Blog of Nuke

  Anime News Network has reported that Canadian Border Services Agency has ruled certain adult anime titles as being in violation of the Canadian Criminal Code (Sub. 168 Para. 8).  The two titles named specifically were Cool Devices and Words Worth, neither of which I’ve seen.

I’m not sure how I feel about it.   On one hand, some of the content in adult anime is very extreme and it’s understandable why the authorities would (and perhaps should) step in.

But on the other hand, I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea of the government telling me what I can and can’t watch, especially when there doubts about their knowledge of the subject matter  (anime) and the quality of their inspection and decision-making.

For example, one anime fan pointed out that the boxed set of  "Bizarre Cage Acts 1, 2 & 3" (Pink Pineapple, 2003) is admissible according to CSBA’s Quarterly List of Admissible and Prohibited titles.   However, the same CBSA document states that episodes 2 and 3 of Bizarre Cage Acts are prohibited.  Huh?

I’m also concerned that a production or an entire series could be unfairly banned due to just one scene or episode.  It’s possible to depict rape or other depraved sexual acts but not necessarily glorify it.  But I doubt the inspectors will make that fine a distinction and anime fans in general, not just hentai fans, may end up getting the short end of the stick.

I doubt this’ll make a dent in the availability of such material in Canada as hentai fans will simply download what they can’t obtain legally.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 2nd, 2008 at 11:04 am and is filed under Animation, Anime. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.