Satoshi Kon to Visit New York
New York City's Film Society of Lincoln Center will be screening the films of "vanguard anime director" Satoshi Kon, from June 27 to July 1. The director will be coming to New York for the screening. Paprika, one of Kon's latest ventures, has recently been named to the 100 Best Movies list by the Japanese edition of Newtype magazine. This will be the man's third trip to the United States.
Source
Anime News Network
Death Note Fans At It Again
This time, the scene is in Washington state. One middle school student has been expelled and three others have been disciplined over writing fifty names in their own "Death Note". Names included fellow classmates, a teacher, President Bush, Paris Hilton and various other celebrities. Another student found the book on the floor and gave it to a teacher, where it went downhill from there.
The school's district superintendent said that such a book is inappropriate for school, but declined to say that books like these will be banned. A father of one student who was suspended for three days said that the book was an outlet for frustration from about two years of bullying.
There were at least three previous incidents in the United States where school officials linked Death Note directly to students being disciplined. One high school senior in Richmond, Virginia was suspended in December over a list of his classmates' names that the school principal linked to Death Note. A middle school student in Hartsville, South Carolina was "removed" from school over a "Death Note" notebook in March. In Gadsden, Alabama, two sixth-grade students were arrested in April for a notebook that allegedly listed their school staff and fellow students in a manner similar to the Death Note anime series.
This is intriguing to me, being as most of these incidents have been involving middle-school students. It seems to me like the series has a frighteningly high appeal to kids younger than the original target audience, with no one to tell them that imitation is not the best thing in the world. Now I realize I'm probably not the best person to write about this, but someone really needs to draw the line somewhere. These kids are going to end up ruining comic books and manga for all their peers by doing this sort of thing. I understand that some Death Note fans are just that, fans, but the kids who only show their allegiances through their outward appearances and actions, they're making it a losing battle.
Source
Anime News Network
I apologize for any typos. In a rush. ^_^'
