Nudity in Manga

Where is the point where a person draws the line with nudity?

This has been a question among many anime/manga fans on the Christian Forums. But the question should be, “What is the context of the situation that the person losing clothes is in?” I believe that it is important to be able to discern whether or not something is appropriate based on the context of the situation.

Elfen Lied is one anime with a lot of nudity in it. The whole beginning of the first episode shows the main character, Lucy completely nude. She walks around a lab filled with men and women with white coats on, who aimed guns at her. Everywhere she walked, people just fell dead. Lucy is an alien, a violent alien captured by a science lab. She was naked because she had been chained to a wall, with no clothes worn.

Later, Lucy escapes the lab. She falls beneath a cliff, landing on a beach where she is rescued by two college students. Lucy is given a home, but she is no longer Lucy. She is a child-like alien known as Nyuu because it is the only thing she can say. Now, the series takes a new turn with the nudity, showing “Nyuu” in various states where she forgets or is trying to put on pants or a shirt.

Another example of “innocent” nudity is Chobits. This is series is a human-like computer who malfunctions. A college boy finds the computer, “Chii” and tries to revive her. It is about the love they start to feel for each other and how Chii learns simple things a computer should know. She learns to dress, how to speak and “shop”.

Like “Nyuu”, “Chii” must learn everything too. She cannot think for herself, because she does not even know how to think. Her feelings confuse her, and she must learn what they mean. The “nudity” in Chobits is there to remind the audience watching that Chii is a human computer that does not know that she should be wearing clothes. When her “master” goes to finds a shirt for her, Chii just sits there with a rather confused look on her face.

Of course, not all animes are innocent and bear confused characters that lack common sense. Other episodes of Chobits include wacky scenes where Chii is sent to buy panties.

In Midori no Hibi (Midori Days), Midori wakes up as the right hand of her crush- literally. Midori’s crush gets the bright idea to go to her house and try to merge her with her real body in hopes of Midori returning to normal. He lifts the covers to find her body naked. He puts “Midori” (what looks like his hand) on her body, but of course Midori’s mother walks into the room. I ask myself the question, “Why was Midori naked?”

Even though a show is not generally bad, there will be quirks and parts to dislike from it. I have come to the conclusion that anime is like that. I am not justifying nudity; I am merely saying that in come cases “innocent” ideas can be presented from it if it is done in the right way. The majority of it is just there for the sake of being there.