In response to the locked thread I decided to write another. People call this a pedo manga, something that it is wrong and should be shunned. I would ask people that think thos way to go read Usagi Drop or any other shoujo with a teacher as a love interest and see if they feel the same way. I would say this Kodomo no Jikan is probably one of the better stories out there.

It's hard not explain why without revealing spoilers so I'll just say this: I do not think the teacher is portrayed as a lolicon but rather, as in the manga, a virgin. All throughout the series the teacher never has inner monologue about lolicon or pedo thoughts. If fact if he were a lolicon then he would be into all little girls and not just one.

The phrase: "don't judge a book by it's cover" is what I would say to anyone who would criticize this manga without completely reading it. >:-(

The vast difference is fan-service.

Quote from Cthylla

The vast difference is fan-service.

True there is fan-service however it would depend on the persons sexually orientation and preference. I would say it's no different from Yaoi, Smut, and even some shoujo. I am simply stating the fact that this not simply a story about a pedophile in love with little girls and if people actually read all of the manga that they would understand that. I would even say there are some pretty heavy "feels" in the manga as well, some that could give Clannad a run for it's money. 😃

You might want to make a better argument. The quality of the story is irrelevant with the fact if this manga is pedo manga or not. The basic premise of this particular manga already beat that argument without any outside help.

And no, once again, sexual orientation and preference of the readers, are not relevant for the existence of fan-service. For example, if you, read a manga full with scenes of topless dude, it will still be a fan-service, even if you're not yaoi fan, even if you're not the intended target. The fact that, the scene is there, already a prove enough.

Quote from bnad

You might want to make a better argument. The quality of the story is irrelevant with the fact if this manga is pedo manga or not. The basic premise of this particular manga already beat that argument without any outside help.

And no, once again, sexual orientation and preference of the readers, ar ...

I feel you misinterpreted what I said. 😕 Maybe I am misinterpreting what you are trying to convey. 😕

Anyways, The point I'm trying to make is that it's not a manga about a pedophile. Yes it has "fan-service" but so do most of the manga out there. Yaoi, shoujo, shounen it doesn't matter. What I am getting at is that people will arbitrarily judge this manga before they even read it. As I have read the rainbow, I know that not all types of genre are going to agree with me, but that doesn't mean I would bash a manga I have never read without even reading it first. For all I know it has a great story. I would dare say that if Kodomo no Jikan had no "fan-service" it would be very much like a shoujo manga.

In short I don't want people to be neglect reading this because other people deem it offensive without properly reading it.

I'm not going to judge because I have never read the manga. I wouldn't even if it was not a "pedo" manga, but I must defend my yaoi. Yaoi is only a homosexual relationship between men. Personally, I have not read a shotacon. It's just a preference. Manga and anime overall thread on a thin line of morality in not just pedophilia, which technically is a mental disorder. It's just important to note actions portayed in manga and anime are impossible in reality. I love yaoi, but I would never approve of certain relationships in reality. Let's be honest, yaoi angst is crazy. Lolicon overall is very popular and, while I may think it's a little creppy, it's okay...to a certain extent.

Side Note: I read the whole Usagi Drop and almost drew my computer when she did not end up with the neighbor. I don't blame the guy, but the ending irked me for hours. Also, it could probably compare to Clannad, but not when it's combined with After Story.

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

Quote from Ginny

I'm not going to judge because I have never read the manga. I wouldn't even if it was not a "pedo" manga, but I must defend my yaoi. Yaoi is only a homosexual relationship between men. Personally, I have not read a shotacon. It's just a preference. Manga and anime overall thread on a thin li ...

Yeah, I like your thoughts. I'm not that into yaoi but that doesn't mean I would condemn the manga you read because I don't read yaoi. I believe there are even some yaoi that have really good story-lines. I even once had a girlfriend in rl that was reading Loveless when we were going out. Will I every read Yaoi? At this moment I would say no, not a chance. Could that change? Certainly if the story is good. 😀 😃

usagi drop features no teacher romance (you should have just dropped the word "other")

there are actually manga that do this whole thing without the critical fan-service: Miman Renai.
as soon as you throw fan-service into a loli manga (as long as it depicts the loli ofc) and you pretty much lost the argument...

sexualization of children is what I would call "pedo". you get on the argument that the teacher isn't a pedophile, but that doesn't really matter. we as the reader are exposed to all those ecchi, fan-service stuff projected on children. if you enjoy that stuff... well good for you? if not however, you need a reason to justify that it's in there.

in need of romance?
uncommon, sad, sweet

Lorska and bnad are right an all counts(Usagi second half is not the best but hardly "pedo") and Miman Renai is how you do it ! For the record: Jikan´s story is crappy too as most of us could have written something equal in our sleep.
Secondly Comic High! is infamous for printing trash(google them if you dare) and the (female) author(actually nothing special in the loli or hentai market) drew only fanservice nonsense before and after and i wished i did not know this.
Love it, hate it or whatever but can we please burry this manga now. There is even a competitor i won´t name that is making the rounds but no this time i run for the hills.
I work with children at my library near daily btw. so if someone forced the manga on me now i would have a total meltdown and it is the 3rd worst long form non-hentai publication to me already. I am the opposite of prude btw. as my avatar or my 100% public reading list shows or the hentai with a great plot thread i somehow became the "owner" of.
My last word ever on Jikan.
Piece out and read/watch Lolita to see how to do it the right way.
Edit: I read the entire thing(to get it out of my life) and have a 1/10 review up. I had to look at pictures of mangled war corpses/sexual diseases you can´t even imagine for hours during my basic training in the military and i did not feel bad after words and could eat just fine. While reading Jikan during the same time period i nearly felt like vomiting and predicted every singe narrative beat. This is my opinion and Berserk/Suicide Island/Ookami no Kuchi: Wolfsmund have way worse sex and rape scenes towards sometimes even younger children and are basely perfect in my eyes. Now the silence begins (to not promote it even more). Please don´t write to me if i offended you as i don´t care.

I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb

Quote from Tobuay

Anyways, The point I'm trying to make is that it's not a manga about a pedophile. Yes it has "fan-service" but so do most of the manga out there. Yaoi, shoujo, shounen it doesn't matter.

The existence of other manga which uses the same device (a.k.a fan-service) are irrelevant. Trying to make a point using a logical fallacy, made me cringe a bit. That was my point. Hence my suggestion for you to try a better argument.

Quote from Tobuay

I know that not all types of genre are going to agree with me, but that doesn't mean I would bash a manga I have never read without even reading it first. For all I know it has a great story. I would dare say that if Kodomo no Jikan had no "fan-service" it would be very much like a shoujo manga.

For most people, the term pedo-manga is pretty clear. It caters to very specific target audience. One very specific errrm... "preference". And this particular manga, did cater to that target audience.

But the thing is, for most people, the term "great story" varies in definition. It depends on their taste, their religion, their sexual orientation and preference, their IQ, their education, their status in society, their morals, their life values, etc etc I could go on and on about this, but I think you understand the gist.

Thus, while you think that Kodomo no Jikan is a great story, others may not.

Nevertheless I agree, people should not judge the story, if they haven't even try to read it.

But, here's a question. What about people who already read it?

Can they judge?

Sigh I'm done defending this. People place bias based on their own personal experiences and are mostly influenced by their parents in this regard. An issue that is even explored in this very manga in fact. If people want to see some chapters in this manga as lewd, inappropriate, vulgar, morally wrong, or whatever that is their choice. I choose to see them not as such but as a pretty accurate account of the world really is. I think that people that bring up the fact that they work with kids in rl, the same as in this manga are closing the eye to reality which is actually quite ironic considering that manga is fictional. If people want to call it lolicon that's fine, but it's simply not * pedophilia - sexual desire in an adult for a child.* not just one but many. At best this manga is mature genre for the explicit nature of "some" of the story-line.

The story is the important thing here that I am trying to defend. I could care less if people want to debate the fact the female protagonist is grade schooler. Narrow-minded people just see a little girl and focus on the ecchi or mature parts of it and consider it vile. All I see is a character in a manga developing as an even better character.

With all the best intentions in mind, you can't deny it is indeed a pedo manga.
It's not "just" that, but tthat's a big part of it.
The sexualization of children (little girls, for the most part) is so blatant,
you'd have to be blind not to see it.

Take Reiji, for example. He was so caught up in his crazy (caused by mourning, but still) that all he wanted was to marry his step daughter once she reached of legal age (16). He ended up dating Mimi, apparently. At 16... Not lolicon technically, but don't you think it's close enough?
And Dauisuke, who was constantly put into the most awkward situations involving Rin? And what about that ending of theirs?
Besides that, almost everything the girls had done (from their jokes, dialogues and depictions) was presented in a way that catered perfectly to the type of person who'd like to fuck a little girl.
For pete's sake, all three were in love with people much older than they were, knowing full well where adult relationships led to.

Sure, the main characters didn't prey after little girls, but the story was that the girls wanted to be with the older men (& woman ;p) and if you were to keep score, it was 2 out of 3.
It was legal by then, but doesn't all their history count?
According to the story, the girls wanted it, which all (as far as I know) pedophile claim/think. They wanted it.

Look, I have no sexual interests in lolis, but I did read and enjoy this manga quite a bit (for all that it was), but you can't ignore the facts. I would've liked to read a sequel with them as grown-ups, but then it wouldn't be "kodomo" no Jikan, because they wouldn't be children anymore.
The mangaka didn't just come up with the idea out of nowhere without knowing exactly what kind of audience was going to buy it.

All in all, I honestly don't care.
As much as I don't care when people call "yaoi" porn.
Some is indeed just straight up porn, some isn't, but it all caters to the same palette and definitely has those elements more often than not.
Kodomo no Jikan isn't hentai lolicon, but it is lolicon. A lolita is a lolita until the age of 15 and this manga starts when they're what, in the first grade? A good age for the aspiring pedophile. ;p

TL;DR
Don't take the criticism to heart. It's a good manga, but pedophiles would certainly enjoy it.

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I agree. It was the story that made me value this manga, not the idea of pedophilia.