×
  • 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: Idaho School Votes to Keep Sword Art Online Novel After Student Complaint


Goto page 1, 2, 3  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
12skippy21



Joined: 25 Nov 2008
Posts: 785
Location: York, England
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 12:58 am Reply with quote
Nice to see that some common sense was used in this case. I am surprised that it was a student that reported it though. Such small entrails of tilltilation would have been a godsend when I was at school. As it was just before the internet became mainstream, our school had an underground trade in old porn mags and topless calenders, no-one reported it though but some of the girls did have to be paid off when they found out. Smile
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Knight-Hart



Joined: 27 Mar 2014
Posts: 266
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 1:02 am Reply with quote
I mean, it's SAO... It's hardly scandalous.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 6773
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 1:10 am Reply with quote
Thank goodness cooler heads prevailed in this case. There are other novels out there that feature content that are more graphic than what SAO has.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
ParaChomp



Joined: 10 Dec 2010
Posts: 1018
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 3:01 am Reply with quote
Wow, this is hysterical. While most people would love to see Sword Art Online trashed, for the sake of anime as a whole, they need to stand up for it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
mc55





PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 4:31 am Reply with quote
This is so ridiculous. I will bet you anything that there is more scandalous stuff in the school libraries than that. Folks need to stop being puritanical.

No book should ever be denied placement in a library. The most I could think of doing is having a trigger warning on something if the violence is intense or if certain situations occur. But that is it. But keep any and all books you can. To freak out and dump something over a bra/panty shot is ridiculous.
Back to top
Inopethflames



Joined: 02 Feb 2016
Posts: 34
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 4:44 am Reply with quote
I wonder if this was a real complaint or like a student "complaining" because he was messing with the nerd reading it. If it was real I assume it was either an extreme busybody or maybe one of the weird religion people that wear long dresses all the time, I dunno if that's Mormon or something else. Either way, get a life, probably the majority of modern books in the library nonfiction have lots of swearing in them. Also why does a school library have a comic book anyway.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Sakagami Tomoyo



Joined: 06 Dec 2008
Posts: 940
Location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 5:56 am Reply with quote
Inopethflames wrote:
Also why does a school library have a comic book anyway.

To pick a nit, this would be the light novel, not the manga. But that aside, a school library would have comics because they stock books for students and students read comics. This is hardly a new development, when I was in high school the library had a fair selection of Tintin and Asterix. I also have it on very good authority that plenty of school libraries stock a fair bit of manga these days.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
joe_g7



Joined: 16 Dec 2016
Posts: 386
Location: Asia
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 6:10 am Reply with quote
I thought this was in Japan, but America? Seriously? Not matter how much I don't give a fudge about SAO this is still ridiculous.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MoonPhase1



Joined: 29 Nov 2007
Posts: 492
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 6:38 am Reply with quote
I have only watched the Anime plus the Movie, but I don't really remember it having adult level language like they're mentioning. Just stuff like Hell, Crap, Damn and just ones like that and not anything like the f word maybe an occasional use of the word Shit. But when I was in school, the kids were saying stuff that was way worse.

As far as images go, some books may not have images in most library books, but I remember reading a book in school that was about Hell. Can't remember the title though but it was pretty gruesome.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
KH91



Joined: 17 May 2013
Posts: 6176
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 6:41 am Reply with quote
Can't wait for that student to go to Japan.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
Posts: 1302
Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 6:58 am Reply with quote
In Idaho it might have been a Mormon, might not. Girls that wear the long dresses are part of one or another religious sect that follows the "Clothes Line" as it is sometimes referred to. In total there are likely more followers of the "Clothes Line" than there are Anime fans in the US.

We had comics in the High School library in the early 70's, so they've been there for quite some time.

There are always a few books kept "Behind the Counter" in most libraries. Joy of Sex as a good example from my College days as a library assistant. Not because they were concerned about the content, but to keep it from being stolen.

Mark Gosdin
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Mune



Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 374
Location: Minnesota
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 7:35 am Reply with quote
I'm actually surprised that it had to go before a censorship board. Most of the time, librarians take care of the issue. If they need further assistance, then, they might go to an English department of the school. The issue would usually never leave the school, unless it needed an expert.

I am an English teacher, and many students read manga. As for light novels, they are far less common. It is not because they are less popular. It is because they are less wide-spread like manga. Light novels are sort of a new thing in the United States compared to manga, and most schools do not have a large manga selection either. School libraries are not encouraged to have a large selection of manga because they want students to read other books than manga and comic books. In truth, they want students to read more non-fiction, but I know that many students avoid non-fiction books.

As for student(s) calling out this as a potential issue, it is possible that the student(s) simply did not want to get caught with something that was against school rules on books. Getting reprimanded by the teacher or even the school is sometimes a big deal to students. Some schools put restrictions on books because of content and I've seen it happen. Funny thing is, some of those books that were restricted or even outright banned from my middle school and high school ended up being expected required reading prior to college. Nothing quite like going into a college classroom, and the professor expecting everyone in the room to have read a book that you never could find in secondary education school.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
Posts: 13540
Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 7:42 am Reply with quote
If it was a book like "To Love-Ru Darkness", then I could see a potential ban being more justified (wouldn't agree with it but could see why it was banned). The good thing is that the English-translated LN and tankoubon do have suggested age ratings on them.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CatSword



Joined: 01 Jul 2014
Posts: 1489
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 7:47 am Reply with quote
I guarantee there are worse novels hiding out in that library. My middle school library had stuff like Go Ask Alice.

I hope this controversy doesn't discourage the middle school library from buying more LNs.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
7jaws7



Joined: 17 Aug 2013
Posts: 704
Location: New York State
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 7:50 am Reply with quote
Inopethflames wrote:
a student "complaining" because he was messing with the nerd reading it.


That's my guess. SAO is popular but is also the kind of thing that makes it easy for people to make fun of.

Usually Death Note is the culprit when it comes to controversial material related to anime Rolling Eyes
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
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  Next
Page 1 of 3

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group