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Incest and rape, manga encouraging UK kids to read?

Child murder, incest and rape... is this really how our schools should be encouraging boys to read? by Glen Owen

GRAPHIC Japanese comic books infamous for the violent and pornographic content of their adult versions, are being sent to schools by the Government-funded agency.

The Manga Cartoons are vividly realistic 'good versus evil' fantasy strips read by all age groups in Japan. In their adult forms, they show the rape, increst and murder of schoolgirls, and depict Lolita-like figures in lewd poses.

Now the Reading Agency, a charity funded by arts, library and Government bodies to promote literacy, has drawn up a list of 150 Manga titles to send to all libraries and schools.

The agency says the books have been vetted to make sure that they are suitable for 13-16 year olds but critics dear that once booked on the comics, teenagers will seek out the more violent and pornographic titles.

The prevalence of Manga comic books in Japan has been blamed by some lobby groups for a rise in sexual violence against women, including a gang-rape by four students at the country's top university last year.

Even children's comics, such as Shonen Jump, which has an English language edition, include characters like Weirdo Mask, a schoolboy who acquires special powers when he puts women's underwear on his face.

Nick Seaton, of the Campaign for Real Education, said: "I really don't think they should invite teenagers to read a series like this. It seems inevitable they will be led into the darker materials".

But the Reading Agency's Ruth Harrison said: "Mangas have the reputation of being about sex and violence but I dont think that's justified. There is a huge range of storylines, covering relationships, football, fantasy horror and sci-fi.

"A lot of the stories are quite sophiisticated, with complicated storylines and development of characters, It's more subtle than just a hero going out to battle evil. The main thing is to get teenagers interested in reading"

The prevalence of Manga comic books in Japan has been blamed by some lobby groups for a rise in sexual violence against women, including a gang-rape by four students at the country's top university last year.

Even children's comics, such as Shonen Jump, which has an English language edition, include characters like Weirdo Mask, a schoolboy who acquires special powers when he puts women's underwear on his face.

I've been reading manga for 10 years now, I've yet to turn to the dark side.

(At the moment the manga industry in the UK is pretty nonexistent you will only likely find manga in comic book shops, I've often blamed this on US companies selling manga to all English speaking countries despite only owning the rights for the US. Whoever owns rights for manga in the UK at the moment, they have done absolutely nothing so far.)

These guys are rich (6000 Yen (~US$60) for party admission fee) party animals, and judging from their looks I'd say they were the anti-otaku type: people who would never read manga on a regular basis and would laugh at otaku's inability to attract girls (Wada claimed to have raped over 500 girls). Therefore, it is almost impossible for manga had attributed to their criminal actions.

Maybe they did like manga, maybe they didn't; it doesn't pertain to this case at all from what you said.

Well, heres the page for it, no list thought. Tried to find it on the website, but no joy. So, can't figure out what titles they "suggested" and what they didn't.

...it should be noted that Japanese culture in general are more tolerant to sex-oriented jokes, as depicted in Pom Poko (I keep wondering how Disney would translate those jokes).

bluechibi wrote:

I've been reading manga for 10 years now, I've yet to turn to the dark side.

Oh, sure you have. In their opinion, keeping reading "picture books" in late teen / early 20s is a telltale sign for being in the "Dark Side."

People will always look for scapegoats to blame crime on. It has happened with nearly every form of media, so I'm not suprised that it has happened to manga.

This news article contains many common misunderstandings; I'm not going to fight over them, for there are too many flame wars between fans and "concerned parents and teachers" already. I'll just provide some explanations and facts mentioned in this article.

Quote:

The prevalence of Manga comic books in Japan has been blamed by some lobby groups for a rise in sexual violence against women, including a gang-rape by four students at the country's top university last year.

On 19-06-2003, Shinichiro Wada (和田 真一郎), a 28-year-old sophomore student of renowned Waseda University, was arrested for raping and other charges, along with four of his underlings, all full-time students of famous universities. Their fraternity-like club "SuperFree (スーパーフリー)" held several large rave parties with hundreds (sometimes even thousands) participants every year. They would then focus on good-looking but naive freshman girls (usually from rural prefectures and first time in Tokyo) for a second party with <100 members, then feed the girls with self-prepared liquor mixture with >90% alcohol (note: no illegal drugs were used). Surely no one could stay conscious with that drink, and the girl would be sexually assulted.

These guys are rich (6000 Yen (~US$60) for party admission fee) party animals, and judging from their looks I'd say they were the anti-otaku type: people who would never read manga on a regular basis and would laugh at otaku's inability to attract girls (Wada claimed to have raped over 500 girls). Therefore, it is almost impossible for manga had attributed to their criminal actions.

Quote:

Even children's comics, such as Shonen Jump, which has an English language edition, include characters like Weirdo Mask, a schoolboy who acquires special powers when he puts women's underwear on his face.

The manga in this paragraph is 究極！！変態仮面 (Kyuukyoku!! Hentai Kamen; Ultimate!! Perverted Mask) by Keishuu Ando (あんど 慶周). It indeed contains lots of low jokes, but it should be noted that Japanese culture in general are more tolerant to sex-oriented jokes, as depicted in Pom Poko (I keep wondering how Disney would translate those jokes).

bluechibi wrote:

I've been reading manga for 10 years now, I've yet to turn to the dark side.

Oh, sure you have. In their opinion, keeping reading "picture books" in late teen / early 20s is a telltale sign for being in the "Dark Side."