1 Kodomo no Jikan is not quite as bad as its reputation, but I'm not recommending it either.  I only made it through a couple of episodes. 

But the current pic rotation reminded me that Ayumi from Magikano looks almost exactly like a teenage version of Rin from KnJ.

2 There's a shade of meaning you might want to keep in mind: "ji" alone is a point of time (when something occurs), and "ji kan" is a period of time (how long something takes). Both are commonly translated as "time", as long as the context allows it.

3 I haven't seen the anime, but I was arm-twisted into reluctantly reading the manga by a manga reviewer friend of mine in Japan.  And it was not what I expected.  Once one gets over the primary conceit of the thing, the story is actually exceptionally good--that's the reason it's been so controversial.  After you find out about Reiji's and Rin's past, it's damned hard to stop reading.

4 I thought you said your sister-in-law gave it to you.

5 Yes, but that was only Volume 1.  I stopped until Ohmori pushed me to continue, saying it really takes off in Volume 2.  And he was right.

6

There was a still frame from the manga that I saw, which was translated into English. It showed the main girl, the creepy one, in her schoolroom. She was leaning back against one of the desks, and her panties were hanging around her knees. She's smiling, with a bit of an evil smile. And in the voice balloon she says,

"Do you know what would happen to you if I started screaming right now?"

Yikes yikes yikes run for the hills and bolt the door. Keep me away from evil lolis!!!

Yeah, I know she's not really evil. but, comma...

7 Yep.

In real life, if a little girl behaved like that, the teacher would immediately suspect there's something seriously wrong at home.

In Kodomo no Jikan - this isn't really much of a spoiler - the teacher immediately suspects there's something seriously wrong at home.

That still didn't make me want to watch it, but it's definitely not just another loliploitation vehicle.  I can't remember exactly how much I watched, but it was just enough so that the first signs of what Toren mentions were showing up - so I may have dropped it just before the story really kicks in.

8

As I understand it, her mother was living with her boy friend and she was there, too. The mother died, and the boy friend is now raising the kid, with the expectation that eventually the kid will take the mother's place as girlfriend/wife.

Also, as I understand it, eventually the girl's father shows up and takes custody, but I don't know if that was really an improvement.

I understand that there's a decent story being told here, but the whole concept gives me the willies. I've had close calls with false sexual-harassment charges in my life, and that was grown women, and it was scary enough. The idea of being falsely accused of being a child molester is close to my worst nightmare, and it isn't something I want to see in my entertainment.

9 Agreed.  It's a partly light-hearted and partly very serious look at a rather disturbing subject, which doesn't make for easy viewing.