http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 9887.story Tokyo bans explicit sales to minors, while also making any sexual content with characters appearing to be underage illegal. I'm not a fan of tentacle teen cartoons with rape overtones. But even non-porn cartoons in japan often have high school girls in skimpy clothes and suggestive situations. Would these be considered illegal now?
"Some opponents of the changes say authorities could use the law to ban any book, movie or video game or block any website that they deem inappropriate. Others worry that the law might be used to crack down on sexually explicit content in theater, painting and other art forms." That won't help their economy.
I can understand restricting sales of rape/incest manga to minors. I am curious as to whether movies that depict teenage sexual relations as part of a coming-of-age story would be banned. If two 16 or 17 year old characters have sex for the first time as depicted in many US dramas on primetime, is that considered lewd? If they don't show explicit acts, I imagine they would not be penalized. But if the actors are both over 18 but play characters that are 17, it seems that nudity or sexual contact would then be seen as violating the new laws. I know plenty of twenty-somethings that look under age, both male and female.
