Anime and Government!!


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Chuuko

-Yoitsu no Kenro
Sempai
Sometimes i don't understand why the government thinks badly over anime.
The government thinks anime is all about sex and violence and nothing more, that especialy goes for the Dutch government.

When people tries to convince the government about the fact that anime isn't all about that, they just don't want to hear about it, sure the government aires some anime here (mostly pokemon) and some other ones, but only a few and allot has to happen for those to air here
dry.gif

But most of all anime aren't being aired here, you can buy they in some stores, but those stores are mostly in the bigger cities.

How does it go for the government in which you're living in, do they think desame or are they more easily about anime.
 
QUOTE
When people tries to convince the government about the fact that anime isn't all about that, they just don't want to hear about it, sure the government aires some anime here (mostly pokemon) and some other ones, but only a few and allot has to happen for those to air here
dry.gif

But most of all anime aren't being aired here, you can buy they in some stores, but those stores are mostly in the bigger cities.

Since when the government decides what's aired on TV ?
I mean, I realize it can happen for some news, but not for entertainment.

Well, to be honest, we had some politicians speaking against animes in the early 90's.
When Hokuto no Ken/Fist of the North Star was broadcasted in a children show.
I can't say the politicians were wrong.
Except those particular problems about violence or sex (especially underage sex. And I mean underage according to the European laws, not 'less than 18'), I'm not aware of politicians interering with animes (it would be quite illegal anyway, in my opinion. For the sake of the competition).
 
This actually applies to any government around the world except Japan where there slightly more lenient about content.

To start off, the US in 2004 deemed Negima as a child pornography "magazine" or "comic book." It was in a CNN article, and not sure if many remembered this. As a result, a bill was presented in Congress to ban ALL anime and manga within the US, not including personal imports though. The bill did not pass because Congress didn't really care and anime is not really that big of a thing at the time.

Next in 2006/2007 in China and Taiwan, the Death Note cases. Just as the Death Note manga was ending publication there, both China and Taiwan decide to ban the manga not only from school (which was the first step though), but from the entire country. The reason was because they did not want children influenced by such a dark themed show emphasizing death.

QUOTE (Dalriada @ Jul 03 2008, 07:33 AM)QUOTE
When people tries to convince the government about the fact that anime isn't all about that, they just don't want to hear about it, sure the government aires some anime here (mostly pokemon) and some other ones, but only a few and allot has to happen for those to air here
But most of all anime aren't being aired here, you can buy they in some stores, but those stores are mostly in the bigger cities.

Since when the government decides what's aired on TV ?
I mean, I realize it can happen for some news, but not for entertainment.

Well, to be honest, we had some politicians speaking against animes in the early 90's.
When Hokuto no Ken/Fist of the North Star was broadcasted in a children show.
I can't say the politicians were wrong.
Except those particular problems about violence or sex (especially underage sex. And I mean underage according to the European laws, not 'less than 18'), I'm not aware of politicians interering with animes (it would be quite illegal anyway, in my opinion. For the sake of the competition).
The government has always had control of what's aired on TV. School Days was cancelled and so was Higurashi in Japan because of real-life incidents that depicted scenarios from the two shows. US same thing. Look at Naruto where the blood was completely editted out. Look at Yu Yu Hakusho and Kenshin. Same thing. In China, the banning of Death Note manga and anime. All in all government can control the media. That's how it manipulates the views of many audiences. Of course though they have some limitations, but when it comes to things like anime, since governments (especially those outside of Japan) perceive them as nothing more than cartoons, they have full authority of what content should not be shown.

I'm not sure about elsewhere, but it's a general stereotype not only by the government but by oblivious and ignorant audiences who perceive anime as nothing more than either as childish cartoons, porn, or excessive and unnecessary violence. I got that a lot in the past being the only person in my entire grade who liked anime to its fullest extent, in fact just liking anime at all, and I still get it now, but not as much.

All in all, it's just really going to take time for people to get hooked on it. Maybe not this generation, but the next probably. Because as more anime is exported from Japan, the increasing popularity (but also the death of fansubs
sad.gif
, which I'd rather not have ).

Also, I think this ANN image sums everything up about this thread and what I just said
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/anime-news-nina/2008-07-02
 
QUOTE The government has always had control of what's aired on TV. School Days was cancelled and so was Higurashi in Japan because of real-life incidents that depicted scenarios from the two shows. US same thing. Look at Naruto where the blood was completely editted out. Look at Yu Yu Hakusho and Kenshin. Same thing.

Those shows have been cancelled or edited by the broadcasters !
Yes, it's a slaughter (the difference between the Japanese version and the Franch version of Dragon Ball ! Oh my God !), but it has nothing to do with the government. It has to do with what people except of animes (and here, we rejoin the anime and adults thread).

The two only examples you're giving is a bill made of fail (and we all know some very stupid bills are presented each year) and China/Taiwan, not exactly the epitome of free speech.

However, I do agree that there's some very negative stereotypes about animes.
In France, it was during the late 80's and early 90's, thanks to the folishness of broadcasters, who didn't gave a fuck about what they were showing. Nowadays, the generation who watched those animes is coming into power, some animes are well received by critics and mangas is a blooming industry (I believe France is one of the biggest markets for manga outside Japan). All those elements contribute to make mangas and animes far more accepted.
But once again, it has nothing to do with the government.
 
QUOTE (Kit-Tsukasa @ Jul 03 2008, 06:17 PM)To start off, the US in 2004 deemed Negima as a child pornography "magazine" or "comic book." It was in a CNN article, and not sure if many remembered this.
Wasn't that a spoof article? There was certainly a spoof news article which said something like that.

QUOTE The government has always had control of what's aired on TV. School Days was cancelled and so was Higurashi in Japan because of real-life incidents
Like Dalriada says, it's the broadcasters who are doing this, exercising self-censorship. However this is potentially even worse since you can have a situation where people feel obliged to censor themselves because they are afraid the government might take action against them otherwise. So a country can pretend to be free — because there are no censorship laws — but really it is oppressed because the broadcasters (and people generally) have been coerced into censoring themselves to avoid laws being passed to regulate what they do.
 
Regarding the title name, remove the word government and replace it with media and you'll be closer to the mark.
wink.gif


Don't know the exact details in the USA but in Britain the government has little direct control on what is shown on TV. The content of TV programs are regulated by Ofcom. If a program has too much sex/violence/swearing then it can only be broadcast after 21:00 (or 20:00 for satellite channels).

If an anime were to be shown in its "pure" form it would probably have to be shown after 9 in the evening which would often alienate it's target audience. Furthermore the anime series would be shown around prime time. That means it has to compete with the most popular shows. It would never win on terrestrial TV. Off course the broadcasters can edit these anime series so it can be shown before the watershed but I doubt the results would be pretty.

The media often portrays anime in a bad light but I believe this is due to cultural differences between England and Japan. The Japanese seem more relaxed about sex (can I include paedophilia?
ohmy.gif
). If I had to give my honest opinion there's a lot of indifference about anime in Britain. No one really cares (there are more cricket fans than anime fans). As you don't know what cricket is you get the picture.

Anime has never reached the news (national or local) and is mainly found in the middle of crappy newspapers. Dchaosblade's thread is a prime example of this.

Speaking of April fools. Here is a spoof article done by the BBC:
Spaghetti tree

A ridiculous story but it just goes to show how ignorant people were in 1957!
 
QUOTE (Kit-Tsukasa @ Jul 03 2008, 02:17 PM) US same thing. Look at Naruto where the blood was completely editted out. Look at Yu Yu Hakusho and Kenshin. Same thing.
That's not the government. That's the broadcasters deciding to target a younger audience, in some cases (they cut the blood out of Gundam Wing and aired it during the after school block!) or different cultural expectations about what is/is not allowed. For example, generally "after ten" you expect shows on TV with a higher rate of swearing/violence because it's assumed by then children would be in bed. Likewise, dubs that haven't been hacked to death tend to air later at night.

And I'm pretty sure the Negima article was a spoof. It was posted on April 1st, if I recall correctly.
 
QUOTE
If an anime were to be shown in its "pure" form it would probably have to be shown after 9 in the evening which would often alienate it's target audience. Furthermore the anime series would be shown around prime time. That means it has to compete with the most popular shows. It would never win on terrestrial TV. Off course the broadcasters can edit these anime series so it can be shown before the watershed but I doubt the results would be pretty.

I believe the problem is indeed the target audience on terrestrial TV.
We are used to have a children audience and an (broad) adult audience, but traditionnaly, we don't have the 'teenage' audience that some animes (the so-called violent animes) are aiming.

Hence a bloody anime won't be broadcasted during the children hours (or it will, but after being butchered). And it won't be broadcasted during most adult hours because most adults don't give a damn about those animes.
Of course, there's some exceptions.


QUOTE The media often portrays anime in a bad light but I believe this is due to cultural differences between England and Japan. The Japanese seem more relaxed about sex (can I include paedophilia?
ohmy.gif
).

I wouldn't say more relaxed (I'm not really sure Japan is more relaxed about extramarital affairs than France, for example
tongue.gif
). But the lack of Judeo-Christian morale plays an important role.
 
QUOTE (Kit-Tsukasa @ Jul 03 2008, 12:17 PM)
The government has always had control of what's aired on TV. School Days was cancelled and so was Higurashi in Japan because of real-life incidents that depicted scenarios from the two shows.

IIRC, those particular episodes were preempted.


QUOTE (Dalriada @ Jul 03 2008, 05:02 PM)
I wouldn't say more relaxed (I'm not really sure Japan is more relaxed about extramarital affairs than France, for example ). But the lack of Judeo-Christian morale plays an important role.

I can't recall the name but from a show I saw recently what we would call prostitution is somewhat legal in Japan, including extramarital affairs. Correct me if otherwise but this is what was revealed in an interview with a japanese prostitute.

On the issue, I purely see this as a cultural difference. We already have enough problems with the kids & teenagers, suggestive anime is just adding more fuel to the fire.
 
okay okay so I made a few factual mistakes. Although I was suspicious of the US Negima article myself at first because of the date, but I wasn't sure since CNN themselves published such an article :\ Wasn't there another article on ANN earlier this year though about some parent disliking an explicit manga cover in front of a book store and protested, but again, nothing to do with government...
unsure.gif


Regardless, I'm very positive about the Death Note incident in China and Taiwan where the government and schools both took action to bar any Death Note related material from there. I had friends who were there when it happened and had their mangas confiscated when they were caught reading it in the airport on the way back from their trip
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Really sucked since they bought a lot of Death Note material before they were banned and were just stupid enough to bring it out in public
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QUOTE (Hiroyuki @ Jul 03 2008, 08:38 PM)However this is potentially even worse since you can have a situation where people feel obliged to censor themselves because they are afraid the government might take action against them otherwise. So a country can pretend to be free — because there are no censorship laws — but really it is oppressed because the broadcasters (and people generally) have been coerced into censoring themselves to avoid laws being passed to regulate what they do.
It happens everywhere. The regulators control what goes on but often the individual companies regulate themselves. Look at this forum, there are mods who regulate the content in this forum. If anyone breaks the rules they edit or even delete the posts. However most posters don't want to get in trouble so they regulate their behaviour to keep in line. So most of the time the mod doesn't need to do anything. You get the odd nutter who tries to break the rules but that is where the regulators come in to stamp out any foul play.

I suppose this regulation can be seen as a form of censorship but let's see what happens if we removed the mods. I'm sure this site would degenerate into something like 4chan. So there's a good reason why censorship exists. Another thing this site only deals with anime (not real people) if we take the case of real life issues people can also be done for libel. I don't think that is possible with anime characters. So absolute free speech can be pretty damaging also.


QUOTE (XDie-Sama @ Jul 04 2008, 01:38 AM)I can't recall the name but from a show I saw recently what we would call prostitution is somewhat legal in Japan, including extramarital affairs. Correct me if otherwise but this is what was revealed in an interview with a japanese prostitute.
Prostitution is illegal in Japan. There are just plenty of loopholes in the law that people exploit. The laws against prostitution are relatively recent and were made as a reaction to how the Japanese army used "comfort women" (I think). I'm sure extramarital affairs are not legal (it defeats the purpose of a marriage) but even if it were legal it wouldn't necessarily mean the practice was acceptable. In many countries divorce is legal yet people who get divorced suffer a stigma (particularly women) and find getting a job becomes more difficult.
 
QUOTE (monsta666 @ Jul 08 2008, 12:38 PM)
Prostitution is illegal in Japan. There are just plenty of loopholes in the law that people exploit. The laws against prostitution are relatively recent and were made as a reaction to how the Japanese army used "comfort women" (I think). I'm sure extramarital affairs are not legal (it defeats the purpose of a marriage) but even if it were legal it wouldn't necessarily mean the practice was acceptable. In many countries divorce is legal yet people who get divorced suffer a stigma (particularly women) and find getting a job becomes more difficult.

The irony. According to that show the extramarital affairs were acknowledged by the wifes (including the prostitutes) and there was a condition but it escapes me at the moment. "This is the exact opposite of women outside japan" is what came to mind. Well, this was all information I gathered from the segment. You're absolutely right about the stigma amongst women in that situation.
 
Time to bump an old topic.....

I'm entering a private university in the next few days and I want to know how strict is the US government on college students downloading anime, manga, and game music. This includes direct downloading and torrent.

I heard that US government (not sure if the college itself does) cracks down on p2p file sharing with college students more than anyone else. I'm aware several users here have been in that situation or are in that situation and would like to hear various opinons on this. Therefore, to avoid getting myself into legal trouble, I want to know what's the safest approach (aside from the dumb answer of don't download or stream instead....ain't doing that since it will be a pain to actually get them when I come back home....)

Help?
 
As a college student using my uni's internet system, I can tell you how MY university approaches the matter.

Basically, traffic is monitored, and if you are caught downloading illegal content you may be fined. That said, the material you'll be caught and charged for does NOT include most anime. If you download movies or programs you *might* get in trouble; but you are generally safe if you're downloading anime, manga, and music that is not available in the U.S. (or rather, that isn't available in the U.S. via a U.S. or European based distributor).

Now, my university also has leniency. If you are caught downloading something illegally, you will not initially be charged, but you will be told you must delete the files and submit to a scan of your computer to verify they aren't there anymore (can be avoided by burning the files onto a disk, moving to an external HD, etc...). It's basically a get out of jail free card usable only once.

Okay, so thats the info, now for the loopholes. You can pretty much download anything you want so long as the file name isn't precise. For example, if you are downloading Snakes on a Plane (xD first thing that came to mind due to an event last year =P), and the file is called "SoaP", there is no way for the Uni to know that what you actually downloaded. All they see is that you downloaded a file called Soap, which is by no means illegal xD
So basically, make sure that the file you're downloading - if there is any fear of prosecution - is listed as something other than the precise file name FROM THE SERVER (Saving it as SoaP doesn't protect you unless the server you're downloading it from also calls it SoaP).


BTW, I don't encourage anyone downloading Snakes on a Plane illegally...it was a horrible movie, waste of your time. >_> xD j/k; but seriously, don't do it.


I hope that answers your questions, Kit. If not, shoot me a PM.
 
Regarding anime in Britain there was a period where a terrestrial channel viewd anime for a short period ironically there were a few flaws in the plan. At the time it was viewd on a channel that most British people dont really care much about (Channel 4), also the anime was not aired until 11pm and although it was greatly edited by the British film board it was possibly not the best example of anime to show to the British public as a first example. Subsequent anime films were a better example but unfortunately for the anime industry the first anime film to be aired on terrestrial TV in Britain was Urotsukidoji and it was hailed in the media as a horrifyingly shocking film that pushes the limits of sensibility and good taste.
A for the genral British attitude to anime I would have to say that 95% of Britain considers anime to be for children due to it's nature as a cartoon medium (although ironically these same adults are happy to watch CG animation should as Shrek).
 
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