SEN in Anime & Angel Beats

Hello! Its been a long time since I posted anything on here, but I recently stumbled across something I wanted to post about. I am currently re-writing my essay on Special Education Needs because I failed it last year (which really does suck) so I'm taking the time to procrastinate for a half hour or so.

Over the summer I've been taking the time to relax and taking some time off, as well as working part time. I have however been watching and reading a lot of Manga and Anime. After working on this essay about SEN it reminded me about an episode of Angel Beats which focuses around one of the characters called Yui. A little bit of background information so you understand this a bit more. Angel Beats is a high school set in the void between passing on and being alive. Teenagers who died and didn't get to enjoy their youth would come to this place to rid themselves of all their past emotions and regrets, then they could pass on to be at peace.

Yui when she was alive had a SEN. She was paralyzed from the head down after being hit by a car when she was younger. The reason I am posting about this is because usually in Anime or in television there is not many character with a SEN. The episode about Yui is about the main protagonist helping her do everything she wanted to do when she was alive, its really touching that she wanted to do such normal things. For example all she wanted to do was play football with friends and to hit a home run in a baseball game and the last one is a total shock. The video on the right shows what Yui's last wish was and how it was granted by another character Hinata.

After watching the episode it became apparent that children with SEN need to be included and need to be involved in everything. Its become a huge thing to have inclusion in schools and I personally believe that it should not just be in schools, but in all of society. Yui's story describes clearly the old fashioned medical model where children with SEN have something wrong with them. I believe that inclusion should be for all of society and not just in education.

However since I'm on the topic of Angel Beats I need to show just how good this Anime is, and not just for the Anime Fan. Since the high school is based in the void between passing on and living each teenager in the show has a powerful realistic backstory. These are relatable to the teenagers we see today. There is deep underlying emotion throughout the series mixed with comedy and some misunderstood fighting scenes.

I'm going to take Iwasawa's story for example. Iwasawa was brought up in a violent hosuehold with an alcoholic father who was abusive and horrible. She tried to escape by using music and this helped her get through it. She related to a band that came from a similar background as her. She dived deep into her music, performing on the street and earning money where she could so she could go on and live a nicer life. However she died due to her upbringing, I'm not going to spoil it but it is in the video on the left.

 Now there is going to be some people who are thinking "Why is he even bothering to tell us about this" and the answer is simple. I am getting rather fed up of people thinking that Anime is "Just a cartoon" or is just pornographic animation. Its strange how often the only Anime people have ever heard of is Hentai (Which is a genre of Anime which is pornographic). Angel Beats is an Anime I would highly recommend to any teenager who feels like they have had a bad upbringing or have had issues in the past because they can relate to it. I can relate to the bad home environment, even though its not as bad as Iwasawa's my parents were always fighting though they didn't do it infront of me, they did it through my grandparents. However when I watched Angel Beats and saw Iwasawa's Story I related to her and I felt sorry for her. So please if you still think that Anime is just a cartoon, please watch and episode of Angel Beats then go watch an episode of Spongebob Squarepants and tell me how they are even remotely similar!

I'm going to leave you with an awesome picture from Angel Beats below for you to think about. I strongly recommend that everyone watch this fantastic story, yes it has its flaws but the story is so in depth that it has meaning. This is what Anime is and this shows a perfect example of Inclusion from Hinata towards Yui. We need more people like him, more people accepting people for who they are not what they are!