Why the Age of Consent is Selective in Anime Fandoms (Entirely My Opinion)
TRIGGER WARNING: Rape and incest mentioned
Hi guys. This post might stir up some controversy but I happened to recently see this, today actually, and I am confused, ok. I’m not going into the nitty gritty but I saw a post that basically said ‘don’t talk to me if you ship GioMis because that’s pedophilia’ (Giorno and Mista in Jojo for those who don’t know) and that got me like ????? Over the past couple of years, I can’t pinpoint when, but age of consent has become a really big thing. I’m not saying that isn’t a legitimate issue because I’m a big advocate in consent but that way it’s handled on Tumblr (I can only speak for anime fandoms and a select few at that) is confusing.
For those who don’t know, Giorno and Mista have a 3 year age difference where Giorno is 15 and Mista is 18 and people ship it. Fine. Another ship with the same age difference, (though I can kinda see the issue as Yurio stared as 14 in the first couple episode then turned 15), is Otabek and Yurio from Yuri on Ice where Otabek is older. Fine. What I don’t understand is people calling this pedophilia. FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND ok WHAT I UNDERSTAND, it’s the Americans fueling this fire. I just read a post saying how age of consent is different in every country and America’s is 18 is legal adult age. Disclaimer: I’M AN AMERICAN. NOT ONCE HAVE I LIVED OUTSIDE THIS COUNTRY.
Right. The discussion. It’s not pedophilia. Not in real life, fiction, or even the laws of the land as long as there’s consent. In America, our high schools last four years, for the most part. Most first years/freshmen are 14. Fine. Our seniors, upon leaving, are 18. Also fine. The 15 year olds are the sophomores. Cool.Not fresh out of middle school and still new to high school but cool. Relationships between sophomores and seniors are quite common, believe it or not, despite the 3 years. The main reason people were against them was because the seniors would be graduating and leaving while the sophomores stayed in high school. And long distance romance sucks. Do you want to know why it’s not a big issue in a school setting? Because it’s normal. If this is the case, then the entire Haikyuu fandom would be in ruin. AsaNoya, KurooKen, BoAka, and any other third year/underclassman ship in Haikyuu would be lit up about the age of consent. “Oh but it’s only one year so it’s fine” but according to these people, it’s an adult with a child and should be burned with fire. No person magically turns into a full adult by their legal adult ages. I’m a legal adult and I still have no idea how to file taxes but I can sure as hell tell you the quadratic formula. Another ship that bothers me is Eren/Levi in Attack on Titan as well as Ciel/Sebastian in Black Butler. Levi is twice Eren’s age but it’s one of SNK’s biggest ships. Sebastian is a who-knows-how-old demon with Ciel, a boy who’s, like, 12. And that’s ok? A 3 year age difference is sin but shipping people who have been legal adults before the younger character was even born is ok? What kind of backwards bullshit is that? “I love the dynamic between the two” “They’re always together so it’s basically romantic” “X needs an adult to show them the ropes ;)” in these but the 3 year ships are “Ew, Y’s an adult and X is a child that’s nasty” “Why would you ship that? Would you date your (adult figure)?” “Stop forcing an adult on a child now younger kids will think this is ok” Mhmm ok. I’m getting whiplash from all this.
Of course, there’s cultural differences that won’t make everyone see eye to eye like how anybody in Jojo Part 5 can drink alcohol and it’s fine whereas the legal drinking age in America is 21. That’s normal in Italy but not here and there will always be that wall. Fine. But can people try to take in a situation from a different perspective. I personally hate Eren/Levi and think it’s gross and I don’t understand the ship but America has this Romeo and Juliet ‘freebie’ that basically bypasses the age of consent, which is stupid, btw. Word of the wise, if it bothers you, avoid it like the plague. It’s not real and don’t let be. The true main sin in ships other than rape/non-consent is incest. It’s gross, it’s scientifically and morally unnatural, and needs to die. Please.
Sorry for the rant but I really just wanted to get that off my chest. Anyways, that’s my opinion on that and if there are any comments, questions, or concerns, DM me.
