DragonBall Manga Pulled From Maryland Library

[VegettoEX]

From delmarvanow.com:

Joe Holloway, the racy illustrations spread out in front of him, had prepared a show-and-tell segment for his fellow council members.
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Holloway had copied portions of a Japanese graphic novel. He said a fourth-grader recently checked it out of the Pittsville Elementary and Middle School library.

The book, "Dragon Ball, Volume 1: The Monkey King." is laid out like a comic book, and in it children sometimes appear naked. Akira Toriyama's book, later adapted into a popular animated TV show, focuses on Son Goku, a monkey-tailed boy on a quest to obtain mythical objects called Dragon Balls.

"In cartoon format, it depicts nudity, sexual contact between children and sexual innuendo among adults and children," Holloway told fellow council members during the comment period of Tuesday's meeting.

Photocopies provided by Holloway detail several of the scenes.

In one, the protagonist, a young boy, pats the covered crotch area of a sleeping teenage girl before removing her panties. The same boy later appears naked in the bathtub and is naked when he performs flying jump kicks.

In another scene, a Peeping Tom watches a naked teenage girl as she takes a shower. Furthermore, the novel shows a teenage girl flashing a bearded man; and another man asking a girl about her bra size.

Wicomico schools Superintendent John Fredericksen, present at Tuesday's meeting for an unrelated topic, said his knee-jerk response is to yank the book from schools.

"I'd say it's coming off the shelves as soon as I can get a phone call back to the office," Fredericksen said.

He said graphic novels are an accepted genre in the school system, in part, because they appeal to children who often aren't interested in traditional forms of reading.

Fredericksen said the book in question was likely purchased with grant funding. He said he expects the book to be reviewed by a committee that judges the merit of red-flagged books. At that point, a permanent decision on the future of the "Dragon Ball" book will be made.

Holloway said he found out about the book after being contacted by the mother of the 9-year-old who had checked it out. The women has told Holloway, he said, that she does not wish to be identified.

"The drawings and story lines are disgusting," Holloway said of the book.

We have added an extensive update to the home page of the website, and have reached out to Mr. Holloway for comment.

[Supa Saiya-Jin Tullece]

Oh wow. I honestly don't know what to think anymore. I thought we as a society figured that the children of today had a semblance of maturity about them.

I mean, I've seen sexual innuendo on Cartoon Network and Nikelodeon. CHaracters being outright called sexy.

On an unrelated note, I think it's interesting that the article uses the cover of ye olde Viz releases.

[Godo]

Holloway said he found out about the book after being contacted by the mother of the 9-year-old who had checked it out. The women has told Holloway, he said, that she does not wish to be identified.

If you have an opinion, don't be a coward and hide. I bet that her son is a Hentai addict by now after reading the manga. And that he will be damaged forever. He will probably very soon start to flash himself for grown-ups, ending as a gigolo in a motel room, lapdancing for a fat woman.

Hell, just switching on the TV would give enough sexual innuendos that will flash over Dragonball's sexual innuendo's.

I think that children can't be protected from everything. If the man read the whole story instead of judging it from one or two volumes, he would understand that Dragonball much more than that.
But I guess that he doesn't have much time for such things. He is waiting for a call after all.

[caejones]

"Rifles and Jesus Christ protect me! My nine-year-old child, who probably sees him/herself naked on a daily basis, has been exposed to a cartoon of a naked child! Pitchforks and torches! To Gehenna with this horrible storyline!"

Meanwhile, on holsome American cartoons:
Chester, while looking at Timmy Turner's exposed rear end: "Nice moon. Glad we came."
---
At the end of the Farely Odd Parents ... episode? Feature? (I only saw this part. ), after the baby that becomes known as "Poof"'s gender is called into question, a liquid sprays... someone? (I can't be more detailed than that...), to which Timmy declares: "It's a boy. Because boys like watersquirters!"

The "Naky episode" of Rugrats featured some of the parents freaking out when the babies took off their clothes, and since there was just one female baby involved, one of the boys asked if he could ask her a question...
The episode's climax was Tommy Pickles (said asker-asker) held captive in a super-intense clothing device his father built to prevent him from removing his clothes, taking a screwdriver and disassembling the thing, then making his way to where his grandfather was addressing a sizeable audience. Cut to a conclusion a few seconds later, where Grandpa mensioned that most people hated the speech, but thought his grandson was the most adorable thing ever, "with or without clothes.". Meanwhile, Tommy has inexplicably realized that "people aren't amnimals and we gots to wear clothes!", and proceeds to jump into water while fully dressed (ur, for a baby that rarely wears more than a shirt and diaper anyway...).

An episode of Jimmy Neutron featured the lead Boy Genius character winding up trying to go to college, and being made to streak through an area where an important someone and some university... official? were meeting as part of a fraternity initiation ritual. The person that (as I recall) was a guest of the college ... like, freaked out in terror. "AAH! NAKED BOY! *panics*"

And "Sponge Bob Nudy Pants" was spoken in an episode of Sponge-Bob Squarepants for reasons that, oddly enough, were nudity-related.

And on a more critical note, there's the ending to "Good Times with Weapons".

Not that any of this relevant material is at all relevant. I mean, even Dragonball Kai is pulling back on the "questionable material".

But if we still need to take action, why not send a postcard to Scruff, McGruff, Chicago Illinois, 60652, and help take a bite out of crime?

[The Time Traveller]

Trust American mothers to be offended by this stuff.

I don't really see a problem with this, although it certainly gives Dragon Ball an even uglier reputation, and it's a shame kids can't get into it the old fashioned way.

Although there's a huge difference between TV Innuendo and the blatant nudity and sex jokes in Dragon Ball.

The Simpsons gets brought up all the time when we're talking about the nudity issues. Kids watch it, everyone watches it, and it's chock full of implications of sex, ass, streaking, blah blah blah.

Viz are partly to blame, they should have a fully uncut release and a version for kids, and they should definitely stop being so prissy about the manga and give us the Kanzenban, fully uncut, rather than trying to market the same old shit and now the same old watered down shit.
If there was a flipped version with nudity censored and parts cut out PLUS a totally uncut, un-flipped release, we'd all be happy...




CN and Nick has indeed had it's share of innuendo in kid's shows, and not just obviously stuff, lots of it was stuff kid's wouldn't see, my favourite is Powerpuff Girls, which has a ton of shit, especially Ms. Bellum's address, and the Buttercup condoms joke...

[SHINOBI-03]

And in the end, America got no problem with an American cartoon staring naked monkeys ((I. M. Weasle)), a naked cow with a naked devil ((Cow & Chicken)), a boy geniuos naked most of the time ((Dexter's Lab))

They can accept their own characters to be naked but not from another country!

Oh, and there was an episode of Jimmy Neutron where he asked his dog to do a full body scan on a girl I forgot her name, who appeared in her panties in one full episode!

Another thing I remember is an episode from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy where Grim wanted to be a bikini model. When they played the ad, we see two guys pulling a bikini bottom of a girl from behind and see her ass!!!

ending this post with two comic strips:

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=111
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/images/ ... mic-36.jpg ((Third panel))

[Amigo Ten]

I bet all the kids are trying to look up Dragonball stuff online now that the teachers say they can't read it.

[B]

Ever notice in these situations we never get a gauge on how the children are responding? Nine years old is old enough to form a rational opinion, and the kid probably couldn't have cared less. It's about pushing your beliefs on people, not protecting children. But the latter sounds more noble, so they go with that.

Also, hopefully this "committee" will read through the first tournament arc before pulling the plug on it.

[Son Wukong]

Ah man, this brings back memories of my own. Some 10 years ago when I was about 10 years old myself, Glénat had released the first two Dragonball manga volumes. I bought both of them and brought it to school (to show-off I think ). All the boys knew about the show since it was at its peak at that time in Europe. Before I knew it, everyone wanted to borrow it from me. Eventually some of the girls came up to me and asked if they could read it too. Not because they actually knew what the show was about but because they wanted to know what the hype was that we, the boys, were talking about the whole time. So I decided to ''donate'' it to the school (we called it donation but you’d get it back at the end of the year) so that everyone would get a chance to read it. Everything that was donated needed to be read and checked by the teacher for obvious reasons. Dragonball passed without any complications. After that, every time the boys brought up Yamcha's ''boob-eyes'' and the dirty old Kame-Senin who wanted to see Bulma's panties, we’d burst out in laughter. The girls didn't care for it in the end, ''it's typically for boys with all the fighting and nakedness''.

So what I'm trying to say is that all the adults involved in the above situation need to get their heads out of their butts and smell the fresh air.

[Raki]

This doesn't shock me in the least.

[isucamper]

I think you guys are kinda missing the point. The problem here isn't over protective parents. There's enough boob grabbing, genetailia, perversion, and violence in the manga where I can understand how an adult wouldn't want their 9 year old kid reading it.

The problem here is the (continued) mishandling of the franchise by American companies (Viz and Funimation). Sometimes it is marketed as being safe for kids (Viz's new books) and other times its marketed directly at 20-30 something hardcore japanese fans (Dragonbox) and there is never any consistant communication about who should be buying what (I'm talking about CLEAR, OBVIOUS labeling on products, not some press release that no one reads).

There's certainly a lot of blind parents out there letting their kids do whatever they want, but I can't blame parents for being confused about Dragonball. I think in this case, it's good to hear that parents are actually taking a look at what their kids are reading and speaking up about it.

[TheGreatness25]

And yet American mothers have no problems having their daughters entered in "beauty pageants"... What the hell kind of sick twisted world has beauty pageants for 5 year olds?

Anyway, this is dumb, but that's how US culture is. But still, absolutely idiotic.

[Piccolo Daimao]

Well, Japanese culture has always been different than American culture. So I'm not too surprised when I hear about over-protective mothers bitching about their children looking at a teenage girl's breasts. That's the difference between cultures. A graphic novel including nudity will never be accepted by over-protective mothers, just like a mini-skirt will never be accepted in Afghanistan and soccer will never be as big as basketball as in America. It's just different cultures.

[Rocketman]

Meanwhile, on holsome American cartoons:

When have testicles ever appeared in American cartoons? Or a sixteen-year-old showed her cooter to some old guy? Or a boy declared that he slept facedown on his grampa's nutsack?

[Piccolo Daimao]

I think you guys are kinda missing the point. The problem here isn't over protective parents. There's enough boob grabbing, genetailia, perversion, and violence in the manga where I can understand how an adult wouldn't want their 9 year old kid reading it.

The problem here is the (continued) mishandling of the franchise by American companies (Viz and Funimation). Sometimes it is marketed as being safe for kids (Viz's new books) and other times its marketed directly at 20-30 something hardcore japanese fans (Dragonbox) and there is never any consistant communication about who should be buying what (I'm talking about CLEAR, OBVIOUS labeling on products, not some press release that no one reads).

There's certainly a lot of blind parents out there letting their kids do whatever they want, but I can't blame parents for being confused about Dragonball. I think in this case, it's good to hear that parents are actually taking a look at what their kids are reading and speaking up about it.

I thought Viz's rating for Dragon Ball was Teen, which seems about right. But you're right when you say there should be more clear, obvious labeling on products.

And yet American mothers have no problems having their daughters entered in "beauty pageants"... What the hell kind of sick twisted world has beauty pageants for 5 year olds?

That's what you call "hypocrisy".

[VegettoEX]

The problem here is the (continued) mishandling of the franchise by American companies (Viz and Funimation). Sometimes it is marketed as being safe for kids (Viz's new books) and other times its marketed directly at 20-30 something hardcore japanese fans (Dragonbox) and there is never any consistant communication about who should be buying what (I'm talking about CLEAR, OBVIOUS labeling on products, not some press release that no one reads).

Fantastic point.

We've talked about it endlessly with FUNimation and their marketing of the series, but Viz is just as much at fault. The flip-flopping on whether or not they claim it to be uncut or not, exactly how they brand it as such, etc... it's all a mish-mash of uninterpretable nonsense.

[Big Momma]

Meanwhile, on holsome American cartoons:
Chester, while looking at Timmy Turner's exposed rear end: "Nice moon. Glad we came."

One of my favorite moments in the whole series. Makes me laugh every time.

The "Naky episode" of Rugrats featured some of the parents freaking out when the babies took off their clothes, and since there was just one female baby involved, one of the boys asked if he could ask her a question...
The episode's climax was Tommy Pickles (said asker-asker) held captive in a super-intense clothing device his father built to prevent him from removing his clothes, taking a screwdriver and disassembling the thing, then making his way to where his grandfather was addressing a sizeable audience. Cut to a conclusion a few seconds later, where Grandpa mensioned that most people hated the speech, but thought his grandson was the most adorable thing ever, "with or without clothes.". Meanwhile, Tommy has inexplicably realized that "people aren't amnimals and we gots to wear clothes!", and proceeds to jump into water while fully dressed (ur, for a baby that rarely wears more than a shirt and diaper anyway...).

One of the classic episodes.

And "Sponge Bob Nudy Pants" was spoken in an episode of Sponge-Bob Squarepants for reasons that, oddly enough, were nudity-related.

For the record, Spongebob isn't "anatomically" correct (Well....I guess for a sponge, he is.) besides the occasional butt drawn in for comedic effect.

But if we still need to take action, why not send a postcard to Scruff, McGruff, Chicago Illinois, 60652, and help take a bite out of crime?

I think it's amazing that I still know this jingle.

[Hellspawn28]

Well this sucks since I live in Maryland which means the HHC library might have remove some of their manga by now.

[TheGreatness25]

I think this is what's holding the US back. It's this "wholesome," tree-hugging, "southern hospitality," apple pie, pro-life, bull crap. Everyone in America TRIES to be wholesome by telling OTHERS what to do. But every American still follows NIMBY pretty well. She'll tell her kid that seeing a picture of a butt is "oh my God horrible!" and yet when she was a kid, she probably did all sorts of things that her parents wouldn't even want to begin knowing. That's what this country is, telling others what they should and should not be doing, while not listening ourselves. But just for argument's sake, let's say that she DID grow up wholesome. And let's say that she WANTS her kids to be brought up that same way, which is her right to be honest. What freaking right does she have to determine how OTHER'S kids should be raised? With this happening, other kids won't have access to it either. And maybe their parents are...well...SANE and actually don't care. She's responsible for her kid and I've got news for her, her child can find a lot worse things on the internet or on TV or in a magazine.

[Hellspawn28]

People need to try stop protecting their children from everything. The world is not a Rated G movie where everything is safe, their are no blood or boobs. I'm surprise their removing manga like DB from most school libraries when they still have other violent stuff. I work at a school library like a year ago and, I notice they had comic books and manga like Watchmen, Preacher, and Neon Genesis Evangelion in their library.