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Saya no Uta Article by Jason Helton. Apparently the reason for censored genitalia is because of the US

anime-saya-no-uta_00180633 Found this article by Jason Helton on Saya no Uta and eroge: [toplessrobot.com] Good article overall especially this part I will quote. Apparently the censorship of genitalia used in eroge & porn in general, was actually the US’ fault.

Jason: “According to Bennett, one of the actions taken by Allied forces after World War II was to ban pornography in Japan. As Japan was a very sexual culture prior to the war, occupying forces blamed porn for the aggressive and expansionary tendencies of the Japanese Empire, and the ban was created to curb their combative nature. That being said, it’s illegal for genitalia, real or animated, to be featured in entertainment; a ban that over sixty years later is still in place.” (one more reason to hate the US)

2013-06-28 03_45_48-animal ears blush green eyes long hair saya saya no uta wallpaper _ 1500x1125 _ ”Bennett, while explaining to me the potential differences between the Japanese and International versions of Saya no Uta, has at last explained the reasoning behind Japanese penchant for penetrating protuberances; a.k.a. Tentacle Porn. Going back to that damn Allied anti-porn law, penises and vaginas were parts non-grata in Japanese entertainment. But those meddling Yankees didn’t say a Cthulu-damned thing about tentacles. In fact, so long as it’s attached to a monster, it doesn’t count.” (u can thank the US for that!)

000026 Jason: “One of the more puzzling scenes in the game features the main character waxing internally about a sex act Saya is performing on him. At least three full pages of dialogue are spent with him questioning this act, one which we as Americans would consider rather typical behavior of young people Fujimori’s age. Again I had to engage Steve Bennett for an explanation.

“As hyper-sexualized as Japan as a country has become, there are still stigmas placed on sexuality, particularly for young men. Bennett explained that while we as Americans are very individualized, with our actions only affecting ourselves, the Japanese culture still focuses on the group. The actions a man take reflect not only on him, but on his entire family. This causes Japanese males in particular to heavily analyze any action they take, including sexually.

000071 “One of the reasons for the popularity of games of this genre is that it provides a safe place for people to explore their sexuality, including the darker, more primal elements of sex, in the confines and safety of their own home. It’s in that privacy that all fears of family embarrassment cease, though it’s becoming a cause for concern.”

“As more young men retreat to the privacy of their rooms for sexual gratification and danger-free relationships, there is a growing concern that all of this is affecting Japanese population numbers. While other factors are to blame, such as the large number of people being more career and less family focused, some researchers believe that many Japanese men are simply forgoing relationships with real flesh and blood people, instead choosing to live as eternal bachelors or involved in virtual relationships. In this age of technology, how long until these virtual relationships develop the ability to become physical? It’s a pretty frightening thought, particularly if the Terminator has the appetite of Saya.”

It’s a thoughtful article, you can read the whole thing here: [toplessrobot.com]
I still find it hard to believe that this loli-rape porn game managed to get a western release. Nitroplus so gutsy while other players are just more concerned with being meiwaku.

PS: when i say the US, i am saying the US rulers not its people. completely different things.

Tay

I'm the Fuwanovel community admin and a big fan of Visual Novels. The easiest way to get a hold of me is via a PM on the Fuwanovel Forums, by twitter (@ArchmageTay), or by email.

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Anonymous
10 years ago

Fascinating article which is oblivious to the fact that Article 175 of the Criminal Code of Japan, which prohibits the distribution of obscene materials (usually interpreted to mean those which depict pubic hair or uncensored genitalia), dates back to the year when the Criminal Code was first written- 1907- and hasn’t been touched since.

Tentacle porn also predates WWII and American interference by centuries. Ever heard of the Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife? Sorry, Jason, you can’t blame them being a culture of sickos on us in any way.

Also Nitroplus is so gutsy that they delayed the Saya release by years for no real reason. Hint: it’s rarely JAST’s fault that they take so long to release everything.

Gilles Poitras
Reply to  Anonymous
10 years ago

Ack. I wrote that, for got to add my name.

Gilles Poitras
Reply to  Anonymous
10 years ago

I did not write this comment, instead my clarification which I intended to go to a comment I accidentally posted as Anonymous got stuck on this one. Probably due to my inattention to what I was going and lack of coffee.

Sorry Anonymous I did not mean to take credit for your words. Good info too, thanks.

BBlah
10 years ago

Japan… Japan… Japan.

zeroyuki92
10 years ago

Interesting article. It’s amusing to see non-otaku people reaction when they try to read Saya no Uta, especially the open-minded ones :p

Warnats
10 years ago

This VN shattered me; and made me new. I will forever feel slightly insane. Or is everyone insane? Hehe

A peticular feeling you get from this Vn, I could not describe other than joy.

Gilles Poitras
10 years ago

Damn it looks like my comment did not get posted, instead my reply to my comment got attached to another comment.

Here is the short of what I attempted to post:

In fact there was almost no censorship for sexual content under the occupation. The occupation forces focused on mentions of non-Japanese in the publications and any depiction of whites in erotic contexts. Things were so unrestricted that many of the works published in Japan starting in 1946 would have been declared obscene illegal in the US until the late 1960s.

For more info on this see:
McLelland, Mark
Love, Sex, and Democracy in Japan During the American Occupation
New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012

Haborym
10 years ago

Saya is fucking amazing