Tokyo bans Virtual Child Porn

[Story @ Kotaku]   

The Tokyo Metropolitan government is moving forward on legislation that sets out to ban provocative "visual depictions" of characters who appear to be 18 years-old and younger. And some of Japan's most famous manga creators are fighting it.

The "visual depictions" are understood to encompass underage characters in manga, anime, computer games and video games — i.e., virtual characters. 

Don't kid yourself, doesn't curb anything. it'll just move underground.

i hate the whole chibi, or lolita thing, but 18 or younger? thats kind of broad isnt it... how do you visually define if a manga, anime or videogame character is 19 or 17?
 
hell, playing FF13, cutscenes with Sarah and Snow, she doesnt look over 18 in those AT ALL for example.Or Vanille for that matter, and thats a really skimpy outfit she wears.

" Don't kid yourself, doesn't curb anything. it'll just move underground. "

" i hate the whole chibi, or lolita thing, but 18 or younger? thats kind of broad isnt it... how do you visually define if a manga, anime or videogame character is 19 or 17?  hell, playing FF13, cutscenes with Sarah and Snow, she doesnt look over 18 in those AT ALL for example.Or Vanille for that matter, and thats a really skimpy outfit she wears. "

" @Rhaknar: yeah thats true. just an FYI, serah is 18, lightning is 21 and vanille is 19. ^^ "

" @Rhaknar: 14 =) "

I really hope this goes through.  While I don't mind panty shots, some of the more graphic stuff is extremely creepy and should not be acceptable,  in real life or drawings/animations/videogames or whatever.  Like was said in a previous Kotaku article, far too much anime involves nothing more than a teenage boy, living in a house with a bunch of underage girls, accidentally touching them every five minutes.
 
It's wrong. 
 
Yes, it would likely just move it underground but at least it shows that it's not something that's acceptable and shouldn't be encouraged.

what's next?
banning  "visual depictions" of people  being killed\murdered\beheaded?
maybe banning any  "visual depiction" of people committing a crime?

WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
MINOR FF13 SPOILERS
 
 BE WARNED
 
 
and by the way, if Vanille is 19, why the hell is it wrong for Sazh to check out her ass in that one scene? >_> Stupid chocobo chick!

Correction, they did not ban it. They are trying to ban it.

" what's next? banning  "visual depictions" of people  being killed\murdered\beheaded?maybe banning any  "visual depiction" of people committing a crime? "

THIS IS A SHAME
 
 
CP IS A GOOD THING FOR YOUR NETHER REGIONS

Hope it doesnt ruin the anime industry.

" @FlameAlpha said:

 Take this picture for example: Chinese artist named Xia Da. She is 28.

 
"

I'm no prude but some of the shit that comes out of Japan is a bit creepy. I'm not a ban this, ban that guy but c'mon, enough of the schoolgirls and the tweens in sailor suits already.

" I'm no prude but some of the shit that comes out of Japan is a bit creepy. I'm not a ban this, ban that guy but c'mon, enough of the schoolgirls and the tweens in sailor suits already. "

ITT: Puritans. 

" Hope it doesnt ruin the anime industry. "

" ITT: Puritans.  "

Fuck that. I think lolicon and all that shit is wrong too, but this legislation has no reason to exist.  

There are no children being harmed in the making of that stuff. It's not going to make anyone into a molester if they aren't already hanging around elementary schools. So why ban it? I say let slimy people make it for the consumption of other slimy people if that's what they want to do.

" @Killjoi said:

" @FlameAlpha said:

 Take this picture for example: Chinese artist named Xia Da. She is 28.

 
"

Damn! I'm going to china >_> "

" @ninjakiller said:

" ITT: Puritans.  "

I dont think I, or anyone else in this topic is a "puritan".
Like I said previously, I'm not against adult content, I don't mind violence or even sex in games, movies or anime.
 
But when it comes to child pornography, anime or not, I can't see how you can possibly defend it.
The Japanese culture and attitude towards young girls is sick.  If this helps change that, ban it. "

Here is an interesting fact that muddles the situation even more: the age of consent in Japan is 13.
 
I don't even know what you make of that. You can have sex with a 13 year old but you aren't allowed to draw pictures of the act ? This is messed up on so many levels.

visual depictions? That's pretty vague. I remember before Japanese developers just put "All characters in this game are 18+" to avoid the problem. I'm guessing now that doesn't work.

When you're familiar with child pornography enough to abbreviate it "cp", and recognize "cp" as such without even thinking about it: you're probably into some messed up shit.

" Here is an interesting fact that muddles the situation even more: the age of consent in Japan is 13. I don't even know what you make of that. You can have sex with a 13 year old but you aren't allowed to draw pictures of the act ? This is messed up on so many levels. "

"  

"

I used to be a staunch defender of absolute and total freedom of speech, until I discovered the existence of lolicon and the other paedo fodder that Japan cranks out. Censoring something is regrettable but if it makes it harder for paedos to get their jollies even a tiny bit harder then I'm all for it. Make no mistake if you are into this kind of thing you are a fucking disgraceful human being and I'm glad you can't access your creepy fucking shit anymore.

MY LOLI NOOOOO

" @salad10203 said:

"  

"

ok that made me laugh "

Oh dang. Does this mean no more RapeLay?
 
Personally, this kind of stuff always scares the shit out of me whenever I am unwillingly or unwittingly exposed to it, and I doubt I have even seen anything really explicit. Good riddance.

I agree that a lot of anime is creepy as hell because of this, and in a way I'm all for making it harder for weirdos to get their daily dose this shit. But I highly doubt that it will make it go away. It's better that these people look at drawn pictures instead of the real deal, which has actual victims, instead of a drawing which is a result of some sick mind with the skill to paint...
 
As sick as it is, I'm not sure whether banning it completely is a good or bad thing... It's sick as fuck, but it's at least better than the real deal. As Jadeskye says, it's the lesser of two evils...

"until I discovered the existence of lolicon"

" @evanbrau said:

"until I discovered the existence of lolicon"

I just skimped through the Wikipedia article and it was obviously written by someone defending it. The author spins an intriguing tale about Japanese culture and how it's simply misunderstood, but I think that's bull. "

Sure it's an alien culture, but obviously some people from Japan see how gross it is as they have passed this law... And, if someone has taken their time to write such a long article, they are obviously a fan of it, and the fact that they are defending it isn't surprising. 
 
My two cents, at least.

" @evanbrau: those people are not gonna go away if you censor it. Personally i think it's better to sate them with drawn lolicon then result to real depictions.  lesser of two evils. "

" @evanbrau:    drawings that don't affect you in any way why wouldn't you do it?"

Well, if in some part of the world cannibalism would still be common, should we simply accept that, too? A culture clash can't excuse just everything.