The Japanese parliament has been debating regulation of explicit manga material for some time now. One current bill in debate is known as the “Nonexistent Youth” bill, which prohibits minors to buy explicit manga or anime material that feature characters that look or sound under the legal age limit.

Some parties are still not satisfied with some of the details of the bill, and it was expected to be delayed to later this summer. Others have reported, however, that the bill may go up for a general vote as early as June. No one party has the majority currently in the Japanese parliament, so more than one party must be appeased in order to accrue a majority vote.

This is definitely a step in the right direction. While I do not approve of such comics, I do think that people have the right to free expression. Putting an age restriction on explicit material is a much better approach that I’m sure will satisfy both lawmakers, the public and publishers.

What do you think?

Source: AnimeNewsNetwork