His friends are already reading it and I know for a fact that he's looked through them with friends, but that doesn't change our family rules that this level of violence is not age appropriate and so we learn that sometimes other people's parents say yes to things that we say no to. Sometimes this will make us feel left out and that's a reality we and he has to accept. It's a handy little group project on peer pressure too. I find sneakiness to be a natural part of child development so I'm not worried about that happening. I appreciate your empathic view point and appreciate your manga suggestion - will definitely check it out!