Advice request: 8 year old and Macross

[Saruta]

I would like to request advice from the ise membership of this forum.

I have a son, who has recently turned 8. As I was imbibing subitled SDFM, he noticed. But I don't think he can read fast enough to watch subtitled stuff.

I found a dubioius Russian voiceover of DYRL (we're a bilingual family here, Russian and English). We watched that together, ahd he liked it very much, but had way more questions than answers. I could not help him because my reaction to the movie was the same. (Well I did find some answers by googling and asking here, yet...)

I am thinking of getting voiceover SDFM for him (or the ADV 2006 dub, which is probably better than any fan/pirate voiceover despite the age discrepancy with Minmay, which undfortunately does get heard sometimes).

But, what after the 36 episodes? I would not feel comfortable giving Frontier to an 8 year old. It has way too many adult themes, not to mention Sheryl "Hopes and Dreams" Nome (in the movies she becomes, for this purpose, Sheryl "Universal Bunny" Nome). What *can* I give him if he asks for more Macross, seeing as I do have it? Is M7 more child-safe than Frontier?

Or should I just tell him "get these and you get more when you turn 13"?

Or go the easy way and give him Robotech instead? But, Reba West. I don't want him getting the idea that THIS is the kind of culture that can impress aliens. (Yes, Minmay is pop, but she's good pop).

[Benson13]

Make him wait. We all had to do it. M+ has strong sexual themes, Zero has nudity, maybe M7 would be OK. I don't remember anything bad from that.

Whatever you do don't show him Robotech. It's considered child abuse and neglect.

[peter]

I agree. Giving him Robtech is cruel, unusual and undeserved punishment. Feel free to let him watch it if you want him to grow up as warped as I am.

[Saruta]

Seeing as his mother (aka my wife) is a professional musician, and he's studying the violin himself, Robotech probably should not have been considered. There are, in my view, upsides to that story, but there are none to that singing.

Apparently the only remaining question is how safe is M7. SDFM is safe enough, MF is firmly out. I can't really watch all of M7 so have to rely on Forum wisdom. (Besides, with M7 he'd have to do with bad pirate voiceovers until he can read subs).

Ah wait - there is that other option of M-II, which by its target audience and time of making should be safe? Alternate continuity and all.

[sketchley]

MII can be construed as sexualized - as the emulators are basically walking around in bikinis. Aside from that, it should be OK (though you may get questions about the sudden lack of animation quality in the last episode).

M7 is probably OK - it's got a great, positive theme - though, it does have space monsters. They might be scary for an 8 year old. However, as they're firmly in the line of the Japanese Sentai monsters (Kamen Rider, Ultraman), most kids should be able to handle them. My 7 year old son loves those, and has since he was 4.

As the others have said, perhaps making him wait might be better? Turn it into a reading exercise instead of forcing him to listen to bad-voice overs?

[Graham]

M7 would be safe enough, but there is no dubbed version that I know of, only subbed versions.

Graham

[Beltane70]

I think the monsters in M7 shouldn't be a problem with an 8 year-old, since they're a bit silly-looking, at least to me. I've watched scarier things at age 7 without having nightmares.

The main problem with 7 is what Graham said, the lack of an English-dubbed version.

[camk4evr]

I agree. Giving him Robtech is cruel, unusual and undeserved punishment. Feel free to let him watch it if you want him to grow up as warped as I am.

Now now, it could be worse. It could be Clash of the Bionoids. That makes Robotech seam almost like Shakespeareby comparison.

Unfortunately, aside from SDF Macross, Macross II, and Macross Plus, there's no other, official, dubbed Macross series (there's someone on youtube doing an english dub of DYRL), and I don't think Macross Plus would be all that interesting to an 8 year old.

[raptormesh]

Mac+ should probably be at the end of your list as it has highly suggestive themes.

[Saruta]

Thanks for the tips!

So at least I have the M-II path. I don't have a problem with bikinis as long as they stay on and the wearer does not engage in outright foreplay (think Universal Bunny). And there is even a decent (or at least official) dub of that. Good enough for now, actually.

M7 might wait until he can handle subs, and F.... much longer than that. Unfortunately. Hopes and dreams.

[Moly_Sigang]

Macross is generally aimed at teens that's why it has a lot risque scene like the Minmay shower scene.

[Deadeye_281]

Guess I'm in the minority here for pushing Robotech - albeit only the Macross saga. Seeing as he's an 8 year old he'll probably eat it up and that's what you want to see. I don't remember any kid being able to follow subtitles when I was that age. I say let him be a kid and watch something that he's interested in. Hopefully in the end we'll get a 'real' Macross fan out of your efforts and his interest. I personally can't wait to show my Son Macross and yep, I'm going to use Robotech to start him out. LOL, only problem is, he's only 2 and a half. Lol, just how young is too young for giant battling robots and interstellar war again???

[Saruta]

My problem with Robotech is Reba West. He is growing up in a musical household and an obviously bad singer pushed as a star would give the wrong message (or at least cast her as a semi-villain). I'd much rather have the shower scene, it's innocent enough.

[Deadeye_281]

My problem with Robotech is Reba West.

Oh I'd be willing to bet there are many Macross fans who started out with Robotech who have a problem with Reba West. There's always therapy at a later date...

[Bri]

Only the TV-series are family friendly (by Japanese standards at the time). The OVA's and late night MF are definitely not aimed at preteens. M7 has no dubs so that leaves SDFM.

Voice acting in Robotech is better but the the music is worse than the ADV version. That said, I'm not sure if the destruction and death as portrayed in SDFM isn't a bit much to handle for young children.

[Saruta]

I don't think SDFM goes too graphic (MF actually goes out of its way to say "it's graphic this time" in the first episode). Yes, the Earth gets destroyed, but the carnage happens offscreen - family walks, explosion, family ducks, camera moves away. Even in the bunker around Misa there are no corpses (unrealistic as she is the only survivor at a military base). The most realistic harm to the human body I can remember there are the bullet holes on Roy's back, but they are neat and clean and only shown briefly. There are also Zentradi skeletons in a couple of cases. I think he'll be ok with all that. The last eisode has some double entendres about "making culture" by Kamjin and Laplamiz but, again, they never go into detail.

Though I suspect he might start to want to drop SDFM (whatever version) in the last few eps (33-35). The long-winded melodrama was hard enough for me to sit through. And he won't even understand what it is all about. Well, if he complains, I'll just let him skip those and go straight to ep 36. And there he will ask me how they all survived such a crash and why Misa looks completely unharmed and I'll have a red face and will have to tell him "because it's a cartoon"

Edited June 1, 2013 by Saruta

[anime52k8]

The part where Hikaru incinerates that one guy when he crashes his VF-1D in the first episode is pretty graphic IMO.

[Gubaba]

The part where Hikaru incinerates that one guy when he crashes his VF-1D in the first episode is pretty graphic IMO.

And it's less than a second long and no one notices it until it's pointed out to them.

[Deadeye_281]

Well if he's already watched DYRL, anything violent in SDFM shouldn't bother him. DYRL has some pretty graphic - wonderfully so - scenes of violence. SDFM is kinda Care Bears rated in comparison.

[Zinjo]

I would like to request advice from the ise membership of this forum.

I have a son, who has recently turned 8. As I was imbibing subitled SDFM, he noticed. But I don't think he can read fast enough to watch subtitled stuff.

I found a dubioius Russian voiceover of DYRL (we're a bilingual family here, Russian and English). We watched that together, ahd he liked it very much, but had way more questions than answers. I could not help him because my reaction to the movie was the same. (Well I did find some answers by googling and asking here, yet...)

I am thinking of getting voiceover SDFM for him (or the ADV 2006 dub, which is probably better than any fan/pirate voiceover despite the age discrepancy with Minmay, which undfortunately does get heard sometimes).

But, what after the 36 episodes? I would not feel comfortable giving Frontier to an 8 year old. It has way too many adult themes, not to mention Sheryl "Hopes and Dreams" Nome (in the movies she becomes, for this purpose, Sheryl "Universal Bunny" Nome). What *can* I give him if he asks for more Macross, seeing as I do have it? Is M7 more child-safe than Frontier?

Or should I just tell him "get these and you get more when you turn 13"?

Or go the easy way and give him Robotech instead? But, Reba West. I don't want him getting the idea that THIS is the kind of culture that can impress aliens. (Yes, Minmay is pop, but she's good pop).

Let him try to keep up and let him watch episodes repeatedly until he gets it all (should he want). Reading subtitles is a good thing, it will help him read better and faster later on. If he gets frustrated, help him out, but don't deny him the opportunity to try.

I never did with my daughter and she prefers her anime subtitled now anyway. It wasn't easy and sometimes she got frustrated but she stuck with it and caught as much as she could.

He will have memories of watching the show with his dad and that he'll carry with him forever. I still remember the few times I watched Star Trek with my dad, the closet SF fan , and they are some of my fondest memories of my childhood.

I suggest giving the little guy a chance to try to keep up, it won't hurt him any.

[racingaction]

"Jotta tällainen jälkeenjäänyt paskiainen ikä tavalla alle sinun olisi parempi turpasi kiinni!"

-Anonymous (Unable to speak English by the time it was written)

[Saruta]

"И вам того же."

As for my 8 year old son, he is done watching SDFM and appears cool enough with "no sequel allowed yet".

[MechTech]

Both my children are young and have watched the Macross TV series. The others they want to watch, but all of them that I have (I don't have M7) have some sort of inappropriate language or content. My daughter will even ask, "dad, is this inappropriate?" Besides, it gives us something to watch later on! My children and I have had some great times watching anime together! Some tasty snacks help too! - MT

[MaxAltara]

Get him to start drawing his own Mecha!

[Shaorin]

I think the monsters in M7 shouldn't be a problem with an 8 year-old, since they're a bit silly-looking, at least to me. I've watched scarier things at age 7 without having nightmares.

The main problem with 7 is what Graham said, the lack of an English-dubbed version.

i saw both of the first two ALIEN films for the first time back when i was around 7/8ish, 'round 1988 or so.

somehow they actually didn't even scare me at all. make of that what you will...

The part where Hikaru incinerates that one guy when he crashes his VF-1D in the first episode is pretty graphic IMO.

don't you mean when he unloaded his GU-11 all over that Zentran soldier?

Edited June 19, 2013 by Shaorin

[Gubaba]

i saw both of the first two ALIEN films for the first time back when i was around 7/8ish, 'round 1988 or so.

somehow they actually didn't even scare me at all. make of that what you will...

And thus, you ended up wedded to your VCR.

We don't want the same to happen to Saruta's kid...

[Shaorin]

[Gubaba]

[anime52k8]

And thus, you ended up wedded to your VCR.

We don't want the same to happen to Saruta's kid...

Hey, I watched way worse stuff than Macross or Aliens in terms of explicit violence and sexual content when I was his age and...

yeah, you probably don't want to let your kid do that.

Edited June 19, 2013 by anime52k8

[Gubaba]

Hey, I watched way worth stuff than Macross or Aliens in terms of explicit violence and sexual content when I was his age and...

yeah, you probably don't want to let your kid do that.

Meanwhile, my parents were EXCEEDINGLY protective...

...to this day, when I watch, say, a Friday the 13th movie, and some jerk gets killed, I think, "But he could'a BEEN SOMEONE.." and then I weep...

[Macross_Fanboy]

Well in Macross 7 there is some perversions in Dynamite I believe Mylene is roofied and nearly raped by a lesbian. Then there's Sivil...the show is kinda pervy. Remember that kid who was selling up-skirt shots of Mylene? Oh, and that one dude that also tried to rape Mylene in the parking lot before the vampires ate his soul? There's quite a bit in Mac7, it's been a while since I watched it, but I remember those parts well because it was quite funny.