My mother seldom makes the snide remark about me watching cartoons at my age. My father is cool with it. He's the one who got me into Evangelion after all.
The only anime that I ever watched with my dad was Nausicaa, and he threw a violent fit because he thought that Nausicaa's flesh-colored leggings were her bare ass.
Southern Ohio is basically Mississippi culturally. The list of cartoons that I wasn't allowed to watch as a kid because of "violence" or "satanic themes" is enormous.
My brother went through Eureka Seven recently, and loved it - he's a dub-only kind of a guy though, which is the only thing stopping him from watching Ao.
In all seriousness, it wasn't bad though. Past the goofy stuff above, it was sad as a child is forced to reconcile his father's death, what it mean to him when his father returned, and how he was forced to deal losing his father once again. Even the heroism of Gatchaman wasn't enough to spare the boy more heartbreak!!
I still remember the time Mom and Dad came home while I was watching Kiki's Delivery Service and were all "You're watching something with a witch in it?"
My brother went through Eureka Seven recently, and loved it - he's a dub-only kind of a guy though, which is the only thing stopping him from watching Ao.
Southern Ohio is basically Mississippi culturally. The list of cartoons that I wasn't allowed to watch as a kid because of "violence" or "satanic themes" is enormous.
I still remember the time Mom and Dad came home while I was watching Kiki's Delivery Service and were all "You're watching something with a witch in it?"
My parents lost their grip on my viewing habits early on, so while they may have discouraged stuff or rolled their eyes at it, I was pretty much watching what I was going to watch. Of course, leave it to my teen self to use this flexibility not to watch anything actually explicit, but just to geek out.
I don't know how serious this post was supposed to sound, but I hope for your sake that you take this sort of criticism in stride. Yes, it would be hard not to at least be a little annoyed at that sort of comment, especially with how blunt it sounds. Being misinformed is one thing, but to then start indiscriminately labeling things, well, that's when it becomes dangerous.
I know we all like to joke about the 'credibility' of a lot of anime, or the lack thereof, but I don't think it's a medium you would continue to engage with, if you thought it was completely tactless. It exists within a cultural ghetto of sorts, and that is always going to leave it open to cheap-attacks, but I'd say rise above it, or at least have a rebuttal. Though, having been a part of it much longer that I have, I'm sure that you have material that you can reference.
It's an odd thing to offer advice about, particularity if you haven't experienced it for yourself ( and truth be told, I haven't). But I remember how disheartened you have been in the past about this issue, with the Madoka movie raising similar misgivings, so I hope this is something that you come to terms with. Though, I would say this appears to be partially down to how your sister is behaving, because it doesn't sound like disapproval, so much as it appears to be downright spiteful. Sounds awful, and like it could be poisonous environment to live in.
Yeah, so if this was all my misinterpretation of a tongue-in-cheek comment, forgive me!
Nah, it's disapproval, not just spite. I mean, she was an otaku herself during the anime boom, but she's turned violently against it since then, mostly due to the common perception that it's all cute girls doing cute things now.
I mostly ignore her criticisms of my lifestyle because it's routine at this point; I must get told once a week that I should quit gaming because it "isn't real", I'm "wasting my life" and that it's "making me stupider". The criticism of my anime habit occurs less often so it still takes me a bit by surprise when it happens.
On a somewhat related note, my mom told me a few days ago that she mentioned to a coworker who plays video game that I'm into anime. The coworker replied, "I knew someone in college who was into anime and I stay away from that stuff. See, in Japan they have to focus on work during the week, but on the weekends nobody cares what anyone does. So people will give themselves over to all kinds of pornographic depravity. And that's what anime is. Plus hyperviolence."
And so my mom told me, "I hope you're not getting into that stuff." Fortunately I've already watched shows like Emma, Bunny Drop, and Patlabor with her, so I could point to those as counterexamples to defuse her concerns.
Good thing she doesn't read this thread, or all her worst fears would be confirmed!
I had to go behind my parents' back to watch Sailor Moon on Toonami when I was 10 or so, but that's because they forbid me to watch any TV at that time. Had to sneak into their bedroom and steal the remote from its hiding place when Mom was sleeping.
The biggest issue I had with my parents was them not wanting me to read the Harry Potter books back when I was in 5th grade. So my mom had to read it first, and she got hooked, and well... no problems, there.
Oh, and waiting until I was 18 to play GTA4 (Because then "they couldn't force me to do anything since I was an adult"). So a wait from April to August that I actually did.
It took only the first minute of the episode to explain the background of the overall story. I usually don't comment about that but the first season basically dropped the plot and was all but forgotten except for the last minutes of the previous episode. Now I'm looking back and thinking how everything was a glorified introduction to the characters that lasted 13 episodes.
Still, this is good news since the season actually looks to advance the story. The characters are still largely the reason I watch this show and I'm glad to see Gen already appearing with everyone else. Daikaku seems like a cool guy, though I'm not exactly fond of him being a doll maker. Old man is alright and his Panther partner looks to provide some decent comedy for the show.
Of course, that's in really stark conttrast to Gatchman '94's actual main theme music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7hM3tJvs7c
It's good in its own right and apparently composed by Maurice White of Earth, Wind, and Fire fame.
I still remember the time Mom and Dad came home while I was watching Kiki's Delivery Service and were all "You're watching something with a witch in it?"
I watched Kiki in secret for that very reason because they explicitly forbade me to watch it previously. I think I locked myself in my mom's room under the pretense that I was "studying" (my room didn't even have a door as a teenager so she let me in there for solitude), tuned into the Disney Channel when I knew it was airing, and listened to it at the lowest volume with my face almost up to the television.
Of course, I remember nothing about it thanks to the subpar viewing conditions.
Nah, it's disapproval, not just spite. I mean, she was an otaku herself during the anime boom, but she's turned violently against it since then, mostly due to the common perception that it's all cute girls doing cute things now.
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Nah, it's disapproval, not just spite. I mean, she was an otaku herself during the anime boom, but she's turned violently against it since then, mostly due to the common perception that it's all cute girls doing cute things now.
The good thing is I was able to get my rebellious stage out on relatively harmless things like watching cartoons and playing video games instead of drugs or something like that.
I do wonder if I would be as big into those hobbies today if they hadn't been forbidden to me as a preteen.
Everything (mostly) is out of the way now. Tuxedo's identity, the Moon Princess and a whole lot of stabbing. And it was a very good episode on top of that. Feelings are elevated through the roof under acknowledging their identities, although I don't know why Usagi feigned ignorance til the very last moment considering Mamoru basically stated why he need the Rainbow Dragonballs.
Oh damn, some of you guys describing your families' attitudes growing up (and still now, to a degree) sounds like a nightmare. I thought I had it rough not being able to play M-ratedas videogames.
I've already pointed out that my brother is the only one who knows I watch anime, though probably doesn't know how into it I've become (which in comparison to some of y'all, really isn't that much, to be fair). And he's the only one I know who watches any anime at all. It's a shame I'm too reluctant to share stuff like Utena with him, but that's kinda territory that I'd rather not tread. Utena is an incredible show, and if he judged me for it then he'd probably be the one in the wrong, but...what can I say? I'm a sensitive person. I'd really rather keep that secret than risk that kind of awkward moment, even though having someone to share this with would be awesome.
And I realize that this is squarely on me, especially considering that my brother really is my best friend and really isn't judgmental of me at all.
I dont collect figures and such. If somebody close to me saw those kind of things and said that they were weird...I really couldn't blame them. Or at least I wouldn't have the wherewithal to justify them.
Or twenty-four minutes of bullies being bullied. It makes for quite a triumphant comeback once Isako gets her revenge. They also throw some hints at Yasako's "tragic" past (complete with gratuitous elementary school girl midriff (smh Iso)) that I wish they had expanded on more, but it's still early in the show.
Oh damn, some of you guys describing your families' attitudes growing up (and still now, to a degree) sounds like a nightmare. I thought I had it rough not being able to play M-ratedas videogames.
My family is weird. I wasn't able to play GTA4 until I was 18, but played Halo when I was younger than that. Heck, when I was recovering from getting my tonsils out during the summer between forth and fifth grade (so 99-00?), I got Perfect Dark (and a N64 expansion pack) as a get well present.
Oh damn, some of you guys describing your families' attitudes growing up (and still now, to a degree) sounds like a nightmare. I thought I had it rough not being able to play M-ratedas videogames.
Yeah, that was about the worst I had it when I was growing up. And even then, it was really just Mortal Kombat that was forbidden (so I played it at other people's houses). My parents never had any objections to me watching anime, and even bought me anime stuff for birthdays and the like.
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