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Adult Game Company Alice Soft Closes Tokyo Office


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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:10 pm Reply with quote
Well, I bet that it's going to be hard on the employees for this.
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The_way67



Joined: 07 Jul 2014
Posts: 118
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:16 pm Reply with quote
No!!!!!!!! Wife Eater was great stuff ha
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Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
Posts: 3331
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:43 pm Reply with quote
I think it's due to changing conditions in the VN industry, the Otaku these days want a moege over the really hardcore stuff Alicesoft offers. Also, mobile may become a premiere platform for VNs eventually (they already exist on mobile today).
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L'Imperatore



Joined: 24 Mar 2014
Posts: 821
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:56 pm Reply with quote
Too bad the article does not mention one of their most famous (if not the most famous... or infamous, whatever) franchise: Rance. The dude has been ****ing hundreds of girls ever since his first appearance, what, more than 20 years ago?

Well... With hundreds of VN developers out there (and products ranging from pure romance to, uh, unimaginable stuffs), competition must be fierce.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 12:10 am Reply with quote
I don't blame them for getting the hell out of Tokyo. You know it's only going to get worse for any kind of producers of erotic material as 2020 approaches. They'll be at least safer in Osaka.

Hoppy800 wrote:
I think it's due to changing conditions in the VN industry, the Otaku these days want a moege over the really hardcore stuff Alicesoft offers. Also, mobile may become a premiere platform for VNs eventually (they already exist on mobile today).


You're probably right if you're talking about erotic gaming sims, but once you get into graphically sexual stuff, I think they're doing just fine.
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Actar



Joined: 21 Nov 2010
Posts: 1074
Location: Singapore
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 12:47 am Reply with quote
walw6pK4Alo wrote:
I don't blame them for getting the hell out of Tokyo. You know it's only going to get worse for any kind of producers of erotic material as 2020 approaches. They'll be at least safer in Osaka.


That's actually an interesting point that you brought up that's been on the back of my mind for quite some time.

Since the Olympics will be coming to Tokyo in 2020, I really wonder how much Otaku culture will suffer or change because of it. Will it be decimated? Will it be forced to adhere to the standards set by others in order to present a "cleaner" image?

Many of you might have varying opinions on the nature of Otaku sub-culture, but we can't disagree that it's one of the most unique, and I don't want Japan to lose that.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 1:07 am Reply with quote
Not saying it wasn't the right thing to do, but the banning of possession of child porn was definitely brought on by the Olympics. What other reason did they have for waiting so long and then suddenly changing it? But I doubt it was necessarily done for the protection of children as much as it was for keeping Japan's image wholesome and clean, which is what leads me to fear that they'll start putting up laws and rules for other things, things not even related to otaku. How about love hotels? They only serve one purpose, and that purpose is obvious.
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Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 1:24 am Reply with quote
walw6pK4Alo wrote:
Not saying it wasn't the right thing to do, but the banning of possession of child porn was definitely brought on by the Olympics. What other reason did they have for waiting so long and then suddenly changing it? But I doubt it was necessarily done for the protection of children as much as it was for keeping Japan's image wholesome and clean, which is what leads me to fear that they'll start putting up laws and rules for other things, things not even related to otaku. How about love hotels? They only serve one purpose, and that purpose is obvious.


I thought of that possibility and came to the conclusion that the Olympics could very well destroy Japanese culture as a whole.
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configspace



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 3717
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 2:00 am Reply with quote
Well Tokyo is more expensive.. but despite expenses, the incentive to move must have been stronger, as the artistic center is still (for now) in Tokyo. I'm willing to consider their move into their Osaka office wasn't related to the danger the government poses, but if it were due to finances, I would think they would've just stated so upfront instead of "for various reasons".

walw6pK4Alo wrote:
But I doubt it was necessarily done for the protection of children as much as it was for keeping Japan's image wholesome and clean, which is what leads me to fear that they'll start putting up laws and rules for other things, things not even related to otaku. How about love hotels? They only serve one purpose, and that purpose is obvious.


I wouldn't be surprised if Love Hotels, and soaplands and other "heatlh" services, would be targeted. There appears to be a lot of not widely reported coercive action going on behind the scenes. The arrests of the 3 Core Magazine editors was just the tip of the iceberg (Dan Kanemitsu has more on this below, including word directly from the editors). We know that a visiting Olympic committee expressed disapproval over the sight of erotic mags (think of the recent fallacious and hyperbolic CNN coverage).

Strip clubs have already been raided. A politician warns pachinko makers and parlors not to use erotic imagery. In a sad twist of irony, no Japanese institution is even willing to host the British Museum's Shunga art exhibit (which are also uncensored of course). Here's some of Dan Kanemitsu's very detailed coverage of moral policing and related areas and behind the scenes, in chronological order:

http://dankanemitsu.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/the-chilling-effect-how-censorship-begins-without-censorship/

http://dankanemitsu.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/fear-and-loathing-in-the-bold-new-olympic-era/

http://dankanemitsu.wordpress.com/2013/09/19/orwellian-obscenity/

http://dankanemitsu.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/censoring-heritage/

And all of this has happened before, when Japan hosted the Olympics in 1964:
Quote:
One consequence of the holding the Olympics in Tokyo in 1964 involved the systematic beautification efforts that resulted in displacement of the homeless, the revision of the entertainment laws, and flare-up in the bad books removal campaigns that targeted manga. (See here for more information regarding the artistic impact of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.)

And it tooks many years, decades, to recover. And now the cycle seems to be repeating again.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 2:39 am Reply with quote
Yeah, I'm really not bullshitting when I say I'm scared of what they'll do in order to become "most presentable to honorable global delegations." I wish they hadn't won the bid, to be honest, it's not worth it if they attack things for the sake of overreaction and believing the west is still Victorian. From Up on Poppy Hill demonstrated how eager they were for tearing down their own cultural heritage just for the sake of modernism, but not necessarily progress.

Banning child porn was just the obvious low hanging fruit, an easy fix with no repercussion or tolerable backlash. No telling where they'll head next.
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samuelp
Industry Insider


Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 2228
Location: San Antonio, USA
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:07 am Reply with quote
You may be right and there will be crackdowns, Akihabara will be cleaned up for the Olympics, that's in fact already happening in places like Kabuki-cho in Shinjuku where they passed new laws preventing solicitation.

But it won't destroy anything. It'll probably act as a mini-otaku diaspora and force companies and communities to form outside the Tokyo area, like in Saitama or Chiba, and other big cities like Osaka, Sapporo, Hiroshima...
I think in the end it might have a positive effect on otaku culture because it will help it de-ghettoize itself and spread out more.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:09 am Reply with quote
walw6pK4Alo wrote:

How about love hotels? They only serve one purpose, and that purpose is obvious.


They freely distribute condoms in the Olympic village in the hundred thousands. Sex itself is not the problem. Shocked

Anyways: "Japanese artist arrested for sharing 3-D printable data of her vagina"



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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:16 am Reply with quote
It's not about what the IOC and the world actually do, it's what Japan thinks the world thinks of them. It's a very self-centered opinion that seems pervasive, Japan always wants to project a positive image, they really do care what others think about the nation.
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Actar



Joined: 21 Nov 2010
Posts: 1074
Location: Singapore
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 4:09 am Reply with quote
walw6pK4Alo wrote:
It's not about what the IOC and the world actually do, it's what Japan thinks the world thinks of them. It's a very self-centered opinion that seems pervasive, Japan always wants to project a positive image, they really do care what others think about the nation.


But isn't pressure being put on Japan by various international organizations to conform to more conservative standards? I can see the Olympics as being an impetus for change and self-censorship and I really don't want to see that.
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qashairy



Joined: 05 Nov 2008
Posts: 54
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 7:53 am Reply with quote
Kadmos1 wrote:
Well, I bet that it's going to be hard on the employees for this.


That pun... Laughing
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