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NEWS: Kindle Removes Manga That Tokyo Designated as 'Unhealthy'


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LaughingElbow



Joined: 19 Apr 2014
Posts: 237
PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 1:47 pm Reply with quote
Let's see how many people are going to start screaming about censorship now.
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2862
PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 1:59 pm Reply with quote
it's not censorship when you make it so the work is available to the legal, target demographic ; otherwise we would be censoring alcohol because we make it unavailable to minors while keeping available to adults.
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GLindis



Joined: 11 Aug 2013
Posts: 14
PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 2:12 pm Reply with quote
As someone who has "screamed" about censorship here, i want to point out that this isn't censorship. This is restricting sale of porn so that minors don't have access to it. Even we "oh-so-horrible" censorship haters have no problem with that. Kids have no business browsing or buying porn in a store. The art isn't being changed by a third party, possession by adults hasn't become forbidden, and Amazon has every right to control what they sell on their platform. This is not censorship. This is perfectly reasonable restriction of sale of illicit material.

I wish the censorship-hater-haters wouldn't be so quick to judge us as skeevy creepos who only want access to smut so bad we can't see reason. Maybe drop the strawmen and actually engage with those you disagree with, we're all people. You're going to be on our side next time 4kids or whoever tries to edit out characters of color or nonheteronormative relationships.
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evilkorpse



Joined: 28 Feb 2012
Posts: 81
Location: UNITED STATES
PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 2:24 pm Reply with quote
The article says that the first visual novel inspired an anime adaptation but actually the second vn as well. Mary Jane produce it.
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5527
PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 2:26 pm Reply with quote
GLindis wrote:
As someone who has "screamed" about censorship here, i want to point out that this isn't censorship. This is restricting sale of porn so that minors don't have access to it. Even we "oh-so-horrible" censorship haters have no problem with that. Kids have no business browsing or buying porn in a store. The art isn't being changed by a third party, possession by adults hasn't become forbidden, and Amazon has every right to control what they sell on their platform. This is not censorship. This is perfectly reasonable restriction of sale of illicit material.

I wish the censorship-hater-haters wouldn't be so quick to judge us as skeevy creepos who only want access to smut so bad we can't see reason. Maybe drop the strawmen and actually engage with those you disagree with, we're all people. You're going to be on our side next time 4kids or whoever tries to edit out characters of color or nonheteronormative relationships.


What you say may be true and all but I'm missing the part in the article that actually says Imouto Paradise 2 on Kindle actually HAD porn in it. All they mention is that int glorifies incest. Hell, OreImou did that too. I imagine this takes it further but the article doesn't really say that. As far as I can find, they just decided it was unhealthy because they could.

Now, if it actually is porn...then how the hell did it get on the Kindle shop to begin with? I'd blame that on someone at Amazon for letting it slide so easily.
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morisato



Joined: 29 Jun 2010
Posts: 25
PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 2:28 pm Reply with quote
GLindis, your statement is wrong. When Tokyo's Youth Healthy Development Ordinance only restricted the sale and browsing of such manga to anyone under the age of 18, it's not censorship. But, that isn't what's being discussed here.

It's the move by Amazon to remove the manga for sale from everybody. When you remove an item from sale from everyone because another country placed sales restrictions of the manga to minors, that's called overreaching and what Amazon did amounts to censorship because this is nothing more than Amazon trying to be moral.

Apple does this all the time and they always get called out for it. I guess Amazon and Apple have something in common, after all. The Morality Police are hard at work.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14761
PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 2:44 pm Reply with quote
morisato wrote:

what Amazon did amounts to censorship because this is nothing more than Amazon trying to be moral.


Censorship really just applies to governments, while private enterprises can decide whatever's best for their business, just like Aniplex can charge ya guys up the wazoo and ya just have to take it or Nintendo Tomodachi Life excluding same-sex relationships. Is it immoral?
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GLindis



Joined: 11 Aug 2013
Posts: 14
PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 2:50 pm Reply with quote
morisato wrote:
GLindis, your statement is wrong. When Tokyo's Youth Healthy Development Ordinance only restricted the sale and browsing of such manga to anyone under the age of 18, it's not censorship. But, that isn't what's being discussed here.

It's the move by Amazon to remove the manga for sale from everybody. When you remove an item from sale from everyone because another country placed sales restrictions of the manga to minors, that's called overreaching and what Amazon did amounts to censorship because this is nothing more than Amazon trying to be moral.

Apple does this all the time and they always get called out for it. I guess Amazon and Apple have something in common, after all. The Morality Police are hard at work.


What Amazon is doing is not censorship. It may be unfortunate, but any business has the right to not carry a product they deem goes against their standards, even if that choice seems hypocritical or inconsistent with other things they carry. Amazon did not force a change in the art, or ban sale of the item at every retailer. Just like a bookstore can refuse to carry a book, so too can Amazon. Now, if the government decreed that no store at all could carry a book, then that would be censorship.

If Amazon's decision truly grates on anyone, the thing to do is speak with your wallet. Purchase the book elsewhere, then send Amazon (or any bookseller) a polite letter stating that they could have received your money had they not bowed to pressure from the "morality police". If enough people agree, you may see a change.

Apple does take totalitarian control over their apps and items permitted on their systems, which is one reason I don't use Apple products. But it is entirely their right to do so, so long as they don't hurt other retailer's ability to carry the same items (Apple's behind the scenes pricing scheme is another thing entirely).
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2862
PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 3:05 pm Reply with quote
Kougeru wrote:

What you say may be true and all but I'm missing the part in the article that actually says Imouto Paradise 2 on Kindle actually HAD porn in it. All they mention is that int glorifies incest. Hell, OreImou did that too. I imagine this takes it further but the article doesn't really say that. As far as I can find, they just decided it was unhealthy because they could.

Now, if it actually is porn...then how the hell did it get on the Kindle shop to begin with? I'd blame that on someone at Amazon for letting it slide so easily.


I have seen pages of it that are borderline hentai or rather, they are like the very censored hentai from the 90s/early 2ks, so in that respect it is already adults only enough for any decent store to make it buyable only for adults.
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SilverTalon01



Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Posts: 2402
PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 3:19 pm Reply with quote
GLindis wrote:
As someone who has "screamed" about censorship here, i want to point out that this isn't censorship. This is restricting sale of porn so that minors don't have access to it. Even we "oh-so-horrible" censorship haters have no problem with that. Kids have no business browsing or buying porn in a store.


First of all, where did you get that this has porn in it? I have never heard of this before, but the article doesn't mention porn. It mentions what is at best 'adult themes' which would usually be pg-13 or tv-14 here. That is hardly worth being behind the 18+ cloth door thing next to the actual porn.

Second, lets define kids. I'd say 12 and under and if thats what you mean, then I agree. If you mean under 18, then I think you're being foolish. While I see a point to trying to protect kids from stumbling on things they likely aren't ready for, trying to protect teenagers from something they are actively seeking out and is readily available on the internet is a pointless and wasted effort. I see no issue with say a 15 year old buying porn because even if stores don't sell it, a 15 year old knows how the internet works well enough to effortlessly find it online.
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Tiggyz



Joined: 16 Jan 2014
Posts: 80
PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 3:20 pm Reply with quote
GLindis wrote:
Kids have no business browsing or buying porn in a store.


No but it doesn't stop them from looking on the internet or finding it their parents bedroom
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prime_pm



Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 2336
Location: Your Mother's Bedroom
PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 3:27 pm Reply with quote
And yet the American Kindle store remains littered with yaoi.
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GLindis



Joined: 11 Aug 2013
Posts: 14
PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 3:45 pm Reply with quote
Of course any teen knows how to get everything they want on the net. I sure did. That doesn't mean they need free access to it in a store. I'm sure it's different in Japan, but in the U.S. it's a liability issue if nothing else. If a kid is browsing or purchasing smut in your store, you can be charged with a crime.

Perhaps this book isn't explicit, and certainly Amazon's decision seems inconsistent with how they treat other explicit material (hello, yaoi), but if this is worst the YHDO gives us (and in the several years of its existence, this seems the "worst") we should be grateful. It could have been a lot worse.

Again, this is NOT censorship, and that's coming from someone who despises censorship- someone who refuses to purchase U.S. One Piece because of "Zolo". There are more important battles to fight. If it matters that much to you take your business elsewhere, and let Amazon know why you are doing so.
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configspace



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 3717
PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 4:14 pm Reply with quote
It IS censorship.

First of all Amazon's removal was purely due to the government's action of requiring reclassification. Anything that is affected by Bill 156 that is then re-reprinted puts a legal obligation on any store carrying the item!

Second as the article states:
Quote:
Erotic material was already restricted before the amendment, but the amended law also restricts the sales and renting of materials that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government considers "to be excessively disrupting of social order."


Do people not understand this? This means it was NOT restricted -- and thus forcing retailers like Amazon -- due to explicit pornographic content. And remember this is referring to the non-adult manga version, not the eroge

From the previous article, Dan tweets from the Japanese news source:
https://twitter.com/dankanemitsu/status/465871061515382784
Quote:
Claims work was not sexually stimulating but promoted incest.


Again, there is already an R18 classification that can easily be determined based on sexual explicitness. This Bill 156 puts other titles into the adults-only categorization based on subject matter that is "disruptive", NOT sexual explicitness, and only after it has been printed, based on the whims of the ordinance committee
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Mister Ryan Andrews



Joined: 28 Jan 2014
Posts: 219
PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 4:20 pm Reply with quote
Kougeru wrote:
Now, if it actually is porn...then how the hell did it get on the Kindle shop to begin with? I'd blame that on someone at Amazon for letting it slide so easily.


Incorrect Unlike American Amazon, you can buy porn off Amazon in Japan. Japan has a huge selection of porn, both live-action and hentai. You can even buy doujinshi off the marketplace that's how lax it is. They also ship to America so it's a good place for all your anime-type goods and needs if you want to import. It's the site I mainly use.

This being restricted is just an odd case of the law that says 1000 similar titles are okay but 1 specific one is a problem.
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