The concept of child soldiers in shonen anime is problematic and needs to be addressed
The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.
After 2 votes and with 11 points ahead, the winner is...
- Publication date
- Last updated date
- Type
- Standard
- Number of rounds
- 4
- Time for argument
- Two weeks
- Max argument characters
- 20,000
- Voting period
- One month
- Point system
- Multiple criterions
- Voting system
- Open
TOPIC: The concept of child soldiers in shonen anime is problematic and needs to be addressed
STANCES:
Pro must argue why the concept of child soldiers in the media is problematic and whether or not it should be addressed
Con must argue why the concept of child soldiers problematic and/or acceptable and whether or not it should be addressed
DEFINITIONS:
Shonen: noun
a genre of Japanese comics and animated films aimed primarily at a young male audience, typically characterized by action-filled plots.
Child soldier: noun
a young boy or girl under the age of 18 who is recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity. It does not refer only to a child who is taking a direct part in hostilities.
RULES:
1. Round 1: (States you stance "THBT" and give your reasonings) ,Round 2 :Create an argument supporting your stance and include you evidence,Round 3: Rebuttals of Opponents/Pointing out flaws in their arguments, Round 4 Defense and Conclusion
2. The stance CANNOT be opinionated and/or use personal pronouns (me,my,I)
3. Forfeit=Automatic Loss. Make an attempt to put something on your post before deciding to forfeit.
4.Viwers are allowed to give constructive criticism on the debate(Be respectful and understand that this is an argument that with strong evidence can be proven true.)
5.The Burden of Proof is shared.
Forfeiture.
Forfeiture.
That may be the reason (I agree that it is), but I think his point is that it’s harmful to do so. Financial incentive shouldn’t trump potential harm.
Isn't this the same reason Percy Jackson is 12 in the first book? Authors/creators make their protagonists the same age as the target audience for relatability.
Not to say that any of these invalidate your point, since I'd still say they're a minority on the issue, but I do agree with Barney that they exist and are relatively popular.
Eighty Six comes to mind as a particularly prominent example. Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans does a great deal to tackle an issue that has plagued much of the rest of that franchise. I've heard Aldonoah.Zero does, though I haven't seen it. Violet Evergarden is in a similar boat, though that's probably an even better case than the rest, since it tackles what happens to someone after the fighting is done who has to live with both what they did and what they experienced on the battlefield, a very different perspective from most anime that deal in child soldiers. And I will point out that that's focusing on anime as a whole that address the issue. I think there are many more individual characters in anime (though I would note that those anime aren't necessarily the best for representing the issue as a whole) that address the issue. Guts from Berserk, Edward and Alphonse Elric from FMA, Subaru from Re:Zero, Eren Yaeger from AoT, several characters from Naruto (Haku, Obito and Pain being the clearest), Eri from MHA... the list goes on. I'd say each of these goes into some depths on the effects of battle (or side-effects, as is the case with some of these characters) on child soldiers caught in the middle of it. Not saying any of them are perfect examples, but they do dig down into what being a child soldier actually means for the children.
Note that I don't say any of this as a response to your choice of topic or your side, particularly as I think these examples can be used by both sides in this debate depending on what direction your argument takes.
Can you provide some examples? Some popular
shonen anime/manga that showcase child soldiers include Attack On Titan, My Hero Academia, Naruto, Jujutsu Kaisen(if that counts), Dragon Ball, etc. and (in my opinion) while they showcase this concept, the characters don't go in depth about the affects.
Plenty already do address it, they even make that the core theme.