For the news article, click here.
Well its normally none of my business but....
Since I watch anime too I know how badly this is gonna affect the industry.
This bill, recently passed in Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, bans underage citizens from viewing/purchasing Anime, Manga, Visual Novels, Games or anything with visual content containing sexual, incest, stimulating content, ecchi, hentai etc that affects a minor's(0-17 years old) mental health etc...
For full details of the bill, click here.
Sounds good, right?
Shows with pointless boobs content like Seikon no Qwaser will get adult rating.
However, the contents of the bill (now law) is SO vague that one can easily say that ALL Animes, Mangas, etc have adult content. It all depends on how it is interpreted.
Like for example, a plainly innocent kids show like Bottle Fairy can be twisted to become a pedo show.
A school life show like Kaichou wa Maid sama can be adult rated cos one can say Usui is a pervert who likes to harass girls, and hence teenagers shouldn't watch it and get the wrong idea that you should harass someone to make her your girlfriend.
See? Now almost all animes will get adult rated.
Is that a bad thing? YES.
Tokyo is a really powerful place. If Tokyo says a title is no good, online stores like Amazon and CDJapan etc will not sell that particular title. There goes the income of the company producing the title.
Furthermore, the no good title will get pushed into a really dark place of a store where people will not notice so kids cant find it. Then, obviously adults cant find it that easily, right? Sales will fall~
Then if it is really bad, companies will just stop producing DVDs.
This law also causes artists and animation companies to practise self-censorship.
There goes the freedom of expression, and lots of many possible situations that could happen in a story.
Like, this girl was raped sometime ago and she is traumatised and it affected her life. She vows to get her revenge.
Now, because of the rape content, this whole plot will be banned from minors.
Another example:
I love this girl. But later I found out she is actually my long lost sister. What should I do?
Again, this plot line gets the ban cos its incest.
This means....You might as well stop producing animes and mangas la. No more special plotlines and all we can get is slice-of-lifes boring shit.
And you stop producing anime/manga, you lose your culture.
This also freaking threatens the people who depend on the industry for food and roof over their head.
Examples: Seiyus, Mangakas, Animation firms.
It would have been easier if the law wasn't this vague. But it is.
Ironically, novels, real life photos, real life dramas, or anything real life/acted or not visual, are not affected by this law.
Its like saying an anime which have incest/yaoi/yuri/or anything suggestive which can pollute a minor's mind (I did not include hentai/ecchi here cos they are already banned from minors in the first place) content is banned but if they were to make it into a drama instead, it will not be banned.
You know, this law would have made more sense if real life contents and non-visual novels were included in this law.
What SHIT.
Even more ironically, the person who brought up this bill, Shintaro Ishihara(Tokyo's Governor) is a writer who is openly racist and looks down on gays. The novel he writes includes teenage delinquencies and sex, openly and frankly.
Well, in response to this law, Japan's top 10(I think) major manga publishers are boycotting the Tokyo International Anime Fair.
And as for me, as much as I like to see overly sexual animes to be banned, I cant imagine how ridiculous this law is and would rather it be gone.
And seriously, if you wanted to prevent minors from becoming sexual maniacs shouldn't you educate instead of ban?
I mean, I watched Seikon no Qwaser, but do you see me staring at someone's boobs?
No. Cos its all about the mindset. DUH.
And Japan have other more important stuff to deal with, don't they? Like, aging population etc...
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