MANGA BAN!!!

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Megaman

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Japan's manga artists angry over sex and violence ban
Some of Japan's leading "manga" artists have voiced their opposition to a government proposal to outlaw sex and violence in children's comics and impose an age limit on anyone buying sexually explicit manga.

'Tomorrow's Joe' drawn by Tetsuya Chiba
By Julian Ryall in Tokyo 7:00AM GMT 16 Mar 2010
Headed by such well-known figures in the industry as Fujiko Fujio A, the creator of Hattori the Ninja and the Laughing Salesman, and Tetsuya Chiba, who draws the "Tomorrow's Joe" manga, the artists told reporters in Tokyo that the law would affect their freedom of expression.
Machiko Satonaka, another manga artist, said that the proposed legislation, created by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, "pertains to freedom of expression and is open to a variety of interpretations."
She added that she was "horrified" that the city government was planning to regulate comic characters because "no one is actually being harmed."
The city assembly, which will vote on the proposed law on Friday, wants to restrict comics and animated images that contain sexually provocative depictions of "nonexistent minors" - an ambiguous concept that is taken to mean characters that people could reasonably assume to be minors, based on their appearances.
The new law would require the manga and animation industry not to sell works that depict sexual situations involving minors while also identifying works that depict rape and other violence as "harmful materials" and restrict minors' access to such comics.
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If the law is passed it would be limited to Tokyo, which has vowed to carry out a crackdown on child pornography.
Magazines with images of children as young as four wearing bikinis and provocatively licking ice creams are available at convenience stores.
The traditional manga industry has experienced a slump in recent years here as people turn to accessing images on their mobile phones and computers - which would also be subject to the ban - and critics say it would be virtually impossible to police the law. They also say authorities should be doing more to stamp out actual child pornography in Japan.
That will cut little ice with Shintaro Ishihara, the hard-line mayor of Tokyo, who is expected to support the legislation.
But the manga artists say the consumer should be given the choice of what he or she wants to read.
"I have seen cases of our culture losing power because of regulations," artist Tetsuya Chiba said in a speech to politicians. "We want readers to decide."
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That is an article from the telegraph. You can see it here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/7453152/Japans-manga-artists-angry-over-sex-and-violence-ban.html

WTF should be done about this!!!
 
It not only puts restrictions on what artists can create, but also what you can own. People who had purchased a violent manga such as deadman wonderland (and some people are saying that even bleach falls under this new law) would suddenly turn into a criminal. This is effectively the code of censorship that destroyed the american comics industry. It should also be noted that this law applies ONLY to manga, anime, and games. Actual porn isn't being targeted.

This law is also extremely homophobic. Look at this quote from the guy who is spearheading this law:
“Anyone who claims it’s not harmful to children to draw manga that features the sex life of married couples and the such are idiots. Tell them, ‘You need to go cool your heads.’” Ishihara responded to the Tokyo Parent Teacher Association’s December 3 petition in support of the bill by saying, “It’s not just about children. We’ve got homosexuals casually appearing even on television. Japan has become far too untamed. I’ll go forward with [this bill] with a sense of mission in heart.”
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As I heard on another forum I frequent:
WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE IMAGINARY CHILDREN?!
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Seriously, though, what's next, they gonna crack down on the music industry?
 
Wait a sec, according to the article, this is just a ban on this sort of thing in manga. Aren't games and anime safe? Or, am I missing something?
 
What amuses me is that this is winding up very similar to the Wertham era of western comics. I'm willing to bet a "Manga Code Authority" of sorts may be on the horizon.
 
Hypersonic said:
Wait a sec, according to the article, this is just a ban on this sort of thing in manga. Aren't games and anime safe? Or, am I missing something?
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Yes. This is just one article, and it doesn't do a very good job explaining the whole situation. However, I used it as an example because it's the most reputable source I've found. However, this law also outlaws blatant homosexuality, excessive violence (no-one is quite sure what level of violence this means, but some are worried that even the level in mangas like naruto would be found excessive) and any manga portraying illegal activity. Even the stipulations about nudity would ax a HUGE number of manga, including dragon ball (there's a scene where you can see bulma naked). This law looks like it would make almost all manga into adult material.

@Jabberwocky. Thats exactly what I think. I told one of my friends that it was the hays code of manga.
 
If Dragonball and Rosario Vampire fall under this category I know what I'm spending all my money on.
 
not manga...NOT MY PRECIOUS MANGA! I hope I can still become a manga artist as a career...
 
Roy Mustang said:
not manga...NOT MY PRECIOUS MANGA! I hope I can still become a manga artist as a career...
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Well, the law is currently only in tokyo, but since thats where almost all of the manga in existence gets made and published, thats definitely gonna be a problem.
 
Wasn't this ban pushed forth by a man who wrote sexually explicit novels where young girls were the victims of abuse and other horrible things?



...damned hypocrite :-|
 
Kayi-chan said:
Wasn't this ban pushed forth by a man who wrote sexually explicit novels where young girls were the victims of abuse and other horrible things?



...damned hypocrite :-|
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Yes, he did do that.
 
Megaman said:
Yes, he did do that.
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No offense, but what a jerkass. He evidently just wants to crush the competition of the visual media. He and his fans are the ones the Japanese should be wary of when protecting their children.
 
Lets not forget "sticking it to the queers." (He hasn't used exactly those words, but I'm sure he's thinking them.) Thats one of his big goals too.
 
Megaman said:
Lets not forget "sticking it to the queers." (He hasn't used exactly those words, but I'm sure he's thinking them.) Thats one of his big goals too.
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So sex is OK when it's rape between a gang of males and a young girl, but not in the context of, say, yaoi and bara and yuri?

...makes perfect sense :-|
 
Kayi-chan said:
So sex is OK when it's rape between a gang of males and a young girl, but not in the context of, say, yaoi and bara and yuri?

...makes perfect sense :-|
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No, sex is only ok when its a gang including him and a young girls, or when he's making money off of it.
 
I wish the general public would do something to get this douche out of office, but that's unlikely because of the respect for elders the country as a whole has. Seriously, this man is a terrible human being and whoever voted for him made a huge mistake. Hopefully in a few years, changing sentiments will keep people like him out of posistions of power.
 
Everyone probably wants the leaders out right now in Japan after what happened with the quakes and the meltdowns.
 
I went looking for some discussion of this law in Japanese, and found this, courtesy of seadewejさん at Yahoo Answers, originally posted to 2channel:

http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1151958321

I called the Tokyo municipal ordinance reviser's office. I was grateful for their polite response. When I first posted the results of this call to 2channel there were all kinds of reactions, both relived and apprehensive. Below is a summary of what I learned.

1) With this law "keeping porn away from children" is the main point. Dragon Ball, One Pi[ece], [Famous Detective] Conan, etc, ie "ordinary" works will have no problem.

2) Also, 18+ [１８禁] works (unless sold to children,) will only be required to be wrapped in plastic, placed on the back shelves, etc; their sale will not be prohibited.

3) Possession by adults, and also the creation of doujin, eroge, manga, is not affected. No one is going to be arrested for that. (Unless they sell to children)

4) The line will be drawn, according to the law, by a Committee on Sound Childrearing/Kenzen Ikusei Shingikai/「健全育成審議会」 (which will represent the municipal council, publishing industry, and guardians)

5)Some of the most extreme "general" [一般, ie not １８禁] works may be re-classified, but their publication will not be stopped nor will arrests be made

...or that's how the phone call went at least. Speaking of discussion, isn't that a little bit different from what people are saying in this thread?

Most people agree that, if that's what the law really is, they agree with it. However, regarding the committee of point 4 there has been some concern that they could twist the intent of the law on their own. On the 'net, there have been all kinds of crazy rumors that you could be arrested just for having Conan or Dragon Ball, or that this is the end of the manga and anime business. Would the municipal government please post #1 through #5 on their web site? Rather than leaving the law's difficult legalese to be bent [sensationalized] on the news and inflame people's doubts and dark demons, that is. And, rather than allowing the committee to run off boldly with mistaken ideas, wouldn't it be better to explain things in simple terms? Please think about it.
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Side note: "doubts and dark demons" 「疑心暗鬼」is my favorite word of the day.

Even more than is usual for a law, I think this will depend on the implementation and enforcement. Will this encourage self-censorship by artists? Where do you draw the line? Will you be okay with what the official moral guardians decide? Who will they be?

Actually, that's the point that most struck me. 保護者, which I translated as "guardians" means "parents or those who act in their place." Will this actually be a representative parent's group? I certainly hope so...my (admittedly American) experience is that parents are, on the whole, a lot better about drawing reasonable limits than your average "save the children" nuts.
 
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