He was athletic, drew dragons and flame-throwing superheroes, and was an avid gamer, but he was also sweet and sensitive, non-competitive, hugged everyone, adored musical theater, and gravitated towards girls as friends. My son did not rough and tumble with the other boys. Both children took Aikido because it uses swords and “you don’t actually have to hit anyone,” as my son was fond of pointing out. My son loved the shows and learned to read with manga. My kids became vocal fans of anime with no shame. I even wrote a song, “I Love You Japan”, about how confused I was by many aspects of Japanese culture that I also found fascinating:Īnd girls who like boys who like little girls, I was confused about the romantic pairings, some disturbing (girls dressing like little girls with grown men…) and some simply didn’t fit my very Western upbringing: male characters in anime were more sensitive-no problem crying and expressing all emotions. “Japanese folks are not bothered by thin, delicate male characters.” Isabella Fidanza in Manga and Gender-Fluidity The feminine male warrior seemed to be pretty common.
Flower petal rained down on warriors, and pink was just light red. In modern clothes, I could only tell if the girls had skirts (in uniform), but if the story took place long ago with kimonos? Forget it. Hair was short and long on boys and girls interchangeably. I often couldn’t tell the difference between the boys and girls. My son continued to watch his shows with his sister, and eventually her girlfriends even enjoyed Fruits Basket.įrom the start, I noticed the way boys were represented in anime was different from American children’s cartoons. My adult parenting friends and family accepted my “weirdness,” but never joined in. I tried to explain that anime and manga had complex stories and characters that were a welcome break from Western themes, and the people recommending them to us were librarians and grown men! That didn’t win over any fans. I got some pointed questions about my son reading manga with cutesy, rainbow-filled “girly” covers. As soon as my kids were old enough he pulled them into heart-wrenching shows like Angel Beats.Īmong my parenting friends and family (on both sides), my children were the only ones watching anime and I was definitely the odd one as an adult watching them. My nephew, a few years older than my children, was a fan of anime as well. Bleach was an obsession for all of us: my daughter drew fan art constantly, my son loved the swords and ability designs, and I had a crush on Renji. We were all stunned by the beauty and depth of Haibane Renmei. I couldn’t stand Angelic Layer, but my kids loved it. Although we all loved Miyazaki films, not all were for their age level, and I found myself watching some alone, and liking them. My geeky friends made a list and once we started getting things out of the library, the librarians helped me find more age-appropriate material. I kept asking for more recommendations because I could not figure out from the covers which anime were appropriate for kids.
Hamtaro, a cute series about a hamster and his owner was next. I watched it with them and we were enchanted. Our gateway anime wa s Kiki’s Delivery Service by Miyazaki that was recommended by my friends because I had children. I remember the cover looking a bit racy and he bashfully explained that this particular manga was definitely not for kids. When I asked him about it, he explained that in Asia comics were books called “manga” and, even though cartoons were mostly for children in America, that wasn’t the case in Asia, where manga and “anime” were created for all age groups. I distinctly remember seeing manga once in high school on Long Island in the ’90s: A Chinese exchange student brought in an oddly thick and small comic book. When my children were young, I returned to college and befriended a group of geeks who introduced me to anime and manga. A study of n=2, but if you want to get into the latest science of why homosexuality is a natural expression of humanity, check out this article based on a TED talk by James O’Keefe. My daughter watched lots of shows, including anime. My son watched lots of shows, including anime. I won’t give those ignorant people more traffic. I won’t link to certain places online that contain ludicrous opinions about how children can be “made” gay (or on the spectrum of LGBTQ) because of the friends they choose, the toys they play with, or the entertainment they enjoy.