And high-school age can still be underage - child porn is 18 and under, isn't it? That's a perfectly decent law, and one that should be implemented worldwide for the protection of children.

If it's a matter of ambiguity but the characters are clearly adults, or stated to be so, within the plot... that's not illegal. The thing is that what seems normal to most manga readers (sixteen-year-olds having sex in smut, for instance) is not actually normal outside of those fandoms. So what if real sixteen-year-olds are having sex? That's not something you'd see for entertainment (I assume), or at least not with real teenagers.

No one would get arrested for reading stories that feature gay but consenting adults or stories with one questionable scene that is clearly meant to drive the plot. As mentioned above, there must be other reasons.

For the record - you mentioned D.Gray-Man? One of the main characters, at least, is below even the standard age of consent (let alone 18). I have no desire to know anything further on your particular doujinshi, but using that as an example, yes, that's illegal. And it doesn't matter if the 'genre' is done well - underage is underage. It couldn't happen in the real world, after all.

They should get the manga-ka to back up the characters' actual ages. Would they have any basis for prosecution in that case if it was proven that they were adults. In that case it'd be no different from owning porn.

The idiots spending millions doing this meaningless shit are on the same level as the child molesters themselves. I even have some inkling that it's a ploy to detract people away from the real issues. You really think these agencies have unlimited income at their disposal?

For example, let's say you got 7 locked rooms, and you have 3 keys, and in 2 of those rooms is a molester locked in with a small child. One of the locked doors sits Christopher Handley buying his manga and you already know which door it is but instead of using all 3 of your keys to unlock the other doors you instead open Handley's door and hope you're lucky with the other 2 keys you have left.

These guys aren't out to protect children, they're only trying to make a show of trying to, and it is utterly disgusting the amounts of money they waste in the process. Rant off.

I don't really see why the government would try to block drawn kiddy porn. I think completely stopping actual child porn would help many times more. Since the drawn version probably suppresses certain people's urges. I mean if your super into that stuff and you suddenly can't get any relief... Certain people might do something they'd regret later. Let people live in fantasy worlds on their own, just don't let that stuff cross over into real life.

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I really should get an avatar

whatever the f*** is this is too much! geez, they're now desperate just like my country. or should I say busybody? i mean, what's the problem w/ just to buy/order manga? unless we did 'that' stuff in real life.

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Yeah, well the point of the law is to prevent pedo's from escalating.

If they look like kids pedo's are gonna jack off to them, it doesn't matter what age they are in context. I mean sure I might be legal at 21, but I look around 12, meaning that any guy who hit's on me is a pedo. They don't know I'm legal so doesn't that mean they think they're hitting on someone underage?

They're going to stop producing porn movies too, right? Don't think so.

Poor guy can't even read in the comfort of his own home, what happened to personal freedom? Why is he the only one arrested? I'm sure there are few hundred (thousands?) more people who probably ordered and bought the same thing. Or was he arrested for being a guy who reads yaoi, but aren't there other guys who read them too.

Guess we should all pack our routers and leave the interweb, who knows what else they might track us down for.

I find it funny that no one has mentioned gravitation seeing as it is a yaoi
its been a while since i've seen the anime and read the manga, but i'm sure that shuichi does NOT look over 18 in gravitation.
and that's distributed legally by tokyopop. imagine the amount of 14 year old high school girls that could get arrested because they own gravitation.

also, i've read all the gravitation megamixes and remixes. i know what is in those. it's not light material


amazing what this country has gone to do to take away our rights

from what i remember about the law, it states that it applies to drawn art if it's indistinguishable from a photograph which we all know would not be the case in 99.99999% of manga. but we can't predict what a jury or judge might think/do. however if they do manage to convict, this case will undoubtedly be appealed to higher courts. and somewhere along the line they will find that his case does not meet the stature and possibly rule the law to be unconstitutional altogether.

This brings it back to the “community standards” mentioned in one of the articles. People in the anime/manga community can have different standards as to what is acceptable in manga and what isn't in real life. I have no problem with the 18 and under law in regards to actual flesh and blood people. Minors in those situations (with the exception of those that think it's cool for whatever reason) are involuntary involved. Where I draw the line is where the characters are purely fictional ink-and-paper creations. That's the point where the government encroaches too much. The laws are meant to protect people from getting hurt not fictional ink and paper creations that, in some cases, look human (has anyone seen a human that looks like a manga character?).

I know I come from an ignorant country, but I would hope my compatriots would have enough brains to realized the difference between a 16 year-old girl and a big eyed, Japanese version of the disproportionate Barbe. Unless you're 5 years old, have some sort of mental impairment or disease, people are capable of recognizing the difference between fantasy and real life. How? It's just as you said, "it couldn't happen in the real world, after all." I'm simply of the opinion that laws shouldn't encroach on fantasy because laws are meant for the real world.

Either way, the whole argument is based on opinion. You'll have the bible thumpers and self-righteous thorns-in-everybody's-side argue that all manga should be burned because of panty shots, short skirts, low cut tops and gay/lesbian relations while others argue artistic freedom/free speech and still others will say "who gives a damn?"

As for getting arrested for reading gay stories... I live in the south. If you don't live in the U.S. or have studied U.S. history from the south, I guess you wouldn't know the situation. Things here can be so backwards, that about two years ago people were trying to re-enforce a law that was still on the books from the Pilgrim days that said unmarried people couldn't live together. Basically, it was against the law to have a live in boyfriend/girlfriend. If that's not bad enough, I played cover for a gay friend the whole four years of high school. Why? Because the guy who was bi was found out and was getting attacked not only by guys, but girls too (teachers weren't fond of him either). So yes, I wouldn't put it pass the courts here to put someone in jail for reading something about gay relationships. Believe me, things are getting so out of hand here, people don't even want to call the police for help anymore.

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Cogito Ergo Sum (I think, therefore I am)

Oh, I hope so. Let's hope the jury has actual members of his peers and there's a few anime/manga fans or at the very least, people who understand. The longer this is dragged out in court, the more determine the fanatical minority will be to try to make it illegal.

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Cogito Ergo Sum (I think, therefore I am)

That part's been dropped. The judge tossed it because the law in question was unconstitutional. The case is now centered on an obscenity charge based on a few panels in a few manga.

Don't know what those panels are but this isn't just about pedophilia anymore. It's about censorship in general. If you care to speak out on that front then I'm sure a lot of people here would like to read it.

It was Yaoi and loli/shota manga. The postal inspector was suspicious of the package, opened it up and issued a warrant for police to search the guy's place. They then cleaned out his massive collection of manga and anime and took his PC.

His defense is that he collected the works based on the fact that he liked the art style. Most of his collection contained mainstream series. Only a few of the manga, perhaps ten, are being cited as containing illicit content in a few panels. If that's true, I'm leaning towards believing him.

Up until recently, people could be arrested for engaging in anal sex (A.K.A.- Sodomy) in parts of the U.S. as a measure to discourage homosexuality. You really can't say for certain that an element of homophobia wasn't/isn't in play for this case.

As for teens having sex, yes, it is definitely illegal in the U.S. for people under 18 to engage in pornography. It is not illegal for depictions to be made of completely fictional characters to engage in sexual activity so long as it is not deemed obscene.

The problem is, obscene in the U.S. is far different in comparison to every other part of the world including Japan. Hell, obscene in Iowa is far different from New York, Las Vegas or Florida.

First of all, shotacon is not technically illegal.

Kiddy porn, actual porn made with actual kids is illegal. Drawn porn that feature kids on the other hand is not technically porn. Because porn by definition is with real (actually human being) participants.

This has to do with the PROTECT Act and the Miller Test and the new addition of the Adam Walsh Act. The PROTECT Act and parts of the Adam Walsh Act are being contested on grounds of unconstitutionality.

What he's being charged on is obscenity which is done by the Miller Test on what is consider art and what is considered obscene. This is basically censorship.It is damn hard to prove the Miller Test because all three aspects of the Miller Test have to be fulfilled for it to be considered obscene and very rarely all three can be proven. The problem is WHERE this case is taking place. Jury of your peers and all that.

If you are from a religious and conservative place, consider yourself sentenced. If you are from a more liberal and artsy area, you can consider yourself safe.

This all goes down to what is and is not art.

And strictly speaking, not even the Supreme Court can define that and they said so. And this is in the midst of a Bush administration as well.

I think the guy will get off if he was given a fair trial...but with the words "kiddy porn" being tossed about...I'm not so sure anymore.