Ask John: Is the Accusation That Anime is a Harmful Influence on Children Valid?

Question:
What do you think about some said that anime brings bad influence to kids? Some had said that anime was so cute but very dangerous.

Answer:
The debate over whether anime is or may be a harmful influence on children is a massive topic. A determined analyst could explore this subject in great depth, citing theory, published psychological and developmental research, anecdotal evidence, and scientific experimentation. Naturally, I’m unable to do that in a single e-mail reply. So rather than attempt a thoroughly supported dissertation, I’ll merely explain my own perspective on the matter. Hopefully doing so will encourage readers to solidify their own, personal opinions.

Instinctively I would compare Japanese animation to the variety and diversity of the American film industry. But that analogy has an untenable flaw in relation to this particular discussion. In this context, animation isn’t directly comparable to live action film because animation is presumed to have greater appeal to children than average live action film. So I’ll compare anime to American comic books. Both artistic mediums are widely considered genres primarily for children, but both genres consist of tremendous variety and a wide spectrum of target audiences. Not all comic books are intended for or suitable for impressionable children. Likewise, not all anime is designed for or suitable for impressionable children. So the argument that “anime” has a harmful influence on children is blatantly and ignorantly over simplified. The fact that an artistic medium is widely and ignorantly presumed to be primarily for children doesn’t mean that it is so. There are many adult oriented comics that contain sexuality, drug use, adult language, and casual violence. Rational adult readers realize that the content of such comics depicts a fictional world that has legal, social, and moral standards different from the real world. However, young children may not yet have the intellectual capacity to distinguish between fictional depictions of behavior that seems acceptable, and behavior that’s acceptable in real life.

Likewise anime may depict actions and circumstances that seem natural, acceptable, and believable in context, but which don’t actually reflect real life. Forcing anime to be genuinely realistic and socially responsible is a compromise of artistic principle, and an unfair imposition upon rational, mature viewers. The solution is not altering anime. The solution is applying care to supervise what influences impressionable children are exposed to. It’s illegal to expose children to pornography. A similar moral precept should also apply. Responsible adults, parents, and supervisors should take care to distance impressionable children from material deemed unsuitable. If anime is a harmful influence on children, than that’s only because an irresponsible adult has allowed children to be exposed to anime not suitable for them.

The argument that anime is dangerous because it’s cute is merely an excuse created by irresponsible guardians. The theory is that since anime is colorful and cartoonish, it’s appealing to small children who may not be intellectually capable of distinguishing a difference between acceptable or natural behavior depicted in a fantasy setting and the same behavior in the real world. In other words, anime can only be a harmful influence on children if people in responsible roles allow it to be a harmful influence. And in that event, I lay blame not on the anime, but on the irresponsible guardians. Even if an anime targeted at children contains scenes or content which may influence a child to harmful behavior, the child can be prevented from watching the anime.

Anime, in and of itself, cannot possibly be harmful because it has no physical substance and no independent ability. Anime can’t pounce and maul a child like an animal. Anime can’t slip out of control run over a child like an unattended automobile. Anime can only exert influence in conjunction with a willing participant, so the genuinely harmful element is not the anime itself, but rather the person that brings together the inappropriate material and the impressionable viewer. I concede that anime does often contain scenes or circumstances that easily influenced viewers may misinterpret, but the point of art is to be faithful to its own ideas. Art that stridently compromises itself to be totally innocuous and inoffensive, in my opinion, isn’t valuable, respectable art. I firmly believe that the accusation that anime can be a harmful influence on children is merely a excuse used by lazy and irresponsible people to rationalize their own unwillingness to exert effort to determine the suitability of material they expose themselves to, or allow children to be exposed to.