Anime is making the local interest news sections once again as some parents, or at least one parent, is calling out Kent State over assigning what they called pornography to underage students. Kent State operates something that a number of colleges do in offering credits to high school students and working with parents to ensure that what’s used is know ahead of time. It looks like anime has become the focus this time as the Susan J. Napier book, Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle was assigned to look at the medium of anime and, hoo boy.
The report from Fox 19 tells us:
While most college students are adults, Kent State University has a program that allows students in grades 7-12 to take classes for college credit. One father was furious after his high school student was given a reading assignment with the racy material. Kent State claims the parents consented to it.
“It’s way beyond pornography,” said State Rep. Reggie Stoltzfus. “It’s violent. It’s dark. It’s violent sexual acts. The pictures are very twisted. You know somebody with a twisted mind had to come up with this stuff…”
Rep. Stoltzfus and Representative Don Jones sent a letter to the university urging them to stop assigning adult-related material to underaged students and to review their policies, so this doesn’t happen again.
“We’re promoting it at this university,” said Stoltzfus. “We’re promoting sexual violence.”
Lawmakers say the book, Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation, is pornographic in nature.
Property Concept: Japanese animation is more popular than ever following the 2002 Academy Award given to Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. It confirmed that anime is more than just children’s cartoons, often portraying important social and cultural themes. With new chapters on Spirited Away and other recent releases, including Howl’s Moving Castle— which broke records in Japan–this edition will be the authoritative source on anime for an exploding market of viewers who want to know more.
[Source: Fox19]
