Yeah, nothing like Western governments at all! Ha, big laugh.

Two years of governmental and bureaucratic bullshit in Japan, with officials publicly announcing their idiocy by grouping Shoujo and Hentai-esque manga together has finally led to real action. On June 8th the Osaka police department conducted a “sweep” of 70 stores in search of shoujo manga that have been deemed harmful and reportedly will “stimulate considerable sexual emotions in youths” in children under 18. Despite these manga being shrink wrapped, the covers alone will viciously rage through teenagers, forcing them to do unbearable acts such as holding hands, or even KISSING!!

Thanks goes out to the Osaka Police Department for their productive work in shielding our young from these atrocities.

On July 18th, Thailand’s police force raided Bangkok’s best known maid cafe, arresting two managers and confiscating over 200 volumes of “obscene” japanese-imported manga. Thailand’s police explained that this was spurred on from parental complaints whose children frequented the cafe. No word on what genre or series were deemed inappropriate, however it was obviously too difficult for these parents to explain to their kids the difference between right and wrong. Way to go, another failure in modern families.

With all this ruckus abound in Eastern Asia over mature manga, what are the chances parents and authorities in the US will figure out what their kids are really reading? Unbeknownst to most, the fastest-growing Japanese-imported entertainment is non other than Yaoi manga. Despite it all being shrink-wrapped, large book-stores across America have absolutely no idea what they’re putting on their shelves next to Naruto and Fruits Basket. The employees obviously don’t know. What parent would knowingly buy their 13 year old daughter a book filled with unbelievably boring mansex? These books are just playful children comics right?

I’m not faulting the publishers in any way. They are currently not regulated to shrink wrap the majority of 18+ manga, but they do! Publishers are going out of their way to protect these kids; I fear what will happen to them when one overbearing mother finds her daughter’s hidden “porn” stash and sparks a campaign against the industry.

Date Posted: Friday, July 20, 2007