Like a few anime fans, I get a lot of my anime news and reviews from animeondvd.com. I like to see what others think of my favorites, so I tuned into Chris Beveridge's Fancy Lala reviews. In both reviews, he mentions something that confuses me- the idea that it's uncomfortable to see an attractive 15 year old with the mind of a nine year old.

While the reviewer is entitled to his opinion, I realized that I had never though of the show that way. While I am female, and thus will have different reactions to things, especially since even if you?re looking through the eyes of Joe or Jane Six Pack, I would be seen as maybe slightly childish, but a guy would be seen as a pedophile- as if someone can't enjoy a well crafted kid's show without having the desire to beat off to it. However, I certainly don't think Lala/Miho are really sexualized in the show. Sure, Lala is in a swimsuit, but there is not even a Creamy Mami level of sexualization there. In the 1984 show, Creamy Mami (Lala's predecessor), Yuu(our young protagonist) has panty shots, and sometimes you can see pretty much straight up Mami's dress. But luckily, Miho keeps her skirt down. (did we really need to see that?) So what's the deal? Is this a missing the point on the order of "Why doesn't Sailor Moon blow the bad guys away with a bazooka?" or maybe something deeper?

This of course raises a question: Can adults like a children?s show, however well crafted, without it being creepy? While, for my part, I'd say yes, I'm also running a web site for a kid's show. In America, our point of view seems a bit skewed on this. Grown people can't like kid's stuff it seems, but many movies seen by kids and adults alike rarely rise above a twelve year old sensibility. If you doubt this- see an Adam Sandler movie- maybe excepting the Wedding Singer.

In a world full of movies full of exploding buildings and fart jokes, why the attitude that you can't show say, a 15 year old in a swimsuit without it being sexual? Maybe it's the increasing sexualization of kids in our culture- who hasn?t seen 12 and 13 year olds(and younger too) walking around looking like the Future Hoes of America? Of course, the girls aren't thinking 'Yea, these clothes really are expressing my newfound sexuality', it's usually more a response to the junior high jungle- 'fit in or be left out'.

Maybe it's our culture's obsession with pedophilia. Add to it the attitude that guys can?t look at even a cartoon of a girl without the intense desire to fill all available orifices with semen, and a cheerful family show becomes worrisome to watch. Note that the kids aren't thinking about this. It's solely adults thinking, 'Lala's so hot! But she's really a nine year old! What can I doooo?!?' What you take to a show has a large impact on what you get out of it. If you take a brain full of creepy thoughts and innuendo to a kid's show, you are going to get innuendo and creepiness. Maybe the best solution is to check your perverted thoughts at the door.