Otakuism

Story:

Daisuke Aoki has just become the teacher for class 3-1; a class with some very “interesting” kids. Like Rin Kokonoe, the sexily precocious trouble maker who admits her love for Aoki and puts him in some rather illegal situations on a daily basis. Or her friends, the gothic lolita Kuro Kagami who can’t admit she loves Rin; and Mimi Usa, the rapidly maturing clumsy meganekko of the group. With such a troublesome class Aoki works to become the best teacher he can for his students. Hopefully they won’t put him in jail first.

Impressions:

Finally read all the translated chapters of this controversial title. Kodomo no Jikan’s biggest claim to fame is its portrayal of the relationship between Rin and Aoki, along with the many sexual situations the girls are put into for laughs (man, that sounded wrong). KnJ strikes an innocent tone in its showing of the girl’s sexuality. If anything, It’s an accurate portrayal of kids in the internet age with access to knowledge both clean and obscene. Rin knows what she is doing to Aoki, but at the same time doesn’t “know” the meaning behind it. It’s all just an act to her to get a rise out of Aoki. Hers is a childhood crush taken to its logical extreme. Bravo to Aoki never going farther to reciprocate Rin’s feelings than as a big brother character.

Rin’s character really drives the story. In a sense, the manga is nothing but a long psychological profile of her and her effect on other people, though I’m probably giving it too much credit. Rin’s backstory, as revealed in V.2, is heartbreaking both because we see the effect it has had on Rin, but also because how realistic it is. In this way KnJ strikes an excellent balance between the innuendo comedy and the handling of real life issues facing kids in post-modern japanese society, whether it be from Kuro’s trouble with loving Rin even though she’s a girl or the effect different parenting styles have on children.

However, any real life issues KnJ tries to tackle are quickly overshadowed by the lurid comedy going on. And without the lolicon gimmick, KnJ quickly boils down to a boring will they/won’t they romance that goes nowhere. Part of the problem is the relationship between Rin and Aoki that is supposed to drive the story; but it’s hard to believe in such a romance when the conclusion is so obvious. Of course Aoki won’t give in to Rin’s feelings, leaving her to cope emotionally with the rejection and become a better person because of it. Anything else would just seem laughable, not just because of social taboos but the whole idea of a twenty-something guy dating a third-grader. The manga has settled into a formulistic plot of Rin liking Aoki > Aoki screwing up > Rin getting back at Aoki > Aoki apologizes and learns a lesson in teaching. If it wasn’t for Kuro and Mimi, who provide some very necessary comic relief, this plot would get boring really fast.

While KnJ can be a fun, if perverted, comedy romp, it ultimately boils down to all style and no substance. Take out the setting and context and KnJ becomes nothing but a romance that ended before it started. Not to say that it’s not fun to read that style. The jokes are mostly funny, the art excellent, and the characters interesting and quirky. Just don’t expect the characters to change that much. So, the final word: should KnJ have been released in America? I would say yes. While the content is racy, the context places it in a completely non-pornographic way and hardly glorifies pedophilia. Would it have been a big seller? Doubtful. Not only would the taboos about pedophilia surrounding the book decrease its sales, but it’s just not that interesting a story to stand on its own. Seven Seas still handled the issue wrongly, but that’s all in the past now.