1st Manga to Be Restricted by Revised Tokyo Law

[BloodyAngel]

http://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp238/gilms1/QQ.png

On April 14, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government presented the first specific list of titles that are being considered for restrictions under Tokyo's recently revised Youth Healthy Development Ordinance. The government presented the six titles during a meeting with the industry's Publishing Ethics Convention and Publishing Ethics Discussion Group. The revisions to the ordinance go into effect on July 1.

The revision will expand the number of manga and anime that fall under "harmful publications," the legal category of works that must not be sold or rented to people under the age of 18. Erotic material was already restricted before the amendment, but the amended law will also restrict the sales and renting of materials that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government considers "to be excessively disrupting of social order."


Oku-sama wa Shōgakusei (My Wife Is an Elementary Student)
By Seiji Matsuyama
Publisher: Akita Shoten
The story is set in the near future when the marriageable age was lowered in response to the declining birth rate. A 24-year-old man marries a 12-year-old girl in this gag comedy.
Reason for designation: Child rape
[Tokyo Vice Governor Naoki Inose had shown this manga on television as an example of which manga should be restricted.]

http://imageshack.us/m/826/8559/britney04.jpg

Aki Sora
By Masahiro Itosugi
Publisher: Akita Shoten
The "line-crossng" manga deals with the taboo relationship between a high school boy named Sora Aoi and his smart, athletic, "perfect" older sister Aki.
Reason for designation: Incest
[On April 21— one week after the government's meeting with the industry organizations — Itosugi had revealed that there will be no more printings of volumes 1 and 3 of this manga .]

http://s.mfcdn.net/store/manga/5340/cover.jpg

Lovers & Sharing (Kareshi Sharing)
By Yashi Natsuba
Publisher: Shobunkan
The story revolves around a girl whose boyfriend cheated on her with her twin sister. The girl gets enraged, but the twin sister then suggests "sharing" the boyfriend.
Reasons for designation: Rape, incest, group rape

http://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp238/gilms1/7ee4806deb5356952fb3c57637e9ca30.jpg

Koibito 8-gō (Lover No. 8)
By Makoto Ojiro
Publisher: Shonen Gahousha
A woman is attacked by a masked man, and a female magazine reporter, just one year into her job, goes all out to uncover the man's identity in this "erotic and suspenseful story."
Reason for designation: Rape

http://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp238/gilms1/3ec46d608ed1c36dde5208929bd5c7dd.jpg


Hanamizawa Qtarō Jisenshū Hana-Hiyori
By Qtarō Hanamizawa
Publisher: Mediax
A collection of short stories personally selected by the author, seinen magazine manga creator Qtarō Hanamizawa. The stories are mostly light romantic comedies with some erotic scenes.
Reasons for designation: Sexual intercourse in school

http://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp238/gilms1/42d12f7e9f6b13d964bf1c5ad2c2d932.jpg


Midori no Kisetsu (Blue-Green Season)
By Maakō
Publisher: Moerl Publishing
A collection of short stories by a veteran bishōjo manga creator whose work has appeared in manga magazines for "old men" such as Weekly Manga Times. Three of the eight stories have themes of incest.
Reasons for designation: Incest, sexual intercourse in school

http://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp238/gilms1/d3f586f88e8758c42048ea6973a3f8dc.jpg

[Ironguard05]

First to reply... In my opinion especially the first two is so very vulgar. I feel so sorry for the author's part but it is a wake-up call to make decent yet hard hitting manga that focuses values and moral lessons. Good day!

[zess12]

who sets those moral values you?

[pikel]

Meh, all of those would be restricted to 18+ here in the US too. Can't find a fault for them being restricted to 18+, but stopping reprints, or ending the manga altogether due to the restriction is a little silly in my opinion. Just up the rating and continue to print I say.

[racquelle]

The descriptions of some of these manga's are really disturbing =/

[lon3lyh3art]

I really agree with pikel.
I feel bad for the authors if they're mangas ended due to that. It's pretty unfair if all their hard work goes to waste just from some silly ban. So I hope they just up the rating instead.

[Highroller89]

I'm wondering what triggered all this, since all this was legal until now...

[silentcry07]

nice ordinance for future..i hope it will work out.

[Ceres]

I have no problem with these manga being restricted as they all seem rather vulgar (in my personal opinion). Hopefully this will encourage those authors to put what skills they have to better use in the future.

[Djdrag]

I'm wondering what triggered all this, since all this was legal until now...

the thing that triggered it was the massive increase of pedophiles.
and the increasing of child rape/abusing. that what i read somewhere in the news. (see if i can still find it i will post it)

its often said that there are people that get too obsessed with these things, and starting to try it them self on children

so yea...

[Sora Kasugano]

I don't really have a problem either. But to say that it triggered the massive increased of Pedophiles, Rapes, Child Abuse or whatever you call it, I don't really think it's the reason cause people are too obsessed with those things. I mean, I also read those things, and I'm illegal, I'm immature, I'm underage, but I never raped anyone just because I read those.

[heartless123]

the 1st one .. i think thats a lil bit ,,you know.. a 24 years old man marrying a 12 years old girl .. well anyway .. i like aki sora so its sadden me but i guess its better to stop the manga .. huhuhuh ,,ow well ..dont be sad guys ,,we can make it through xD ..

[dynastar1080]

I am completly Ok with the incest, rape manga and the manga about the 24yr old married to a 12yr old having either their printing stopped or being discontinued. 12 and younder gets you life in prison in the US regardless of whether or not it is consentual. Im all for freedom of speech and don't really care if they are made. However, if they are restricted, as those above are, I find a hard time feeling bad for them. As Ceres said "Hopefully this will encourage those authors to put what skills they have to better use in the future." Show me how talented you are by going outside your comfort zone.

With the other ones, I don't really see why they should be restricted other than maybe they are showing illegal acts by either showing underage kids having intercourse, or adults with underage kids (by this I mean by kids that are above the age of consent with those that are only a year under the age of consent, I.e. 16). Eh. Either way, in America, we luckily have the freedom of speech which covers literary and artistic expression. So they couldn't ban or restrict them, although people have and will continue to try. They just place either 18+, or for the really bad 21+(like that three year age difference makes a difference) and enforce the fact that you can't buy these if you are younger. I feel that should be the same case in Japan, but to be frank, it's no skin off my nose.

[holyvampire9]

Meh, all of those would be restricted to 18+ here in the US too. Can't find a fault for them being restricted to 18+, but stopping reprints, or ending the manga altogether due to the restriction is a little silly in my opinion. Just up the rating and continue to print I say.
I agree. It's silly why would people banned their manga and also it's like banning their work and slap to the face... I know its incest and very vulgar but they should just revise his work or just banned the lolicon.

[MCoftheD]

Yea, I'm one for keeping freedoms intact. Having said that, some of these descriptions sound really messed up.

[endervilt]

I think it sucks that AkiSora was put into that list. I mean I have read it, its a little intense in some parts (chapter 6. if you read it you know). I personaly feel they should put a 18+ label on it and keep it. however i know that the author has said that they wont do that. either way it seems in the story it was comeing to an end soon anyways i just hope that it is allowed to end after a period and not just canning it where it stands stop all presses. Because if its a stop the presses type of deal where the author cant put out a simple finisher then it puts out the vibe from the goverment that says "If we dont like your work we will shut you down and what ever you say doesnt matter".

[jeffnat19]

i feel too bad for the authors but yeah, rules are rules. if the government banned it, your choice is to make something new that the gov't will not ban.

but for me, crime and manga are two different things. whoever connected the crimes and the manga (associated with the crime) needs a little guidance. whatever happens in the book stays in the book.

[kimono031]

I don't really have a problem either. But to say that it triggered the massive increased of Pedophiles, Rapes, Child Abuse or whatever you call it, I don't really think it's the reason cause people are too obsessed with those things. I mean, I also read those things, and I'm illegal, I'm immature, I'm underage, but I never raped anyone just because I read those.

Well, you have to keep in mind that you aren't them. They (might) have a completely different mind set, values, and upbringings which lead them to committing these crimes. So, just because you wouldn't do it doesn't mean they won't. (I think that it might be a personality or mental issue though.)

[mlcdl]

The problem is on the author themselves. They focus so much on the scenes that they forgot who are the readers of their work. Putting the label ban would do but they didnt.Anyway, I am hoping that these guy dont go overboard messing with those manga with age warning cause that is a different story.

[hades013]

well... I also have no probs 'ere...
'cause I've read 'em all so I won't bother of takin' 'em off...
anyways in time, I would forget 'em...
(just don't lemme remind 'em back of course)
Also, it's not like I'mma perv 'cause I've read 'em...
not ALL events in a manga or an anime that I could remember ALL of 'em...
I EVEN forgot that ma previous animes that I've watched are rewatched/mangas that are scanned...

[forecast]

the first one was just asking for it, but i agree with pikel that hey should just up the rating. some look suspicious and I think some of those aren't given a chance before they could prove something(dunno what). still even if they up the rating I don't think ill read these not really my taste(for now)

[maoyurui]

The problem stating that "Increase in Pedophiles" was because of this type of things are just absurd. Pedophiles already existed way long before anything like this was even publish. Another fact is Pedophilia in most cases is a psychological disorder due to certain traumas an individual might have gone through when their young. In most cases that involved manga readers/otakus, the media people just bluntly focuses on things that will make the news sell... Not the hard facts like psychological aspect of the person beyond being a reader or an otaku. This way politicians uses such lame excuses to just do what ever they want to make their names smell nice in public. A simple restriction will suffice but a total ban is actually stepping in the rights of the writers. Don't get me wrong here, I do agree that some of those descriptions where disturbing, but I actually read some of those manga and what they describe is a bit over from what I read and understand from the manga itself. The thing is, 90% of people who actually read this stuff are quite senile and wouldn't do things like this in real life 'coz people all know it's just darn wrong. If they really want to stop peds they should really start first on the crack down of child labor, drugs and human trafficking.

As for the writers, the government should give them a chance to atone by giving them more specific and detailed plans on revising what they already started and for any future books they would like to publish. I'm a guy who always look at things from both perspective, sure the writers and publisher may have done some mistakes here, but the government and media should not just put blame on them for what actions any individual might perform. Anyway that is only my opinion and I do hope I didn't say anything offensive here and if I did I sincerely apologies.

[moi12ica3]

When I first saw this from the homepage I was like WTF!! But when I saw the list I wasn't so WTF anymore. Well, first thing's first, the titles were understandable. The author's should've thought about it first, they should've thought about the readers as well. Manga isn't just Mangaka. It's Mangaka and Reader. Oh and another thing.... The Editor approved those!? Well managakas have like more than one editor and they all agree to show it to the general public? Anyways, this should probably serve as a lesson but I'd rather stand on neutral grounds. I agree to ban mangas which have gone over the top though aki sora doesn't deserve this(that's just me) and I also go for the freedom thing. Pardon the rant -_-

[SushilovesNori]

I'm actually thrilled that stuff like this is being banned. Child rape? "I'm not a perv just because I read them" wtf? Yes, thats the exact definition of a perv. Someone who enjoys taboo sexually explicit material and seeks to read or watch it. Child rape even in a drawing is NEVER OKAY. NEVER. and for anyone to defend that is just so twisted.

[dejavu08]

its not the problem of the author if the people who read their manga tried to do it on their own and its not actually a basis for it to be banned why don't they try turning off all the porn sites in the world before trying to ban some manga. the author still profit from their own work and now they will ban it what if they have no more money to feed themselves and that is the only source of income they have

[adampeach]

join my group ban incest in writing next week we topple shakespeare, and many many more classic lit and then we take the cake the bible! whooo boy we be crackin the champagne on that one..... Or we couldn't not care, it'll just end up a catcher in the rye and they'll be banned and un-banned banned and un-banned etc etc.

[Kei163]

The creation of the black market manga trade. I wouldn't be surprised. Well,it's time for American manga artists to ship their own illegal manga to Japan consumers. -trololololo-
Eh. I'm okay with these kind of manga being put to rest,but I know that they may had good stories. Any manga,regardless of content,with a good story,is good to me. The only way that problems would fluctuate and probably cause an uprising of the otaku and anime fan community,would be the banning of a far broader breadth of manga. The government may move on to softer-grade stuff like ecchi and anime with lolitastic themes.

[Ironguard05]

Wheather a drop rating or ban, it hurts the author's feelings and i can feel in their shoes. Authors must do something useful as i said to my first reply on the first page, create a manga that creates a living legacy out of your vivid imagination. How I wish that i have the same talent as them b'coz i want also to b'come a mangaka but then I feel pity b'coz of those, yet, they are great mangakas.

[Bobtmonkey]

Well, we all knew it was going to happen so it's not that big of a shock anymore. It was just a matter of waiting for the names to be announced.

(I still get a kick out of visualizing a group of old politicians sitting in a formal room reading this kind of material, then discussing it after everyone has finished. It's like handing them a Playboy and telling them that they have to read it cover to cover and be prepared to discuss it in the upcoming meeting. XD)

[Enma Ai]

child rape? my god... it is good that they take some action to ban all these mangas.. they're very vulgar in my opinion.. even if they put the rating im sure some person will upload it to the internet and people on the internet are very young.. so yeah..

[SushilovesNori]

its not the problem of the author if the people who read their manga tried to do it on their own and its not actually a basis for it to be banned why don't they try turning off all the porn sites in the world before trying to ban some manga. the author still profit from their own work and now they will ban it what if they have no more money to feed themselves and that is the only source of income they have


Uh no. If they have actual talent for drawing, then they can draw legitimate and clean manga. If the ONLY talent they have is for writing rape manga, then they need to start searching for a different profession. There is NO reason whatsoever that these writers and artists should not be able to continue working. Their hands still function and they can still draw well, so really, the issue here isn't whether or not they can feed themselves, but whether or not they are willing to try to actually BE creative, and not resort to smut.

Anything depicting a child having sex, is sick. Utterly and completely sick. There is NO need for it at all EVER. Because children are supposed to be innocent and safe. Since when is it okay for ANY ADULT to get off on reading, watching, or hearing little kids have sex? Why would that even make SENSE to anyone!? Furthermore, if anyone is going to defend ANYTHING it should be under a legitimate basis. These manga, should be burned in my opinion. They're disgusting for depicting innocent kids doing anything like that.


If the politicians were to decide to ban a manga just for showing girls in uniforms, now I would find that stupid, because its part of daily life. But since when would it ever be okay for kids to be raped? Since WHEN has it been accepted as part of ANYONES daily life in a way that its okay?

That crap actually HAPPENS to some kids, and NO they don't ask for it or indulge in it so WHY ON EARTH would anyone EVER glamourize it, or IDOLIZE anyone who creates manga ABOUT it?!

[Kei163]

I personally think that all guro and scat manga and doujins should be banned. Hell,i'd actually start respecting them if they did.

[globeopinion]

Well in my opinion, they shouldn't banned those manga because it's a work of art in the author's place. that's there job as a mangaka, i mean that's there income. we know that is 18 and above manga so the responsibility goes to the reader, if he should take it for real or just for entertainment and besides we know that the purpose of manga is for entertainment. so no offense to anyone who is against with this. :D have a nice day!

[Bobtmonkey]

I've seen this often and want to clarify (for all the good it will do buried in the pages of replies). These manga and ones similar are not being banned. Simply their sale is being restricted. That means production won't stop, sales won't end, mangaka will eat, and our lives will still continue. The 18- age group was not and still is not the entire fan-base for this material so sales will still continue and with it production.

Look at it this way. Just because most game stores (in America) won't sell M rated games to those under the age of 17, doesn't mean those games don't find their way into the hands of those under the age of 17. Heck, I was a great example of that (until I turned 17 of course). But of course Japan is a country that is pretty different from the U.S. so different rules could apply there, but judging humanity in general, I'm leaning more towards yes, it can and will happen.

Please have a nice day and a safe trip home (and if you're already at home . . . I'll assume you got there safely).

Oh, and for those of you who missed it the first time: THESE MANGA ARE NOT BEING BANNED, ONLY RESTRICTED!!

[mjuler]

Man! I KNEW IT! it's always about the sexual stuff, Which offends females. Because sometimes making weird stories out of S.Harassment
are just people who couldn't think of a good storyline and making ecchi stuff as the MAIN thing of the manga..


I know I AM A SUCKER on cutie girls but those are just too much..

[adiktdtololi]

my games like this today... but after i saw this...... RAAAAGGGEEE!!!!

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p128/kong12200/WINS.jpg

IM SOOO F*CKING MAD RIGHT NOW... RAAAAGGGGGEEEE!!!!!! RAWR!!!

7CgCSExp8yA

[BloodyAngel]

my games like this today... but after i saw this...... RAAAAGGGEEE!!!!

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p128/kong12200/WINS.jpg

IM SOOO F*CKING MAD RIGHT NOW... RAAAAGGGGGEEEE!!!!!! RAWR!!!

7CgCSExp8yA


HAHAHAHAHA.. I LOL'd on the video.

Anyway I dont really care that much about it since if those manga's are banned, people can still create 3D Hentai of those or maybe 2D.
If they create one, I'll be busy Downloading them... LOL

[Kamaitachi]

ow common people this some political and mass-media BS , people pointed out a problem and politicians were in need of an scape goat, its fiction what is in those manga should stay in those manga , beside if there was not a demand for that i doubt some one would have printed them, they could also ban Whitesnow , tehnicaly the prince kissed a soon to be corpse :D if we get tehnical we would be back in the dark age ..burn everything execpt the bible.

[88ayanami]

it's too bad for the authors but they must respect the new law ordinance but I think putting an age limit will do the trick 18+ will do...

[knipyoko]

I guess this is for the better. Japan had seen the effects of these mangas to a greater number of readers therefore coming up with this idea. Yeah, I also feel sorry for the authors.

[lonesoul]

was there really rape in these mangas? or was just showing the act already considered rape? o_O

[Ryuji]

all the mangas and anime i watch even if are ecchi then its just ecchi u know, they dnt go over the line, wen i read the description of these mangas i dnt mind em being set to 18 or even being banned as i see y the ban is in work now, working against titles like tht is fine, just not ecchi stuff like sora no otoshimono etc cos in comparison this is proper bad stuff sora no otoshimono is just comedy ecchi shiz xD

[sadaki]

No problem with me...
coz this is not my type of mangas and anime..
It only damaging the name of us otakus..
Too good to ban this kind of madness.

[gala1221]

A few reasons as to why they wanna ban it.

1. They love it, and just do not wanna SHARE it.
2. They think that these will HARM us.
3. They are so bored that they decided to start banning mangas so that they would recieve some protests and complains and they would have things to do again.

[GatohCorpz]

It's not like i would disagree with anyone that I'm "impure". But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't sacrifice my life just to mimic what a manga or anime shows me. Of course I still love my manga and anime, but I'm not that extreme. Of course, I'm not disagreeing with the restrictions or anything, just because of the extremists around the world.

[leonx2]

aw poor mangas and authors and poor readers reading those banned mangas luckily im not reading those so it doesnt affect me much

[request1100]

just as i thought, Aki Sora would be one of these to be restricted...


The problem is on the author themselves. They focus so much on the scenes that they forgot who are the readers of their work. Putting the label ban would do but they didnt.Anyway, I am hoping that these guy dont go overboard messing with those manga with age warning cause that is a different story.

agreed...and i think this would not disappear as they planned...and i think the line between below and above 18 is fading...
well, i also feel bad for these authors, i hope they will make much better manga...

[Snoozy19]

This doesn't really phase my judgement on these issues anymore because I've already gained a fixed POV on these matters.
I've already given up in reading and watching Hentai related media (I've got my reasons) so looking away is more of my response upon this news but it doesn't mean that I don't feel any emotional reaction towards this.

The mangaka, the readers, and the manga itself can be labeled as garbage but I personally think that we can't judge an individual's sense of pleasure and livelihood.... *I wonder if someone actually understands what I'm trying to say... sighs

[takasuryuuji]

waaaah too bad...for us. this can't be happening...

[jadeliciousdk]

I'm not a fan of censoring, though I can understand the desire to protect the younger audience. I even understand the dire to ban a couple of the titles mentioned.
But where does it end? Next I imagine the more ecchi titles will get the axe for being well.. too sex fixated. They are already banning manga's for having content involving "Sexual intercourse in school", the step-up is really not that great.

The question is what about manga designated for the older audience? eg. Rape already being used as a cause of banning. While I don't like the use of it in manga it does has a dramatic effect. They might as well ban manga's that include killing.
But why only manga and anime, why not bring the the hammer of censorship down upon the whole cultural media, including both literature, art, films and games.

Hopefully they'll soon realize that not all manga is made for children and introduce some sort of pg-rating for manga.

[Biak911]

Hahahaha man, this just means the mangakus should need to start writing to a wider audience...Not just for men but for children and women as well XD

[IndI311]

ohh..
.saw this in SC..
..was kinda shocked at first..
...but it can't be helped in someway..
.if it was a western-country..
..they wouldn't even let most of it be on the shaft..
...even with a cheap +18 sticker..
.and at the same time..
..i kinda understand them for stopping reprints or dropping whole series..
...just think about it in the eyes as a editor in chief or so..
....before when there was no age restriction..
.....that series was able to sell 200k copies..
......and after the age restriction it would never sell as good as it would have without it..
.......out of 200k..
........there might are 35-65% minors..
.........so what do you do now..
..........drop it to give a new series a spot..
...........since I'm sure that in japan, you can't buy +18 stuff that easy as an minor..
............and there's even more to it..
.............bur I'm to lazy to state my mind

[deathnote]

I have no problem w/ this rule/law... its for a better cause so.. in my opinion... its better to have that law :D

[Hoamaru]

basically we should read watch buy etc before there banned altogether

[dynastar1080]

I'm actually thrilled that stuff like this is being banned. Child rape? "I'm not a perv just because I read them" wtf? Yes, thats the exact definition of a perv. Someone who enjoys taboo sexually explicit material and seeks to read or watch it. Child rape even in a drawing is NEVER OKAY. NEVER. and for anyone to defend that is just so twisted.

Alright Nina, I'm going to defend them on legitimate grounds. But first things, I want to make it clear that I do not like these types of manga, especially the one with the statutory rape.

Ok, its called freedom of speech or better yet, artistic freedom. Japan isn't America but I want to use the US constitution here. In america, you have the right to express yourself and say what ever you want, so long as it doesn;t trample on someone elses freedoms. While yes, you can say that children's freedoms are being trampled on her but children as a whole don't have freedoms, its the individual children that have the freedoms. So where is the individual child that is being harmed here? They are fictional characters in a story. While I do not like what they write about, if you start banning literary works and other forms of media, where does it end? Last little point here. The supreme court has ruled that literary or drawn media works that depict this type of stuff is constitutionally protected under the first amendment. Good luck trying to get a ban passed.

Next, this ban will have no effect on the pedophile community. It is a psychological disorder and they will find ways to get their "fix". There are plenty of other outlets for them. While yes some people do like this type of thing and are "sick", there are others who just like to read the stories. That's fine but I highly doubt there are many, if any, cases of someone reading a manga and then, all of a sudden, thinks "I want to have sex with a kid."

While I hate hate speech, I will defend them their right to say it. Once censoring starts, it's similar to an avalanche. It just gets bigger and bigger. Eventually it will stop, but often, the aftermath is not pretty. History has always shown bans to be a bad thing with adverse consequences. Prohibition, Spanish inquisition, Nazi germany, etc...

I understand the disgust about these types of story lines and drawings. Part of me is happy they got banned. However, there is another side to me that just sees a bigger problem emerging with this. Its easy to stay away from these. You just dont read or watch them.

For those others that think the artists will starve or not find work. There is always the American market in which they can create it. The japanese market can just buy them over the internet and shipped in. They can still create them in japan but will have to get them printed in America. Plus, they can always just change around the facts that the characters are brother and sister or in highschool. Not a huge change in most circumstances.

[hades013]

aww man...
they're makin' a fuzz of dis...

[tanxcb]

Well well, it seems only sex is being targeted. In particular, to 'protect' the youth.
It's good that Gantz wasn't touched by this, with it's insane amount of violence... wait it's already 18+.

[sawanikuya]

Anyway those people dont like anime.. They dont know they have morals too -_- japan government dont even cared about those people who love that manga.

[Viletomb2010]

Poor authors. I feel bad for them. Well I agree for the restriction of that mangas but I hope they will not restrict all the manga of the same reasons because some of those manga have better story than other genres. I also think these mangas are not responsible for the increasing rape crimes, incest relationship and increasing number of pedophiles since they should know what is wrong and right.

[ranmachua]

At this rate, every manga will get banned