The Nonexistent Youth Bill: The Deathknell to All Lolicon

...it's a loss of profit no matter how you look at it.

This bill had one purpose and one purpose only. For the Moral Guardians in Japan to pat themselves on the back for "protecting the morals of children".

One thing that bugs me about the bill so far is the restriction of Oku Sama Wa Shogakusei. Not a ban, but restriction still hurts. And unnecessary too.

It's essentially forcing an artist to modify their own works in order to appease people who aren't going to be looking at the stuff in the first place.

edited 18th May '11 5:19:45 PM by Signed

I hate to necropost but The ban is now in effect. NSFW!

edited 1st Jul '11 5:37:47 PM by Psyga315

Uhh...is this news posted on anywhere else that's not Sankaku Complex?

I didn't find anything at Anime News Network yet and the Sankaku article doesn't link anywhere but its own site. I am calling bullshit for now.

edited 1st Jul '11 5:59:27 PM by Heatth

Considering that anime and manga are still being released completely unedited, I have my doubts that it's passed for a second time or, if it has, that it's having any effect whatsoever.

It's only been a day since this was supposedly put into action, so we can't actually tell if it's had an effect yet, I'd think.

Considering all the studios and publishers who were adamant in their protest or outright just ignoring this, I think it won't have much of an effect at all. That, and the lists of summer and fall anime seem to contribute to this line of thought.

Also, I have my doubts that it's in effect if it's been a full day and only Sankaku Complex is saying anything about it.

edited 1st Jul '11 6:37:35 PM by AnnoR

I'm of the view - and have been since I first heard of this whole thing - that we can't really know what effect it may have until said effects actually happen. Right now, I think it's still a bit early to tell.

There are many animes premiering now. You would think that, if this was really serious, the studios would take the ban in account when making them.

Also, yeah, only Sankaku said anything about it after a day. And they don't even gave a link to some Japanese site to give them credibility (they do that sometimes). I assume this is bull until someone else talk of it as well.

edited 1st Jul '11 6:41:00 PM by Heatth

Exactly. Really, the studios obviously don't care if they've been releasing anime as usual. And judging by what I know of the manga lineup, neither do the publishers.

One more thing, this kind of law is not put in effect all of sudden. There would be announcement beforehand (to, for example, allow the studios and publishers to change/cancel their works). And I frankly don't remember such announcement being covered in respectable anime news sites (which obviously would cover it).

At most I would say Sankaku get it wrong and today is the day they decided when/if the ban will put in effect. This would explain a bit better the lack of changes. But it is still doubtful only Sankaku would cover this.

PS:If Wikipedia is to be believed, it seems that Sankaku did not pulled this from the arse.

Even still, no one seems to be giving a damn. It is not 'too early' either, since, if the law enter in effect today, the publishers/studios should have been taking it in consideration for half a year already.

edited 1st Jul '11 7:44:33 PM by Heatth

Technically the problem with the bill has less to do with banning the stuff currently being released, and more to do with publishers be scared off by it. The bill is vague, and not everyone will really understand what it does completely.

The damage this bill will do is scare publishers into erring to the side of caution....

Granted this damage can be easily ignored if publishers just ignore it and work as usual, and we just end with a bunch of old fartspoliticians feeling good about themselves. Oh, and requiring a label and have stuff moved to adults only sections if they're deemed too risque.

It seems like publishers and studios are completely and utterly ignoring the bill, then.

Well, some have already acted pre-emptively quite a while ago. Or asked if mangakas could tone down their works long before the bill came into effect.

Whether it had anything to do with the bill is up to you to decide.

I really wish there were other news sites other than Sankaku Complex for these kinds of information though.

Well, Lotte No Omocha is still running isn't it? If a show about a 10 years old contracting a young man (who was father at 13) to be her sex toy is flying unscared, then there is nothing to fear, I think.

I remember those. But it was, like, two or three cases? They are more like exceptions, not rule. I mean, how many manga are published at Japan right now? And how many of them would have reason to be afraid of the law? More then a single digit, I suspect.

edited 1st Jul '11 7:37:42 PM by Heatth

I was talking to a Japanese fellow jus yesterday. He brought this up but he said it was a regional thing. Basically he lives in...Kyushu I think and it was the Tokyo legislature that passed this.

Which means it only effects them and not everyone else. At least not yet.

Or so that's what I heard.

edited 1st Jul '11 7:39:51 PM by Nikkolas

^^ Yeah but I happened to like one of them... And even if it only affects single digits worth of mangas, it's an effect that shouldn't have existed in the first place.

The damage is minimal to the overall industry. Just sucks for the fans of the series that got screwed over by it.

That said. Astarotte No Omocha should have NO problem with the bill. Even in the anime where they become lovers, there wasn't anything too explicit shown.

^ Yeah it's a Tokyo only thing. But then again, it's Tokyo. A lot of places are based in Tokyo, and a good deal of customers too.

edit: oh wait what...theres actually a trope called It's All About Me?!

edited 1st Jul '11 7:44:32 PM by Signed

Lotte No Omocha has everyone saying how much a 10 years old should totally be sexually active with a 20s old dude. It fit “improperly glorifies or promotes illegal sexual activity”, I believe, explicitly or not.

But, yeah, it sucks it effected a handful of mangas, I am just saying this law won't, or at last, is not having right now, a significant impact in the industry. I agree this bull should have never existed, as even the minimal damage is damage, but is nothing to be too much worried about.

And of course there is a trope for It's All About Me. There is a trope for everything.

Thanks for the information. Nice to see one concrete recent and trustable info. (because even random people in forums are more trustable then Sankaku).

PS:Meanwhile, it seems the law only effect published works, not digital ones. So the already controversial Japanese Eroge industry can breath with easily if they adapt to digital distribution. I find this amusing.

PPS:Which one is the one you liked Signed?

edited 1st Jul '11 7:52:39 PM by Heatth

Yeah but Astarotte No Omocha is just too cute and cuddly to ban.

Granted the manga has not gone as far as the anime yet from what I've seen. But it looks like it's slowly building up to that conclusion.

Oh yeah, that series was Aki Sora...technically it already finished, but they were still in publication.

It's hard to tell if it's some other factors or actually related to the ban though. The timing sure doesn't help.

Also bugged me how they used "My Wife Is An Elementary School Student" as an example of depraved lolicon series when there isn't any sex in it. But the way they added censor tapes on it only made it look more explicit than it really is.

edited 1st Jul '11 8:12:25 PM by Signed

Wait, there were people on here that didn't realize this ban was strictly a Tokyo ordinance? (Well, ok, yeah, I realize it isn't always easy for everyone to get access to accurate information on things like this. Was just kinda taking it forgranted that everyone understood at least that part, if for no other reason than I coulda SWORN it's been said on here repeatedly before XD.)

Yeah, Ishihara never had the authority to just ban anime from all of Japan. The concern was that because the ordinance is for one of the biggest [and, to my understanding, more nerd heavy, due to the fact that it contains the district of Akihabara which tends to attract that particular subculture (unless I'm fuctioning under a misunderstanding of said district, which is plausible)] he'd be able to hurt the "animeme" enough that it would eventually die out. Considering that a major concern with the law was ambiguous wording, this probably would have been the main concern even if it was a national law.

As I've said, if it kills the "animeme", it's going to be an insidious death taking place over the course of several years, not an immediately obvious overnight thing. As I've also said, I think we've already seen some good signs that it won't do that, and as such am hopeful (although I'm still hoping it'll also be repealed fairly soon, if for no other reason than that it offends me on principal :-p). BUT... only time will tell for sure.

Unless, of course, the sources currently cited are wrong and it was repealed rather than passed (or whatever the technical terms would be). Still waiting for something I, personally, would consider trustworthy popping up XD.

[EDIT]

Erm, hope that last part doesn't come off as patronizing. Certainly not how I meant it, but I realize it could probably be misread that way XD.

edited 2nd Jul '11 3:05:53 AM by LordDivides

..."animeme"? Never heard of that term.

edited 2nd Jul '11 3:09:00 AM by Signed

I had a long winded explanation here, but it occurred to me that a much better way to put it would be: "The Animeme" is a self created short-hand for the current trend in certain Western sub-cultures (and certain non-Japanese Eastern subcultures as well) to treat Japanese anime as something special beyond cartoons from any other culture.

My point being that I think this bill attacks certain trends that I think have seriously helped contribute to the existence of Western Otaku Subculture (of course, I'm quite sure it attacks Japanese Otaku Subculture as well, so using the term in this particular context might have been a questionable decision XD).

edited 2nd Jul '11 4:52:28 AM by LordDivides

I am not familiar to Japan politics, and the one ones interested in cover it seems to e Sankaku Complex, who always blow things out of proportion.

edited 2nd Jul '11 11:59:28 AM by Heatth

Yeah. This, essentially, is my problem XD.

Technically, all cartoons...okay, no, most cartoons from every other culture is special from cartoons from every other culture....assuming they developed their own distinctive style over the years and not just copy what's popular from other countries.

I've seen people who treat anime as something beyond cartoons from other cultures, but that's because they're fans of one and not the other. Just like how a baskteball fan will see their own sport as something special compared to other sports.

As for me..............I like to separate anime and western cartoon. Yeah, they're both "animation", but they're completely different animation, where I enjoy one and not the other in general. It's much easier to search for things I like if everything is separated and categorized. Especially since even among "anime" and "western animation", there are tons of categories to separate them into as well. Same with video games. You have no idea how much it pisses me off when I request an RPG, and I get people suggesting hack'n'slash and Sci-Fi Shooters instead. We need to establish boundaries between the genres.

edited 2nd Jul '11 12:43:25 PM by Signed