Is Attack on Titan Okay For Pre-teens?

[Leave a Whisper]

My daughter was telling me she likes Attack on Titan and watches it on her friend's phone at school, which earned a scolding for watching cartoons at school.  Now I have not seen this and I don't consider myself a helicopter parent but I will put my foot down if I don't think something is age appropriate.

Is it okay for a twelve year old to watch?

[rolllerblades]

For a twelve year old? Probably not. I've never watched the show (I can't stand the art direction), but I know it can be very gory at times
Although I've never heard of it having sexual content? And it shouldn't have too much swearing if unless she's watching the dub put out by Adult Swim

In the end I think whether or not she should watch it should be based on how well she can handle blood and horror elements. Though if she is watching it I'd imagine that she's not getting too spooked by the show's monsters

[Rainbowrific Renia]

A few episodes can be very gory and violent, but I think it all depends on how well she can handle those sorts of things. I've watched it and I personally don't think its that bad, but if you'd rather her not watch anything with lots of blood/people being killed on screen, then you may want to advise her to stop watching it.

Other than that, there isn't really any adult content present in the show. Maybe some swearing here and there (forgive me for not remembering, I only watched the subbed version when it was first airing a few years ago).

Honestly though, if she's made it past the first few episodes and likes it, then it probably doesn't bother her much. Although she definitely shouldn't be watching it in school, I agree with that.

[Leave a Whisper]

Hmm, I just got  done watching the first episode, reminds me of an old timey fairytale, the real kind not tue watered down stuff. Its a bit violent and gory, but she's watched Princess Mononoke and she is an avid reader of Warrior Cats. I'll watch a few more episodes before I make my final decision, but I think she might be okay after all. She has no business watching at school though.

 She's heard me cuss.

Thanks for your insight Rollerblades and Renia. Much appreciated

[Bekuno]

I think it really depends on your own views as a parent as to what is allowed or not. I'd say it was fine because at age 12 I was watching much worse things and my parents were never strict and didn't really limit what I wanted to watch as long as it wasn't.. well, y'know.

There will be inappropriate language, violence, some gore, and the series is sort of an action/horror but I don't find the Titans to be particularly scary and if she's enjoying it than I doubt she does either. The scenes where they eat people are kinda creepy though.

I honestly don't remember anything particularly sexual about it? The Titans are nude but they don't have genitals. When breasts are shown on titans they lack nipples.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2560140/parentalguide

Maybe take a look at this and see how you feel.

[Leave a Whisper]

Thanks for the link Bekuno. Yeah after looking at tha, I think she might be okay.

[Keemax]

Yeah, the only aspect of Attack on Titan that could be taken as inappropriate for younger viewers is probably the amount of gore/violence, which has already been, mentioned.

However, I thought I might point out that the official rating for Attack on Titan is 15+; at least that's the rating on all the DVD releases.

[Leave a Whisper]

Yeah, the only aspect of Attack on Titan that could be taken as inappropriate for younger viewers is probably the amount of gore/violence, which has already been, mentioned.

However, I thought I might point out that the official rating for Attack on Titan is 15+; at least that's the rating on all the DVD releases.

Makes sense.

Post Merge: April 16, 2016, 07:48:13 AM

I think it really depends on your own views as a parent as to what is allowed or not. I'd say it was fine because at age 12 I was watching much worse things and my parents were never strict and didn't really limit what I wanted to watch as long as it wasn't.. well, y'know.

There will be inappropriate language, violence, some gore, and the series is sort of an action/horror but I don't find the Titans to be particularly scary and if she's enjoying it than I doubt she does either. The scenes where they eat people are kinda creepy though.

I honestly don't remember anything particularly sexual about it? The Titans are nude but they don't have genitals. When breasts are shown on titans they lack nipples.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2560140/parentalguide

Maybe take a look at this and see how you feel.

You know, I never understood why a kid seeing nipple is so horrible. Boys usually swim topless at pools and its not like kids have never seen their own nipples since  the invention of mirrors. But that's a different rant. Oh well.

[SunbeamV]

If she can handle bloody stuff, the show is probably fine. I was watching shows that were just as gory or probably worse at age 12.

What I'd be cautious of is not letting her get too obsessed with it, for lack of a better word. The creator of the AoT manga has mentioned having some pretty cringeworthy views on Japan's part in the last century or so of world history, and Attack on Titan taking over the acronym "SNK" (from the Japanese title Shingeki no Kyojin) online has caused a lot of trouble for the gaming company, SNK Playmore, and AoT fans can get pretty nasty about those issues I find. So I'd suggest keeping an eye on  the influence she's getting from other fans if she's lucky enough to have friends who share her interests, rather than on the show itself.

[Leave a Whisper]

Wise words for any fandom.

[zombienixon]

I'd say it is if she's used to animated violence.  It does get kinda gory, but it's not too graphic. It's pretty normal for kids her age to watch that kind of stuff.

[Princess Lala]

Eh I've watched worse things earlier than that age like Texas chainsaw massacre (which still terrifies me lol) . That anime is gorey but its not that scary, in fact the story is pretty good the first few arcs.

[kaoskat]

Haven't seen it but I am a bit curious about it.

[Baby Sugarberry]

There's no sexual and virtually no romantic content in Attack on Titan.  In fact the only instance I can think of is a kiss between two characters with an established relationship, after one of them is very much dead.  It is however quite graphic.  The show doesn't pull punches when it comes to showing people being torn in half, eaten, dismembered, dead, piles of corpses, etc.  There's also a court scene where an officer beats up a young teenage cadet that made /me/ uncomfortable and I'm well beyond 15.  A large portion of the population is also sent to their deaths by the government, many of the main cast are orphans and disaster survivors.  There's some language but it's fairly sparse, can't say I noticed it much and I don't swear myself.  Characters tend to get killed off on a regular basis.

If you do decide to let your preteen watch AoT, I'd suggest watching it with her, and discussing the themes/story.  There are controversial elements which carry real world parallels - child soldiers, government corruption and oppression of the people, genocide, betrayal, loss of family and friends.  Seconding the 'keep away from the fandom' thing, though I can't tell you if it's worse or better than most (I don't actively participate in any fandoms outside of the Arena / MLP) but it /is/ heavily sexualized - quite the opposite to what's depicted in the show, and often features problematic relationships, so tread carefully.

[ponyqueen]

I would have been traumatized if I watched this at 12 years old. I'm over thirty and the graphic violence is at the edge of what I can tolerate, and I still look away during the bad fights...