Kodomo no Jikan (???????, lit. A Child's Time) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kaworu Watashiya. The story revolves around a grade school teacher named Daisuke Aoki, whose main problem is that one of his students, Rin Kokonoe, has a crush on him. It was serialized between May 2005 and April 2013 in Futabasha's Comic High! magazine and is compiled in 13 volumes. At one time, an English-language version of the manga was licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment for distribution in North America under the title Nymphet, but they ultimately decided not to publish it due to controversies over its content. It was then relicensed by Digital Manga.
A 12-episode anime adaptation of the series aired in Japan between October and December 2007. While content of the broadcast version was sometimes heavily censored, the DVD releases of the individual episodes remain unedited. A second anime season was released as four original video animation episodes between January and July 2009. A third original anime DVD was released in January 2011.
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Plot
Kodomo no Jikan is centered around 23-year-old Daisuke Aoki, who has just landed his first teaching job as a grade school instructor at Futatsubashi Elementary School (??? ???, Futatsubashi Sh?gakk?). He is placed in charge of Class 3-1, where one of his students, a mischievously precocious nine-year-old girl by the name of Rin Kokonoe, develops a crush on him and goes so far as to proclaim herself Aoki's girlfriend. At first he dismisses it as harmless, but she aggressively pursues her efforts to be with him. Aoki is in shock when she makes sexual advances towards him leading him to believe that Rin comes from a troubled family. Aoki finds out that Rin's mother had died and she is living with an uncle whose flashbacks lead to violent outbursts.
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Characters
Media
Manga
The first chapter of a two-part "pilot" for Kodomo no Jikan appeared in the premiere issue of Futabasha's seinen manga magazine Comic High! on March 2, 2004. The successful reception of the pilot prompted the creator, Kaworu Watashiya, to rework the title into a full-fledged manga. Serialization began a little over a year later in Comic High! on May 22, 2005 and ran until April 22, 2013. Futabasha published 13 tank?bon volumes between December 12, 2005 and June 12, 2013. While the aforementioned pilot is not considered part of the ongoing series' canon in spite of the shared name, largely identical main cast, and common central theme, many situations and ideas initially introduced there were revisited in the eventual manga series--and thus incorporated into official continuity--albeit in (slightly) altered or expanded form.
Digital Manga has licensed the series for publication in North America, and originally planned to publish it in omnibus format under its Project-H imprint. Digital Manga later launched a Kickstarter to publish the series in five omnibus volumes and one additional volume under its newly launched PeCChi imprint. The project reached its US$157,000 goal on July 3, 2016, however retail release dates for the series are yet to be determined. In all the project raised a total of US$185,725 making it the most funded graphic novel project ever on Kickstarter at the time.
Audio dramas
An Internet radio show called Kojika Radio (??????), hosted by Lantis Web Radio, Beat Net Radio!, and Kodomo no Jikan's official website, originally had a pre-broadcast on August 31, 2007, but began regular weekly broadcasts every Friday starting on September 7, 2007. It has three hosts--Eri Kitamura, Kei Shind?, and Mai Kadowaki, who played Rin Kokonoe, Kuro Kagami, and Mimi Usa in the anime, respectively--and was produced by Bandai Visual and Lantis. There are three corners on the show, which is used mainly to promote the anime version. A CD entitled Kojika Radio on CD: Aki Ensoku Hen (?????? on CD ~?????~) was released by Lantis on November 21, 2007. It contained an opening and ending talk as well as seven more tracks from the Internet radio show. A drama CD was released on January 9, 2008 by Lantis.
Anime
A thirty-minute, uncensored, single-episode original video animation (OVA) was released on September 12, 2007, available both on the anime's official website and in a limited edition version bundled with the fourth volume of the manga. The anime series, directed by Eiji Suganuma and produced by the animation studio Studio Barcelona, was originally scheduled to premiere in Japan on October 11, 2007, but two television stations--TV Saitama and Mie TV--removed it from their broadcast schedules. In an official press release, TV Saitama stated that their decision was heavily influenced by the then-recent capture of Takayuki Hosoda, a notorious Japanese child pornographer who was revealed to be an elementary school vice principal. Plans for Chiba TV and KBS Kyoto to air the series remained unchanged, and the anime premiered on Japanese television on October 12, 2007, running for twelve episodes until December 28, 2007. However, some of its content suffered censorship to varying degrees, from animated panels obscuring parts of the screen and sound effects being used to "bleep" out dialogue in some instances to full suppression of both audio and video in others. The uncensored version of the anime series is available on DVD in six volumes containing two episodes each. The DVD volumes were released between December 21, 2007 and May 23, 2008.
A second anime season was announced, and a promotional video of this season was included with a special edition of the fifth manga volume released on July 11, 2008. This season was released in original video animation format over four episodes between January 21 and July 24, 2009. A third anime adaptation was announced on the cover of the manga's eighth volume in May 2010, and was released on January 21, 2011.
Music
Four pieces of theme music are used for the anime television series: one opening theme and three ending ones. The opening theme, used in all episodes except the twelfth, which did not have an opening theme, is "Rettsu! Ohime-sama Dakko" (???!????????) by Eri Kitamura, Kei Shind?, and Mai Kadowaki, the voice actresses for Rin Kokonoe, Kuro Kagami, and Mimi Usa, respectively. The first ending theme, used for all but two episodes, is "Hanamaru Sensation" (????????????, Hanamaru?Senseishon) by Little Non; the second ending theme, used only for episode six, is "Yasashii" (????) by Chata; the third and final ending theme, used only in episode twelve and which was also the opening theme for the OVA, is "Otome Chikku Shoshinsha desu" (????????????), once again sung by the trio of Kitamura, Shind?, and Kadowaki. The maxi single for the opening theme was released on October 24, 2007 by Lantis, and the one for the first ending theme was released on October 12, 2007, also by Lantis. The anime's original soundtrack was released on January 23, 2008.
The OVA's opening theme, the previously mentioned "Otome Chikku Shoshinsha desu" (????????????) and was included on the same maxi single as "Rettsu! Ohime-sama Dakko" as a B-side track. The ending theme, "Aij??Education" (???????????) by Little Non, appeared on the same maxi single as "Hanamaru Sensation" as a B-side track. Three character song albums were released by Lantis on December 26, 2007 for the characters Rin Kokonoe, Kuro Kagami, and Mimi Usa, featuring singing and voicework by their respective voice actresses.
The second season's opening theme is "Guilty Future" by Kitamura. The ending theme for all but episode three is "1,2,3 Day" by Little Non. The ending theme for episode three is "Yoridori Princess" (?????????) by Kitamura, Shind?, and Kadowaki. An album was released by Lantis on January 27, 2010 containing all the music used in the anime.
Criticism and controversy
Kodomo no Jikan was originally licensed for distribution in North America in 2006 by the Los Angeles-based company Seven Seas Entertainment, the first volume of the manga having been slated for an early 2007 release. According to Futabasha, the title of Nymphet was selected for the English language version at the suggestion--and later insistence--of the original creator, Kaworu Watashiya. The manga, however, soon became the target of controversy after questions were raised about its appropriateness for North American audiences. In a written statement, the president of Seven Seas Entertainment, Jason DeAngelis, observed that "those who are speaking out against Nymphet seem to be disturbed by the relationship between two characters in the story, namely an elementary school student and her adult teacher" and decided to delay the release of the manga so that he could "have an open dialogue with the large book chains and other vendors." The title was subsequently dropped as a result of these concerns, with DeAngelis saying that it was "not appropriate for Seven Seas to publish Nymphet," and that it would cancel its release of the manga.
In a second statement regarding Nymphet, DeAngelis explained some of the reasoning behind the decision to cancel the series. He stated that, "my primary reason for canceling Nymphet is due to my recent realization that later volumes in the series can not be considered appropriate for the US market by any reasonable standard." He also cited the fact that, "[the vendors] began dropping their orders left and right, so their opinion on this matter became pretty clear cut." Specifically, DeAngelis stated that, during his re-review of later Kodomo no Jikan anthologies, he discovered content that he regarded as highly unsuitable for publication. The pages cited were of a scene of the main characters, Rin Kokonoe and Daisuke Aoki, stuck in a room with freezing temperatures. The two embrace in an effort to stay warm by sharing body heat, and Rin takes the opportunity to rub her crotch against Aoki's, almost causing him to get an erection.
On June 7, 2007, Kaworu Watashiya posted a blog entry on the Kodomo no Jikan controversy in the United States. She commented that, "what I heard about 'issues in volume 2 and later' made me realize the differences in the cultures between the countries." The author went on to cite instances in later volumes that showed intimate relationships between cousins and a bath scene with a child and adult, going on to say that, "my honest feeling is, 'It's unfortunate, but what can I do?'"
Former manga editor Toren Smith commented on the issue in favor of its content, accusing people who support the reverse gender scenario in series such as Negima! Magister Negi Magi of being hypocritical.
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