Nudity in Manga

[Tenken07]

Is it wrong to read books that have nudity in them? I bought a manga (anime) and it had some nudity in it, and I didnt know it when I bought it. I dont lust after it or anything. Heck I looked at it and felt nothing.

I have a good control over lusts, to the point where I dont have any lusts or urges of my own now.

Im just wondering if its wrong to read books with that in it, even though I dont lust or get anything from seeing that.

There isnt alot of it, it just pops up a few times in the book.

I cant really think of a reason for why its there. I certainly wouldnt go looking at porn because of this. I dunno. its like its just there.....for.. some reason.......

 

[Qyöt27]

Eh, I don't think too much of it. Cultural differences make a huge impact in this aspect.

As you said, there is a difference between simple nudity and porn. The reason it's rather blurry is the question that says 'Well, porn is specifically made to excite; most nudity in films or books or whatnot is made to make a situation uncomfortable, to provide comedy, to exhibit the depths of a relationship...but regardless of those things, people are still visual creatures and will be excited by it'. This is largely where cultural differences come in. If the culture you are apart of has certain views of what nudity entails, you will likely fall prey to those notions. Europe doesn't even blink at nudity - they abhor violence. The U.S. loves its violence - but can't handle nudity (somewhat ironic, considering the huge emphasis on 'sex sells' - it doesn't sell to that level, though). Japan is largely in between those two extremes - traditionally, nudity is both communal and private; there are public bath houses, or hot springs (both of these are usually segregated, but there are exceptions, typically out in the country). They simply don't think of it the same way Westerners do.

Like I said, it doesn't affect me too much (when it comes to anime and manga, that is). Sure, I'm a guy, and I'll admit that yeah, it's nice to look at, but that passes pretty quickly. What causes problems for me is when it's clearly intended for no other purpose than eroticism, and more specifically is in the realm of actual explicit sex.

 

[ScarletWitch]

meh. it's there and nothing's going to change that. i really don't care if there's nudity or not. but when there's a naked person and nothing's there, that annoys me. if the artist isn't going to draw anything then just cover up the person. it's stupid not to draw anything.

 

[jesusisnear]

in the japanese culture they dont think it is wrong to draw nude....but to use it is bad...i dont really care...i get the japanese verison and the ones that we read....in the japanese verison its all in japanese so i can read and write in japanese

 

[fuzzyjesusfreak]

well yeah, its there, but i really dont pay much attention. its there, but they dont show anything though. i was reading one today with it in it, it was there, yeah, but i payed not much attention, i just kept on reading. but this one dude kept stealing it from me and looking at it, thats when it bugged me

 

[jesusisnear]

dont feel bad about it

 

[PolskiKrol]

A good rule of thumb is if you have to question it, you may as well stay away from it.

 

[coolkat1002]

I dunno (drawn) nudity never bothered me, but then again I've been an art junky my whole life and alot of classical art is either nudes or partial nudes, so if its drawn I think nothing of it but I tend to stay away from movies with nudity in it. I guess because a drawing isn't real while a movie is(or is easier to believe it is or somthing like that)

 

[gloryseven]

Is it wrong to read books that have nudity in them? I bought a manga (anime) and it had some nudity in it, and I didnt know it when I bought it. I dont lust after it or anything. Heck I looked at it and felt nothing.

I have a good control over lusts, to the point where I dont have any lusts or urges of my own now.

Im just wondering if its wrong to read books with that in it, even though I dont lust or get anything from seeing that.

There isnt alot of it, it just pops up a few times in the book.

I cant really think of a reason for why its there. I certainly wouldnt go looking at porn because of this. I dunno. its like its just there.....for.. some reason.......

Im Paul, and Yes, if you buy books with little nudity. Make sure you dont get overobsessed with it..

 

[rocklife]

as a christian, you should get rid of it. I have to throw out, destroy, burn stuff often enough.

the reason they throw it in for no reason, is obvious, don't you think? the artist probably loves drawing it, and spreading it around.

If I were your wife, mother, and sister, I encourage you to get rid of it. Or at least tear out the pages with it. Or even draw clothes on them with permanent marker, or glue on some cut out dresses. bible talks about giving clothes to those who have none.

 

[WhirlwindMonk]

as a christian, you should get rid of it. I have to throw out, destroy, burn stuff often enough.

the reason they throw it in for no reason, is obvious, don't you think? the artist probably loves drawing it, and spreading it around.

If I were your wife, mother, and sister, I encourage you to get rid of it. Or at least tear out the pages with it. Or even draw clothes on them with permanent marker. bible talks about giving clothes to those who have none.

As a Christian, we have to burn anything that suggests that we sometimes don't wear clothing? If it's pornographic, I agree, get rid of it, but if it's there for another purpose, then there probably isn't anything with it if you don't lust after it.

An example that I always like to bring up when nudity is mentioned is Elfen Lied. The first episode. LOTS of nudity. Why? The first instance is fear. The girl is naked, but people just die around her. She kills them without lifting a finger. They shoot at her and it does nothing. She just walks slowly. It doesn't matter to her that she's naked, she is just leaving and killing everything in her way. Later, it's for comedy. There's a teenage girl who has been injured and has the mind of a small child, so she runs around the house in various states of nudity because she doesn't know better. In a later episode, the nudity is to provoke anger and disgust. A young girl is chained to a wall completely naked and effectively tortured for hours every day. The cruelty and inhumanity of it is amplified by the fact that they won't even let her keep her modesty. There are other uses for nudity in stuff besides lust.

Drawing clothes on characters, I know people who do that, and it's a good idea if the nudity bothers you. It still gets its point across because you know the person is naked, but it won't bother you as much because you aren't actually looking at it.

And if you were his wife, mother, and sister, I think he'd have bigger problems than nudity in a manga.

 

[xladyfayre]

if you aren't appreciating the nudity in the manga/anime- then aren't appreciating the culture of the Japanese..... read/watch the book/anime for what it is. How would you like it if someone changed your artwork? I wouldnt.....
If it bothers you so much then just dont watch it. Nudity is in anime/manga for whole other reason whan we Americans place it in our movies and books.
I agree with your statement about Elfen Lied, Wind. She doesnt know any better because she doesnt wear clothes where she is kept.
........Look at the work and read it how's its supposed to be read. The Japanese do not always use nudity to depict sex or anything like that. It usually goes with the situation. Another example is Chobits. In one episode, Chii accidentally took another girl's work uniform which was a maid's dress to work in a candy shop. When the girl came over the house she took off her dress and handed it to her. then her "master" gave her a night shirt. Chii was innocent and didnt know any better.
It bothers me that alot of Christians cant have an open mind.

 

[fuzzyjesusfreak]

if you aren't appreciating the nudity in the manga/anime- then aren't appreciating the culture of the Japanese..... read/watch the book/anime for what it is. How would you like it if someone changed your artwork? I wouldnt.....
If it bothers you so much then just dont watch it. Nudity is in anime/manga for whole other reason whan we Americans place it in our movies and books.
I agree with your statement about Elfen Lied, Wind. She doesnt know any better because she doesnt wear clothes where she is kept.
........Look at the work and read it how's its supposed to be read. The Japanese do not always use nudity to depict sex or anything like that. It usually goes with the situation. Another example is Chobits. In one episode, Chii accidentally took another girl's work uniform which was a maid's dress to work in a candy shop. When the girl came over the house she took off her dress and handed it to her. then her "master" gave her a night shirt. Chii was innocent and didnt know any better.
It bothers me that alot of Christians cant have an open mind.

same here, i just dont pay attention to it and appreciate it for what it is.

 

[xladyfayre]

not just that...but also the context and the situation the person is in.
Take the Little Mermaid- it was apparent that when Ariel lost her tail that she was nake even though they didnt show it. If it wasnt a child's film- they could have shown it, of course, it wouldnt be taken very well by Christians if Ariel was shown the way she came out of the water.... It would have been innocent because she DIDNT have clothes.... people often dont look at the context things are placed in. In Chobits, Chii is found wrapped in tape... she too, did not have clothes. She is like a naked barbie doll thrown in the trash, but someone kept the clothes for another doll..
The situation itself is innocent- Chii is an innocent and naiive character.

 

[fuzzyjesusfreak]

all too true, context and situation does matter, like in some manga this little perverted bunny gets ai to peek in a hole and you might know the rest if youv read that pcychic acadamy

 

[xladyfayre]

Thats MY point excatly. It is the context of the situation that matters. Obviously not everyone of them will be as innocent as other ones. Some of the animes and mangas will be lustful and perverted... You have to make the judgement yourself on whether you should read/watch them. But just because there is some nudity doesnt mean it is all bad. One example is Midori. When she became Sawamura's(not sure if this is the right name) right hand... she was naked. Who knows why, because when she went to bed she had on a night shirt.Then, when he goes to her house to try to immerse her into her normal body- he lifts her covers and she is naked....again, who knows why. Sometimes i do think it is just thrown in. Another episode shows his sister in a hot tub without a shirt.... No one else was naked.... but i do realize that there are bath houses and it may have been one...
i havent seen another one where there was un-needed nudity. usually it depicts the innocence of the character.

 

[Moana]

In some of my mangas there is nudity but, it looks like barbie dolls or unfinished drawings there are only outlibes and do details.

 

[coolkat1002]

I agree you have to remember the diferences in culture and the context in which it is used.

 

[xladyfayre]

i think that it is important when discerning what it right and wrong.

 

[Tariel]

well well well....what a facinating discussion. The first thing that comes to mind is the horrified expression on my best friend's face when she first picked up a Saiyuki book and had her first glimpse of the top that's not. And yeah....our little group still gets odd looks when such things are mentioned...but is it really anything worse than what you see in an art museum? Anyway...the only issue that I really see with it is that you have to be careful to have...um...creative finger placement when reading in class so that the person sitting behind you doesn't get his or her brain burned.