this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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Anime
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My Hero Academia is also violent, but it's a bit less graphic than Demon Slayer, and it's themed around super heroes/villains so the concept may be more approachable for a child. It's one of my personal favorites, but fair warning: The themes do get somewhat more mature as the show goes on.
If your kid has an interest in science, Dr. Stone could be a great fit. Contains some violence, but it's mostly about a super genius recreating modern technology using primitive resources after an apocalypse.
Another one in the science vein, Cells at Work tells the story of anthropomorphic cells living and doing their jobs in a human body. Again, some violence, but it's mostly cartoonish and shouldn't be much of a worry for a kid.
~~Fairy Tail is also a good choice, especially since its audience skews younger than the other recs I've given here. It follows a group of wizards at a famous guild as they take on quests and go on adventures. Very kid-friendly with a huge backlog of episodes.~~
On second thought, maybe give Fairy Tail a miss due to the fanservice. I apparently blocked all those scenes from my memory when watching as a kid.
Hero academia: actually does become pretty graphic as series goes on Dr.stone: good pick Cells at work: safe too but not in the genre as demon slayer Fairy tail: not kid friendly at all because of all the ecchi
Oh damn, you're definitely right about Fairy Tail. It's been so long since I've watched it I completely forgot about all the fanservice. It's bizarre though, because if it wasn't for that it'd fit right in with other "Saturday morning" kids anime like Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon
I've only read the manga, but I found Dr Stone to be really misogynistic, in a low-key but pervasive way. Nearly all the female characters (especially in the first half) are vapid and highly sexualized. Maybe the anime is better? MHA's female characters are also overly sexualized, but at least they're as well-developed as the male characters.
Also to be clear, Cells at Work: Code Black is a spin-off which is NOT age appropriate (albeit the superior series IMO).
You're joking, right? Sure, some female antagonist characters are like that, but Yuzuriha is an essential member of the party portrayed as hyper-skilled, Kohaku is super strong, smart and doesn't fawn over the protagonist despite clearly having feelings for him, Suika is literally just a silly kid, etc. Just because they're using relatively revealing clothes (which aren't even that revealing, mind you) doesn't make them highly sexualized.
Again, I've only read the manga so I don't know how they're portrayed in the anime, but:
Yuzuriha: primary purpose is motivation for the male protagonist (ala Miho Asuki in Bakuman)
Kohaku: min-maxed strength and dexterity at the loss of intelligence, wisdom, and self-initiative (and I'm sorry, but that is one ridiculously skimpy outfit, especially given her acrobatic role)
Suika: pre-pubescent characters (thankfully!) usually bypass misogyny/hypersexualization so I don't include her in my assessment
And then there are the other first-half characters, like:
Ruri: helpless sick girl (omg that shot of her being fed medicine)
Kirisame: zero self-initiative (mindlessly follows orders), and that outfit makes Kohaku look like a nun
And a bunch more that I don't remember because it's been a while since I read the series.
The first female character I didn't feel at least a little uncomfortable about was Chelsea, who I think is actually a strong character and the first (non-child) female character to be accepted into the group for her insight, smarts, and decision-making skills, AND her design is not sexualized (almost as if she stumbled in from another series). But she appears quite late in the series, hence my comment about the first half. Some of the American female characters are also okay, but not great (and again, introduced in the latter half). But even towards the end, the male characters are in nearly all the leadership positions, and the female characters are left to play support.
I don't mean to single out Dr Stone; you could do a similar analysis for most anime and nearly all shonen series. But especially given the gender imbalance in STEM, it's unfortunate to see more business as usual.
Wow, almost like it's a traditional SHOUNEN.
Straight up false, she's only seen as an idol before being revived (understandably so, what the hell can a stone do except look pretty). Immediately after, she's treated as a skilled member of the party. I'll give you that the author loves drawing her from behind.
Again, false. She's not dumb, if anything she's pretty smart and on top of things - only she doesn't have any knowledge of the civilized world, being a new-worlder and all that. I went through the manga, and from chapter 9 (her introduction) to chapter 26 (got bored after that), there are a total of 5 panels where she's "sexualized", all of which self-censored by either scenery or speech bubbles.
OK, that shot was "sus", as the zoomers say, but being a helpless sick girl was an essential part of the plot, not some fanservice or male superiority complex.
During the first half she's just a goon, which is what I'd actually like to address here - if anything, the later parts of the story lose focus and start being more about fanservice.
You are free to disagree with my assessment.