This isn’t something new or foreign for those in this space! Once in a while, you’ll see Americans, and to some extent Westerners, calling for Japanese manga’s censorship. See, it’s one thing if you want to censor things in your own country/culture, but it’s another story when you feel entitled to control the creative process of another culture/country! Very colonial-like if you ask me!
Look, as you can tell I am an avid fan of anime and manga, a big shocker there! Yes, Japanese mangaka tend to release questionable content, anime and manga content that feels like you should be reading/watching on incognito mode, but like many contents that are being released, it’s up to the person to ignore them if it’s not your palette. However, there’s something fucked up when we try to tell a nation what they can and cannot create. For context, some American writers are calling for the censorship of boobs, yes, the very same oppai my cultured friends. Apparently, anime and manga are producing “rampant sexism and misogyny” in their content and it needs to be dealt with. Translation: “stop drawing women so damm sexy and with big boobs“! You can’t make this shit up.
Now, of course, I’m not going to be full biased here. When mangakas do draw high-school girls with big boobs or in a sexual manner that’s way too explicit, it does weird me out as a westerner and if it’s too much, I tend to just leave/drop the anime or manga that I’m reading. Yet you won’t find me trying to control a nation on how they should create content over there. Hold up, hmm, maybe I’m a hypocrite actually cause I do get mad at the Japanese when they portray Black people in a bad way and want them to do better. I mean the dark-skinned women are done excellent most of the time so I guess I can’t complain. Food for thought? Nah, I’m still in the right! Jokes aside, it’s up to the Japanese to talk among themselves if they feel that anime and manga are becoming too rampant with sexism and misogyny!
Look, let’s be real here and talk about the elephant in the room, people just ain’t buying or consuming comics like they used to! Manga is giving people what they want. Do you like big boobs? They got it! You like cool ass characters doing cool ass shit? They got it! You want a narrative that still addresses serious issues but doesn’t treat you like an idiot and allow you to form your own opinion when discussing it? Yep got that too” They are focused on the ENTERTAINMENT aspect of media, you know the thing that actually used to sells comics? Yeah, that! It’s jealously at its finest, to be honest, and they don’t like having to compete with an entity that not following the same rules they are. Manga sales have all but embarrassed comic sales and I assume it’s starting to sting a little. But that’s just my opinion.
