Rape games will be banned in Japan

Visual Novel Community Visual Novel Talk
#521

I just wish I understood this driving urge for idiots to restrain an artform. It isn’t real and it doesn’t actually cause harm. Sorry, but if someone goes out and kills or rapes someone because of a game, they were already frakked up.

I mean, I absolutely detest guro, and actually have moderate pschological issues (depression, not homicidal mania) after accidentally viewing it. Still I have never once cried censorship. I simply try my best to steer clear of what offends me. Though some people seem intent on intentionally mis-labeling a product… I can’t even count how many times someone blatantly stated “no guro” when they handed me a guro title. Grr… :evil: .

#522

Uh, that’s the POINT. There’s a reason many guroges are also utsuges. =P If it’s NOT making you feel miserable, it’s probably because it’s taking the Black Cyc approach of making the gore too cartoony and impossible to take seriously.

#523

You’re right, it was at least partly a political move, but sidesteps the issue and in the process tacitly acknowledges guilt. Baiting and denying access aren’t at all the same, as you try to portray in your analogy. Just think back to the practices MG was using at AnimeExpo, not allowing females to have demos because they were female. It’s a similar situation, just with all foreigners instead of females. Ask yourself, why was that wrong? Merely because it was against California law? Because that was gender discrimination, not “nation” discrimination? Treating all foreigners as a potential threat is no different than treating all females as potential radical feminists. It alienates supporters and doesn’t mollify the opposition. People aren’t going to find these Japanese sites anyway unless they’re looking for them. If they know to look for them (and are out to get them), then they’re going to know how to bypass their firewall to get the dirt they want.

I’ll admit that as a practical solution it could be effective. Maybe, maybe not. But philosophically, it’s rotten, and only has the potential to work because people are irrational beings, and radical movements are fueled by emotion.

#524

well navel website is not blocking anymore just , maybe a fluke on there end perhaps

#525

Well, those around me that like guro aren’t disturbed by it and don’t get depressed. Maybe they are just horrible human biengs or something. This is similar to the reactions surrounding the Hostel movies. I was dragged into watching the first one at a party. I was the only one in the room to be disturbed, disgusted, and truly horrified. Hell, a lot of the people were cracking jokes about it.

The response I have isn’t merely simple disgust and such, it follows me around for quite a while and really fraks with my head. Someone gave me a one-shot the other day and decided to lie about its contents. It was a short deal with Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and what “really happened”… stupidly I did open it up, but luckily decided to go to the last few panels instead of actually investing my emotions into the story… oi, I wanted to throttle the bastard who gave it to me.

And this doesn’t change with the style of the guro either. The more cartoonish examples still effect me the exact same way.

#526

That’s right… we’re totally screwed up in the head. But as long as you don’t make us upset, we won’t slaughter you… not first that is… :stuck_out_tongue:

#527

Hmmm, so I shouldn’t have debated with you on the whole alien thing then. Frak me… wait, no. Don’t please. 'Cause that IS what’s first :? .

In the end I really don’t pass too much judgement, well except for those laughing during Hostel. Laughing at such dismemberment seems wrong on way too many levels. But on people that are addicted or obsessed with guro… hey, I have a fascination with various rape fantasies so it’s not exactly like I’m completely “right” in the head either. And despite my personal disgust and the offense I have taken from viewing guro, I still have no wish to censor it in any form. I just wish the assholes that lie to me about what a title is would burn in hell. That’s all.

:twisted:

#528

I sort of pity people that can’t watch drama or traumatic scenes without laughing. Becoming desensitized like that means being incapable of fully experiencing fantasy. As a person who immerses himself in fantasy, such an existence would seem somewhat hollow to me, like a self-imposed colorblindness.

#529

I never understood being desensitised by art or entertaiment. I have seen or read plenty of violent works and am still viscerally affected by the brutality or trauma of the characters. Hell, even if I’ve seen the same scene or read the same book dozens of times, the effect is usually just as strong.

Maybe it is just easier for me to empathise and sympathise with the situations/characters than most people.

I don’t why I am surprised when someone laughs at such scenes though. I can’t remember the movie now, but I remember being in a theatre and quite a few people broke out laughing when a guy was chasing someone up some stairs, tripped, and managed to blow his head off with his own gun. It was fairly gorey but these people were reacting as if this was one of those Looney Tunes moments.

Really, are people that disconnected from their emotions?

#530

I think a lot of people, particularly young males, are simply unwilling/incapable of immersing themselves in fiction. In some cases, they may lack the imagination to do so. In others they may feel that doing so isn’t socially acceptable. Still others may just be so bored of fiction (or a particular genre) that making fun of it is the only enjoyment they can extract from it. Humor, after all, doesn’t generally require much of an attention span.

#531

In this case, they weren’t making fun of it. I could have understood if they were laughing at the ridiculousness of the situations. I mean, I have watched horror movies and laughed at the idiot going alone into a basement only to get killed. That is simply wry laughter in the face of stupidity. But there is a difference between that and the scene in Hostel with the eye… I was so busy trying not to vomit while other people were laughing as if it were the greatest joke on the planet. Maybe I could understand being so disconnected from one’s emotions that there is little reaction at all. But to openly take glee in such a situation?

The only explanation I can think of is a warped mind.

#532

It’s common to react to something one feels is “over-the-top” by laughing. Again, this results from a failure of immersion, but in this case we blame the media (for being over-the-top and not believable) rather than our insensitivity. You could blame either, depending on your perspective. To establish insensitivity, you’d need a wide range of media. If you can never get a horrified reaction, no matter how the fictional situation is portrayed, then it’s safe to say their own insensitivity is the culprit. Then again, that’d only matter to someone who values being able to react viscerally to fiction as if it was real. Many people probably don’t value that at all.

#533

No they aren’t. Which is good, as I’m a fan of ??PON?◊??PON?

#534

You shouldn’t talk badly about yourself like that… I mean, I don’t think you’re that screwed up in the head. Well… not that much. :stuck_out_tongue: :wink:

#535

Yes, well mine is warped in an entirely different matter. Ponies, and butterflies, and pink frilly dresses… uh, forget that. You didn’t see that. Turn away now!

:evil:

#536

Sorry if this has been answered, but how are so many different kinds of eroge still being released with the new restrictions? (“rape games” are still being released) Did the EOCs change their rules or did companies just abandon them for someone better?

#537

You know how the EOCS used to ban incest games, and things like Hatsukoi and Kusari-hime (the latter of which featured very blatant incest, the kind that can’t be denied though the ‘well, the game never explicitly SAYS she’s blood related, it just doesn’t deny it’ reasoning) were still released under those restrictions, so it’s just business as usual.

#538

Still, wasn’t the mere presence of a school setting supposed to be one of the things that was getting a ban? For incest, there is always the “lol she’s not really related!” excuse, but you can’t really say that for things like S&M and bondage.

#539

Yeah, but the point is that the restrictions as far as I can tell are not actually enforced in any way, so things are no different than before. That’s why I kept telling people not to worry >_>

#540

Well, if it makes crazy groups like EQ happier and doesn’t affect us, than maybe these “restrictions” were actually a good idea. :lol: