Trying to Explain...Shimoneta

Going to continue this month's themes of trying to explain some of the different anime and manga. This next one deals with a subject matter that is quite familiar to a lot of people: censorship. People want to protect their children from inappropriate acts such as dirty jokes, extreme violence, and foul language. It isn't bad in of itself, but it can be pushed to extremes that would do more harm than good. This is where this series comes in.

Debuting in the summer of 2015, we have...Shimoneta!

(A world which George Carlin himself would rebel against.)

In truth, the full title of the series is "Shimoneta to lu Gainen ga Sonzai Shinai Taikutsu na Sekai", which comes out translated as "A Boring World where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn't Exist". Yeah, its an interesting subject matter to tackle in anime, a medium that can get into more 'risque' matters. However, there is a clear point in this case.

For some who are unaware, Japan is a lot more strict in its day to day lifestyle than one would initially think. A lot of jobs, from the white collar to blue collar, tend to put a focus on their work and ignoring outside distractions. Anime is an outlet for those emotions put away, as to help balance that lifestyle of hard work and hard play (at least how I'm trying to view it). Think of it as going to a strict school, where you need to be on your best behavior, but once you get back home, you can be more open and expressive with your more 'expletive' interests. Its all about finding that balance.

Still, there are those who want to push the boundaries further on what could be subjected or not. There may be good reasons behind it, but not always to the support of the whole population. Going too extreme with it may lead to some unfortunate problems in the future. This anime happens to capture that a lot more than some would realize.

(Though, you get stuff like this makes it hard to take it seriously)

The story is actually set years after the more heavily-enforced censorship laws were set in Japan (where sex education films were shown involving insects, not people). People care constantly monitored to watch their behavior and language, even amongst students. Tanukichi Okuma, one of our main characters, ends up discovering the identity of a 'ero-terrorist' Blue Snow, who is actually member of his school's student council, Ayame Kajou (aka, the girl in the pic above). As a result, she ropes him into her activities as part of SOX, as a means to spread sexual education (sometimes) to inform the improperly informed, usually while waiting underwear over their faces (anime, after all).

So, what exactly has me personally so surprised with this anime? In a way, I kind of look at it as a social commentary of taking sexual censorship too far. Aside from a sex education film that features insects mating, information on subjects human conception and 'flirting' are close to nil. That's kind of important information to keep open, especially if you want to keep the human race going. This is especially true if you want someone to avoid nearly committing rape cause they were unfamiliar with the difference between love and lust.

Enter Anna Nishikinoyama.

Anna is the leader of the student council of the same school as Ayame and Tanukichi. She had been raised to keep down anything considered 'dirty', despite having no knowledge of what they could be. She is still considered nice, though ends up locking lips with Tanukichi after the latter saved her from a minor attack (both ended up falling down, Tanukichi on top of Anna.) She ends up falling in love with him, but her pursuit for the same love in return is a bit...extreme.

Despite being raised in an environment that holds clean morals high and dismisses the obscene (thanks to her parents), Anna is unable to properly display her affection in a way deemed 'appropriate'. This has led to very uncomfortable situations between her and Tanukichi, particularly when other women are involved. The extremes she goes to often involve breaking out violent maneuvers in order to get her way, like threatening someone with a knife after pinning them down to the ground. She believes in her pursuit of love to be 'just' and 'pure', not realizing her methods make more along the lines of a sexual predator.

Really, her behavior is more along the lines of a 'yandere', one who is crazy in love with someone and willing to commit violent acts to get their 'affection'.

(Now you can put a face to the crazy. Enjoy!)

So yeah, another anime series many can write off as being immature also has some deeper meaning to it regarding today's social issues.

Don't get me wrong, there are some people out there who won't get into this kind of anime for its inappropriate content. Its okay, since it isn't being forced on them (or at least it shouldn't be). But there is far worse than this out there, often for a quick buck. When you get some real thought put into this kind of subject matter, it certainly stands out more.

Be sure to catch it online on sites like CrunchyRoll and Funmination.

Until next time...