My son and anime

[Miss Chicken]

My son who is 26 years old loves to watch anime. Except for the occasional sci-fi movie, a handful of TV shows (Dexter, Supernatural and Heroes) and wrestling, anime is about all he watches.

Now I don't look at anime because the characters big eyes freak me out. Therefore I don't know much about anime. Some of the anime he likes is

Ghost in a Shell
Bleach
Black Cat
Full Metal Alchemist
Inu Yashu
ChronoCrusade
Dragonball Z

Is it normal for a young man to be looking at anime (rather than porn)?

 

[thestrangequark]

Don't worry, hon! It's perfectly normal, and what he's watching is about as close to porn as Sesame Street. Some of the shows you've listed are geared more towards teens, and a couple are definitely geared toward adults (with more mature themes and intelligent writing, but they're not porn at all). I'm the same age as your son, and some of my favorite shows are anime. There are a lot of misconceptions about anime -- people tend to think that it's either kids stuff or porn. However, there is a lot of anime for adults, akin to The Simpsons or South Park. The difference is that you can find anime of every genre: kids, drama, comedy, suspense, and yes, porn.

Oh, and the creator of Inu Yasha is one of my favorite manga/anime writers of all time. She wrote my favorite series (in manga form), a romantic comedy called Maison Ikkoku.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

The biggest misconception among non-fans of anime is that it is a genre unto itself. This could not be further from the truth. Anime is a medium. The content and style of anime is as widely varied as any other medium. There is comedy, drama, sci-fi, thriller, mystery, action, romance, children's, etc. and, yes, there's some porn as well. Different shows are made for different age groups with different tastes in genres. There's nothing odd about watching anime. Most of the ones you listed would fall into the action category, though Ghost in The Shell is in a sci-fi setting as well, with many intelligent elements to it. Anime is just a style, like any other kind of animation or like live-action. It's a varied as the tastes of people.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I didn't say that i thought they were porn in any way (I didn't even know there was anime porn)- just that i thought one would expect a 26 year old male to be looking at porn instead of anime.

 

[MIB]

thesrangequark is right. Anime is just a medium. A medium that includes virtually every genre and level of quality you can imagine. I'm not that much younger than your son (I'm 24) and I certianly don't see myself tossing out my own anime collection anytime soon since it includes some of my favorite movies and shows.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

That makes so sense whatsoever. If he were looking at porn he certainly wouldn't do it in front of anyone else. Why does watching anime have to be an "instead of" thing? I watch both anime and porn. I don't know any guy that would watch porn in front of someone else. Especially not in front of his mother.

 

[Venardhi]

If he is anything like this 23 year old guy He is probably enjoying both with some regularity.

Think of Anime like 'Film' or 'Comics', not as a subset of either.

 

[Miss Chicken]

That makes so sense whatsoever. If he were looking at porn he certainly wouldn't do it in front of anyone else. Why does watching anime have to be an "instead of" thing? I watch both anime and porn. I don't know any guy that would watch porn in front of someone else. Especially not in front of his mother.

He says he doesn't like really like porn - that he would rather do the real thing than watch porn.

If I am the sort of mother that would let his girlfriends stay overnight than having him watch porn wouldn't upset me.

 

[thestrangequark]

^Well, I feel the same way. And I've known some guys who feel the same. Porn just isn't their thing.

I didn't say that i thought they were porn in any way (I didn't even know there was anime porn)- just that i thought one would expect a 26 year old male to be looking at porn instead of anime.

Ah, I misunderstood you. But yeah, still no worries. Some of those shows are a bit young for him, but I'll admit I've seen more than a few episodes of Inu Yasha (hey, it makes me feel like a swooning adolescent again!).

There is a lot of clever, witty, and engaging anime for adults. Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, Great Teacher Onizuka all come to mind. If you're interested in a dose of good anime you should check out the movie Millenium Actress (the eyes aren't too big in that one. ) Then you'll get a good idea of just how intelligent and mature (and good) anime can be.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

That makes so sense whatsoever. If he were looking at porn he certainly wouldn't do it in front of anyone else. Why does watching anime have to be an "instead of" thing? I watch both anime and porn. I don't know any guy that would watch porn in front of someone else. Especially not in front of his mother.

He says he doesn't like really like porn - that he would rather do the real thing than watch porn.

If I am the sort of mother that would let his girlfriends stay overnight than having him watch porn wouldn't upset me.

Once again: You are his mother. Now I'm not denying that you son may genuinely not like porn. There's nothing wrong with that. I find a lot of it very degrading or disgusting, and am pretty selective about what I look at, but still most guys are just not comfortable looking at or talking about it in front of their mothers. You seem to be running on an asumption that all 20 something males are supposed to constantly be slaves to raging hormones. I frankly find that insulting.

 

[RoJoHen]

That makes so sense whatsoever. If he were looking at porn he certainly wouldn't do it in front of anyone else. Why does watching anime have to be an "instead of" thing? I watch both anime and porn. I don't know any guy that would watch porn in front of someone else. Especially not in front of his mother.

If he is anything like this 23 year old guy He is probably enjoying both with some regularity.

This.

I watch porn, but I certainly don't go advertising it to my parents. I don't really watch anime, but I watch plenty of other things in addition to porn.

Right now I'm watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." I'll probably watch porn when I'm done.

 

[Miss Chicken]

That makes so sense whatsoever. If he were looking at porn he certainly wouldn't do it in front of anyone else. Why does watching anime have to be an "instead of" thing? I watch both anime and porn. I don't know any guy that would watch porn in front of someone else. Especially not in front of his mother.

He says he doesn't like really like porn - that he would rather do the real thing than watch porn.

If I am the sort of mother that would let his girlfriends stay overnight than having him watch porn wouldn't upset me.

Once again: You are his mother. Now I'm not denying that you son may genuinely not like porn. There's nothing wrong with that. I find a lot of it very degrading or disgusting, and am pretty selective about what I look at, but still most guys are just not comfortable looking at or talking about it in front of their mothers. You seem to be running on an asumption that all 20 something males are supposed to constantly be slaves to raging hormones. I frankly find that insulting.

Where have I even remotely said that "all 20 something males are supposed to constantly be slaves to raging hormones"? I have said nothing of the sort. All I have said is that I consider it normal for young men to look at porn.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

And that it is, but you seem to be concerned that your son is watching anime instead of watching porn, as if that's supposed to be his only form of entertainment. I want to reiterate again that you are his mother and he is NOT going to watch porn in front of you. Period.

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

Is it normal for a young man to be looking at anime (rather than porn)?

If it's completely replaced porn, then yes, it's not normal. Every young man or woman should watch porn now and again. If he's 26 he should even have sex twice a week. If you're really afraid he doesn't watch porn; simply ask him. He's obviously not watching it in front of you, but he should be able to give you a "Yes, of course I watch porn".

 

[Miss Chicken]

Is it normal for a young man to be looking at anime (rather than porn)?

If it's completely replaced porn, then yes, it's not normal. Every young man or woman should watch porn now and again. If he's 26 he should even have sex twice a week. If you're really afraid he doesn't watch porn; simply ask him. He's obviously not watching it in front of you, but he should be able to give you a "Yes, of course I watch porn".

The nearest I, an older woman, gets to watching porn is watching "Queer as Folk". My son thinks that that is strange. He thinks it is a show for gays. I assured him it is a huge female following.

 

[Miss Chicken]

And that it is, but you seem to be concerned that your son is watching anime instead of watching porn, as if that's supposed to be his only form of entertainment. I want to reiterate again that you are his mother and he is NOT going to watch porn in front of you. Period.

I never said I expectedhim to watch it in front of me, but I very doubt he would keep the fact that he watches it from me.

 

[RoJoHen]

And that it is, but you seem to be concerned that your son is watching anime instead of watching porn, as if that's supposed to be his only form of entertainment. I want to reiterate again that you are his mother and he is NOT going to watch porn in front of you. Period.

I never said I expectedhim to watch it in front of me, but I very doubt he would keep the fact that he watches it from me.

I'm wondering why you think it should come up at all. It would be weird of you to ask him about it, and it would be weird for him to want to tell you about it.

"Hey, mom, I just watched some great porn."

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Most guys are not comfortable discussing their porn watching habits, especially not with their mothers. You are his mother!

 

[Miss Chicken]

I'm wondering why you think it should come up at all. It would be weird of you to ask him about it, and it would be weird for him to want to tell you about it.

"Hey, mom, I just watched some great porn."

We have talked about porn on several occasions.

For example, my other son (aged 28) came home one day and said that a neighbour of his had got a bad spyware infection because of the porn he downloaded. I commented that is why I don't want porn downloaded on my computer adding if they wanted to see porn they should just buy magazines or else buy their own computer. I knew my 28 year old son occasionally bought magazines. My youngest son said "Have you ever seen how much those magazine cost?"

We also had a talk about why he thought it was strange that I looked at "Queer as Folk". I said that many men liked seeing pictures of two lesbians etc. He said that he would rather do the real thing than look at porn.

 

[Rincewiend]

My son who is 26 years old loves to watch anime. Except for the occasional sci-fi movie, a handful of TV shows (Dexter, Supernatural and Heroes) and wrestling, anime is about all he watches.

Now I don't look at anime because the characters big eyes freak me out. Therefore I don't know much about anime. Some of the anime he likes is

Ghost in a Shell
Bleach
Black Cat
Full Metal Alchemist
Inu Yashu
ChronoCrusade
Dragonball Z

Is it normal for a young man to be looking at anime (rather than porn)?

I'm 35 and i istill watch cartoons...
Cartoons aren't just for kids anymore, just like videogames...
A good example would be Avatar: The Last Airbender...
And the Japanese know this since a lot of their amated series have, as pointed out, more mature subject matter...