So, why aren't we talking about this bill?

[Perfect]

You guys know that the bill says nothing about homosexuality, nudity, fanservice, violence, censorship, or banning anything. It pretty much says that illegal acts and/or incest are to be 18+, but only if portrayed in a positive light.

The anime's DVDs may also see an age rating, again, not a big deal. Maybe some censorship with Kai's broadcast?

Well maybe so, its not like Dragon Ball is a M/R rated series. Dragon Ball always been a All age rated series, all of the games have been E-T, the show has been on CN & Nicktoons, and that the series always been trageted to kids. Not to mention DBE was Rated PG in the US afterall.

If we're to talk about the US, Dragon Ball receives a TV-PG-TV14 age rating, whereas other countries such as Australia receive a TVPG-Mature rating. Older movie releases from the old Pioneer dub are also rated at PG-13. You seem to fail to understand that it doesn't matter what the current age rating is in Japan for the series, if one shonen series in Jump is to be screwed over then they all will be. You also have to factor in how sensitive cultures are to certain subjects, Japan is clearly less strict than the US.

[Bussani]

Shonen manga only uses sexual situations as humor, not as something that can be taken seriously.

I hope people are just overreacting, but the bill is vague enough to allow them to go after this kind of stuff if they felt like it, and they don't legally need more of an excuse than, "We decided this is unacceptable." Whether this ends up having a big effect on the industry or not, I still don't like the principle of the idea, and it seems like the people in the industry themselves don't, either.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

This is coming from the same country that makes games about rape?

Yeah, because the country of Japan has only one person, right?

I'm sorry, what? I think the point he was trying to get at is: Japan makes some pretty sick shit. Games and animations about sexualized children, rape and incest, to be blunt. Which actually sell pretty well, surprisingly. It's a bit contradictory that they're worrying about Shōnen Manga/Anime, of all things. Japan needs to focus on getting garbage like that off their shelves, than on banning Naruto's Sexy Jutsu or Kid Gokū's penis for persons under 18.

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

I'm sure these people aren't totally cool with all of that stuff, either. My point is, "Japan" doesn't make that stuff, certain people in Japan do. And I'm pretty sure different cultures find different things to be "sick."

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

I'm sure these people aren't totally cool with all of that stuff, either. My point is, "Japan" doesn't make that stuff, certain people in Japan do. And I'm pretty sure different cultures find different things to be "sick."

Okay, then. Fair point.

[TheGreatness25]

Well if Dragon Ball Kai (and other anime shows) gets pulled off TV, that could have a pretty big affect on it.

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

It's not gonna happen.

[Drabaz]

So if Shueisha is boycotting the Tokyo Anime Fair, does this mean there won't be anything Dragonball (or anything Shonen Jump for that matter) at the event? Toei will still be there though so maybe not. I'm planning on going and when I heard this, it was a big dissapointment.

[JulieYBM]

Now that Toonzone is back up I figured I'd post a little summary of what this bill means. Bare in mind this was written before the bill passed. Considering the server trouble we've been having I think it's best to post the whole thing here. This could very well affect future Dragon Ball comics and animation easily.

Trying something way different here, but since we're getting down to the wire, I figured an informative and fresh opening post is due:

Super TL;DR Version:
Tokyo government is set to pass a law restricting the depiction in anime, games and manga of sexuality and perhaps other crimes when a fictional minor is involved such that even Naruto, Bleach and Cardcaptor Sakura could technically run afowl of this law (depends on enforcement,) and if you mess with those industries in Tokyo, you mess with them for the world because Tokyo is the primary market.

Vote goes down in under 24 hours.

TL;DR Version:
The Tokyo General Assembly is poised to pass a bill named the Tokyo Youth Ordinance. This bill would restrict manga, anime and game industries from depicting any sexual relationship that is illegal with in the bounds of Tokyo in a favorable fashion, including but not limited to underage relationships and incestous relationships. These titles would all now be marked as 18+ material unsuitable for minors, and so be forced into adults only shops. Even manga like Cardcaptor Sakura, Naruto and Bleach could technically violate the law as worded, and they have specifically said even adaptations of classic novels like the Tale of Genji would be subject to censorship under this law.The bill notably exempts live action films and written novels. This has the manga publishing industry in an uproar, with 10 of the largest publishers in Japan pulling support from the Tokyo government sponsored Tokyo Anime Fest.

The bill passed the committee stage as of December 13th, and is poised for a vote on December 15th. Even without passing, the bill has already had a chilling effect on manga: publishers are already passing on titles featuring school aged characters in even the most subtle sexual situations, and many manga featuring school aged characters in sexual relationships are likely to not get reprints.

UPDATE 1: Unmentionable Anime Yellow Journalism site is already calling the vote in favor of the bill passing, as the LPJ (the majority party,) is reportedly backing this version of the legislation. Additionally, there is speculation that the current wording of the bill is so vague it would cover any instance where minors and crime intersect in a non-negative depiction in manga/anime/games, resulting in an R18 rating and a trip to the adults-only section/stores.

By this logic, CLAMP's Man of Many Faces, one of the most bland, kid-friendly mangas I can think of, would be R18 in Tokyo, as the lead character is a kid who is a gentleman thief who steals things in a very over the top fashion. Let alone all the kids killing/fighting each other in Bleach, Naruto, DBZ, One Piece, etc. Heck, Bebop should be 18 plus because it glorifies kids hacking.

This law may be crazier than ever.

Update 2: The national government in Japan might finally be getting the damage one city seems poised to do: http://www.toonzone.net/forums/showpost ... ostcount=7

Longer Version:
Start with a direct interpretation of the text from someone who is much more knowledgable than I on this:

http://dankanemitsu.wordpress.com/2010/ ... tal-scope/

Now, this actually begins back in march the first time the Tokyo Assembly attempted to pass a very similar law that was basically squarely aimed at lolicon/shota works, basically banning depictions of "fictional minors" in a sexual fashion in manga, games and anime that are sold outside of the context of an adult store or similarly restricted retail avenue (more on that specificity of anime, manga and games later.) Additionally, there were some bits about internet filtering in internet cafes as well. Well, there was a huge media and otaku uproar, with scathing editorials, furious tweets from various manga-ka, and even fine artists got in on the act as Superflat art godfather Takashi Murakami even dressed up Britney Spears in a school girl swimsuit for some magazine photoshoot as an excuse to make a point about how the law would effect free expression in Japan.

Well, the bill hits the floor of assembly and is smashed down. So, the ruling party lets the heat die down, carefully rewording the bill in complete secret with zero industry input, only to propose this revised version for consideration on the last possible day new legislation can be proposed for a session. This version is in someways even more incendiary, as it actually broadens the net of what would cause a manga, anime or game to be considered adults only inside boundaries of Tokyo, though it does allow for works of "artistic merit" which is a vague term itself. Essentially, non-critical/positive depictions of any sexual relationship or act that's not legal inside the boundaries of Tokyo is cause for an adults only rating. This is obviously exceedingly broad. Two of the largest newspapers in Japan have written scathing editorials condemning the legislation, and 10 of the largest manga publishers in Japan have pulled their support for what is by most measures the biggest anime trade show on earth, the Tokyo Government-sponsored Tokyo Anime Fest (aka TAF.)

However, while there is bravado up front, publishers are already planning for the worst. Many are holding back on buying certain new titles and holding off on reprinting others on fears the law will be passed. One manga-ka has described it as a ban on high-school uniforms; another compared it to laws passed during the rising of nationalistic facism in the 1920s in Japan. As the teenaged hero/heroine is pretty much the most established trope in anime, the passage of this law could literally destroy or atleast terraform the manga, game and anime industries overnight, likely costing a number of already struggling artists their livelihood.

At the center of all this drama is the openly anti-otaku Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara. While he's ironically the chairman of the TAF committee, he has gone on record as saying "I get the impression that many manga lovers lead dead-end lives. Go talk to a living woman!" amongst other choice gaffes, though shonen-ai fans may find this gem to be unsettling: "There are even homosexuals on TV now, as if there is nothing wrong with it. Japan is too unregulated. I come with a sense of duty." This, is where that on going narrowness about only certain (otaku-driven) mediums getting censored by this law gets interesting. You see, Ishihara has actually written a few novels depicting underage rape and relationships in a positive light - his own works, if adapted to manga, wouldn't meet the litmus test this law outlines. That's part one of why the law makes no sense: books are by default considered to have "artistic merit" while manga, anime and games are going to be forced to prove their case, and publishers lack the resources (and likely odds in their favor) of actually getting that classification for the sheer volume of works this law might effect. Part two is the specificity of one area of crime being off limits to depict. If the main thrust of the law is keep children from being warped by the influence of certain mediums, which laws being broken by characters in manga shouldn't matter - depicting theft should be just as worrisome as depicting the acts the law bans from all ages manga. If Lupin is okay for kids, well, Tenchi can't be that bad. Edit: though, it might be applied to violence as well. The law is turning out to be that vague.

Oh, and the new provisions for artistic merit may actually sucker a lot of assemblymen into voting for the bill, such that it will pass. As it stood, it already has created an odd intersection point for the old, old, old liners like Ishihara, who have essentially been blindly elected to the same seat since the post-war reconstruction, and young politicians who identify as feminist but are in truth essentially anti-pornography with some very skewed views on what that means.

Fallout from this passing could be surprisingly swift. If you already have publishers turning down works and looking to nix reprints, we'll probably see changes immediately in what's released.

Citations:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... ill-posted
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... anime-fair
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... -committee
[more forthcoming]


PS: As evidenced by my notorious decade-end slam of exploitative works, I obviously don't have any love lost for that kind of stuff. HOWEVER, this law is way broader than what I mentioned there anyway, and it really jumps into the stupid and logically inconsistent world of thought crimes. It's bad enough most of Europe and Australia by and large already adhere to a similarly logically broken model of free speech that is medium and law violation depicted dependent. Japan doesn't need to follow suit, and if you censor manga and anime in Tokyo, you do so for the world. This could not only damage Japanese publishers, but ripple back through the global anime industry, making the shake-out from the post-boom era look like a sniffle compared to avian flu.

[Rocketman]

Does Japan even have the right to free speech? That's pretty much only an American enshrinement.

[AnimeMaakuo]

.

[TheGreatness25]

Ah George Carlin's words...

Yeah, the US doesn't have "rights" but either way, we are fortunate enough to have the first Amendment. I'm sure Japan and other countries around the world have caught up to the whole, "freedom of x, y, and z" thing. I'm sure they are able to express themselves creatively as long as it does not harm anyone. This happens in the US too, because some material is able to influence others, which is the big question. Do you have the freedom of speech if what you're saying infringes upon other people? That is why censorship (the FCC, etc.) exists in the US. I'm sure that in Japan they would still have these products being sold under a different label, and everything would pretty much be the same, except for when it comes to public television that can be viewed by anyone.

[Hellspawn28]

Well I hope this does not happen with American comics soon. I would hate to see that happen since Image Comics are free to do add anything in their comics.

[VegettoEX]

Well I hope this does not happen with American comics soon. I would hate to see that happen since Image Comics are free to do add anything in their comics.

Oh, we already went through that over fifty years ago. We're good for a little while.

It's them there video games you have to worry about, now.

[Eddie]

I don't know if things have changed in the past several months, but I seem to remember an article on ANN that actually stated several things that would not be affected by this wacky bill, and Bulma's nude scenes in DB were definitely one of them. Pretty sure it also listed Rei and Asuka's nude scenes in Evangelion, and those are a helluva lot more harmful to children (according to the bill, not my personal views) than anything in Dragon Ball.

[B]

This is coming from the same country that makes games about rape?

Yeah, because the country of Japan has only one person, right?

I'm sorry, what? I think the point he was trying to get at is: Japan makes some pretty sick shit. Games and animations about sexualized children, rape and incest, to be blunt. Which actually sell pretty well, surprisingly. It's a bit contradictory that they're worrying about Shōnen Manga/Anime, of all things. Japan needs to focus on getting garbage like that off their shelves, than on banning Naruto's Sexy Jutsu or Kid Gokū's penis for persons under 18.

Have you ever heard of "Give them an inch, and they'll take a mile"? This bill is Tokyo's inch.

[TripleRach]

I don't know if things have changed in the past several months, but I seem to remember an article on ANN that actually stated several things that would not be affected by this wacky bill, and Bulma's nude scenes in DB were definitely one of them. Pretty sure it also listed Rei and Asuka's nude scenes in Evangelion, and those are a helluva lot more harmful to children (according to the bill, not my personal views) than anything in Dragon Ball.

I remember that article too, but that was based on the older "Nonexistent Youth" version of the bill that was shot down months ago. They've revised it since then.