Kodomo no Jikan - Loli gone too far?
Loli has never been as blatant as Kodomo no Jikan. Seriously. Take a look at this if you’re unconvinced.
WTF!?
I count myself as a fairly open-minded person.
Hentai is fine, yuri is alrite, yaoi doesn’t bother me, and loli (or rori in Japanese) is awfully innocent, sweet and cute when done correctly.
Think Ichigo Mashimaro.
But Kodomo no Jikan is in a league of its own. There isn’t any reason to animate it, they could have left the manga (it was based on the original manga) as it is - a fun, though subversive piece of work. Manga-wise, Kodomo no Jikan is just a tiny insignificant drop in the sea of eroge out there.
But with it being animated, as with most shows, it has shot into the limelight (as anime adaptations of obscure usually does).
However, in this instance, it seems like Kodomo no Jikan is not the underground, subversive manga that it was, and has now become a full-fledged loli symbol. When you think of loli, it pops to mind. and eeky loli at that.
And with the range of merchandise surrounding it, some as distasteful (in my personal opinion) as the mousepad above (which cost a whopping SGD78 too), it seems to suggest that there is a market for such items. Frankly, it’s disturbing to me.
I’m not the paragon of virtue advocating clean, sanitized anime (I do enjoy Ikkitousen), but Kodomo no Jikan is pure exploitation.
It’s animes like this that give anime an absolutely bad name, further propagating the stereotype of otakus being weirdos.
I seriously wish they will can it. It’s not entertainment anymore.
But as with such things, the opposite could happen and there’ll be a season 2.
I can’t imagine the merchandise.
Tags: Kodomo no Jikan, Loli, merchandise, Rori
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March 18, 2008 at 1:37 am
if you actually read all the chapters in the manga, then you would know that kodomo reels you in w/ the loliz, but keeps you for the story. theres sum pretty good story as the story goes on. it’s my favorite series (manga wise) but the fansubbs for the uncensored anime take 4ever! the censoring is hella strict on kodomo the anime so alot of the humor among other things get lost. i say stick with it if your as open minded as you say you are.
March 20, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I did read all the manga… way back when it first started as an obscure manga that no one took notice of, way before it shot into the limelight now. In fact, I actually like the manga. It’s a funny, guilty pleasure kind of manga (and harmless too).
The one thing that seriously bothers me is the merchandise surrounding it, a good example being the mousepad above. If a non-anime fan sees that, I would think they would assume it’s pedophilia…and as a result, anime is seen in a negative light again..which really sucks.