Senial or Hypocritical

After Ishihara's previous statement about the earthquake and tsunami being "Divine retribution" on Japan for the citizens "sinful depravity" was, as expected, not well received; The old fool issued an empty apology "retracting" it. This happened yesterday I believe. Here's the full Sankaku post:

The Water Dragon Roars

Sorry for the long absence. I'll be 100% back after next week. But damn. There's been a lot going on sense I've been gone. First New Zealand was hit by a quake (luckily the damage was minimal) & then a 9.0 (upgraded from 8.6) quake hits Japan (plus the tsunami & the upcoming 7.0 aftershocks). Feels like the water dragon is slowly awakening. All I can say is ”頑張って日本！Ｎｅｗ　Ｚｅａｌａｎｄ！”

There's also another saddening matter (related). Not only is the nut job eco-terrorist's group "Sea Shepherd" calling the Japan earthquake and tsunami "Divine Retribution" but so is Tokyo's retard governor Ishihara. If this doesn't cause him to loose the election, nothing will. Sankaku Article below.

Tokyo Manga Ban Update; Thrown In With Porn

Sorry for not posting lately. I'm too busy to keep up. New years, traveling, and snowboarding have been consuming my time. Well! Onto the main point; The recent update on the Tokyo manga "ban". I've met many people that argue it to not be a ban but looking at this has proven otherwise to me. (Full Sankaku/2chan article below the cut):

The Fate of TAF

Well I got into a rather interesting discussion about what shall happen with TAF just the other day. & now today Sankaku has posted an article on the recent activity with it. It's interesting but depressing. Ishihara's strangle hold on manga only seems to be tightening. Well. The whole sad story can be seen under the cut. Read at your own risk:

Welcome To Hell!

Sorry for not posting much lately. I'm out of town at the moment so it's a bit difficult to get on. There's also the fact that reading the news from Japan lately has become extremely depressing. That being the case; here is some more of said depressing news!: Tokyo Anime Fair canceled, Ishihara is still getting full of himself (damn hypocrite), "Cool Japan" is now targeting the manga/anime/games industry, & the future seems to hold hundreds of butchered series full of ridiculous translations and halfwit English. I could cry. Here's the (latest) full Sankaku article:

Politician Ridicules Eiki Eiki

As you guessed! More on the manga/anime/game ban! It's wonderfully infuriating, right? Ishihara is lucky we are separated by a sea. He'd not be a resident of this world other wise. At any rate. Here's is the latest story from Sankaku (under the cut):

China Now Attacks Korea (One Death)

Remember the Senkaku incident from a short while ago? Where China was illegally fishing in Japanese waters, refused to leave, attacked Japanese coastguards, treated Japan like the aggressors and claimed that the island is their property? Well they are at it again! And this time they have stupidly fucked with Korea. Thankfully Korea has some pride and spine and reported on the incident right away. I know for sure that if China treats them the same as they did Japan; they will be in for a huge surprise. Don't mess with a country that has high national pride (and enjoys a good fight.) So here is the whole story (from Sankaku Complex below the cut):

Bring Us Ishihara's Head!

Even more terrible drama with bipolar politicians and powerless mangaka. The bill has passed the final vote. Effects are already being seen but by April 2011, it will be hitting hard. Start stock piling? Manga shall never be the same. Fight on Kadokawa! Where is a crazy vigilante otaku when you need one?! Bring us Ishihara's head!

Tokyo Manga Ban Signed Into Law (From Sankaku):

"Tokyo’s manga ban has been signed into law after passing a final vote, and is set to come into effect in 2011, with Tokyo governor Ishihara crowing that “Japan still has some common sense left after all!”
The ban already passed a committee vote, and as expected also passed a final vote on the 15th – the law stipulates that “voluntary restraints” must begun in April of 2011, with the full force of the ban to come in July.
All the major parties supported the ban – the ruling DPJ (leftist) insisted on a “prudent application” rider but otherwise did nothing to oppose the law as they did with the previous bill.
The LDP (right-wing) proposed and supported the original and current version of the bill. Their usual coalition partners, the Koumeito (the political arm of a Buddhist cult), also supported the bill, leaving only small parties to the left of the DPJ to oppose it.
Once again the motives of the DPJ can only be guessed at – they have repeatedly blocked national bans on possession of child pornography (already illegal to distribute) on civil liberties grounds, opposed the previously rejected version of the bill because it was worded as a ban on “virtual child pornography,” and actually insisted the just passed Tokyo law remove a “duty not to possess [real] child pornography” clause.
However, when the current bill’s wording was changed to ban depictions “promoting illegal or immoral sexual activity” (effectively a vastly more far-reaching ban than previously) rather than “[virtual] sexual activity involving minors” (this version of the ban was clearly targeting loli manga) as in the current version, their previous opposition all but evaporated.
That the law explicitly excludes photographic material can probably be interpreted both as a specific attack on “otaku” culture and an effort to avoid antagonising Japan’s mass media, who obviously would not support any restrictions on themselves but are only too happy to support them on other industries.
The 10 publishers who have boycotted the Tokyo Anime Fair are angry at the treatment meted out to the industry by Ishihara and his cronies:

“The earlier bill was defeated with heavy opposition, and we are indignant that the bill should be resubmitted in so short a time.”

Kadokawa’s CEO has vowed opposition will continue, although just what publishers can do about it is not clear, particularly in light of their evident ineptitude in handling politicians.
Ishihara for his part is crowing over the industry’s defeat:

“It makes sense for this to have passed – Japan still has some common sense left after all!”

In interviews he merely laughed at the industry boycott:

“If they’re outraged about this then they shouldn’t come. They’ll come the next year, for sure.”

Veteran shoujo mangaka Machiko Satonaka speaks of complete betrayal at the hands of the politicians:

“There were representatives who promised us ‘we won’t resubmit the bill without consulting manga and anime producers,’ but they submitted it anyway, so I feel we were tricked. There are many issues with the ordinance, in particular the ‘improperly promote or glorify [sexual activity]‘ passage, and there is no way we can accept this.
In particular, I worry about the future for young mangaka – I hope they will persevere without the industry falling into decline.”" - Sankaku Complex

Let Us Cry

The ban has passed. The politicians have raped us yet again. Damn manga nazis. Is there no end to their idiocy? (I hope Ishihara gets assassinated...) Well. We are now in the dark ages of manga. This marks the end of a great run. From here on everything shall be censored. So. Let us take a moment to pause and remember the good times. Manga as we know it is now dead. "Enjoy"

"Tokyo’s ban on anime, manga and games featuring “virtual crimes” or which are “likely to interfere with the healthy development of youth” has passed after the DPJ agreed to support it.

The DPJ’s only addition to the critical portion of the law was a short rider which requests “prudent application of the law in light of any artistic, social, scientific or satirical merits the work might express” – it does not however add any legal obligation to consider these, or establish any clear or indepdently enforced criteria for judging whether a work can be declared “harmful” or not.

Even more bizarrely, the final draft actually removed a passage that imposed “a duty not to possess [photographic] child pornography” on Tokyo residents, whilst leaving the section banning erotic manga and anime (and explicitly excluding photographic materials) all but unchanged – that the bill is intended exclusively as an “anti-otaku” law seems to be beyond doubt.

It is very difficult to objectively assess the scope of the law – along with vague and subjective terms like “interfere with the healthy development of youth,” the law also includes “etc.” on the end of most of its examples, leaving it quite unclear, for example, whether the “improper glorification of illegal sexual activity, etc.” applies to only virtual sex crimes, or all crimes in general – presumably the interpretation adopted will be whichever is convenient to censors.

Similarly, the ban’s mention of “rape and other sexual acts which violate societal norms” seems inevitably to point to a ban on depictions of homosexuality, considering who was behind the law.

The generally expected form the law will take is that of a “amakudari” (a pervasive system of sinecures for retired bureaucrats) body which will inspect all anime, manga and games, with only those titles receiving approval as “healthy” able to be sold regularly in Tokyo shops – the rest will be relegated to the “adult corner.”

The most immediate and direct effect of the law will almost certainly be to see ecchi manga such as To Love-Ru, bishoujo titles such as Champion Red and most BL manga, as well as any seinen manga with especially mature themes, banned from general sales – presumably most will then be cancelled due to a lack of suitable magazine or tankobon distribution channels, with a few perhaps being resurrected as 18+ ero-manga.

As has already been seen, publishers will also likely be purging future anime, manga and games of any content liable to fall foul of the law, and removing older titles from distribution.

The law probably also spells the end of most late night anime in Tokyo (and by extension, everywhere else), which it would appear to ban under its distribution clause; given the vague wording of the current season alone it seems Ore no Imouto, Panty & Stocking, Yosuga, Sora no Otoshimono, Milky Holmes and others would all fall foul of its various stipulations.

There is also some doubt as to whether Comiket will be able to be held under the new regulations – if not, its cancellation or removal to another prefecture seems likely, although a lack of sufficiently large spaces may severely complicate this.

The law comes into effect in July of 2011, so with magazine, tankobon, anime and game release schedules being what they are, it seems likely its effects will be felt much sooner; in a genuinely democratic state there might be scope to overturn it before then, but from what has been seen so far it seems unlikely publishers have the guts or savvy to do anything about it." - Sankaku Complex

Manga Nazis

Brace yourselves for a tough few months/years in the manga industry (especially BL). Thanks to the retarded politicians and attention whores of Japan, manga is under fire yet again. This time the effects being seen and felt all too quickly. The BL world taking the brunt of the attack. Buy what you can, while you can. We may not be seeing schools, school uniforms, or minors in our mangas again for quite some time. So! This political mess having angered me so, I don't think I'll be posting for a few days. Maybe some xmas themed pictures, but that's about it. I'm too annoyed to think of manga for now. If you want more on the story check Sankaku, Japanese news, or your favorite mangakas blogs/twitter.

New Vocaloid

Finally a new male vocaloid! I am still in a crazy sort of love with the last, Hirayama Kiyoteru, but this new one; not sure what to think of him. Not only is he looking like a white haired collision of Len & the annoying Miki, but it seems his voice is to come from the "popular" nico nico douga singer Piko. Even though I like Piko I'd really have preferred a different type of voice for a new vocaloid. But it's all good! I'm just happy to be getting a new male character, lol. So anyways. His name is "Utatane Piko". He is official & being produced by Sony. Release date set for Dec, 08 of this year. More info below:

"Latest information has revealed that there will be a new Vocaloid joining the family and this time round Sony Music has decided to join in the market. This Vocaloid will be distributed under Sony Music Distribution and the name for the Japanese male Vocaloid (utilizing the Vocaloid2 engine) will be known as Utatane Piko (歌手音ピコ). For those wondering Piko is a popular singer on Nico Nico Douga with his community here.

He is expected to be released on December 8th 2010 at a price of 15,750 yen (tax included) and you can pre-order the software over at Sony Music Shop. We will be bringing more news on this when it’s made known." - vocaloidism

Weekly News

Well this is a bit late, so I'm sure most of you already know, but a new planet with the (hopeful) "possibility to sustain human life" Has been discovered, 20 light years away, in the Libra constellation. I, being as cynical as I am, when reading this thought to myself; "If there is the possibility that it can sustain human life, then doesn't that mean there should already be life on it? What are we going to do? Go there and become aliens? Don't let America launch first. They will invade and murder every living thing they spot." Pretty damn bad, lol. Well! Here's some bits of different articles about it! Get lost in the wonder:

National Science Foundation and NASA

"New Planet Discovered 2010: Gliese 581g aka Goldilocks Planet – Among the planets in our solar system, our planet Earth is the only one which can sustain life. Scientists have been exploring the universe for quite some time now in search for another planet which can support life. One of the most studied planet is the red planet known as Mars because of the possible presence of water. However, based on further research, the lack of a magnetosphere and its extremely thin atmosphere pose great challenge to life’s sustainability.

A recent study conducted by a team of planet hunters from the University of California (UC) Santa Cruz, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington led to the discovery of a new planet using the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Accordingly, the new findings are based on 11 years of observations of the nearby red dwarf star Gliese 581. Gliese 581 is located 20 light years away from Earth in the constellation Libra.

The new planet discovered is located in the Gliese 581 star system, in the so-called “Goldilocks zone” or an area where planets can can support liquid water on their surface.  Hence the new planet discovered was named “Gliese 581g” or the “Goldilocks Planet”. Reportedly, this new planet has a mass of three to four times that of Earth and orbits its star in just under 37 days.

There’s one more interesting fact about this newly discovered planet called Gliese 581g. Since it is tidally locked to the Gliese 581 dwarf star, one side of the planet is always facing the star and is in perpetual daylight, while the side facing away from the star is in perpetual darkness."-dotsperiod.com

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"It might be a place that only a lichen or pond scum could love, but astronomers said Wednesday that they had found a very distant planet capable of harboring water on its surface, thus potentially making it a home for plant or animal life.

Nobody from Earth will be visiting anytime soon: The planet, which goes by the bumpy name of Gliese 581g, is orbiting a star about 20 light-years away in the constellation Libra.

But if the finding is confirmed by other astronomers, the planet, which has three to four times the mass of Earth, would be the most Earthlike planet yet discovered, and the first to meet the criteria for being potentially habitable."


"In a recent report for the National Academy of Science, astronomers declared the finding of such planets one of the major goals of this decade. NASA’s Kepler satellite — which was launched in March 2009 as a way to detect Earthlike bodies — is expected to harvest dozens or hundreds.

Gliese 581g (whose first name is pronounced GLEE-za) circles a dim red star known as Gliese 581, once every 37 days, at a distance of about 14 million miles. That is smack in the middle of the so-called Goldilocks zone, where the heat from the star is neither too cold nor too hot for water to exist in liquid form on its surface.

“This is really the first Goldilocks planet,” Dr. Butler said.

Other astronomers hailed the news as another harbinger that the search for “living planets,” as Dimitar D. Sasselov of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics calls them, is on the right track.

“I’m getting goose bumps,” said Caleb Scharf of Columbia University.

But they expressed caution about this particular planet, noting uncertainties about its density, composition and atmosphere, and the need for another generation of giant telescopes and spacecraft in order to find out anything more about it. Other Goldilocks planets have come and gone in recent years."-NY Times.com

Weekly News

Well! Picking up where I left off before my internet got effed up! Although it'll throw off the order a bit~ Today's new weekly is the "News". I'll post some random news from the week or month that interested me each week. It'll probably come from Sankaku, Yahoo, or TV so you'll probably have already heard it but, hey~ What do I care? xD Today's news comes to you from Sankaku Complex:

"The latest of the manga-style health and sex guides now popular in Japanese book-stores includes a guide to being an “otoko no ko,” with an emphasis on healthy sex.

The recent “otoko no ko” boom appears to be in full swing, creating a demand for explanatory literature as well as pornography."

"For those unaware of the background behind the practice, the 女装少年 / josou shonen (“crossdressing boy”) archetype has a long history both in manga/anime and in traditional Japanese culture.

In the last 2 years this archetype has started to enjoy a boom in popularity, becoming known as 男の娘 / otoko no ko (a pun based on substituting the character for “girl” with the character for “child” in the word 男の子 / otoko no ko, “boy”). The phrase and practice is mostly bound up in the “moe boom” and the “shota” genre, with most examples being 2D works.

Being a hard to translate piece of Japanese wordplay referring to a comparatively obscure Japanese subculture, it is no surprise to learn that the term has virtually no traction in English – generally an “otoko no ko” would be referred to as a “trap” in English, although this translation probably differs somewhat in nuance.

As well as comics, there is also a significant subculture of (actual) effete young men interested in crossdressing and adopting a femininised masculinity – some evidently proving quite successful at passing themselves off as women.

The practice is generally considered quite distinct from similar fetishes, sexual orientations or gender identities, and has no clear analogue (yet) overseas – practitioners (despite the broken English seen in the book) should not be considered transsexuals in the western sense, and there appears to be very little overlap between “otoko no ko” and Japan’s well established “new-half” subculture, and certainly no surgery.

The book featured here is 「もっと知りたい！オトコの娘の保健体育」 / “Motto Shiritai! Otoko no Ko no Hoken Taiiku” – “I want to know more! Health and physical education for otoko no ko.”

Detailed guides to all manner of sex (mostly with men, such as giving good fellatio or receiving anal sex pleasurably) are included, and less intimate matters such as proper application of makeup also feature:"

Click here to go to the full article (with pictures) at SankakuComplex.com