Ahead of Japan’s July 20 elections, a populist opposition party called Sanseito has garnered much confusion and criticism from Japanese people online over proposed political measures related to video games, anime and manga. While Sanseito is a minority party, based on current forecasts, it is expected to capture a significant number of seats in Japan’s House of Councillors.

On its official homepage, Sanseito highlights Japan’s entertainment industry (specifically anime, manga and video games) as a “core industry,” that generates yearly revenue comparable to the country’s semiconductor exports. Sanseito says that these forms of media “go beyond entertainment, becoming important tools for Japan’s cultural diplomacy and international influence.” As such, the party intends to support the industry’s expansion through several measures.

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[–] 91 points 1 year ago (1 child)

Suggest looking into the personal lives of the party members to find the most depraved shit imaginable IRL

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  • [–] 45 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    For context, this is the Japanese version of Reform UK or AfD.

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    [–] 24 points 1 year ago*

    Put away your pitchforks. It's just a right wing populist/idiot party trying to garner attention.

    Trying to push this in Japan is literally how you get the quiet guy in the office to go postal. They'd need 24/7 police protection.

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  • [–] 14 points 1 year ago

    Right wing, you say?

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  • [–] 16 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    Yeah, nah. If you want wholesome Disney shit, create it yourselves (something like PBS, idk if Japan has something similar). Don't expect others to change their creations to look better to the rest of the world. The violence and "unwholesomeness" is what a lot of us like about certain projects. Sure, the cutesy family friendly stuff is okay, but c'mon.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    Im not 100% sure but it feels like they do. cells at work, this one about excersize and nutrition, and even doctor stone all have a pbs type feel to them.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    It's called the NHK. Pretty similar to PBS. Makes documentaries, kids shows, apparently some anime. I hadn't heard of most of it, but I don't really watch anime. They apparently aired seasons 3 and 4 of Attack on Titan though. They also made one called "Welcome to the N.H.K" about mental health. If this party is so concerned with foreign perception (it's already extremely good, at least in the US), they should just invest more into the NHK. And make the stuff not dogshit. That's the most important part. Don't make it feel like it was created by the government.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Cells at work is decently wholesome. Some blood and violence, not much, comparable to Osmosis Jones. Now cells at work: code black on the other hand…

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    did it get really violent or something?

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago

    Regular cells at work takes place in a decently average body and handles things like colds, scrapes, fever, etc. Run of the mill things

    Code black is a spinoff where the body is a really unhealthy middle aged man and handles things like smoking, high cholesterol, STDs, etc. Much more adult topics. And also quite a bit grittier and more violent in presentation

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  • [–] 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Do they know why anime is popular??? Sure some things like Frieren is about the animation style and plot for sure but others have a certain quality that I just can't put my finger on but if I could im sure I would like it that much more like high school double D's.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago

    I don't know that anime is so profitable that they can afford to stop making popular content in order to make propaganda.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago

    If it were a series of strategies to attempt to reduce the number of pedo/incest anime (not just outlawing them, but influencing the market with regulation of advertising and/or broadcast content), I might be tentatively on board, but something tells me it's going to be more about censoring blood and gore, queerness, and maybe even themes of fighting against authority, depending on how ambitious they get.

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  • [+] -17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

    I don't hate this? Even if I wasn't living a whole ocean away I would still be indifferent.

    Japanese anime has been regularly sexualizing children for more than 3 decades now. They really needed some regulation.

    Also after reading the article fully. They want regulation for better working conditions during the production. Again, they needed that.

    Main complaint is that if state is involved, they would promote propogands over criticism.

    That word "wholesome" is problem tho. Do they mean unwholesome as in chainsaw man or unwholesome as in 500 year old vampire trope?

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  • [–] 14 points 1 year ago* (2 children)

    How you about you regulate child beauty pagants and and ban child marriage in your own country first. They make reality shows about thos pagants who sexualize real children and you're trying to act morally superior about animation.

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