Let's Manga

"He says the "Holy Grail" of Japanese developers has long been "to produce AstroBoy - a humanoid, companion robot." Hornyak says such a robot is likely possible in the long run, but he worries that pursuit of a Jetsons-style "servant robot in the household. .. has blinded (Japanese companies) to more common, useful possibilities.""

Diverse depictions of the WWII German army exist in Japanese popular culture. This essay will explore the origins of the Japanese fandom devoted to German military technology and also the way that authors have (re)produced stereotypes related to German culture and traditions in their portrayals of wartime Germany. Finally, using examples by authors Tezuka Osamu and Aramaki Yoshio, this essay will identify the representation of both Japanese and German war crimes in Japanese manga and popular fiction as a significant discursive trend that calls into question assumptions about anti-war thought in contemporary Japan.

NEW GLASGOW - Twin brothers were sentenced in provincial court Wednesday to three months in jail for possessing child pornography.

This is an interesting issue that concerns particularly anime and manga, although not only, because pornography and child pornography constitute such a high percentage of the total production (apprently, close to 50%). Here, we have a typical case where something legal in one country is illegal in many others. Moreover, there is also the issue of freedom of expression, since drawing (like writing, actually) are only expression of fantasies, but not necessarily their implementations, unless the it is about a story that actually took place. Does that mean one should forbid such fantasies to be expressed, whether from a commercial point of view or from an artistic perspective? Of course, many will state firmly that such fantasies can never become art, but that doesn't settle the debate once and for all, in my opinion. On the contrary, I think it remains quite an open-ended issue and one should keep an eye out for its development, as pornography in all its forms and expressions are often used as pretext to resteain freedom of speech and artistic expressions that don't fit a specific politically correct model.