Manga Apocalypse (or, why Seven Seas isn’t going to doom us all, jerkwads), Journalista weighs in

A heated discussion is going on at Anime News Network right now on one of Seven Sea’s upcoming “moe” releases, Kodomo no Jikan, which will be renamed “Nymphet” in the US.  Really.  Which leads to this post at Irresponsible Pictures.  (Hell, Patachu even makes fun of me in the thread.  Meanie.  ;_;)

Before we go any further, I must say I’m baffled at the comparisons made between what we publish, and what Seven Seas will be publishing.  Not angry, just confounded.  Seven Seas isn’t publishing porn, we are.  In fact, we publish porn exclusively.  As such, we’re working with some very different limits here.  Yes, as a publisher who must have commercial considerations for the financial well being of the enterprise and fair compensation for the artists and companies involved, loli does make me quake in my boots (and I keep them quite clean, damn you!)  It means we’d be shut out of every retailer, dropped by our distributor, rejected by every printer in the Western hemisphere, and probably get a visit from the FBI.  Mind you, I’m talking about pornographic manga here… that’s what we publish.  We’re not considering any of the “moe” or borderline material that Seven Seas is working on, not because of the innuendoes and “loli-light” elements in those books, but because they’re not porn.  They’re not part of our charter… just as we don’t publish mainstream, BL, Ladies, or Jyukujou comics either.  I bet Seven Seas would also appreciate if their books aren’t referred to as porn or contrasted with our books either.  This really does a disservice to both of us.  I’m not against any of the books Seven Seas has picked up… I wouldn’t have been talking up a storm about them on the blog otherwise.

Now that that’s out of the way… Patachu brings up a couple of astute observations in both the thread and his blog to counter the fear-mongering, which he aptly names the “pedo-persecution complex”:  1. These books will appeal to such a specialized and insular market, they won’t even be on the radar of the moral minority (as I like to call them.)  2. If any genre is in the line of fire, it would be Yaoi/BL.

However, I do have to take the position of devil’s advocate somewhat… if loli porn is published in the US to any professional extent, then yes, there would be a backlash, one that extends through the entire industry in the form of additional scrutiny over every little detail and every instance of perceived inappropriateness.  That should be a very real concern for all publishers.  But again, the bottom line is… Seven Seas isn’t publishing porn.  Their books are not explicit.  Saying so is as misguided as describing all “hentai” characters as intentionally made to look underage.  And as long as Seven Seas market and label their books properly (something manga publishers have been far, far better at than comic publishers in general) then we’ve got little to worry about.  If there ever will be a manga apocalypse one day, this isn’t it.

(Oh, and check out the car at the bottom of Patachu’s post.  That drawing is by Yuuichi-sensei!  Bet it gets tailgated A LOT.)

Edit: Dirk Deppey at Journlista provides counterpoints to some of Patachu’s more optimistic, perhaps naive views on the tenacity of censors and the importation of loli in general.  I wonder if Dirk has ever flipped through Pink Sniper, Eros Comix’ newest manga release…

Again, I feel I must remind you when you read this to keep in mind that what Seven Seas will be publishing is nowhere near actual pornographic lolita manga.  If mere innuendo to underage sexuality is grounds to label something “kiddie porn”, then even “the good book” would be in trouble… by most accounts, God “impregnates” Mary at the age of 12~14.