Anime and Manga Regulation Bill Passes Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly

Dec 12, 2010 1:12 PM

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May 2009

347

Or worse, it could be used as a political tool. Let's say that some politician hates Spirited Away because it goes against what his party is fighting for. So he points out that some characters in it are naked and there's a fair bit of violence. Voila, Spirited Away gets banned

desolatoDec 12, 2010 1:54 PM

Dec 12, 2010 1:24 PM

#52

shootdatpancake

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Mar 2010

377

Or much worse many animes and mangas will be canceled next year...

Mod edit: Please refrain from quoting huge walls of text, try to put them in a spoiler tag next time.

desolatoDec 12, 2010 1:43 PM

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Erzat

Dec 12, 2010 1:40 PM

#53

Airglow

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Aug 2010

149

the otaku world is quite a negative thing, and even though i'm an 'otaku' (for lack of a more precise term) i try to stay away from the hentai, ecchi, incest type stuff... am i the only one who thinks this is good? lol didja know porn is what sets off the serial killer instinct? it usually starts by inappropriate commercials and later leads to sicker things which is how the person ends up as a serial killer... let's just say, ecchi creeps me out... but i'm also worried about this regulation bill going overboard!

AirglowDec 12, 2010 1:44 PM

"To define is to limit."
--Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Dec 12, 2010 1:50 PM

#54

Chicken_Ramen

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Apr 2010

76

This is just retarded.

Time to rage.

Chicken_RamenDec 12, 2010 2:04 PM

Dec 12, 2010 1:57 PM

#55

desolato

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Nov 2008

2930

Cleaned the thread of nonsensical, one-word posts, double posts, posts containing quotes but without any intelligent comments accompanying them, and put some huge posts in spoiler tags. Some users may or may not have been warned.

Take caution in what you post, as contrary to belief, the news discussions do have rules.

Dec 12, 2010 2:04 PM

#56

Face_Faith

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Jun 2008

1742

renjikuchiki1 said:
ugh.... so manga and anime will be loosing like what, 90% of all its content to this bill?

Won't the people who censor/cut all these scenes get overworked? (seriously o.o)

wakka9ca said:

Then think harder. Something is definitely not right here. You may think it's targeted towards the borderline stuff, but what about homosexuality? From my understanding of the current bill, portrayal of homosexual relationships in manga is restricted too.

How they interpret what's "healthy" and what's not is the problem here. And I'm quoting the original Japanese name of the bill, which includes the word "health". What are they implying here? That anyone not conforming to their beliefs are unhealthy?

You have no idea how this can potentially hurt the freedom of expression.

Before it passed, I didn't think the bill would affect so many things - damn these vague sentences. Wait, no more shonenai!? O_O (What is the industry going to do without fangirls?) Is restricting the freedom of expression even allowed in Japan? I can't imagine that, but it seems like it is (-> bill).

Face_FaithDec 12, 2010 2:09 PM

Dec 12, 2010 2:07 PM

#57

TerrorH3ctor

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Apr 2009

1134

SurferDude said:

Leon-Gun said:
. Ecchi will always find ways to survive, they can always cut out the risky scenes and put them in DVD/BD, so the one genre people were hoping was gonna die down with this will likely not even be hurt.

Even if they put the risky scenes only on BD/DVD, according to the new law only those over 18 will be allowed to buy the discs, resulting in higher prices per disc and overall lower sales.

As a man who studied business in college, your economics couldn't be more correct. But then again, economics contains data, numbers, and facts whereas politics is all about fighting for your pointless "beliefs" for the "good" (what good hahaha) of society.

Dec 12, 2010 2:09 PM

#58

Rosa_FOEtida

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Nov 2008

7012

I have already explained the reasons why I disagree with this bill here, and I don't feel the need to repost it here as well, so click the link if you are interested in my opinion on this bill.

Now, I'm going to ask what this bill exactly covers. Anime and manga distributed in traditional media are covered, obviously, but light novels and live-action dramas are excluded from these regulations. However, what about visual novels (and video games in general at that) or anime and manga distributed online? Are those covered by the regulations as well?

You see if there's a loophole somewhere, it's going to be abused and will be the future of anime and manga as a result.. Yes, that means I see the future of anime being mostly in ONA format if TV anime are over-regulated. As for manga, who knows? Online reading doesn't have the same convenience as reading a book/magazine if you read mostly when you are on a packed train on the way to work/school.

As for this discussion

It is worth noting that being adult content means that they can't be sold in convenience stores. Period. That's right, these "adult" anime and manga can't be stocked anywhere where a person of under 18 is likely to be seen, limiting places which sell these series to shops which stock hentai in the first place. My source for this is the first MAL news story on this issue, if you are wondering. See:

dtshyk said:
3. the distribution of manga and anime will be severely restricted once designated as adult materials (e.g. selling at convenience stores and airing on TV will be prohibited)

Rosa_FOEtidaDec 12, 2010 2:22 PM

Current FAL Ranking + Previous best::

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Dec 12, 2010 2:11 PM

#59

hajil

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Jul 2008

16

The problem with any law is that sooner or later someone will either try to use it to his advantage or circumnavigate it. And with a bill this imprecise it's almost certain that some politicians will try to use it. For example some japanese xenophobe sees anime portraing foreigners as heroes and japanese as incompetents/idiots, he looks at the bill, finds the anime "unhealthy" and voila! Banned.

I sincerly hope that I'm overreacting here.

Dec 12, 2010 2:12 PM

#60

TerrorH3ctor

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Apr 2009

1134

mikhailn said:

akai-kitsune said:
They should really worry about important stuff like the low birthrate or the economy rather than being self-righteous bastards.

They've tried everything but nothing seems to work. Plus recently somebody said that their job was as easy as remembering 2 phrases so they need to look busy

leeahseng said:
well they won't lose the great culture
but they will lose a great part of it

TreF said:
It's simple.

We, uh.

Kill the parties.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

If it's that simple why haven't you done it already?

Simple LOL. They can resort to cowardice by calling a group of armored police officers and use them as shields against angry mobs/protesters. This classic method never gets old.

Dec 12, 2010 2:26 PM

#61

mikhailn

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May 2009

347

hajil said:
The problem with any law is that sooner or later someone will either try to use it to his advantage or circumnavigate it. And with a bill this imprecise it's almost certain that some politicians will try to use it. For example some japanese xenophobe sees anime portraing foreigners as heroes and japanese as incompetents/idiots, he looks at the bill, finds the anime "unhealthy" and voila! Banned.

I sincerly hope that I'm overreacting here.

I hope so too. This is Japan, not North Korea

Dec 12, 2010 2:30 PM

#62

renjikuchiki1

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Jan 2008

621

eh, what can you do? they elected these people...... hopefully in the future they will elect some parties with more open-minded stances....

"Forged in darkness with wheat harvested from Hell's half acre. Baked by Beelzabub; slathered with mayonnaise beaten from the evil eggs of dark chickens, force-fed to dogs by the hands of a one-eyed madman. Cheese boiled from the rancid utters of fanged cows. Layered with 666 separate meats from an animal which has maggots for blood."
ATHF

Dec 12, 2010 2:35 PM

#63

Splitter

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Jul 2007

4445

I do believe we now stand on a precipice, and below us lies the dark ages for anime that we never thought we would see.

My first novel, Kardia has been published! Click here to read!

Dec 12, 2010 2:41 PM

#64

NoSounds

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Jul 2009

92

are we still going to be able to watch the series aired?

or are they gone uncompleted? X_X

Dec 12, 2010 2:55 PM

#65

OldTimer

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Jun 2010

63

Don't care really. It's always been apparent that the west have influenced Japan a great deal. I gave up on them a long time ago.

Dec 12, 2010 3:04 PM

#66

athlonxp

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Dec 2008

60

I find it funny that people are approving this by saying "maybe we can get some shows with some plot" or "doesn't affect what I like." With the law being vague, you think all they're going to do is stop a few shows/manga from being aired/published? They've already gone this far, I doubt they are going to stop here.

Dec 12, 2010 3:22 PM

#67

Neko123

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Mar 2009

195

Oh dear, this is not good, not good at all......

Dec 12, 2010 3:37 PM

#68

SurferDude

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Oct 2009

510

FOE-tan said:
It is worth noting that being adult content means that they can't be sold in convenience stores. Period. That's right, these "adult" anime and manga can't be stocked anywhere where a person of under 18 is likely to be seen, limiting places which sell these series to shops which stock hentai in the first place.

Seriously ? That's even more messed up than I thought. In my country you can buy porno magazines from pretty much any news stand or kiosk. And nobody is bothered by that. Now THAT's freedom of expression. (Europe FTW)

Dec 12, 2010 3:41 PM

#69

Frosti

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Apr 2010

339

There goes their freedom of expressions. I hope that i'm wrong but if this keeps going on in the future they will become like China.
Only the Light Novels and Live Actions aren't affected, instead anime, manga, Visual Novels, Video Games are. I can already see next year that some mangas will be canceled and others will change. If this would just affected only the ecchi and the rape, incest I wouldn't mind, but they will not only affect the otakus but also the fujoshis.

Dec 12, 2010 4:08 PM

#70

Leon-Gun

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Dec 2007

4845

Frosti said:
There goes their freedom of expressions. I hope that i'm wrong but if this keeps going on in the future they will become like China.
Only the Light Novels and Live Actions aren't affected, instead anime, manga, Visual Novels, Video Games are. I can already see next year that some mangas will be canceled and others will change. If this would just affected only the ecchi and the rape, incest I wouldn't mind, but they will not only affect the otakus but also the fujoshis.

BTW, it is interesting to note the video game community is so worldwide now that the only games I see this affecting at all are VN's and small-time games targeted exclusively for Japan. The Mainstream Japanese Game developers have progressively been abandoning their home country (just look at how pitiful the last TGS was) and are very focused on worldwide appeal. Just look at how many publishers like Capcom and Konami have put in the hands of American and European developers.

Anyway, this bill is like a final nail in the coffin for Japanese-oriented media. At the very least, it signals a very censorship heavy era, at least until the industry tries to fight it back.

Dec 12, 2010 4:13 PM

#71

aoaoaoaoaoaa

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Jan 2010

213

All I can do is await the public backlash.

Dec 12, 2010 4:34 PM

#72

aurorastorm

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Nov 2010

6

Okay, my thoughts without knowing all that the bill entails are pretty much as follows.

The removal of sexuality does not mean a total dark age for the entirety of the genre. There are plenty of good stories with almost nothing fanservice-y or sexual out there (Kino's Journey, Pluto, Fullmetal Alchemist, the list goes on) so I don't really see what everyone is in a tizzy about as to this being the death of the genre.

Now then, I do see how this could be a challenge to the idea of free speech and expression in some ways. However, I think if the artists are creative enough, they should be able to get around these laws. They could make use of symbolism. The bill seems to stipulate that literature is not as regulated because it is more open to interpretation. Anime and manga, it seems to say, aren't as open to interpretation due to the medium being visual.

As for the supposed destruction of ecchi; I've never much cared for the stuff to begin with. I've seen some good stories that did have sexual themes to them (Angel Sanctuary) but it feels like as of late the sexual themes and the maturity with which those themes are approached has been stripped away in favor of less discussion and more visual portrayal. Again, this isn't necessarily bad, as some anime (School Days, for example) can keep the topics visual but still approach them in a more serious manner than, say, High School of the Dead.

Finally, I've heard in some places that violence or political themes will be removed. While I do not know if this is baseless speculation, it would seem to me that these are more important things than sexuality in terms to anime storytelling. With the exception of slice-of-life, conflict is a central theme to story-telling. As for the latter qualifier, the removal of political commentary is just a general thing which people should stand against.

Dec 12, 2010 4:59 PM

#73

xDoN904

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Jun 2009

1152

Theres always a loop around this bill so its not over by any means.

Dec 12, 2010 5:18 PM

#74

Kazeshini

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May 2010

1396

yaoi, go service that homeless man in the alley.

Dec 12, 2010 5:31 PM

#75

PseudoJord

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Sep 2009

848

Well then, I hope that this will work out as well as preventing kids from playing Halo in the States by slapping a M tag on it.

Dec 12, 2010 5:33 PM

#76

renjikuchiki1

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Jan 2008

621

Kazeshini said:
yaoi, go service that homeless man in the alley.

what??

anyway..... i hope the people start rioting soon.... i don't like this law....

"Forged in darkness with wheat harvested from Hell's half acre. Baked by Beelzabub; slathered with mayonnaise beaten from the evil eggs of dark chickens, force-fed to dogs by the hands of a one-eyed madman. Cheese boiled from the rancid utters of fanged cows. Layered with 666 separate meats from an animal which has maggots for blood."
ATHF

Dec 12, 2010 5:36 PM

#77

chinlamp

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Mar 2009

1621

The anime industry was in decline already, this will be at the very least, one of the last few nails in it's coffin. The new bill that will pass on the 15th won't just stop hentai, pretty much any anime dealing with minors in risqué situations could be stopped by this law, as well as games. This is going to cripple any publisher or producer based in Tokyo.

What really bugs me is that books and films get to go completely unregulated by this law, it really seems to only be aimed at the anime and games industry.

Also, it reminds me of the whole 'Japanese Thought Police' thing that was enforced up until the American occupation of Japan. Do the Japanese really think those coming back is a good idea?

Dec 12, 2010 5:41 PM

#78

Gone__Forever__

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Oct 2009

797

This is sad...D:

Dec 12, 2010 5:52 PM

#79

oh-keisuke

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Dec 2010

23

I'm not mad at them. I guess it was necessary.

Dec 12, 2010 6:00 PM

#80

Nikoru-san

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Oct 2010

470

i want riots, and i want anime, japan needs to elect some new people, this is going to make their economy go down?

Tumblr | Anime List | 🌷🌼

Dec 12, 2010 6:27 PM

#81

chinlamp

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Mar 2009

1621

NikkiKitten17 said:
i want riots, and i want anime, japan needs to elect some new people, this is going to make their economy go down?

Except that this is the Tokyo Assembly, not Federal, so it only affects things in Tokyo. The problem is that that's where most of the producers of anime and games in Japan are based, the big ones at least.

And besides, the Japanese won't get rid of these people, the mayor of Tokyo, the leading supporter of this bill (and a writer of books that, were this law applied to the written word and not just games, anime and manga, would be banned because of the detailing of graphic rape scenes of minors) is openly racist and openly looks down on gay people, and he's been re-elected 3 times already. He's not going away and sadly we may not see many, if any anime or manga until at least the next generation of politicians, maybe even the generation after that. The anime industry might even die completely.

Dec 12, 2010 6:37 PM

#82

JOExHIGASHI

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Nov 2010

67

This bill makes no sense.

Fictional work cannot portray fictional situations to minors only because children will become criminals from watching a girl fall in love with her brother.

But hardcore anime porn where siblings have intercourse is completely unaffected.

Dec 12, 2010 7:19 PM

#83

icekatana8825

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May 2010

178

This bill should have been buried and forgotten a long time ago, I will rage if they pass it

icekatana8825 said:
SEE THE INVISIBLE TOUCH THE UNTOUCHABLE
ROW ROW FIGHT THE POWER

Dec 12, 2010 7:42 PM

#84

Merril

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Aug 2008

223

Thanks for the briefing OP.

This is very interesting, as I greatly respect the need for a sensible level of morality in what impressionable readers and watchers see.

But on the other hand, Japan has been a major source of high quality entertainment for me. It is already hard enough to obtain the shows and media I enjoy, some of which are already labeled as mature and others are general audience.

In this situation I would have much rather seen the political head taking a stance of offering positive policies that reinforce the entertainment industry while encouraging them to "get their act together." A bit of carrot and stick politicking is needed when the economy is fragile, and not to mention this deals with freedom of speech.

Dec 12, 2010 8:19 PM

#85

Phrosh

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Jun 2007

255

I can't really see this going well with a lot of people...

Dec 12, 2010 8:38 PM

#86

ShadowGilgamesh

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Nov 2010

367

I hope for mass unending public ragefests against this bill until it dies a thousand deaths, and if it does pass someone better pay for it with their blood

it's so retarded that i could facepalm for an eternity and it wouldn't even begin to discribe how dumb it is

ShadowGilgameshDec 12, 2010 9:12 PM

Dec 12, 2010 8:39 PM

#87

arhazivory

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Dec 2007

103

This....sucks

Dec 12, 2010 8:51 PM

#88

Nikoru-san

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Oct 2010

470

what i don't get is that there are animes being announced, and mangas being made into anime still, and their are upcoming ones in spring, and summer to be aired?

Tumblr | Anime List | 🌷🌼

Dec 12, 2010 8:54 PM

#89

ShadowGilgamesh

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Nov 2010

367

NikkiKitten17 said:
what i don't get is that there are animes being announced, and mangas being made into anime still, and their are upcoming ones in spring, and summer to be aired?

it says the bill wouldn't be put into effect till july 1st 2011, so any that would be aired before then would be exemt from that law
and after that there will be a period where everyone will be testing the limits of the regulation to see how bad it is

ShadowGilgameshDec 12, 2010 8:57 PM

Dec 12, 2010 9:00 PM

#90

Merril

Offline

Aug 2008

223

NikkiKitten17 said:
what i don't get is that there are animes being announced, and mangas being made into anime still, and their are upcoming ones in spring, and summer to be aired?

calm down and read

http://dankanemitsu.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/crunch-time-three-days-until-bill-156s-fate-is-determined/

or tldr

Or it may very well become a situation where the anime/vg/manga community can payoff whatever watchdog community is established in order to reach the desired audiences. Or it may end up like the US rating system where no one cares about enforcement or proper labeling.

Dec 12, 2010 9:38 PM

#91

nothing956

Offline

Mar 2009

105

i bet some series will accept the 18+ rating and get more violent and have even more rape Or it may very well become a situation where the anime/vg/manga community can payoff whatever watchdog community is established in order to reach the desired audiences. Or it may end up like the US rating system where no one cares about enforcement or proper labeling. i second this

Dec 12, 2010 9:39 PM

#92

rpn101

Offline

May 2009

615

.....well Anime and Manga just got screwed over :( now many mangakas are going to have to drift away from some of those topics to get their manga to be more kidish to attract more people, honestly just having an adult audience will effect their ratings and sales by ALOT....*sigh*

Dec 12, 2010 9:57 PM

#93

zeroj

Offline

Feb 2008

603

So let me get this straight...

Does this mean more original anime? Fans won't be pleased.

"Manga readers are annoying, all they do is complain or spoil the anime we discuss in an anime forum. They should really do their whining at manga forums."

Stolen from Janethan23. Add in visual novel readers too

Dec 12, 2010 10:03 PM

#94

fireshadowdr

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Dec 2007

197

Hop aboard the rage train people.

Dec 12, 2010 10:17 PM

#95

RedBardIsCool

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Jun 2008

190

Well this is rather disappointing...
hm...
My theory on what will come of this?
For one, mangaka will become fewer, that's obvious. It need no explanation.
And two, there will be an uprising. Maybe not a Bloody Kansas or Tiananmen Square, but an uprising. Protest is actually a better word in this case. There's quite a number of otaku in Japan (according to a 2005 article on ANN, a poll was taken in 2005 and for anime, the number was around 110,000) and I doubt they'll all just take this quietly...

Dec 12, 2010 10:23 PM

#96

LeReal

Offline

Oct 2010

7870

What the hell is this? Why are we being deprived of our fetishes? Are they afraid people will be influenced by anime and commit more crime?

*Hops aboard rage train*

Dec 12, 2010 10:39 PM

#97

entropy13

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Jul 2008

1280

Apparently the governor of Tokyo writes novels depicting gangs and raping schoolgirls, yet those aren't covered by the bill?

Dec 12, 2010 10:46 PM

#98

XxHarimaxX

Offline

Feb 2009

75

To all the haters on passing this bill please step back away from your comp and smash your face in. Im jumping on the rage train. Fuck this faggish bill!

Pray Not To Live Longer Lives, Pray To Be Stronger Men! - John F. Kennedy

Dec 12, 2010 11:31 PM

#99

kaykojima

Offline

Dec 2010

1

his is from Tokyo:

10 biggest company announced a cacellation of the exhibition
at Tokyo International Anime Fair 2011 (3/26-27) against
the anime and manga regulation bill.

So many people strongly dissent from the bill since it is
very vauge and not only forbid to show&sell applied comics to the people
under age of 18, but give a heavy blow to the mangaka and the anime creators,
but it will be adopted on December 15th.
We cannot see many popular works at TIAF, but Tokyo Metropolitan
Government does not announce about it yet.

Addionally, the Governor of Tokyo Metropolis commented discriminatively
about homosexual people, it makes us upset.

Dec 13, 2010 12:30 AM

#100

AstuteOtaku

Offline

Aug 2009

281

The main problem with the bill is that it is vague. Vague bills are always used for the control of the populace rather then the protection of individuals.

Whether I dissagree with the bill or not, laws should avoid being open to too much interpretation, especially in this day and age.

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Anime and Manga Regulation Bill Passes Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly

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