Forum - View topicINTEREST: Report Linking Russian Suicides with Anime Criticized
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Mercy Falls
Posts: 6 Location: United States |
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I don't see how anime "blurs the lines between the real world and virtual culture" unless you have no concept of reality, in which case even movies, video games and television could be described as doing that. As for "romanticizing death", for every anime that does that, there are probably a dozen movies. Ever seen Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (or any of his films for that matter)? Not to mention music that describes violent fantasies (heard of Eminem?). At the end of the day it's all just creative expression, nothing more than fiction. And the main difference between anime and other outlets, is anime will usually have a deeper meaning behind it. Those kids that committed suicide, may they rest in peace, probably had some undiagnosed mental illness. And another thing, this may be a bit of a stereotype and isn't always true, but anime culture draws in a lot of people who are already socially awkward or more of an introvert to begin with. People like that could easily struggle with depression from all sorts of reasons, bullying for example. I'm not trying to stereotype people who watch anime and say they're all geeks who are depressed or whatever. But what I'm saying is, anime does attract those types of people. Well, who knows why those poor kids did what they did. It's never just one reason, I'm sure it was a whole lot of things added up. And trying to blame one source like anime is just ridiculous. If anything watching anime was probably a vice for them, something to take their mind off their problems. |
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Sam Murai
Posts: 1051 |
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That "report" read more like an ill-backed forum post by someone on a whim than something with more concrete information (and actual examples) to give it credence. Even the title itself is misleading, as the author only mentions anime in a "well, maybe…" sort of way in the body of their post and doesn't even touch it again for the rest of it. Their argument is so flimsy and flaky, it barely has any merit, much less worth reading.
And besides the structural flaws of it, why anime? What about the deaths in movies or comics? And top of this, this person is connecting it so haphazardly to something as serious as suicide (and doing a weak job at it, too)? |
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mdo7
Posts: 6259 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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I first read about this on Kotaku, many hours before ANN put this up. Yeah what she said doesn't make a lot of sense. I'm glad to see people are returning fire on the psychologist's BS. Great, I hope I won't see anything like this in US, like blaming Higurashi for a serial killer's rampage, or blaming Love Hina or Tenchi Muyo for a person who commit polygamy.
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Melanchthon
Posts: 550 Location: Northwest from Here |
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I can totally understand this, I mean I wanted to kill myself after sitting through Pita Ten.
I read an article on Rolling Stone about a rash of suicides among gay teens in Minnesota. Now, I'm not comparing otaku will homosexuals, but I bring up the article because the health experts mentioned being concerned that kids would start seeing suicide as an normal response to life's struggles, and emulating it. It could be that this is the case here. Also, I would be suspicious of anything that comes out of the Russian media, given that Vladmir 'Adonis' Putin has full control over the fourth estate. Have you ever read Pravada? The derp there is outstanding. I wouldn't put this past a convenient smear on a traditional enemy (remember, the Russians and the Japanese still have a territorial conflict over the Kurils) |
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NotintheMood
Posts: 36 |
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The most ridiculous part of the source article was the last paragraph where it suggest a solution:
Enroll them in Cheer leading! Because that's what all teenagers driven to suicide by too much anime needs . . .Cheerleading! Because mental health problems can be conquered if you just try hard enough and by try hard, I mean . . . . try hard at Cheerleading! Because real friendship isn't about jumping off buildings it's about jumping off human towers! and of course the wonders of . . . what? C H E E R L E A D I N G! But at least they oversimplified the problem and the solution, that has to count for something right? . . . okay fine. it counts for nothing. What a silly article. |
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Alunimus
Posts: 117 |
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Just ignore these russian "specialists". I already saw few cases of suicide in Russia and every single time these idiotic "scientists" tried to find the cause in american cartoons, in anime, in movies, in videogames et cetera, et cetera. The main thing is - they're trying to blame other countries, but not themselves. It's common to hear something like "ANIME IS THE PSYCHO-WEAPON THAT DISTORTS MINDS OF OUR CHILDREN! JAPANESE AND AMERICANS WANT TO WIPE OUT PROUD RUSSIANS! DERP!". Sounds funny, eh (and even this part about "pride russians" is sometimes true - some patriots are just insane)? But, nevertheless, some idiots there just don't want to search problems within and just shouting something like this. It's the problem of parents' ignorance and harsh environment. I, myself, had a childhood in one of post-soviet republics (and there really wasn't any differance between, I'd say, Kazakhstan and Russia), but my parents really cared about me. And so, here I am. I watched anime when I was a teenager, played violent videogames and so on, but still there wasn't a time when I thought about suicide or something like that! I just think that it's necessary for parents to make some restrictions for their children. Limit internet access is the main priority, I think.
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The Goron Marshall
Posts: 111 Location: Canada |
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"I've never seen anime like that!" *Insert facepalm image here.* These people were living under a rock, right?
Did anyone else think of Suicide Club, or whatever the devil it's called, when they were reading this? Okay sure it's live-action, not anime, and barely heard around the world, but still. |
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DTJB
Posts: 671 Location: Dubuque, IA |
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The fuuuuu...? Can we get the testimony of a credible doctor? Like one who has a solid educational background?
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Tamaria
Posts: 1512 Location: De Achterhoek |
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It's a manga too, but it the story makes suicide seem as charming as joining a cult. I can think of a few manga/anime/novels in which lovers decide to commit suicide, but that never ends well. |
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Starsplash Taiwan
Posts: 134 Location: Taipei Taiwan |
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There is no correlation between anime and suicides. This is the same argument against video games. It really is kinda pathetic to be honest.
If people in Russia are committing suicide because of anime, I am sure its not because of anime, but because of something deeper. Sure, anime has lots of violence, sex etc.... but to blame just anime is just way to simple. Any article like this that blames anime or even video games is an article that has not been researched and just wants to accuse because its easy. I will never trust any person that thinks this way. ANY PERSON WITH THE SLIGHTEST COMMON SENSE CAN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN REALITY AND VIRTURAL REALITY. AND YOU CAN BE SURE THAT ANYONE THAT LOVES ANIME HAS THE COMMON SENSE AND IS SMART ENOUGH TO NOT COMMIT SUICIDE OR DO ANYTHING STUPID. Otakus are not dumb people just because they like cartoons. You just need to be a normal human being and thats not hard. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out. |
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Catseyetiger
Posts: 779 |
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well it has been proven that thinking and reading and the act of living are all bad for you. You have to pick your poison well. also being poor can affect your health a life choices.
whats next? |
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enurtsol
Posts: 14767 |
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Haha, this is like saying youthz become violent because of rap and hip-hop!
Then, there's also GKB47: In Japanese, the slogan reads “Anata mo GKB47 sengen!” (“Declare yourself part of GKB47!”). The acronym GK is short for “gatekeeper,” which in Japan is used to refer to a person who recognizes symptoms of depression in someone else and recommends that they seek treatment, while the B stands for “basic,” which is reportedly an attempt to imply that suicide prevention is everybody’s duty and requires no specialist training. The 47 refers to the country’s 47 prefectures. The catchphrase, which was unveiled last month, has already been criticized by mental health professionals, as well as members of both the DPJ and opposition parties for the way in which it apparently handles the issue of suicide, while simultaneously leveraging the popularity of AKB48.
Thank goodness for cheerleading! We all support the trend for more cheerleaders! We can never have enough of 'em! Save the cheerleader, save the world! |
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Mirri
Posts: 313 |
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This. (bolded, underlined, italicized, for emphasis) |
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