×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
NEWS: Suburban LA County Pulls Manga Textbook


Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Coral Skipper



Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Posts: 223
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 12:05 pm Reply with quote
First let me say that I am not aware of the exact nature of the book, and if it does have pictures from hentai Dojins when they are discussing it I have no problem with him removing it, or moving it to a section where only adults can get to it.

If that is not the case I have a serious problem. Libraries are depositaries of all books and no one book should be removed just because someone has a bias towards it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
improviduto



Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 7
Location: Erie, PA
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 12:23 pm Reply with quote
Apparently pornography usurps history. They could at least have this book put in the library's reserved section.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address
wildarmsheero



Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 55
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 12:36 pm Reply with quote
I'm an idiot and a troll.




[Next time, don't drop one line, trolling, prejudice statements. Otherwise I'll make you say something a little more accurate like I did here. -Nagi]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
DriftRoot



Joined: 20 Jun 2003
Posts: 222
Location: NH
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 12:43 pm Reply with quote
Someone must have complained, probably someone with children. Who ordered the book in the first place, anyways? I'd like to see them speaking up, or the library director demanding to know who let such an "offensive" item on the shelves.

Where was this book in the library? I can go and find some pretty graphic books (including those on pornography) at our local libraries, but of course only in the adult section. I'd think anyone noticing teens constantly checking out the textbook would be a little perturbed, but the last time I checked, any book at any library could be read by anyone. There's no black curtain section with a flashing neon "18 and older" sign, now is there? There's a lot of things at libraries that are not appropriate for young readers, but that doesn't mean you can go to this kind of extreme just to make sure a book doesn't fall into the hands of a 13-year-old.

I wonder if they have Ranma 1/2 and if that will go out the window, too.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger ICQ Number
DemonEyesLeo



Joined: 20 Feb 2005
Posts: 844
Location: Japan
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 1:02 pm Reply with quote
Granted the book does contain some "inappropriate" material. But I still though it was a great book, very informative and very well written; a good look into the history of manga.

But I guess it was just too much for someone, and that someone just happened to be a position of power.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address My Anime My Manga
fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 9193
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 1:03 pm Reply with quote
wildarmsheero wrote:
lol retarded americans

Which ones, the ones in the library, the ones who rented and complained about it, or the people who ordered it removed?
We could be seeing an issue coming up, because since it was near the manga section (if i read it right from the article), more people are probably going to assume that Japanese manga is pornographic and people are going to try and push to have manga removed from the library.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
midori kou



Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 469
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 1:21 pm Reply with quote
According to the press release, it states that the book was removed on the basis of graphic sexual acts and sex with animals. However, seeing that the book's main purpose is to have a large overview of the history of Japanese comics, I don't see the problem about it.

Reminds me of South Park's "Good Times with Weapons" episode, adults are more worried about things related to sex than violence. Funny how this book wasn't banned because all of the graphic violence in the book too. =/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CochraneO



Joined: 14 Apr 2006
Posts: 15
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 2:26 pm Reply with quote
I notice this press release is from the government guy who had the book removed from the libraries, so you'd expect that he'd go on about how pornographic the book is, justifying his action.

I've seen this story on a few other sites like http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/8510.html , which says that "the coverage made much of the fact that the book contains 'sex with animals,' but we couldn't find it; we must not have looked as hard."

In hindsight, maybe the library should've shelved the book in an Art History section alongside books of Michaelangelo's nudes or whatever else, instead of the comics/graphic novel section. But even if it includes a bit of discussion of about the edgier kinds of manga, from the other--more reasonable--postings about this news story, it sounds like the book is a solid bit of art history that's appropriate for library holdings.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
flip
Protoculture Addicts Editor in Chief


Joined: 05 Nov 2003
Posts: 121
Location: Montreal, Qc
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 3:01 pm Reply with quote
CochraneO wrote:
"the coverage made much of the fact that the book contains 'sex with animals,' but we couldn't find it; we must not have looked as hard."


There are three pictures that seems to enter in that category.

Pg 141: In a scene from Hideshi Hino's The Red Snake, a woman covered with snakes seems to have an orgasm.

Pg 144: In a scene from Kondom's Bondage Fairies “a nympho Tinkerbell and a randy squirrel” are having sex.

Pg 145: In an allegoric scene by Utatane (no title given), a dragon is deflowering a virgin to symbolize her first period.

There is lots of violence depicted in the book, as well as some nudity and sexuality (particularly in the chapters 7-9, where Gravett discuss the maturity and diversity of manga, as well as the particularity of the underground dojinshi).

I understand the concerns of some parents (after all some parents don't want their children to know what sex is until after the day they are 18--it is their right to do so, even if we disagree with it) and the book should not be in a section available to children. However, this is an important reference on the history of manga and it SHOULD ABSOLUTELY NOT be entirely removed from the library. This makes absolutely no sense. Hopefully, the person in charge will think about it and change his mind.

Flip
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website Yahoo Messenger
omastar444



Joined: 14 Apr 2006
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 3:03 pm Reply with quote
he makes it sound like there is no porn in a library. In any library go to the art or history section. You will find porn galore. Add on top of it that this book sounds like it is informative, I don't see any reason to remove it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CochraneO



Joined: 14 Apr 2006
Posts: 15
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 3:23 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
I understand the concerns of some parents (after all some parents don't want their children to know what sex is until after the day they are 18--


Perhaps interestingly, according to this local news article (which seems to be the earliest article about these events I can locate online), it was the 16-year-old boy who was surprised and offended by the book's content, who then told his mother, who then complained to the library, and then (presumably) to the county supervisor guy who ordered all copies pulled from the libraries.

I still think the book should have a place on library shelves and hope cooler heads will prevail. But I also think that once you start getting impassioned parents and local goverment involved in this sort of "Won't someone think of the children!" mentality, those cooler heads rarely prevail...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Alex K.



Joined: 18 Mar 2006
Posts: 247
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 3:48 pm Reply with quote
They didn't pull it because it contained "offensive material." They removed it because they think anime and manga is violent porn. If it weren't anime, they wouldn't give it a second glance. There are plenty of pornographic books at the library; this one just happens to be from the people that make the Satanic Pokemon cartoons and the porn-filled Dragonball Z, so of course, THAT'S deemed innappropriate for the library. These morons are just biased idiots that listen to conservatists and soccer moms. "OH NO THERE'S A BOOB CALL THE PRESIDENT!" Please.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address
Cowpunk



Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 168
Location: Oakland - near the Newtype Lab
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 4:14 pm Reply with quote
This kind of thing happens all too often.

I just hope some enterprising local book dealer takes advantage of the publicity and does a display with Gravett's book int he center.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Tempest
I Run this place.
ANN Publisher


Joined: 29 Dec 2001
Posts: 10419
Location: Do not message me for support.
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 4:43 pm Reply with quote
Alex K. wrote:
They didn't pull it because it contained "offensive material." They removed it because they think anime and manga is violent porn... THAT'S deemed innappropriate for the library. These morons are just biased idiots that listen to conservatists and soccer moms. "OH NO THERE'S A BOOB CALL THE PRESIDENT!" Please.


Have you seen the book in question? I admit that I haven't, but my understanding is that the later chapter(s) contain scenes of graphic pornography. I would assume this refers to penetration, not a boob or two.

-t
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail My Anime My Manga
Animefan16



Joined: 24 Apr 2004
Posts: 1014
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 5:06 pm Reply with quote
I've read it and while I liked it, I can see why they did this. A lot of people, even those who have watched regular hentai, may find some of the hentai pics disturbing.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6  Next
Page 1 of 6

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group