Forum - View topicBrain Diving - Youth Brigade: Clearing up the Tokyo Youth Ordinance Bill
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chefneer
 Aria Company Posts: 1686 Location: Fort Worth, Texas |
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I'm thinking that there is bound to be a lawsuit coming against the city of Tokyo to have this law overturned. It appears to infringe on the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression. With the AJA saying as much publicly, it seems like it's only a matter of time. It will be interesting to see who actually brings the suit - it's possible that it could originate with the national government, since it appears to be at odds with the governments' agenda, though I'm not sure how likely it would be. It's also possible that the AJA could pool its resources and do it themselves. We shall see.
Whether you're in favor of the bill or not, it's vagueness makes it a legal target on constitutional grounds, so some kind of challenge is inevitable, I think. |
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Nemo_N
Posts: 272 |
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Oh the horror indeed; sadly, not many parents are very eager to buy a manga with, say, two girls kissing in it for their daughters. |
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Tyrenol
Posts: 398 Location: Northern California |
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You know...
I've been hearing from everyone about how "bill 156 will restrict freedom of speech." But I've still yet to see HOW. Despite how vague it is, the bill seems to target "material that's unproductive to the health of youth." It's like forcing rap artist to create edited version of their rap songs that graphically depict sex and violence like they breathe air. Right now, "popular rap" is all "clubz," alcoholic beverages, mild sexual innuendoes, and auto-tune. While MCs who are truly talented and gifted are underground anyway; AND better. I believe the main problem is that the anime / video game / manga industry, as a whole, had been stuck in a "larson Larson LARSON effect" for over a decade. Everything's basically T&A (which isn't really the problem for me), "character assassination of anybody who's a (young) guy" (which IS my problem), Godly animation, and not much else. And the lot of what's been created had no substance, beyond the noisemakers, whatsoever. Tokyo's government was trying to "hammer down the nail" now, during the LOUDEST LARSON, and everyone complained. (Had it been done when it was "Larson," and would there have been much complaint?) Maybe this will be it. Maybe the people who run Japan's animated entertainment industry will snap from their fantasy world of believing that they can do whatever they want. Maybe these people will take their energy they use on animation and cute girls, and focus it on enjoyable storylines and likeable characters. And maybe everyone will focus on actual VARIETY, as oppose to just being sheeple and playing themselves off as having variety. Then again. I made this argument several times and I have been wrong before. Because, you know. If I'm in an industry based on creativity, and I whine and moan over some new law(s) despite the fact that I'm actually uncreative and redundant... What would that make me? (A sad and miserable person overall, who's too cowardly to go beyond his comfort zone. But how would I know?) 
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Mad_Scientist
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 3011 |
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I don't believe that restricting the choices of manga/anime creators is going to have the effect of increasing creativity, Tyrenol. The idea is frankly quite absurd, I believe.
If someone is being lazy and choosing to pump out the same old same old fanservice heavy anime again and again, a law that makes that a bit tougher isn't going to suddenly make him go "wow, now I actually have to think and come up with something interesting." No, it's going to make him go "hmm, what other easy fad can I latch on to that the otaku will eat up?" He'll still be uncreative, but the uncreative drek he pushes out will simply be a bit different than before. That's all. |
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phantomangel
Posts: 2 |
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@Tyrenol
Your thinking is too narrow minded, I would agree with the statement that alot of anime now adays are heavily focused on fanservice, but this bill is restricting all scenes that are questionable, regardless of fanservice or not. If people are restricted on how to express the scene correctly then what could of been a excellent anime would turn to something pathetic. IE RIN ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~ which had a great story line, but will fall subject to the bill and others like Highschool of the dead |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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Okay, (1) I respect its right to exist, but Rin was vile trash, and (2) both of those were aimed at adults anyway and so would not be under the purview of this bill. They would have been under draft 1 but not under the one that actually passed. Nor would Wandering Son, which runs in a seinen manga, etc. Did anybody actually read this piece? Brian gave you good examples of what will be censored. It's going to be stuff aimed at teens and children. To me, the most telling statement about what this bill is directed against came from good ol' Governor Ishihara himself:
So yeah. We totally need to get teh gayz out of the media so they can stop corrupting our children! Now please excuse me while I go fume. |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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I'm going to respond to this "narrow minded" accusation with the following: When the anime distributor, FUNimation, had to sit down and have a meeting to discuss the editing of a scene in a recently acquired license, it is no longer a question of freedom, but of liability. I can tolerate quite a bit of "offensive content", but I'm getting pretty sick and tired of this content making its way to "mainstream" titles which put companies on edge to distribute it. Brian's write-up is also targeting the vague scope of the bill while completely ignoring the most important fact: it's allowing the industry to self-regulate itself, rather than receive an imposition of law. Since this bill does not ban the freedom of expression, I can only hope its intent is to force the industry to pull back a little and stop showing me underwear of young girls just because it can get away with it. I still remember Erin's distaste for Strike Witches because of the constant crotch shots thrown at her. While they don't offend me (as much), I can't help but think how many people are turned off by the series because of the blatant fanservice despite having an interesting premise. I concur with Brian this type of content isn't the majority of available titles to audiences around the world, but there is no mistaking the growth of this content is becoming a problem to distribute. Gen's probably pretty pissed off fans bitched at forcing him to carry this liability because not a single anime fan will be there to protect FUNimation from lawsuits stemming from a woman who got upset over a cartoon penis featured in a Dragonball manga. Or did you all forget what happened with the fallout from this one woman? |
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Tyrenol
Posts: 398 Location: Northern California |
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I was neither "there," nor paying attention. Could you please explain it to me? 
Also, what's been called "narrow-mindedness" is actually "lol opinions." America's still a democracy, last I checked. |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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Start here. I suggest staying away from the comments. 
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mdreura
Posts: 106 |
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I thought the age of majority was 20 for pretty much everything in Japan? Can someone clear this up for me? Maybe Brian can? |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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....until July, when the government gets to step in as well.
Except so far the bill's proponents haven't said anything about little girls' underwear in shows aimed at adults (like Strike Witches), but rather that they are against "socially disruptive" things appearing in manga for teens and children, like rape, incest, and acknowledging the existence of gay people.
But that's the concern of the industry, not the government. If Funimation in America wants to restrict what they license because their afraid of lawsuits (a rare occurrence in Japan), then that is their prerogative and is not censorship. If TV channels in Japan don't want to air a show for the same reason, they don't have to. And as businesspeople, they are in the correct situation and have the right knowledge and experience to make decisions in licensing and editing that affect their sales and liability. Government bureaucrats are not the right people to be making these choices. From a very pragmatic perspective, it is not a good idea to have your government spend its time on censorship instead of, well, everything else that governments are supposed to be doing. This is going to be an awkward and impractical bill to enforce. Edit: clarified a poorly worded sentence... I hope Last edited by vashfanatic on Tue Dec 21, 2010 3:51 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Tyrenol
Posts: 398 Location: Northern California |
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You mean "that one woman" was the loli-looking vampire from "Bund Dance?" I thought it was something else. But I was having so much fun seeing which repliers were the pedophiles that day. 
(Was FUNi trying to cater to the Twilight crowd like Viz did with Vampire Knight? "The world may never know." But all we know is the backfire from trying to "Japanize" / pansify "reasonably bad-arse vampirism.") spoiler[Protip: No arguments or bad news of loli censorship have been made or found in titles like Sacred Blacksmith and Chromeshelled Regios. So FUNi should start putting near money titles like Valkyria Chronicles and "Betrayal Knows My Name."] |
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Tyrenol
Posts: 398 Location: Northern California |
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That's the problem right there. There's still the belief that America = Japan. And it's clearly not. 
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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Which I went back and edited a little to try to clarify. Japanese companies aren't likely to get sued like Funimation was, though its PTA groups are very vocal and there have been boycotts. But TV channels have still opted not to air some episodes or to edit them based on business decisions. I don't just mean Kodomo no Jikan, I mean not showing Higurashi in the regions where there was a murder that resembled one in the show, out of concern for the feelings of the victims. I am 100% okay with stations and companies making these kinds of decisions. I am not cool with the government doing it, because they don't know how to. |
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The Mad Manga Massacre
Posts: 1166 |
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Oh jolly good! An anime industry populated by Hamtaro-esque anime. What more could I ask for this holiday season?
 (Yes, I'm aware of when the law actually comes into effect)
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