Anime News Network reported yesterday that six josei (or young women’s) manga magazines were flagged by the local government of the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Okayama as “harmful” due to their sexual content:
According to the local laws, the prefecture’s youth welfare office is required to regularly identify and list harmful publications — specifically, titles that should not be accessible to minors, due to sexual content and other reasons. Of the nine magazines on the October 7 list, six were ladies’ comics, or manga aimed at usually older female readers. The office indicated that these magazines were readily available to minors in convenience stores and bookstores and not separated from comic magazines aimed at young girls.
The magazines are: Jōkyū Renai Mint, Renai Bijin if, Renai Tengoku (Paradise), Zettai Renai Sweet, Special Aya and Renai Taiken.
October 31st, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I was about to say, it’s hard to imagine older ladies buying “sexy” manga, but then I remembered the cheap romance novels here in the states.
I wonder if we’ll be hearing a rebuttal from the new otaku Prime Minister.
October 31st, 2008 at 9:24 pm
For me, controversy’s a synonym for worth a look