Introduction and disclaimer
Hey Everyone! This is going to be a different project that I’m planning on doing this year. What I’m going to be doing is to discuss controversial anime opinions. How this project is going to work is I’m going to take some of the most controversial and complex arguments from the anime community and discuss my personal views and opinions. The reason why I decided to do this is because ever since last year there have been millions of controversies on different forms of media that people usually argue on. Finding controversies especially online is just as easy as breathing in air and kind of now a big toxic trend. I’m also fully aware that this may be a rather risky and dangerous territory that I will be heading into and maybe a heavy one especially for the readers who are not anime fans. Please understand that this is not meant to force anyone into having a certain view or an opinion but rather a discussion.
Topic 1: The Lolicon/Shotacon Debate and it’s hypocrisies and how to manage it.
[An example of a Loli Character. “Nezuko-Chan from Demon Slayer]
For Those who haven’t read my blog post, a “Guide to Anime” let me give you a brief explanation on what Lolicon/Shotacon is. Lolicon/Shotacon is a type of aesthetic and a fictional depiction where a character has childlike features or childlike behaviours despite their “actual age”. Lolicon usually associates with a childlike character that’s female while Shotacon, male.
The reason why this trope is considered controversial is because it’s divided into two big opinions with two parties. One side of the debate is that Lolicon originated from the infamous Russian novel “Lolita” [which depicted a sexual relationship between an adult man and an underaged girl] Therefore Lolicon is a form of child exploitation and should be considered illegal and disgusting or it can influence people to do heinous acts towards children. While the other side sees it as a fictional trope that can only exist through lines on paper or pixels on the screen, some have debated that these controversial themes especially in anime is seen as a psychological mechanism for some particular people with mental illness to release their thoughts onto fictional works or to cope with trauma which goes all the way back after the second world war.
In Japan after the war especially after the infamous Hiroshima and Nagasaki incident, people felt guilty but also angry so in order to maintain these feelings they would just keep them inside their heads which lead them to think of horrendous things so that why some manga and Japanese art is considered very explicit and violent. Its a form of release.
1st point – Hypocrisy of non-anime fans who criticise Lolis/Shotas
As much as I understand the view of people who are completely against it, there are massive hypocrisies in this debate. The main point of the two sides is that they are actually completely against child exploitations just some have very different views on it. Some anime fans criticise non-anime fans who express extreme outrage towards things portrayed in anime but are ok with the same kind of violence and depictions of sex in non-anime media. Most common examples were leading worldwide Emmy-winning shows like “Game of Thrones”, “American Horror Story”, “Euphoria” and “Stranger Things” that is well known for their extreme violence, sexual violence and contains minors in rather unsettling scenes which are played by actual minor actors.
The non-anime fans would usually respond with the scenes portrayed in these Emmy winning shows aren’t romanticising anything and aren’t portraying the violence as some sort of fetish or aesthetic, while the themes in anime does. This is opinion is a rather ignorant and biased response. Yes when it comes to things in Hentai (Pornagraphic and Erotic anime) yes i fully agree that it is indeed used as a fetish. However in regular anime it is 100% not. I think this statement really embarrasses and angers a lot of anime fans, that very controversial themes in anime are only meant to be fetishised and are fetishised by only anime fans. While in my personal experience so many things were fetishised in shows like “American Horror Story” and “Euphoria”. Not just by the producers but also the fans, which honestly infuriates me on how these are the very same people who openly throw shade at the anime community.
2nd point – Two camps within the anime community itself over Lolis/Shotas
There is also a division or double standard amongst anime themselves, in the in reactions to Lolis and Shotas. If you go on any YouTube video where it involves a Loli character I would already know what to expect from the comment section. Now this could literally be an absolutely wholesome and enjoyable video which shows ZERO imagery of anyone being sexualised or harmed and the first thing I always see are people commenting unnecessary and repetitive things such as “FBI Open Up”, “Eww they’re 12 that’s disgusting”, “I’m calling the police” and so on and so on.
Whereas I go on any video which involves a Shota character the reaction from what I have seen is completely different. I’ve seen multiple videos of thirst edits which involves characters like Hanako-Kun or Ciel Phantomhive from Black Butler (who is 13 btw ). Most of these videos gain tons of views and almost 99% of the comments are basically people simping and thirsting over these young male characters. I rarely see anyone speaking against it and if someone were to criticise these particular fans for thirsting over these underage boy characters or 500+ year old characters trapped in underage boys bodies, the first excuses I hear from all of the commentators is that they themselves are “ALL are underaged”, so its ok for them to simp over an underaged boy character. Another frequent excuse, if they are not young is, “Well technically he (the Shota) died a few centuries ago so it’s ok”. Huh?
That’s something I really don’t get sometimes. Because aren’t these the very excuses that these Shota fans claim to be “problematic” if someone were to defend Lolis who are actually 1000 years?
3rd point – Silencing CSA Victims and Toxic Internalised Victim Blaming
This is my opinion is very problematic and is very similar to what’s happening in the Kpop community with racism in the Kpop community. To sum it up for you, I shall be using the issue in Kpop so get a clear idea on what’s happening. So Kpop takes a lot of inspirations from Western culture, particularly Black culture. It is true that there is a lot of racial ignorance in Kpop which is tragic but we need to also know that Korea is a very Homogenous country and Kpop idols are taken in by controlling companies at pre-teen where they are taught by these companies. When there’s a comeback that involves using themes of another culture, this immediately sparks a whole forest fire within the POC Kpop community. Some immediately call it “Cultural Appropriation” and that these idols are racist bigots that deserve to perish while some defend them by saying that the company forced them to do it. The toxicity comes where extreme POC kpop fans say to the non-POC kpop fans “If you’re not a POC you have zero right to criticise our opinions etc” but when there’s a much more open minded POC kpop fan who doesn’t see the idol using their culture as “Cultural Appropriation” but as “Appreciation” and most likely people of non-POC tend to agree with them. The offended POC fans, instead arguing with the non-POC fans they unleash their anger onto the open minded POC fans for “Betraying their Community”, “Being an Anti-POC” and so much more.
Same thing goes for CSA victims [Child Sexual Assault Victims] in the anime community. Some see Lolicon/shotacon as a disgusting fetish that anime creators created while other side of CSA victims see it as a coping mechanism and somewhat empowering as if they are facing their own trauma. And just like that the offended CSA victims go by to call the non-offended CSA victims “Fake survivors”, “Wanted to get r*ped” or “As a CSA victim we don’t accept you” which is very problematic to say the least because that is silencing victims of assault and not realising that everyone’s experience is different.
Conclusion: My personal thoughts
Oh, by the way I can completely understand that the Lolicon/Shotacon argument is very complex and controversial with people often having very polarising views towards it. As a Minor myself, I’m also having trouble finding a clear answer towards this debate and so far I would say that I’m 50/50. I do worry about protection of children regardless and am aware that media and fiction does have an impact on reality. Anywhere you go there will always a group of truly despicable people who just want to watch other people’s lives fall apart. But I also 100% believe that there are a lot of people who are very sensible and mature who completely know their limits and can differentiate between fiction and reality
I personally think that when it comes to these particular genres in anime whether it be things like Hentai (Erotic or Pornographic Anime), Lolis/Shotas, Yaoi/Yuri (Erotic Anime that involves LGBTQ imagery) and other controversial themes I do believe that it should come in moderation. I think when it comes to things in entertainment that we enjoy, I do believe that we have the right to watch and enjoy some of it. However, too much of something always comes with a price, which we need to warn and remind ourselves of. But I would never really freak out if I met someone who happens to say that “Their Waifu is Klee” (a Loli character from Genshin Impact) as long as they don’t overdo it then that’s not a problem for me, you can enjoy what you enjoy.
(Sorry for the extremely long comment. I usually try not to get involved in controversial arguments like this. However this has been something that I’ve been wanting to get of my back for a very long time because I’ve seen so many videos discussing and debating this topic and I’ve always been terrified and anxious to discuss my personal opinions on it so don’t take my opinion too seriously. I’m completely open to everyone thoughts and opinions no matter what the topic is) 🙂
(This was written at the time when I was a Minor!)
