Uh oh. Is this a bad omen? Quote from
Sankakucomplex (NSFW),
"The revised law now demands a restriction on sales of anime, manga or games which “improperly glorify or emphasise” illegal sexual acts, such as rape, groping, BDSM, voyeurism, exhibitionism, etc., by extension including underage sexual activity as well."
So that basically means animes with suggestive themes that air normally or similar mangas that sell without an adult only restriction now either has to stop completely, go over series revisions, or be attached with an adult only sticker and be sold accordingly.
According to sources, this will have a huge impact on the Japanese anime and manga industry (As one would expect). Good thing is the law doesn't kick in until July of 2011.
To read the full news on sankakucomplex, follow links
here,
here, and
here.
To think, this all started with amazon.com posting Rapelay. Forgot how many years ago that was though. Anyway...
Thats the end of the news.
Read below if you want to hear my monologue about my opinion.
I may be an otaku to some degree, but I'm still human. Although I am against the idea of "banning" all together as I already know it solves nothing. The idea behind it is justified. One big problem is the low birthrates in Japan. This maybe because alot of japanese people like to stay indoors (hikikomori). Why do you think they stay inside? Because they find better things indoors than outdoors. As a person of similar nature myself (meaning I stay inside alot), there are always regrets that come with it. I first noticed it when I was working.
As you know, working isn't just about working. You make connections with your immediate supervisors and coworkers. That way, promotions and other benefits are easier to obtain. However, when I've locked myself indoors most of my life, how do I start a conversation with those people? "Hey the weather is nice today?" Not going to work. Trust me, here in Canada, you won't get very far by talking about anime and games either. Especially in the adult stages, its mostly about sports, music, and movies, and anything between them (including actors, etc). No, japanese pop doesn't work either. ESPECIALLY if you don't even understand japanese yourself.
So the baseline for this ban is. GO OUTSIDE. Totally agreeable. How the ban works is limiting the joy you get indoors so the incentive to go out is greater. Great! Except that shouldn't be how it works. You should work on increasing the incentive to go outside. Not decreasing the amount of indoors. But I don't write laws. Lets end it at that.
About the anime industry. Although in my anime history of shows watched. They aren't great with high score animes from good producers like Ghibli Studio. My kind of shows has always been comedy/romance. I do watch others from time to time but I get bored of them fast. But even in the specific genre I've been watching. Anime seem to be going downhill. There is an increasing number of sexual suggestions. If you look and compare Kanon to Clannad and now to Ore Imouto. Kanon had nearly none. Clannad had very few. And Ore Imouto has lots of them. Sure, none of them had actually any sexual content. But thats what they are banning. Anime do not have to have those to be funny or enjoyable. Yet, of the late, thats all the creators were able to think of. And yes, I know the sources for those 3 animes are different. But they still have a plot in common. And no matter which source its from (eroge, visual novel, manga), a plot is still a plot. Animes have become filled with "fan service". I especially hate when animes I watch now have been just exposed pantsu every few minutes or tripping over and falling on girls at every intersection. There is a limit to how many we can see in a lifetime. I am well past it. Not impressed.
Its time animes turned back into the glory they used to be.
Lastly, this is something to say why I am against the ban. It all started when the Western people (Americans) saw Rapelay on amazon.com. Thats when the whole eroge conflict came about. It later developed into child pornography. Now its become a broad anime and manga ban. It all happened because people feared children were being compromised. But I personally do not think that is the case. It is true that when you see something you want to do it. Most people have probably already felt this one in their lives. However, what matters is not what they see. It is the mindset and the knowledge their parents and guardians taught them. I loved my upbringing. I can't remember it. But I am sure I loved it. And whats better? I can identify what is right and what is wrong. Isn't that what parenting is all about? You don't just stop your child from seeing those things. You tell them after they see those things. That they are bad. You should not do it. Over long periods of time. You will automatically know its bad (kind of like propaganda, hahaha...). If you just don't let them be exposed to it, when they finally do at a greater age, they will go to their best source of information (their friends). And thats when things go hare-wire. You know peer pressure? Im sure you've been there. Killing, robbery, that kind of stuff happen BECAUSE of peer pressure.
So what I'm saying is, if this ban was for the sake of the children? I say, f*ck it. You're digging your graves.
Oops, forgot one last thing. Its about the creativity in animes. Or maybe the content. This is what I find interesting in animes. The ability to watch things that I cannot perform myself. I watch animes because I cannot write one myself which can look anywhere as good as what they air in Japan. I play games because I cannot write a better game than the ones available. I view art because I cannot draw one as competent. I listen to music because I cannot compose. And the list goes on. Think deep down, isn't that also a reason because you do something?
Sure, my expectation for anime/games/art/music/etc can never be fulfilled, that is why you continue to do those things until this very day. And when it does become fulfilled, you stop playing games, or whichever. But you do those things because it makes you in awe (and maybe because you enjoy it, but how can you describe the act of enjoying? You can't.).
Isn't that what animes are all about? If you ban certain aspects of animes, some people are going to lose their favourite genres, themes, aspects, and so forth. The anime industry is going to suffer (from people, they say it is already suffering). Because you couldn't do those things in your current life, you want to read or view about it. And thats what mangas and animes are for. (Sorry for the sudden use of this inappropriate example but I feel it is neccessary). Take a look at the number of rape mangas and animes there are. There are ALOT. Why I know this? Don't ask. It is because Japanese people don't want to commit this crime (makes sense, I don't either). But there is the desire to be relieved. So what to do? They draw ero-mangas for it. Or ero-animes for them. Although the relevance isn't completely there before I don't have any data on me. Japan has the lowest number of reported rape incidents in the world. Before you go totally believing what I say, it is also true that Japanese girls are more shy and therefore they may not report all the cases. Which leads to a decreased number of reported incidents. But I strongly stand by what I said.
Because of the time it took me to write this, I've already forgotten what I wrote in its entirety. Therefore there won't be a summary. Lol. Sorry.
Thank you for reading through to the end. If you have any comments or questions. Feel free to ask them below. I am heavily affected by this ban and feel deeply connected to it. I may be still an otaku so I am hurt deeply by this ban. But at the same time, I am human so I want the best for my Japanese friends who I have not met and is currently indoors and wasting their life away. Do take an opportunity to learn about the world. Outdoors is not as secure as your 2D life (expect depressions and despair) but it is the only thing that is real. So although it sucks. You have to bear with it. You were born a human afterall. This ban is going to hurt the creativity in the anime industry and people's appreciation of it. Causing it to go severely downhill from this point. I don't think this ban will serve much good. As banning something is never a solution to begin with. Education is the key. Ultimately, we may just see backdoors. As with pirating. As with illegal drug/firearm imports. Trying to stop something just makes more criminals. Sorry Japan. Do try again.
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