29th of May at Pasela Ginza in Ginza, Tokyo, several bishoujo-game seiyuu held an event called 「Onee-sama-tachi to Issho ♪」 to protest the new amendments to child pornography laws. [source: biz-journal.jp/] The new child pornography laws will arrest people who are in ‘possession’ of any child pornographic materials, be it 2D or 3D, throw them in jail for 1 year, and fine for 1 million yen (US$10,437~). Needless to say, it will completely destroy the eroge, as well as manga & anime industry if these laws pass. That is why, countless fans have gathered in Ginza along with numerous industry representatives. [See article on animenewsnetwork.com]
At the event there was:
まきいづみ (Maki Izumi) voice of Komari from Little Busters and Chihiro from Ef.
野宮香央里 (Amane from Flyable Hearts)
藤邑鈴香 (Sharuru DC3 x-rated version)
And four other newer seiyuu: 田中理々, 八ツ橋きなこ, 早瀬ゃょぃ, しまむらこんぶ.
There’s an interview with Maki Izumi (Komari) on biz-journal which I won’t translate but she says that all of the seiyuu (on-stage) do not object to voicing the sexually-depicted characters in eroge. And also that these games have impacted people in a very important and precious way, by way of the user relating to the characters and their plights. [source: biz-journal.jp/]
And.
obligatory…
DAFUQ, they destroying my only thing that have fun
I think a perfectly sane person can draw a fine line between what is real and what is fiction.
Doing things like this can’t possibly reduce any related crime.
It has been proven that there is no link between that sort of content and people committing those acts.
By implementing such as thing surely they would be destroying an industry that accumulates them quite a lot of taxes and will put many people out of business.
Completely agree with you, we do not ban fiction with extreme violence, heavy adult themes or use of drugs. Everyone should know the difference between reality and fiction, and everyone should know what’s right and wrong in our society.
These kind of products, be it VNs, anime, manga, LNs or even western movies, series and books appeal to us, the consumers, because of their feeling of escapism, from immersing on a different(fictional) reality, one that we can read, see and do things that we would never be able to in real life.
Should these laws be approved, it will severely impact the Japanese culture as a whole, and maybe even cause the ceasing of several otaku related products and markets.
If you don’t agree with those kinds of products, just don’t buy it, that’s how capitalism works. If they still exist, it’s because people consume it for their own entertainment and by their own will. Sure, there are limits to be had, but as long as there’s distinction of reality from fiction, changes like these are unnecessary.