Kodomo no Jikan
| Kodomo no Jikan | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| こどものじかん (Kodomo no Jikan) |
|
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Genre | Comedy, Drama, Ecchi, Romance |
| Manga | |
| Author | Kaworu Watashiya |
| Publisher |  Futabasha
Tongli Publishing
Seven Seas Entertainment (canceled) |
| Serialized in | Comic High! |
| Original run | May 22 2005 – Ongoing |
| Volumes | 4 |
| OVA | |
| Director | Eiji Suganuma |
| Studio | Studio Barcelona |
| Episodes | 1 |
| Released | September 12 2007 |
| Runtime | 30 minutes |
| TV anime | |
| Director | Eiji Suganuma |
| Studio | Studio Barcelona |
| Network | Chiba TV, KBS Kyoto |
| Original run | October 12 2007 – ongoing |
Kodomo no Jikan (こどものじかん? literal translation: A Child's Time) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by manga author Kaworu Watashiya. The story revolves around a twenty-three-year-old grade school teacher named Daisuke Aoki whose main problem is that one of his students named Rin Kokonoe has a crush on him. The manga was first serialized in the Japanese seinen manga magazine Comic High! on May 22 2005, and is published by Futabasha. The manga had been licensed by Los Angeles–based company Seven Seas Entertainment for distribution in the English language under the title Nymphet, but they have chosen not to publish it due to controversies over its content.[1] An anime adaptation began airing in Japan on October 11 2007.
Plot
Kodomo no Jikan's story revolves around a male twenty-three-year-old grade school teacher named Daisuke Aoki employed at Futatsubashi Elementary School (双ツ橋 小学校 Futatsubashi Shōgakkō?). Daisuke is in charge of class 3-1, and one of his students, a mischievous young girl named Rin Kokonoe, has developed a crush on him, and has gone so far as to proclaim herself Daisuke's girlfriend. Rin continues her efforts to be with her teacher despite the fact that he will lose his job if she gets too close.
Characters
- Daisuke Aoki (青木 大介 Aoki Daisuke?)
- Voiced by: Junji Majima
- Daisuke is the protagonist of the story. He works as a grade school teacher and is in charge of the third grade class 3-1.
- Rin Kokonoe (九重 りん Kokonoe Rin?)
- Voiced by: Eri Kitamura
- Rin is a young girl in the third grade who has an intense crush on her teacher Daisuke. She has a mischievous nature and has proclaimed herself to be Daisuke's girlfriend; she will go to great lengths to make him fall in love with her.
- Kuro Kagami (鏡 黒 Kagami Kuro?)
- Voiced by: Kei Shindō
- Kuro is one of Rin's friends, and is secretly in love with her, although the only one who appears to be aware of her unrequited love is Mimi. She therefore sees Aoki as her love rival.
- Mimi Usa (宇佐 美々 Usa Mimi?)
- Voiced by: Mai Kadowaki
- Another of Rin's friends, Mimi is a quiet girl who is unusually well-developed for a third grader. She was picked on by Aoki's predecessor, and quit coming to school to protect herself. In revenge Rin wrote threatening notes to him that caused him to eventually quit due to "work-related stress". After Aoki takes on the job of teaching the class, he manages to convince Mimi to come back to class.
- Kyōko Hōin (宝院 京子 Hōin Kyōko?)
- Voiced by: Ryōko Tanaka
- A young, well endowed teacher who is Aoki's colleague and friend at work. She tries to care for Aoki as he is still new to the job, and seems to have a crush on him, as she has asked him out on several occasions, only to be interrupted every time by some incident, usually involving Rin.
- Reiji Kokonoe (九重レイジ Kokonoe Reiji?)
- Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita
- Rin's second cousin and guardian. He and Rin share a very close relationship—almost like a father and child and like a brother and sister. For a short period of time he was in love with Rin's mother, his own cousin, before she died. After her death he became Rin's official guardian. He is very protective of Rin and does not seem to like Aoki at all because of Rin's affection towards him, which makes Reiji very jealous. As the story progresses it becomes clear that he is slowly losing his mind and is becoming increasingly delusional about someday being romantically involved with Rin. It is also been hinted that he has already been sexually abusing Rin.
Media
Manga
The Kodomo no Jikan manga, written and illustrated by Kaworu Watashiya, was first serialized in the Japanese seinen manga magazine Comic High! on May 22 2005, published by Futabasha. As of August 2007, four bound volumes have been released in Japan.
Anime
The anime series, directed by Eiji Suganuma and produced by the animation studio Studio Barcelona,[2] was scheduled to air in Japan on October 11 2007, but TV Saitama cancelled the show.[3] Two additional Japanese TV stations, Mie TV and Tokai TV, cancelled the broadcast schedule for this series. Takai TV cited controversy involving the series Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai and recent juvenile axe assaults.[4][5] Chiba TV and KBS Kyoto still plan to air the series; the anime will first air in Japan on October 12 2007. A thirty-minute Original Video Animation was also released on September 12 2007 available both on the anime's official website and in a limited edition version of the fourth volume of the manga.
Episodes
| # | Title | Original air date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | "A Friendly Step" "Nakayoshi no Ippo" (なかよしのいっぽ) |
October 12 2007 | ||
| It is the first day of teaching for Daisuke Aoki and his third grade class. During the course of the day, he learns the reasons behind Mimi Usa's extended absense from school. | ||||
| 02 | "A Smile Reward" "Nikoniko no Gohoubi" (にこにこのごほうび) |
October 18 2007 | ||
| 03 | "Rapid Upbringing" "Sukusuku Sodate" (すくすくそだて) |
October 26 2007 | ||
| 04 | "My Mother" "Watashi no O-kaa-san" (わたしのおかあさん) |
November 2 2007 | ||
| 05 | "A Summer Vacation Friend" "Natsuyasumi no Tomo" (なつやすみのとも) |
November 9 2007 | ||
Controversy
The manga had been licensed by Los Angeles–based company Seven Seas Entertainment for distribution in the English language in 2006, and the first manga had been slated for an early 2007 release. According to Futabasha, the English trade name was chosen to be Nymphet after the original artist requested the title and demanded its use for the English manga.[6] The manga, however, soon became the center of a controversy on whether it should be appropriate for American audiences to view due to an article made by Anime News Network's "Answerman", Zac Bertschy. Jason DeAngelis, the president of Seven Seas Entertainment, wrote in a statement that, "Specifically, those who are speaking out against Nymphet seem to be disturbed by the relationship between two characters in the story, namely an elementary school student and her adult teacher." DeAngelis decided to delay the title so that he could "have an open dialogue with the large book chains and other vendors."[7] The manga was subsequently cancelled due to these concerns. DeAngelis said that "'...it's not appropriate for Seven Seas to publish Nymphet,' and that it would cancel its release of the manga."[1]
In a second statement regarding Nymphet DeAngelis explained some of the reasoning behind the series' cancellation. He stated that, "my primary reason for canceling Nymphet is due to my recent realization that later volumes in the series can not be considered appropriate for the US market by any reasonable standard." However, another reason given was that, "[the vendors] began dropping their orders left and right, so their opinion on this matter became pretty clear cut."[8]
Specifically, DeAngelis said that he went back and re-reviewed the later volumes of Kodomo no Jikan and discovered content that he regarded as highly unsuitable for publication. The specific pages mentioned showed a scene of the main characters, Rin Kokonoe and Daisuke Aoki, stuck in a room with freezing temperatures. Rin hugs Aoki to try and stay warm, and in the process accidentally rubs Aoki's crotch, who gets an erection. Some fans felt that the author's choice to depict an adult character "forced" into a situation where he was inadvertently aroused by a child character was appropriate, since it was "accidental"; these fans claimed that DeAngelis was grasping at straws by labeling such a scene inappropriate.[9]
On June 7 2007, Kaworu Watashiya posted a blog entry on Kodomo no Jikan's controversy in the United States.[10] Watashiya commented that, "what I heard about 'issues in volume 2 and later' made me realize the differences in the cultures between the countries."[9] The author went on to cite instances in later volumes that showed intimate relationships between cousins and a bath scene with a child and adult, going on to say that, "my honest feeling is, 'It's unfortunate, but what can I do?'"[9]
References
- ^ a b Seven Seas kills Nymphet. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
- ^ Kodomo no Jikan (TV). Anime News Network. Retrieved on 2007-05-29.
- ^ TV Saitama, Kodomo no Jikan, and axe girl stuff. Retrieved on 2007-10-07.
- ^ Japan's Teletama Takes Nymphet, Higurashi off Schedule. Anime News Network (2007-10-08). Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
- ^ 2nd Japanese TV Station Removes Nymphet from Schedule. Anime News Network (2007-10-09). Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
- ^ Jason DeAngelis blog. Seven Seas Entertainment. Retrieved on 2007-06-08.
- ^ Seven Seas Entertainment Talks about Nymphet. Retrieved on 2007-05-29.
- ^ Seven Seas' Nymphet Letter 2. Anime News Network. Retrieved on 2007-06-01.
- ^ a b c
- ^ Kaworu Watashiya's blog entry on Kodomo no Jikan's cancellation (Japanese) (June 7 2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-08.
External links
- Anime official website (Japanese)
- Kodomo no Jikan (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
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