of the war or a movie that was in the theater. These Looney Tunes would include fighting in WWII or even Hitler himself. There was even a Disney cartoon called "Education for Death" or "The Story of One of 'Hitler's Children.'"
Back then those cartoons were considered evil for children to watch. They were to violent or to sexual. Now kids watch them starting at a young age. I know I watched them when I was younger.

Yes, some animes are geared towards adults. These are ones your kids should not watch. Just remember, if Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network (excluding adult swim) are not showing the anime on their stations, it might be to much for a younger child to watch. Animes that are normally shown on these stations are Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, Avatar, Yu-Gi-Oh!, any Miyazaki Ghibli film, Rurouni Kenshin, Any Gundam, Digimon, Pokemon, etc.

miyazaki film
Films of Miyazaki and Ghibli

Adult Swim is another chapter of Cartoon Network. This is more of a teen watching program. Animes that are geared towards teens are Naruto, Bleach, Inuyasha, Cowboy Bebop, Yu-Yu-Hakusho, Full Metal Alchemist, etc. These are fine for teenagers to watch, but they do have censored if your younger child is pushing for the anime.

adultswimfma

Then there are the ones that are clearly for adults. These may not even be sexually explicit. They may be to violent or messed up for some one who is not mentally prepared for them. Some children are mature to watch these, but still be advised.

fatezeross
Screenshot: Fate Zero

Then there is Hentai. This, parents, are animes that are basically porn. Your kids should not be watching this at all. If your child says something about this, then you should look into the anime.

Don't just assume anime is bad just because you heard one was very explicit. Look into the subject a little. Your kid will appreciate it. My parents sat down and watched one with me, just to see what it was about. After that, they were fine with me watching them. Believe it or not, animes do teach your kids certain things, either through history, scientifically, or just learning Japanese. They can be educational. Watching another cultures films allows your child to become more diverse. Anime is just that, another cultures film.

In anime, they don't always have happy endings. The thing about anime is, they don't hide the true nature of a human's life. There are characters who die. There are characters who turn evil. In animes, the bad guy can win. In Japanese anime, they also tend to be a little sexual. The female characters will have features that are sometimes a bit exxaggerated. Japan is a country that is just more relaxed on subjects such as violence and nudity.

Let your children watch anime, just make sure they are watching the right kind.

Anime Ratings:
All ages - A/E (USA G)
10 and up - Y/10+ (USA PG)
Teens 13 and up - T/13+ (USA PG-13)
Older Teens 16 and up - OT/16+ (USA R)
Adult Content - M/18+ (USA NC-17)

8 comments:

  1. Very useful for parents that care.
    thanks for writing this up

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  2. this is a very useful article for parents

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  3. The thing is that you spelled anime for plural animes, it's only anime.

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  4. Hell, I'm 11 and I watch things like corpse party and attack on Titan. The truth is kids like watching children getting murderd. It has better and darker storylines than crap like my nieghbor Totoro. We don't give a fuck about little kid shows. There are MATURE kids out there.

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  5. I only would watch American Cartoons Like Tom and Jerry and Pink panther but nothing else that is considered educational ,mess up my brain.

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  6. Make sure your children are watching Anime that is appropriate like Pokemon and Yugi oh and Not Anime for grown ups.

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  7. Do not let them watch any Hentai Anime.

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