Moms discuss whether or not these Japanese cartoons are appropriate for their tweens.
We wrote Is Manga Porn?, sparking controversy over a 12-year-old who was suspended for sketching Manga characters in school.
DB had this to say: "I think these comics are very inappropriate!!! If these were real people instead of cartoons, they would be considered pornographic.
I think the school was totally justified in their punishment of this boy. And I want to know where the parents of this kid are, and why they allowed him to turn in an assignment like this!!!"
April responds: "Manga is not porn. My teen is addicted to it. Manga has ratings just like movies A for all ages, Y for Youth, T for Teen, and M for 18+. So just check your teen or tween's Manga ratings to see if it is appropriate or not."
Do you think Manga is inappropriate for your children?
I think if you are a moral, christian, loving, concerned parent and you have to ask ---- you already have your answer !! You should NOT have had to ask in the first place !!
drawing a generic manga figure is no worse than drawing a generic superman. it is not the style you draw in, it is the content that might become an issue. i would much rather my child draw a short skirted manga character like was pictured on this site than a bottomless superman taking down lois lane. of course having seen what some "adults" have drawn on bathroom walls....
I think manga is kinda stupid, but generally, it is appropriate. I think I have this next part right, but I'm not sure. Hentei or however it is spelled is a subclass of manga that is basically animated porn. It's really worse then porn because your watching cartoons have sex.
Hi! I'm new here and just had to toss in my 2cents on this one. With 9 children we have several languages being studied in our home and Japanese is one of them. The word Manga in Japanese means cartoon or comic and much like our comics they can range from something like charlie Brown to something like Vampira or the Simpsons. As with American comics I think that parents should always be aware of what young children are viewing in these comic books. We socialize with several Japanese families and they are often shocked that American parents let their children read some of the Japanese comic books that in their own country older children would not even be allowed to see.
Pokemon is manga and I think that's perfectly fine for kids. Agreed, parents should check the ratings.
Japan is a completely different culture than ours. Have you seen the uniforms kids wear to school? The skirts and shorts are pretty short, even for younger kids; however, it's all a part of their culture. I think parents should monitor what their kids are watching, and agree with April. If there are ratings available for cartoons, parents should observe them. Our kids follow from our lead, and if we are not watching out for their best interest, then what does that say to our kids? Besides, these cartoons have been around forever. Many of us watched them as kids. I think it's all individually based.
Japanese cartoons have been around for a long time. Manga is a take off of the Ako movies from the 70's. The development of these cartoons has actually toned down their graphics since the 60's and 70's. I like the Japanese cartoons.