Ridiculous Manga Regulation Law
Apparently, there is some legislation going on about changing the manga industry so that characters who appear under the age of 18 cannot do violate things or engage in sexual behavior, etc. In short, everything we see now will basically be illegal from Fullmetal Alchemist, Naruto, D.Grayman (your typical shounen series) to yaoi manga.
A petition has been opened to even people overseas to sign right at this moment to oppose the legalizing of this law. Currently there are around 68k out of 100k signed. The manga industry is making some noise over in Japan right now, and I hope they continue to do so. Meanwhile, I only hope that voters are smart enough to realize that this law will only hurt them and not protect them from anything in the end. Yeah, kids won't have access to so-called "violent material" and make those characters into themselves, but this law is wrong on so many levels both in the arts department and from a business perspective. Why in the world would you want to limit a sector of your economy that is actually doing well, rather than help it flourish more? This doesn't make any sense to me.
And it's not fair to only regulate manga/anime. If manga is regulated then live-action should be as well. There are enough violent films and drama out there with kids under the age of 18 -- albeit often played by actors over the age of 18 -- that rivals what's animated. So if manga gets regulated, they should regulate films as well. Let them see what type of noise people make. I bet those in the creative industry won't take this lying down. So for those of us who can only sign a petition, I am keeping my hopes up and heart out to the people over there and saying "Go make more noise! Fight!"
Anyway, I've put the petition link here. For more information about the law, read these: Danny Choo's and AnimeNewsNetwork.
To oppose: Petition on the Suppression of Freedom of Expression
And on a final note before I rush off to work. Why the hell is the 18+ rating even valid if everything is regulated anyway? It wouldn't make sense if it's 18+ or not 'cause it's already illegal. Just because yaoi and shota with people under 18 isn't allowed, doesn't mean it doesn't happen in real life be it consensual or non--consensual. How about using the effort to change what happens in real life than what happens in art? Limiting freedom of expression is really retarded.
And... don't these legislators have been things to do than using their taxpayers' hard-earned money to regulate something stupid like this? As a taxpayer, I wouldn't want to waste my money on this whether I like or don't care for manga, I still think it is ridiculous from a business perspective.
So do your parts, go petition.
Edit: For those who can't read Japanese, but want to petition. I've posted a few links here to show how -- courtesy of ravensilver -- though I did not ask for permission since in dire straits, we should be allowed to steal tutorial images and get more people to flood the petition.
[ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ]
For the last screen, it will give that little 4-digit code. Enter it and click the right button underneath. It will take you to another screen where the first several boxes are for you to put in friends' email addresses and a message at the very last box. That's it. You can only sign the petition once ... per email address. I'm weird and have four, so I'll probably be signing with them all lol.
A petition has been opened to even people overseas to sign right at this moment to oppose the legalizing of this law. Currently there are around 68k out of 100k signed. The manga industry is making some noise over in Japan right now, and I hope they continue to do so. Meanwhile, I only hope that voters are smart enough to realize that this law will only hurt them and not protect them from anything in the end. Yeah, kids won't have access to so-called "violent material" and make those characters into themselves, but this law is wrong on so many levels both in the arts department and from a business perspective. Why in the world would you want to limit a sector of your economy that is actually doing well, rather than help it flourish more? This doesn't make any sense to me.
And it's not fair to only regulate manga/anime. If manga is regulated then live-action should be as well. There are enough violent films and drama out there with kids under the age of 18 -- albeit often played by actors over the age of 18 -- that rivals what's animated. So if manga gets regulated, they should regulate films as well. Let them see what type of noise people make. I bet those in the creative industry won't take this lying down. So for those of us who can only sign a petition, I am keeping my hopes up and heart out to the people over there and saying "Go make more noise! Fight!"
Anyway, I've put the petition link here. For more information about the law, read these: Danny Choo's and AnimeNewsNetwork.
To oppose: Petition on the Suppression of Freedom of Expression
And on a final note before I rush off to work. Why the hell is the 18+ rating even valid if everything is regulated anyway? It wouldn't make sense if it's 18+ or not 'cause it's already illegal. Just because yaoi and shota with people under 18 isn't allowed, doesn't mean it doesn't happen in real life be it consensual or non--consensual. How about using the effort to change what happens in real life than what happens in art? Limiting freedom of expression is really retarded.
And... don't these legislators have been things to do than using their taxpayers' hard-earned money to regulate something stupid like this? As a taxpayer, I wouldn't want to waste my money on this whether I like or don't care for manga, I still think it is ridiculous from a business perspective.
So do your parts, go petition.
Edit: For those who can't read Japanese, but want to petition. I've posted a few links here to show how -- courtesy of ravensilver -- though I did not ask for permission since in dire straits, we should be allowed to steal tutorial images and get more people to flood the petition.
[ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ]
For the last screen, it will give that little 4-digit code. Enter it and click the right button underneath. It will take you to another screen where the first several boxes are for you to put in friends' email addresses and a message at the very last box. That's it. You can only sign the petition once ... per email address. I'm weird and have four, so I'll probably be signing with them all lol.