Japan's Bill 156

For those not in the no, here it is . In a nutshell, the bill would outlaw manga and anime that, "features either sexual or pseudo sexual acts that would be illegal in real life, or sexual or pseudo sexual acts between close relatives whose marriage would be illegal."

Now, let's take a look at that: the definition of what constitutes "illegal sex acts" is kind of vague. The definition would be anything, "considered harmful to a minor's mental health regarding sexuality." The problem? With a definition that vague, it can mean anything sexual related. There's a whole genre of manga and anime devoted to older audiences that contain sexuality. Hell, homosexuality could and would be considered "harmful", considering how Tokyo Governor Ishihara considers homosexuals "deficient". So what is this bill about? Leme dissect the main factors for you:

1. Homophobia. Japan's a very homogenized nation. If you're not racialy pure, physically mentally, or emotionally fit, you're discriminated against. Homosexuals have always rated well bellow on the scale in such homogeneous nations, and with a medium that both exploits and celebrates homosexuality in its myriad forms, the general society will view it with suspicion and disgust. Deviancy in any form or expression will not be suffered at all.
   
   
2. International pressure. Recently there was the RapeLay CNN controversy, obviously used to drum up ratings at the expense of a year-old culture shock oddity. However, the UN has gotten on Japan's case, asking Japan to crack down on sexuality explicit media. The west constitutes as the second largest, if not the largest, market for Japanese media. It's obvious that the intention of 156 was to clean house, but the bill is an overreactiaction in a blatant sign of...
   
   
3. Political opportunism and scapegoating. North Korea getting uppity? China has the collective balls of your nation and your main ally in a vice grip? Economic woes causing social unrest? Find a scapegoat! Anime and manga have always been scapegoats in Japan, much like videogames in America even to this day (God I hate my state...).
   
   
4. The industry itself. Watch MasokoX's review of Kanokon. Series like this, Panty Stocking and Garter Belt, and Highschool of the Dead all illustrate a distressing trend in the anime industry: give in to their base nature and produce heavy fanservice shows to appeal to the hardcore audience. Like the comic industry back in the 80's and 90's, the anime industry is desperate to make profit and is exploiting what the hardcore, regular consumers want: gratuitous fanservice verging on the edge of pornography. By doing this, they've alienated the mainstream audience, reinforced the stereotype of "Anime is animated porn" stereotype, and gave political and social opportunists ammo.
   

Really, with this and the aforementioned Schwarzenegger v. ESA case, it's clear that so-called "deviant" media is under fire and used as a scapegoat. The right of expression and the advancement of their respective mediums into true art is being challenged and prevented. Why?

Won't somone please think of the children?!

-BO