Children in Animation Research Paper Help

[Duke]

OK, I'm doing a research paper for my Psycology class on how children are portrayed in American animation as compared to Japanese animation (I'm not going to go into a rant on which one is better, as I like both), and I need examples of Japanese cartoons that feature kids as the stars of the show (a la Pokemon or Digimon), and kids as sidekicks in a show (a la Sailor Moon or Transformers Armada).

[Chad Bonin]

Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi has Sasshi and Arami (or however you spell her name), two Osaka 12-year olds.

I'm gonna assume "children" is "Everyone under 14", not teenagers.

[Bic]

Animated Titles from Japan with Children as the Lead Characters:

Graveyard of the Fireflies
Now and Then, Here and There
Kiki's Delivery Service
Spirited Away

Animated Titles from Japan with Children in the Supporting Cast:

Last Exile
Neia Under 7
Someday's Dreamers
GunParade March

That's all I can think of for the moment. Good luck on your paper.

I'm gonna assume "children" is "Everyone under 14", not teenagers. That's what I interpreted it to be, though I see children as 18 and under myself, because I'm sooooo old according to the teenagers I know. :p

[MrBananagrabber]

Animated Titles from Japan with Children as the Lead Characters:

Graveyard of the Fireflies
Now and Then, Here and There
Kiki's Delivery Service
Spirited Away


I agree with you completely. Grave of the Fireflies and Miyazaki's films would be your best bet.

[Conan-san]

Let's see.
Evangelion (Shinji was 13 at the start of the series, right?)
Sonic X (Chris is 11 I bleave and is a sidekick, see also Tails)

[PowerZord]

Pokemon and digimon have children

[Karl Olson]

I suppose if you want something other than a movie with children, but that still has some weight to it, Gunslinger Girl would be a possible show, as the lead cast is all children, and it's fairly dark in tone.

[Pepperidge]

But if he brought up Gunslinger Girl, he'd have to go on a huge tangeant about lolicom! XD

[Karl Olson]

But if he brought up Gunslinger Girl, he'd have to go on a huge tangeant about lolicom! XD

I dunno. The TV series drops what little blantant lolicon elements the manga had (two subtle panty shots and Triela in a nightgown,) which is *waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay* toned down from Yu Aida's GSG original doujin, from what I've heard.

However, it's probably the most extreme of Japanese animation's tendency to put children in ridiciously traumatic situations, with horrifically traumatic pasts, atleast of any television series, given the content and the age of the characters.

[RZetlin]

I find that children in anime are placed in more perilous situations than their American counterparts. Examples: Kirika as an assassin in Noir, Lumiere as a GOTT agent in Kiddy Grade.

I would also like to discuss about the relationship between children and adults. In American cartoons the child and adult are never placed on an equal footing.

The child is presented as being smarter than the adults. The adults are presented as ignorant to the child's needs.

There is also a rivalry that takes place between children and adults.

A good example of this rivalry is in Disney Recess where the grade school kids are always in conflict with the teachers. In the Simpsons Bart is pulling some prank on Principle Skinner. Or Homer is chasing after Bart for his mischief.

In anime there is a more respectable and equal relationship that exist between adults and children. For example in Nadesico, Ruri is given the position of bridge operator on the ship. In Noir Mireille and Kirika are duo partner assassins. In R.O.D the TV, Antia plays an important to the Paper Sisters missions.

[Shawn Hopkins]

How about Crayon Shin-Chan? If the anime is anything like the manga his interest in adult subjects and his relationship with his mother should make some interesting fodder.

http://www.tcp.com/~jly/crayon/shin-chan.html

[Tienshin]

If you use FLCL you'll get detention.

Use Angelic Layer, if you have seen it.

[Keldran]

Guess I'll throw a few names out:

Haibane Renmei
Future Boy Conan (late 70's Miyazaki classic series)
any number of magical girl shows
what little I've seen of Galaxy Express 999
Mama is a 4th Grader (should be interesting to study this, where a child takes on a parental role)
Castle in the Sky
Whisper of the Heart (how old were they? 14 or 15?)
and other stuff previously listed.





Research papers are more fun when you're knowledgeable in the subject. I did an anime related research paper myself and it was much easier to get through 10 pages than trying to go over tons of notes to find source material on a subject I didn't really care for. Anyhow good luck.