User blog comment:Tinni/Bill 156: Japan to crack down on violence, fanservice, fun in anime/manga/@comment-1351982-20101215005738

I know the mayor is a total a^%hole, but I understand where the committee is coming from. I think it is important to keep the really hardcore stuff away from minors, however I think they are taking it a step too far. Artists are now scared to express their creativity without running into the law. Shueshia said in a press release the other day that new artists are welcome and don't be scared, if you have a really good story we will publish it. Basically what the bill is saying is that anything with extreme sexual situations (i.e., rape scenes, and take your pick to whatever else) cannot not be sold to anyone under 18. Basically its like the video game law in CA. The point is as with video games, how do we define what is inappropriate for minors and what is not. I know the vast majority of us are at least 18, and in the US with comics, basically if you have the money, you can buy it, because we don't really care what you do in your spare time. The fact that Shueshia basically said "screw you" in legal terms, I doubt anything will happen to the "big three." I mean if anything happened to One Piece over there, it would be World War III. Plus Kubo has played the extreme and possibly sexual situation card twice, and you can't really play it a third time because it looses meaning. What happens tomorrow and after that is completely out of our hands. But, I still don't think this will impact Kubo, Kisimoto, or Oda, because it terms some of the stuff that comes out of Japan, they are pretty tame. Mainly this bill is for the hentai market and pervy stuff like that (which is dumb because they have already had laws for that for many years). But, hey if it means less crap like that coming from Japan and more shonen anime, they maybe it's not so bad.