Crossing a Line?

I’ve both read and watched many renditions of ‘vampire’ tales. Anne Rice and Bram Stoker come to mind as the more popular creators of such stories lately, but of course one can’t discount Stephenie Meyer and the hundreds of others who have ventured into the genre either. I use the term ‘genre’ lightly, as in fact these stories can fit into almost any genre and sub-genre depending on their audience and content of course. I’ve watched a dozen movies, read many novels, and watched a great number of television series in both live-action and animated formats over the years that have dealt with the ‘vampire’ mythos in some way or another, and with this experience I can say one thing with near-complete conviction: some things are inevitable in a given ‘reality’, such as a reality in which vampires exist, but even in giving it serious thought, and understanding that it makes perfect logical sense, one can’t simply shrug off the feeling that actually using it in a visual story is nothing short of a vulgar exploitation.

On this note I turn your attention to the title ‘Dance in the Vampire Bund’, a newer anime series that’s not really unique enough to grab anyone’s attention IMO, but for one small detail. The seemingly ten-year old blonde ‘vampire queen’ has a penchant for running around half-, or totally, nude. Not only that, but she’s seen in several instances to be wearing garter belts and revealing lingerie obviously focused on ‘sexual appeal’ (I would post a picture, but some part of me would feel like I’m promoting child pornography in doing so).

Now my first point is that, in the context of the story, and indeed in most stories that center around vampires, the idea of an apparent ‘child’ who is over a hundred years old is not a new one- far from new, I can name a half-dozen stories off the top of my head in literature alone have such a character. The heavy contrast between their knowledge, the way they speak, and their mannerisms with their obviously child-like outward appearance is what makes them such powerful characters in these stories, and indeed in most cases it’s written so tastefully that it’s never an issue in breaking immersion (quite the opposite).

My second point to consider is that, given that they are, in fact, much older than they appear, they would have certain desires that children might not. A person who isn’t ‘attractive’ by mainstream standards will still buy lingerie, and will still wear it, and so it stands to reason that even someone who’s doomed to always appear as a child would desire that same sense of wanting to be seen as ‘beautiful’ and doing the same- even more-so for that fact. This line of thought leads us to the conclusion that, given that vampires existed in the real world, and children were made into them and lived another twenty, fifty, or hundred years- it’s hard to refute that at least one of them would probably wear adult lingerie if only out of that sense of great longing for a form they’ll never have. That’s basic psychology, and it’s not even a matter of opinion IMO.

Both of those points taken together makes it an inevitability that such a character would be portrayed in a story, and makes it perfectly reasonable to do so, at least from a logical standpoint. However, even if that’s the case, and even if I could have stomached it in literature (and been intrigued by it, even thinking it a positive point of realism), a visual format such as anime makes it seem like a blatant exploitation, and nothing short of a lure to pedophiles. I can stand ‘moe’, in fact I really love it on occasion, but this I can’t see as anything more than crossing a line that should never be crossed. The fact is that this character type, even if it’s perfectly reasonable and logical, was impossible to implement tastefully- or I should say, I can’t see any way in which it’s possible in anime form. I wouldn’t say that ‘Dance in the Vampire Bund’ ranks anywhere near the digust-levels that I get from KissXSis or Kodomo ni Jikan, which exploited this ‘child sexuality’ theme on a level much higher than this, but it still leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.

This is where everyone else comes in. Am I being too harsh on this? Is this a logical inevitability that should simply be accepted, or trash that should burned with all of the contempt that we can muster?

[PERMALINK] - @1 year ago
(± )
#moe #child sexuality #Dance in the Vampire Bund #anime #vampire 
Crossing a Line?

I’ve both read and watched many renditions of ‘vampire’ tales. Anne Rice and Bram Stoker come to mind as the more popular creators of such stories lately, but of course one can’t discount Stephenie Meyer and the hundreds of others who have ventured into the genre either. I use the term ‘genre’ lightly, as in fact these stories can fit into almost any genre and sub-genre depending on their audience and content of course. I’ve watched a dozen movies, read many novels, and watched a great number of television series in both live-action and animated formats over the years that have dealt with the ‘vampire’ mythos in some way or another, and with this experience I can say one thing with near-complete conviction: some things are inevitable in a given ‘reality’, such as a reality in which vampires exist, but even in giving it serious thought, and understanding that it makes perfect logical sense, one can’t simply shrug off the feeling that actually using it in a visual story is nothing short of a vulgar exploitation.

On this note I turn your attention to the title ‘Dance in the Vampire Bund’, a newer anime series that’s not really unique enough to grab anyone’s attention IMO, but for one small detail. The seemingly ten-year old blonde ‘vampire queen’ has a penchant for running around half-, or totally, nude. Not only that, but she’s seen in several instances to be wearing garter belts and revealing lingerie obviously focused on ‘sexual appeal’ (I would post a picture, but some part of me would feel like I’m promoting child pornography in doing so).

Now my first point is that, in the context of the story, and indeed in most stories that center around vampires, the idea of an apparent ‘child’ who is over a hundred years old is not a new one- far from new, I can name a half-dozen stories off the top of my head in literature alone have such a character. The heavy contrast between their knowledge, the way they speak, and their mannerisms with their obviously child-like outward appearance is what makes them such powerful characters in these stories, and indeed in most cases it’s written so tastefully that it’s never an issue in breaking immersion (quite the opposite).

My second point to consider is that, given that they are, in fact, much older than they appear, they would have certain desires that children might not. A person who isn’t ‘attractive’ by mainstream standards will still buy lingerie, and will still wear it, and so it stands to reason that even someone who’s doomed to always appear as a child would desire that same sense of wanting to be seen as ‘beautiful’ and doing the same- even more-so for that fact. This line of thought leads us to the conclusion that, given that vampires existed in the real world, and children were made into them and lived another twenty, fifty, or hundred years- it’s hard to refute that at least one of them would probably wear adult lingerie if only out of that sense of great longing for a form they’ll never have. That’s basic psychology, and it’s not even a matter of opinion IMO.

Both of those points taken together makes it an inevitability that such a character would be portrayed in a story, and makes it perfectly reasonable to do so, at least from a logical standpoint. However, even if that’s the case, and even if I could have stomached it in literature (and been intrigued by it, even thinking it a positive point of realism), a visual format such as anime makes it seem like a blatant exploitation, and nothing short of a lure to pedophiles. I can stand ‘moe’, in fact I really love it on occasion, but this I can’t see as anything more than crossing a line that should never be crossed. The fact is that this character type, even if it’s perfectly reasonable and logical, was impossible to implement tastefully- or I should say, I can’t see any way in which it’s possible in anime form. I wouldn’t say that ‘Dance in the Vampire Bund’ ranks anywhere near the digust-levels that I get from KissXSis or Kodomo ni Jikan, which exploited this ‘child sexuality’ theme on a level much higher than this, but it still leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.

This is where everyone else comes in. Am I being too harsh on this? Is this a logical inevitability that should simply be accepted, or trash that should burned with all of the contempt that we can muster?

[PERMALINK] - 1 year ago
#moe #child sexuality #Dance in the Vampire Bund #anime #vampire