It’s been a minute or two since I’ve done anything news-related not pertraining to a sex game, and an especially long time since I’ve touched on anything controversial. For those reasons I’m pretty excited to see what you guys think of this whole situation and see if I get blasted on the spot for my opinion. 

A report from KETV out of Omaha, Nebraska updated this story back on October 30th. Apparently an 11-year-old girl found a copy of the Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid manga in her school library. She could tell something was weirdly different about it (like how Raven’s thighs made you feel as a kid), and decided to bring it home to show her mother. The mother was quick to find panels of enlarged and mostly exposed breasts and the characters discussing them. Since then, the story has gained traction over time with people sharing, retweeting, and commenting with their opinions. Some say the mother was overreacting and that the content wasn’t sexual enough to warrant a response like this, while others agree with her that a middle school was no place for this manga to be.

This whole debacle just reminds me how upset I am that I never watched the anime.

I might get some flack for this, because in my experience anime fans have a very negative reaction to censoring. That’s not to say I don’t understand where they’re coming from though. From self-righteous translators changing the original meaning of the source material, to English dubs injecting politics into scenes where they weren’t intended by the original authors, to games being changed before coming to America, there’s a lot to be concerned about regarding censorship. Normally I'm anti-censorship as fuck myself. But I have to say I agree with the mom. Keep that stuff out of a middle school environment. If this was at a high school I’d absolutely be down to allow it in the library, but 11 is simply too young to be offered this type of content at SCHOOL. I mean I was absolutely a naughty boy growing up who searched bad things on Google when I was too young. However, the difference is that was my parent’s fault (and my own of course). The Internet is an open place for everybody, and it’s the parent’s exclusive responsibility to ensure the child doesn’t misuse the Internet. On the other hand, schools are not for everybody. Schools are intended to be suited for the age range that they teach, and therefore the responsibility to keep the environment appropriate for the age range that they teach falls on the staff. The Board responded by saying that they do review material, and that the manga was approved for young adults. Honestly I feel as though they just fucked up and don't want to admit it. I don't know if I've ever referred to a middle school kid as a "young adult" in my life. 

You can read the original story here. Do you think the mom overreacted? Would you allow Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid in a middle school? Put on your maid outfits and leave a comment below.