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Old 12-25-2010, 11:30 PM   #30
moonhawk81

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Re: Anime Over - Anime & Manga Ban Passes

While I appreciate the passion of many of the opinions I've read in this discussion, I cannot help but feel that they are somewhat overly-reactionary in nature. Japan is a culture of many centuries, and has changed more in the last 150 years than almost any Western nation or society in the same period. And that change is a continuing process. While we might cringe at the legal proceedings we are witnessing in Tokyo right now, we need remember that even here in the West censorship is still a very real problem. It must also be remembered that advances in personal (among them, artistic) freedoms often provoke harsh social reactions, whatever the society or culture. What is gained is often lost, at least in part, only to be regained later. In truth, I marvel that the anime industry blossomed so fully in Japan to begin with--of course maintaining its creative freedom will be challenging. But are we really so far beyond such restrictions ourselves, when news outlets so recently reported books being banned from public school libraries for "promoting witchcraft?" Freedom, once experienced, is much more likely to be curtailed rather than permanently lost. Be patient--I doubt this law will prove either as effectively restrictive or long-lasting as its author[s] hope[s].
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Last edited by moonhawk81; 12-27-2010 at 09:47 PM.
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