Anime Contents Expo

สะใจมาก! กลุ่มผู้ผลิตที่ประท้วงรัฐบาลโตเกีย วกับงาน Tokyo Anime Fair ตัดสินใจรวมตัวเปิดงาน Anime Contents Expo ที่จังหวัดจิบะแทน --- ในวันเดียวกันกับที่จะมีงาน Tokyo Anime Fair!!!

TAF 2011

Alas it happened, Tokyo Anime Fair 2011 will likely be cancel due to publishers` coalition against the Dictatorship of Tokyo Government.

Tokyo Manga Ban

Regarding Tokyo’s government’s new law on media ban

            In the past, there has been concern regarding Japan’s manga and anime media with regard to what general populous consider to be a form of child pornography.  Recently, a new law was passed to deal with the issue which will take effect from July 2011 onward. However, due to various factors, the law was considered unjustified by the masses, which include the creators and consumers of the media.

There are 2 conditions for this law to be consider justify.

1. If Japan is to become either a communist nation or fall under a dictator regime.
Or, a simpler of the 2
2. To be fair and democratic

            First, let us talk about the origin of this law. In Japan, it wasn’t against the laws to feature FICTIONAL underage characters with sexual contents in media such as comic(manga) and animation(anime). However, it was illegal somewhere else, and as manga and anime industry started to become a global business, concerns started to surface. In USA and Canada, there were cases of individual who got arrested for possession of said materials. As such, there were attempts to create laws to ban them, or at least categorize them as 18+ products. However, these laws did not passed due to infringement on free speech and rights of expression, which ironically Japanese happen to have, because the Japanese constitution was written by American.

            However, in late 2010 the pro-ban faction decided that aiming at the said factor was futile and broadens the scope to [Contents that is considered harmful to the development of youth]. The law was passed on Dec. At first, the logic seems reasonable enough, but various other factors came into play that simply makes this law intolerable to the masses.

            Before discussing the law itself, let discuss the nature of the industry first. In Japan, cross media is a common marketing practice. Manga, Anime, and Video Games are usually tied in together, and for the purpose of this report, it will be shorten to MAG. Nowadays, people who loved and are the devoted consumers of the MAG industry are called [Otaku]. The number of Otaku in Japan alone is a few millions. This, plus the global number make MAG a gargantuan industry. Originally, the term is an honorific word use to call [expert on a certain subject], but has recently been used derogatorily and are synonymous to NEET and individuals with Social Withdrawal syndrome (Hikkikomori).

            There is a common misconception that Otaku cannot distinguish between fiction and reality, and thus came the concern that the problematic materials will instigate them to commit sexual assaults. However the truth is the complete opposite.
Let introduce some otaku`s technical terminology to better understand them.

2D - A virtual, fictional characters. The term was use since before the widespread usage of 3DCG polygon
3D - Real Life person

At the very least, Otaku DO distinguish between real life and fictional people. And the more extreme ones consider 3D girls to be undesirable, thus eliminating the concern that they will try to rape them.
It could be say that this is a problem in itself, but it is different from what the general populace considers to be the issue.   

            One of the arguments that have been discussed for quite some time is, [Do fictional characters have human rights]. If they do and should be protected, then it won’t be possible to portray anything that could cause harm to them such as violence and murder. Considering that most media contain questionable contents in one form of another. If this method of thinking is to be taken in action, then the media industry as a whole cannot survive.

If an otaku love fictional underage character, it doesn’t mean that they also love real life ones. 2D are 2D, 3D are 3D. Otaku do comprehend that they are different judging from their preferences. Thus, fictional underage pornography is different from when real children were used as actors in pornography. But if they have to be ban, then it is equally right to demand the removal of naked cupids in Renaissance paintings.
It is funny to think that people who aren’t Otaku are actually the ones who can’t distinguish reality and fiction themselves.

            With the new Law, major concerns that are deemed unfair are -
            1. While affecting MAG, does not affect other medium with the same kind of contents
            2. Made by Politicians who have prejudice and no understanding of the media
            3. Made without consultation from creators
            4. Will not compromise, nor listen to consensus and partitions
            5. Too unspecific
            6. Does not solve problems which should be prioritized
            7. Ignore the facts that underage aren’t the only consumers

            The leader amongst the pro-ban faction is Tokyo’s Governor, Ishihara Shintaro. He is well known as a MAG industry and Homosexual hater. With recent speech condemn Otaku and Homosexuals as having corrupted DNA. However, he is also a well known novel writer whose works ethnic are questionable. Many of his works, such as “Season of the Sun”(1955) “The Perfect Game”(1956) “Execution Room” (1956), etc got made into movies, contains stories regarding rapes, and instigated many imitated sexual assault crimes. But when questioned with the fact, he stated that Literature doesn’t instigate crime in youth despite records against it. It’s even more questionable that while he opposes rape and child pornography in MAG, he praised Vladimir Nabokov’s child molester, sex slave novel [Lolita] to be a masterpiece.
            Also, despite being a democratic nation, many of the pro-ban politicians were supported and elected after making public promise that they will not take part in the said law, which they did. And made it clear that they will not listen to complains, won’t compromise and won’t receive partitions.

Let’s discuss the materials that are considered problematic in each category.

Manga -
            1. Manga that cannot be purchase by underage - contain explicit sexual material
            2. Manga with marketing aim at adult - contain minor sexual materials
            3. Manga that aim at broader audience - contain minor nudity, but not enough to be consider 18+
            4. Self-published manga(Doujin) - they usually contain fan base sexual material

            Category 1 can be purchase at specialized store and convenience stores` magazine corner. In the latter case, although they cannot be purchased, they still could be access to minors. The new law could enforce their removal. However, they are putted into the same section as other Adult magazines, which are not affected by the same law.

            Category 2 and 3 can be purchase at just about any store that sells manga. However, this is considered problematic only under the pretext that [Only children read manga]. The problem lies in that, under the pretext that "literatures" are also read by adult, even with the same kind of content, "literatures" such as novel won`t be affect by the law. While manga isn’t being treated as literature and was conceived first and foremost to be children’s media. When in fact, that is not so. Japan’s conventional manga dated back a few centuries, and the modern ones started around 1950. Thus, Consumer’s age range is actually fairly broad. A well known example of elderly reader would be Former Prime Minister, Asou Taro, who is known to love manga and earned the nickname [Rozen Asou] after he was found reading [Rozen Maiden] at the airport.

            With category 4, they can only be purchase at specialist stores and conventions. Since it’s not a full-fledged business, there was no law to guide it, and transactions were done at ones` own discretion. However, Doujin business is not to be taken lightly. It’s a starting point for many who would later become professional, and many well known creators did so. Its restriction and removal could severely cause decline in new generations of creators.

            One of the largest concerns is the [Boys Love] (BL) genre which is popular amongst female reader. BL is a genre regarding romances between males, in another word, it’s about Male Homosexual. But, if the said content is consider to be problems and should be ban, then the same could be said to the Academy Award Winning Brokeback Mountain. A recently famous case involve a BL author who goes by the pen name of [Eiki Eiki], who also happen to be a granddaughter of a former Prime Minister, as well as a sister of a pop star. She send letter of concern toward a pro-ban politician, but got reprimand that she should be shameful of herself. This creates rages amongst her fans and consumers of the genre.

Anime -
            1. Anime that cannot be purchase by underage - contain explicit sexual material
            2. Late night Anime - contain minor nudity

            Category 1 receives the same treatment as any other Adult Video (AV). From the start, they were putted in specialized section and cannot be purchase by minor. If they were to be completely ban, then it would only be fair that AV got ban as well.

            With category 2, it got separated into free station Broadcast (FSB), premium station broadcast (PSB), and DVD/Blu-Ray edition. If the anime contain nudity, FSB edition got appropriate censorship. And since the content wasn’t about sexual activity by nature it shouldn’t be consider a problem. PSB editions do remove the censorship, but it should be consider that Adult Channels can be subscribe through the same means, thus making it unfair if AV is allow to be broadcast but anime aren’t. With DVD/Blu-Ray editions, the censors are removed, but it should also be noted that the price for average DVD is around 6000yen. It is consider expensive and thus, making them unaffordable by most underage.
            These animes are usually aired around 1 - 4 AM, which is the same time period as adult program that contain full nudity. And while the anime will be affect by the new law, the adult programs don’t.

Game –
            1. Game that cannot be purchase by underage - contain explicit sexual material
            2. Game that can be purchase by underage and may contain sexual sub-messages, but no outright nudity

            Game category1 is the same as Anime category1. With category2, it is hard to clarify on what is harmful and what’s not. However, in Western countries, supposedly “not adult only” games that contain sex and nudity were already available in the market. These include big title like [Gods of War], [Heavy Rain], [Mass Effect] etc.

            Originally, these would be all that would be affected under normal circumstances. But since the scope got expanded to [Contents that is consider harmful to the development of youth]. It’s a definition that is way too broad and unspecific which could cover just about anything from minor nudity to violence, which majority of products in the market consisted of. Considering pro-ban politicians` stances, chances that they will do this is far from improbable.

One of the common speech that Japanese politician usually give is 

[In --insert name of a western country-- they --insert some political stance--, 

thus, it is only proper that we also do the same]. 

And this law is no exception. However, they didn’t comment on the facts that, while Japan didn’t have this law, the crime rate involving sexual assault is lower than countries that do. In fact, it could be say that Japan is the lowest amongst developed countries. As such, by introducing it, there is a risk that otaku who had process sexual urge with fictional 2D girls till now, will divert their target to real life 3D girls instead.

With priorities, Japan has problems that are considered more severe and require attention. But with Japan’s politician’s decision to focus their attention on MAG, it's little wonder that MAG industry feel mistreated. For example, bullying in school is so common that people just somehow accept it. But schools were never eager to report on them for the sake of keeping reputation. As thus, suicide rate in school abnormally high. In recent case, there was a girl who decided to hang herself after getting bullied for having a Filipino mother. The only reply that the school offered her parent are, "we didn`t think it was severe enough to be a bully". The aftermath, nothing was done and the news ended there. There were also cases when teachers molested or have sexual relationship with students. But instead of receiving severe punishment when found, these teachers were usually on suspension for a few months then return to the job like nothing happened.

At the very least, MAG industry doesn’t help spread HIV like AV industry does. And unlike the unintentional combined effort of AV and Fashion industry as well as Failure of family institute, it doesn’t contribute to the [Enko] business, in which underage girl sell themselves to prostitution for the sake of buying brand name products. If these politicians really believe that they are doing this for the sake of the people, how come they don`t concentrate on these problems which are more severe to both health, mentality and moral of the society?

But, do the majority of otaku think that this law shouldn`t happen? Surprisingly, the response is split. As the main purpose is for the good of the society, many actually don`t mind. But when the law was made with prejudice and did not treat all equally, the masses just couldn`t help feeling betrayed by their government.

Regarding effects that could happen with this law. In recent year, Japan’s economy has fallen in decline. In 2010, employment rate has fallen to new low in recent decades. It was the MAG industry that supports Japan economy in both domestically and globally. Furthermore, Japan has Russia, China, and Korea as political enemies, but it was MAG industry that eases tension by gaining support from local citizen. Thus, it could be say that if Japan’s MAG industry were to decline, it will devastate Japan’s economy as well as global standing.

Thus far, many high profiles publishers have decided to strike back at Tokyo government by boycotting [Tokyo Anime Fair 2011], which is held by Tokyo Government. But instead of compromising, pro-ban politicians simply sneer and mock the publishers, with Ishihara himself stated "They will return next year". It should be noted that these publishers aren`t small name who only do MAG business. Shueisha, Kodansha, Kadokawa, Shogakukan, these are well known corporate which extend their business to all form of publication, such as literatures, films, etc. Also, because MAG is a global business, this law will also affect publishers across the world who imports Japan’s MAG products. And considering that the number of otaku in Japan alone is a few million and many more across the globe, who can predict the loss that will ensue.

So long, One-Piece, Naruto, Bleach, they will not appear in Tokyo Anime Fair 2011.

to watcher from ฟิลิปปินส์

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