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Osaka Bans 8 BL Manga

Does Osaka hate women or what?

By gia manry  |  April 26, 2010

First and foremost, a little history: the Osaka Prefectural Government keeps a list of "harmful" manga publications, which are blacklisted against sale to minors. In 2007 they swept 70 stores to pull some of these magazines; in 2008 they added another six shoujo manga to it-- every time I've ever heard of the matter, it seemed that considerably more focus was being paid to shoujo works than to those aimed at boys.

 Not in Osaka, boys!
 Not in Osaka, boys!
Earlier this year, in the wake of all the talk of loli bans in Tokyo, Osaka began considering something similar, and also specifically mentioned boys love manga-- the uber-popular subgenre of shoujo that features boys in love with boys, largely by and for women. And the latest piece of news on the matter? ANN reports that eight BL manga have been added to the "harmful publications" list.

So, does Osaka just hate female readers, or are they just more concerned about the corruption of their young women than of their young men? It seems to me that given Japan's severe population issues-- super-low birth rate! --they'd be more inclined to enourage women to get in touch with their smutty selves.

But hey, what do I know? I'm just a girl.    
Filed under: Yaoi, Censorship And Localization
6 Comments
Frostaliciouson April 26, 2010 at 5:56 p.m.
And just when the rest of the world was starting to adopt the "not that there's anything wrong with that" attitude, Osaka has to go and pull this.
sunfloweron April 26, 2010 at 6:38 p.m.
There's a claim that men's porn is already adult only.  The thing is, a lot of the sexual content in these magazines varies greatly with each mangaka and magazine style, so they're banning a lot of unnecessary stuff.  I'd like to know exactly whom this ban is helping and how.  
 
Me, I think they dislike the gays.  And are prudes with sticks up their asses (depictions of which you can no longer sell to minors in Osaka - Aha!  Now we see why they're doing it! ;P)
 
It's definitely going to hurt what BL we receive, simply because harder stuff won't sell as much now.
Sonata moderator on April 26, 2010 at 7:13 p.m.
Ugh... people can be so uptight why dont just ban life altogether:/
Karkarovon April 26, 2010 at 8:13 p.m.
Bear in mind Japanese birth rates are at an all time low and they already have guys marrying body pillows.  They are probably just afraid their current youth will get even more absorbed into this lifestyle and use manga/anime/games as an outlet even more than they already do while not bothering to date real people or have kids.
sotyfan16on April 26, 2010 at 8:17 p.m.

I don't even read or care fo BL. However, I do support its sale, creation, and distribution along with any other genre of manga. If Osaka is banning this material then all these fickle governments that are looking for excuses (US included) to ban the material as well will surely follow suit. Since when was a "book", essentially, so harmful to society and people that it can't be owned or read? Personally all of this is a bunch of shit that is overblown and people complain to complain. 
 
P.S. People who compalin about anime and manga should be forced to read and watch it. Psychological torture/warfare is still ok, right?

constanzadellarosaon April 27, 2010 at 7:27 a.m.
Loli, BL.... all this is starting to smell bad. Instead of moving forward, we are going back almost 50 years.

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