Japan, of all places, is putting a halt to rape games. The country known for its free and open sexuality in media has taken the ban-hammer to PC games that feature rape in it. Now, I'm not on the "rape is great and fantastic" train, but I'm completely against media censorship. According to Canned Dogs, Japan is putting the ban into effect after the whole hubbub surrounding Rapelay.
There will be changes to the judging criteria starting June 2nd, which is going to force a large number of companies -- some 200 or so -- to change their product lineup. While it's a morally offensive genre, it's a fairly big one. If these companies don't just decide to shut down, they'll quickly flood the market in other genres, and I can see it ending very badly -- and that's just from a commercial standpoint.
Now, I'd like to take a moment and talk about this from a free speech angle. Sure, rape is bad. I don't think anyone can deny it. But do rape games encourage rape? Hardly. Just look at these statistics on rape. Japan comes in at #54. Surely you think they'd have a higher rape statistic if it was really a problem that it's so prevalent in their media, right?
This is a really bad decision. Really bad. It opens the floodgates for other types of content deemed inappropriate by some group to be banned. Who knows what else could be next? You might say that "oh, it won't go that far, you're just paranoid." Well here in America, a country with some of the most liberal free speech policies in the world, a man has been sent to jail for his manga collection. No child porn or anything amongst it, like many cases in the past have been. It's a travesty as to what's happened.
Some of the stuff that comes out of Japan that is insanely perverse and disturbing can also be hilarious, insightful, and a joy to read. I don't want to see the works of Shintaro Kago silenced. Nor do I want to see Cho Aniki, Manhunt, or Mad World silenced because some group finds it objectionable. This is something that really needs to be fought. I also want to take a moment and thank the Comic Book Legal Defense Force for fighting on behalf of comics and manga. Please support them and follow them on twitter.
Contest:
4:20 PM on 05.28.2009
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These kinds of games allow all the generally homogeneous society to "let loose", along with hardcore Hentai OVAs/Movies, and the sick piss/eel porn they produce.
Shutting this industry down and "taking a stand" will only further the repression. It's a deep-seeded cultural phenomenon. I think this was simply enacted because of the world-wide outrage by Westerners, and this is an attempt to make sure Japan isn't labeled as "the dark land of anime porn" like they were nearly a decade ago in a similar hate campaign.
I'm joking.
News at 11.
Why are you misspelling "come on" repeatedly? Spelling it as a word with a completely different meaning that isn't even a shorter version of what you intend to say is annoying.
I Know some are well aware of the existence of this...but it seems no one remember those kind of shit...
Rape hentai is sick, Yes. Lolicon and Shota are twisted, Yes. Bondage and theirs creepy friends, Yes too. But the one that, even today when I hear about it in foruns, make me really puke is Guro.
There are guro games out there! Guro manga and anime( no shit, they run around some foruns and this is BAD ). Those are THE twisted ones...
My opinion might have been different a few years ago, but getting married puts a whole new perspective on woman (and how horrible rape is). Maybe after talking about it a lot on the internet and watching lots of porn we become desensitized, but when it comes down to it "awful" isn't a strong enough word to describe it.
But the real thing is: wouldn't this ban 90% of hentai games? I mean, seriously now.
Is this what the samurais fought for?
I may not like the content of a game like Rapelay, though a lot of other titles I do like often feature some elements of rape either as a part of the story or slightly unneccessary villain exposition, but that doesn't mean I don't defend their right to exist. There is nothing that actuall exists being exploited in these games, it's like with the guy in Texas who didn't really OWN child pornography, he simply had a book full off drawings. What part of the constructed unreality would define crossing the border into rape? Could I just paint a smiley face over the girl's head and be done with it?
This just feels like an immature reaction to an insignificant situation which simply invites some far more dangerous possibilities to follow.
But still, it's rape......ugh.
Whatever.
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A drawing of a Man raping a child up the butt..... Waiting for police to pick me up.
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A drawing of a Man raping a child up the butt..... Waiting for police to pick me up.
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A drawing of a Man raping a child up the butt..... Waiting for police to pick me up.
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A drawing of a Man raping a child up the butt..... Waiting for police to pick me up.
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A drawing of a Man raping a child up the butt..... Waiting for police to pick me up.
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A drawing of a Man raping a child up the butt..... Waiting for police to pick me up.
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A drawing of a Man with an extremely large dick raping a child up the butt..... Waiting for police to pick me up.
Wooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
So this post is retarded.
So uh lol to all you Dtards, 100s of years to late. LOL!
For example, Saudio Arabia last at number 65. Do you realise it is legal (not illegal) to rape your wife whenever you want there? Also sex with minors is allowed aslong as they are married (no age restrictions and can marry many minors for sex - after all Mohammad did it and openly encoruages it). On the other hand they have very strict segregation laws and men and women are not allowed to mix. Also women who get raped actualy also get punished themself in the majorioty of cases as they are looked down upon and are usualy classed as "was asking for it" due to breaking a segregation law, which means they get many lashes and even imprisoned. Some even get killed by family members... this means almost all rapes go unreported.
Also in spain the legal age of consent is 13yrs old, unlike in the UK where it is 16yrs old and in most parts of america 18yrs old. Where sex under that age is usualy atomatically classed as statuatory rape.
In Asian culture girls may not come forward who have been raped (TBH I have no clue on this one but it is a possibility.)?
Anyway, all I am saying is them figures are meaningless, although I can believe that South Africa is the worst.
/rant
I really think its these hentai, that get the 'rape is wrong' message across. I guess without hentai games, there's always the anime and manga hentai that may benefit.
I do agree, its far too late for this ban. The net has been around too long, and it will always exist in ones and zeros.
You act like the media isn't censored in any way. Should child porn be legal? No. Should there be games where you go around and shoot minorities as a form of ethnic cleansing? No. Should there be games centered on sexual violence against women? No.
Would any of these inspire actual aggression? I'm not sure. However, there's no reason to allow these ideas be promoted or to allow people to take some perverse relish in them. It's only made worse by the fact that these sorts of ideas are centered on attacking specific groups.
Should pornography or any depiction of rape be made illegal? Of course not. There are ways to actually defend these ideas without having to resort to the blanket argument of free speech. You cannot do the same with these "rape" games. They offer no benefit, only harm.
As others have mentioned, your rape statistics at best only feebly support your argument. There's so many goddamn factors you're not taking into consideration and there's no fucking control group to compare. If you think that the presence of such game actually reduces rapes (all other things held constant), then you are a FUCKING STUPID PIECE OF SHIT.
I don't think anyone is arguing that games portraying rape actually reduce the number of rapes. If only because there is no evidence supporting such a theory. However the hyposthesis is a sound one, even if it remains untested, so calling people "stupid pieces of shit" is a tad unnecessary if you ask me.
The reason we argue for the protection of the rights of publishers and consumers to make and purchase "rape games" is because what if the censor suddenly turn to war games next? Sure you and I are not offended by Modern Wareware 2, but what if it is never published because a group of Iraq veterans decide it's too offensive to them and therefore shouldn't be enjoyed by anybody? That would suck right?
It's the same idea here, you and I do not understand why anybody would want to play a game that allowed for the simulation of rape but there are people out there that want that. And because you and I want things that other people don't understand (the war games) we have to fight censorship in all of it's forms, before it turns it's evil black bars on us.
Yup Germany would never ban something they don't agree with *looks at Dead Rising* oh wait.
Pretty sure that was sarcasm.
As a devout Muslim, rape game disgust me, however, they do serve a purpose, and even can be seen to be benifical, to some.
The fact is Japan, like so many other coutries around the world, is a sexually repressed country. These types of games allow the perversely minded a way to act out thier fantasties in the safety of thier own homes, sure they are repulsive, but compared to roaming the streets acting them out, games at least prevented them doing that.
Even thought the vast majority of us are sane and, hopefully, decent enough to not actually rape some one, man or woman, there people who want to. Banning these games only serves to futher fustrate and aggravate the type of people, which is ver bad. It's obvious what might happen if they are pushed to breaking point.
Like daedhead said, this is ONLY a theory, but permit me to say it is at leasta sound, reasonable one.
Yes, there is very, very little good in what the government is trying to do, yet the manner in which they are doing it is very detrimental to it's society. It gives the impression the Japanese government is just trying to save face and repytation rather than thinking in the best interests of the people it serves. Now that's really disgusting. They should tacle the problem effectively, by understanding why it exsists in the first place and to work with the companies in order to best asess what to do in light of the rather apparent rape game trend embedded in it's society. Like others said, a blanket ban will only serve to further worsen the situation.
It all boils down to which is the lesser evil, and in this case, it's allowing the rape vame trade to continue, there is areal demand for these games, and I'd rather people act them out digitally than in real life. This coming from a person with five sisters which are blessed enough to not endure the ordeal of rape.
If they need to take action like this, they should've regulated the industry and put certain sanction on it. What they've done instead is to make it much more popular now, whilst shooting whatever they wanted to do in the head.
Sure, its never been proven, but what if such material is keeping a lot of bad folk in check?? Think about that carefully, because this is something even the west could benefit from if tested out, since we still don't know what to do with such people. This rape game cat has been out of the bag for ages, and there's no way its returning, regardless of a ban. Its damn hard to legislate this when rape has such a history in japanese society and culture.
Don't forget what happened, when alcohol was banned during the U.S depression. Nature will always find a way.