u/tenetox

I want to preface this by saying that I'm not a no-fun-allowed prude. My issue lies specifically with having to sit through scenes of implied or very much open pedophilia, sexual harassment or just misplaced fanservice to enjoy otherwise amazing stories in anime.

I'm not talking about anime that's explicitly a "gooner bait' or otherwise low quality animation which primary purpose is to cater to specific groups of people. I'm talking about anime that has great elements *besides* the questionable moments, but impossible to recommend because if you did your friends would be giving you weird looks.

I curse the source material authors. I curse the animation studios adapting the material and not removing the most egregious elements. And above all, I curse the Japanese society and the anime community in general, normalizing pedophilia and creating a demand for fanservice. I'm sure some of them will be in the comments telling me how wrong I am and how seeing a naked 15 year old on screen is kawaii and sugoi. (Edit: well, here they are.)

Below are the two examples that I'm mad about the most, although the list doesn't end there.

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Bakemonogatari:

Just finished watching this for the first time. Stellar dialogue writing, unique visuals, good soundtrack, it's almost hypnotic in nature. It's really really good. The magic, however, completely disappears the moment the protagonist has to interact with a woman.

The protagonist is shown to be good-natured, selfless and clever in one scene, and in the very next one he sexually harasses a literal 9 year old for fun. What am I supposed to feel towards him? What kind of connection? Am I expected to *relate* to him?

Some of the eroticism in this anime is presented in a tasteful fashion, some of the scenes genuinely work to develop a character. But in other scenes it's just a zoom at a girl's boobs and the protagonist being like "holy shit boobs" and I'm just sitting there waiting until the obligatory fanservice "humor" is over so I can engage with otherwise good story.

Konosuba:

Konosuba is really fun. It has stellar humor, both visual and written. While being a mostly comedy show, it manages to weave in serious plot threads and some of the characters are genuinely interesting, including the protagonist, which is a rarity for anime, especially isekai.

However, like 30% of the show is Kazuma being a creep, and while it's presented in a humorous fashion and he never actually *does* anything against another person's consent, some of the implied stuff is quite disgusting, especially in season 3 with the "little sister" princess.

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This is a real shame that otherwise really good works force me to feel guilty for enjoying them. I hate how I cannot recommend bakemonogatari to anyone, even though I'm really hooked on the series and will definitely watch it until the end. I hate how anime fans act like this is a non-issue. I hate how well pedophilia and objectification of women sells, and how more and more shows are being shamelessly open about it.

This is pretty much it.

Like the entire story is structured around fighting demons and trying to prevent a resurrection of a dragon god. There isn't even a single lawyer in the story.