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INTEREST: Japanese Journalist Proposes International Edit for Ghibli's Latest Film

Lets be frank: Western audiences, especially Americans, are really prudes when it comes to anything sexual in media. Just look at this forum itself... people constantly cry about fanservice in anime, while in Japan its so natural that even kids shows have lots of fanservice. People over there don't even think twice about it since its just normal. Sad as it is, sometimes you gotta change or edit things to appeal to foreign audiences due to their culture just viewing things vastly different.

"It isn't true, at least among anime fans"

Acceptance of sexuality is a cultural attitude, and anime-watchers are automatically being influenced by Japan's cultural attitudes which, you know, just happen to be different from American attitudes. I don't know these 'talking points' that you seem to have memorized, But I'm feeling pretty sure that no one was even considering anime-watchers when talking about 'American prudes.'

Now, "How can you be a fan of this medium and have a serious issue with sex?"

Easily. I'm not sure why you would even ask this. It almost sounds like you're trying to qualify what makes a person an anime fan. If that wasn't your aim, and your point was instead that there is so much sex in the medium that it is unavoidable, then you're wrong. You should know as well as I do that there are plenty of shows not built around sex, sexy women, or sexy men, or that have very insignificant or no instances of fanservice or even attractive characters.

I don't know what your beef is with that guy, but attacking him like that was pretty low and I'm embarrassed for you. Even if he was a hypocrite on the issue, it doesn't make his opinion less valid.

I'm going to leave the discussion about American attitudes towards sex alone because we obviously disagree on them, and I don't want to get banned from this site just because I piss you off.

It doesn't sound like any of the nudity in this will be fanservice or sexual.

Specifically, he is concerned that viewing restrictions will be placed on the film in Islamic countries, and that obtaining a G-rating in the US would be "impossible."

All of it

Children spend more time watching television than in any other activity except sleep. - Huston and Wright, University of Kansas. "Television and Socialization of Young Children."
54% of kids have a TV in their bedroom. - Ibid
66% of children (ages 10 to 16) surveyed say that their peers are influenced by TV shows
62% say that sex on TV shows and movies influences kids to have sex when they are too young
77% say there is too much sex before marriage on television

Compiled by the Parents Television Council, hosted by the FCC: http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view;jsessionid=cJSgRn4QlWyG1JgZ2h71W9zCnCNvsZvvmp32MmWfPBvBrpZLQlyR!-817071755!638063854?id=7022283827

Only two forms of sex education are taught in American schools: "abstinence plus" and "abstinence-only".[citation needed] "Abstinence plus" (also known as comprehensive sex ed) covers abstinence as a positive choice, but also teaches about contraception and the avoidance of STIs when sexually active. A 2002 study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 58% of secondary school principals describe their sex education curriculum as "abstinence plus".
Abstinence-only sex education tells teenagers that they should be sexually abstinent until marriage and does not provide information about contraception. In the Kaiser study, 34% of high-school principals said their school's main message was abstinence-only.

By the Kaiser Family Foundation.
"Sex Education in the U.S.: Policy and Politics" (PDF). Issue Update. Kaiser Family Foundation. October 2002. Retrieved 2007-05-23.

On the other hand, proponents of abstinence-only sex education object to curricula that fail to teach their standard of moral behavior; they maintain that a morality which is based on sex only within the bounds of marriage is "healthy and constructive" and that value-free knowledge of the body may lead to immoral, unhealthy, and harmful practices. Within the last decade, the federal government has encouraged abstinence-only education by steering over a billion dollars to such programs. Some 25 states now decline the funding so that they can continue to teach comprehensive sex education.
Compiled by Wiki

Between 2002 and 2013, at least 62% and at most 80% of respondents think that America has bad morals. In that same time period, at least 67% and at most 82% of respondents think America's morals are getting worse.
In 2011, 76% of Conservatives, 62% of Moderates, and 50% of Liberals believed America to have negative moral values.
In 2012, They asked what the most important problem was facing American morals 'today'. Both choices 'Media' and 'Sexuality' had 2 times the number of votes of Crimes/Violence and Racism/Discrimination, and 4 times as many votes as Drugs/Alcohol!
-Gallup yearly poll
From http://www.gallup.com/poll/1681/Moral-Issues.aspx

Proving that these ancient stigmas against masturbation are still alive and felt by women and men, researchers in 1994 found that half of the adult women and men who masturbate feel guilty about it (Laumann, et al., 1994 , 85). Another study in 2000 found that adolescent young men are still frequently afraid to admit that they masturbate (Halpern, et al., 2000, 327).
From wiki

America: Only 38 percent of women said they'd masturbated at all during the past year. The figure for men was 61 percent.
From http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/all-about-sex/200903/how-common-is-masturbation-really

Britain: (Germany is even more liberal on this) 73 percent of men and 36.8% of women reported masturbating in the last 4 weeks
From: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10508-006-9123-6

Finally, we all know about what's taught in U.S. sex-ed lessons, and I included data on it above. Here's something Britain did!

"In a new National Health Service leaflet entitled Pleasure, teenagers are encouraged to exercise their right to 'an orgasm a day.'"

From: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/story?id=8072314&page=1

I'm going to leave the discussion about American attitudes towards sex alone because we obviously disagree on them, and I don't want to get banned from this site just because I piss you off.

Don't sit here and act all enlightened when your entire argument is based on prejudicial nationalistic blanket statements

Edited with more data.

Adamb15 wrote:

Edited with more data.

So where are ALL your articles that Japan is more enlightened about sex? Please show me your articles and results.

The national age of consent in Japan is 13 as specified by the Japanese Penal Code Articles 176 and 177.

‘Rape’, Art. 177 Penal Code 'A person who, through violence or intimidation, has sexual intercourse with a female person of not less than thirteen (13) years of age commits the crime of rape and shall be punished with imprisonment at forced labour for a limited term of not less than two years. The same shall apply to a person who has sexual intercourse with a female person under thirteen (13) years of age.'[37]

'Indecency through compulsion', Art. 176 Penal Code 'A person who, through violence or intimidation, commits an indecent act upon a male or female person of not less than thirteen (13) years of age shall be punished with imprisonment at forced labour for not less than six months nor more than seven years. The same shall apply to a person who commits an indecent act upon a male or female person under thirteen (13) years of age.'
From wiki, from Interpol.

Prostitution has existed in some form throughout Japan's history. Despite the Anti-Prostitution Law of 1956, various legal loopholes, liberal interpretations of the law, and loose enforcement have allowed the sex industry to prosper and earn an estimated 2.3 trillion yen a year. Notably, the Anti-Prostitution Law makes prostituting oneself a crime whereas those who use the services of a prostitute are immune from prosecution.
From Wiki, from Pink Box

Not only are they aware of the differences between male and female masturbation, they're not shy to point them out either. Male masturbation is called sendzuri, which translates as "1,000 strokes." Female masturbation, however, is mandzuri, which translates as "10,000 strokes." The current world record holder for prolonged masturbation is Japanese.
From rationalwiki, from http://www.japanator.com/post.phtml?pk=9887
and
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/05/masturbate-a-thon_champion_spe.php

Islamic countries don't go to see movies anyway, as movies are "decadent",

When those vocal groups influence the entertainment, as well as the political powers-that-be...

Here's more on how Americans are prudes:

And yet you jump on me and and the executive editor jumps on Shiratori with personal insults and snide remarks.

Easily. I'm not sure why you would even ask this. It almost sounds like you're trying to qualify what makes a person an anime fan. If that wasn't your aim, and your point was instead that there is so much sex in the medium that it is unavoidable, then you're wrong. You should know as well as I do that there are plenty of shows not built around sex, sexy women, or sexy men, or that have very insignificant or no instances of fanservice or even attractive characters.

I don't know what your beef is with that guy, but attacking him like that was pretty low and I'm embarrassed for you. Even if he was a hypocrite on the issue, it doesn't make his opinion less valid.

I'm going to leave the discussion about American attitudes towards sex alone because we obviously disagree on them, and I don't want to get banned from this site just because I piss you off.