Agreed.

The law being dangerous to shounen/shoujo manga (including seinen/josei manga btw) is EXACTLY THE ENTIRE POINT. The Sankaku article linked said NOTHING to the contrary. Yes there are some who think that this ban affects adult material but it doesn't. The issue is that potentially a helluva a lot more manga (and anime) can end up being labeled 18+. I believe most of the discussions here and on Sankaku are about just that.

Anyways, labeling a series 18+ that isn't really adult is a death knell to the series since its commercial viability is essentially gone. This law really is incredibly vague and just about anything can happen.

After reading all this, it seems to me that the gist of the new law is that in Tokyo the anime, manga, etc. that are addressed to minors will be evaluated by a committee and that there will be more strict criteria in order for them to be classified 'suitable for under 18'. This does not mean that those series that portray sex, homosexuality, violence etc. will be banned, just that their publishers will be obliged to rate them R18. Of course that might have a negative impact on the publishers' target groups under 18, but come on, it's not like it's impossible for minors to buy R18 manga or DVDs. Here in Greece buying porn magazines and DVDs is prohibited for minors too, but there's not one of my friends who didn't get his hands on them before 18. What I mean is, all the publisher has to do is rate the series in the gray area as 'adult', and there ends his responsibility. Besides, the bill is kind of vague and I believe it's still rather subjective which series are 'sexually stimulating' or whatever, and anyway it really is up to the classification committee to decide that. I do hope they will be less conservative. And finally, laws can change, or never be actually enforced even after they are passed, if the political costs are considered too high (that happens a lot in Greece too). If enough pressure is put by the industry, there is a high chance of this law never being actually enforced, especially since the governor who pressed for it is leaving soon (hopefully he won't get reelected). If it does get enforced though, its effect will probably be that the publishers will have to rate more series as R18 than before, and promote more 'innocent' series for publication, especially those publishers whose target groups are mainly minors. But really, defining what is 'healthy for the young' is not as clear-cut as it might seem at first. For example, in a country like Japan with its long tradition in martial arts, what constitutes depiction of 'excessive violence'? And isn't there in so many stories a villain character who commits sexually-related crimes? The bill says that it's prohibited to depict those acts in a 'glorifying' way, not that they can't be mentioned at all. And will a manga or anime be judged as a whole, or by separate scenes? There are many questions like that, and it seems to me that this classification committee will have their work cut out for them, that is if they take their job seriously and not just condemn manga or anime indiscriminately.

I hope the good stuff will still continue outside the Tokyo area, I will die without Deadman Wonderland.

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Even after dead, we raise from the ashes for the sake of manga.

Maybe it's like some of you are saying, that this is all an exaggerated alarmism but some editors, to be on the safe side, are starting to request to their mangaka to not use certain theme, like it's happened to the yaoi mangaka Takaku Shouko that was requested to not use school boys or the fact that aready published manga will not be reprinted because they contain explicit sexual scene O.O

..the next step is to ban innovative and creative movies and stapling metal shields to your mouth due to potential obscene language and fantastic ideas. After that, binding arms and cuffing fingers will ensure that no profanity or monsters are created. And last but not least, cementing feet to the floor---we wouldn't want anyone else enabling a potential molester or murderer with their ideas and free speech.

thats exactly what they are telling.

well, lets hope they'll be able to at least put a 18+ sticker on it. but still, it would affect sales >.> and guess whats happening to a manga that doesnt sells well...

So in effect, what we'll lose is: Violence, Sex, Crime, Homosexuality, Ecchi manga, any student/teacher, incest, age gap, and most shoujo series? I can live with that. In fact I want to live with that. Where do I sign up to support this law?

I think that this is just a way to try and see the public resonance on this provocation. Like, if they want to try and add the censorship, they will do it gradually. What would happen after a hundred of similar laws? Or ~3-5 and then BAM! the huge one will cripple the industry?

So you want about 95% of manga and anime to disappear?

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95%? You must be joking. 95% of the stuff YOU read, maybe.

Not to mention the law supposedly only applies to Tokyo, not the rest of Japan. It won't mean squat.

Name of few of the manga and anime you read and bet you I can find at least one thing in it that could make it fall under this law... Try it...

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Name of few of the manga and anime you read and bet you I can find at least one thing in it that could make it fall under this law... Try it...

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This is my Sig ..............................................................

I don't agree with you; even the most basic shounen manga like dragon ball has violence. Only a handful of shounen manga would survive this; thing is, If this bill is only in Tokyo it's meaningless, publishers will find a way around it if they are forced to like owning servers in a suburb of Tokyo and then hosting all their manga with a subscription fee and online viewer.