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Sakura Con - Friday - Parents' Guide
to Anime
 Do good parents
let their children watch anime? Sure. Daniel Harrison, one of the leaders
of the Anime Northwest club, has six children whom he calls an "otaku family."
However, he takes care to let those children watch only anime that he feels
is suitable for them. |
 Anime tends
to be more intense than standard American TV cartoons, and parents have
to be careful what they allow their children to watch. It goes without
saying that parents shouldn't let their kids get anywhere near "hentai"
or "yaoi" material, but Harrison says decisions can get difficult with
other material. "Japan has different values. You'll see things there that
you won't see in the U.S.," he noted. |
 "It depends
on what your children can handle," Harrison continued. "There's nothing
that's necessarily good or bad, except for the hentai stuff." What about
the occasional nudity in shows such as Ranma 1/2? "It's done in w way where
it's not dangerous to kids - it's not sexual," Harrison said, comparing
it to the family bathing scenes in My Neighbor Totoro. |
 What about
the graphic violence in some anime? It can be too intense for children
(although the author notes that Princess Mononoke, with its dismemberment
and decapitation scenes, has been advertised for children by some theaters).
Harrison said he was worried about the reaction that the violent Rurouni
Kenshin OVA's would get from parents when it was shown by his anime
club. "I thought one woman was mad because of the expression on her face,
but I later found she was really into the show." |
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