Wanna See Something REALLY Scary? (A little levity today)

DO YOU REMEMBER that line from the film "The Twilight Zone"? The world, at the moment, is going through a time where people are being made more aware of Islam, and particularly, radical Islam. With the advent of September 11, 2001, this country "woke up" (to use a rather over-used phrase) and realized that we have enemies who wish to destroy us. Fine. That has been the agenda of thousands of evil would-be megalomaniacs for thousands of years, and it seems that the more radical elements of Islam wish to push their agenda on us, the so-called "infidels" of the world. Especially Americans. We are Evil. We are so decadent that we only deserve to be destroyed.

But there is something else lurking out there, just as powerful but more appealing:

Enter manga. Anime. J-pop and J-rock. Young people of the world BEWARE!!!! You are only minutes away from being sucked into the biggest fad since the Beatles. Japan has got revenge at last for the horrible bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is a gentle war of persuasion and mesmerizing, aimed at our youth, using cute cartoon figures and great artistic license to produce the most delectable addiction since John Lennon sang "'Til I Saw Her Standing There."

You can see them in bookstores all over, pouring over the latest comics, totally absorbed in this fantasy world. Take my daughter for instance. I know that when we step into the local Borders or Barnes and Noble, that I have lost her for at least two hours. She will find some manga and sit down, read it from end to end, then buy it to add to her ever-growing collection at home. She has enough of these books to completely line the walls of her bedroom, several times over. She has invented her own characters. She draws her friends as anime characters. She listens to J-pop all the time, her iPOD plugged into her ears as the artists belt out songs in Japanese. She has a Japanese manga nick-name as do her friends. She attends anime conventions where thousands of people dress as their favorite anime characters. She watches Japanese anime on the computer so much that she can speak and understand Japanese. I think she thinks in Japanese. Even my niece has been stung: She is studying Japanese and will be attending a university in Japan come the Autumn.

And you should hear my daughter's friends. They all speak this very strange lingo, discussing the characters in these manga and anime as REAL PEOPLE. There are plushies made of these characters. Some of them are VERY STRANGE. Parents, please keep an eye on your teens, and watch for signs of lethargy and general apathy from them, unless of course you mention something Japanese (like manga, anime, Gackt, XJapan, Mr. Children,tofu, ramen, sushi, etc.) then watch the miraculous change when their faces light up and they seem to be thinking, "Finally you get it, Mom."

So you see, the REAL enemy is not radical Islam. It is Anime. Manga. J-pop. Our young people are slowly being brain-drained of their abilities to do anything else but to "be" Japanese.

As horrible as dropping atom bombs on Japan was, what they have done in return is so ironic--they have captured the hearts of millions of young people world-wide, caused crushes on cartoon and comic characters, created a world of fantasy that seems to be going from strength to strength.

And to think it all started with "Hello, Kitty."