Kinokuniya U.S. Ends Retail of Anime Pin-ups

[Steven]

Sankaku Complex*

*Clicking of link not advised for those perhaps underage due to inappropriate content on the website. The copy of the article, below, should be fine, in their respect. =)

The US subsidiary of top Japanese bookstore Kinokuniya has stopped all sales of popular anime pin-up magazines, saying it thinks the innocent pictures of anime girls they are famous for may contain “illegal and inappropriate content” – or in other words, that it thinks they might be considered child porn in the US.

The store has cancelled the subscriptions of all customers subscribed to the magazines, which includes fan favourites Megami and Nyan-Type.

Earlier this month subscribers of Megami Magazine through Kinokuniya Bookstores of America received this rather distressing letter from the popular Japanese book retailer:

July 7th, 2010

(subscriber name/address redacted)

Dear Subscriber,

Thank you very much for using the Kinokuniya magazine subscription services.

We are writing this letter to inform you that we no longer handle subscriptions to Megami magazine since it has recently come to our attention that the magazine may contain inappropriate contents which may not comply with applicable local, state, and/or federal regulations.

It is our policy to take a cautious approach in conducting our business in full compliance with any applicable local, state, and/or federal regulations. In keeping with this policy, we will cancel your subscription to this publication.

Please accept the enclosed refund check for the portion of the subscription remaining.

Thanks again for your continuous patronage to our business.

Should you have any questions or concern regarding this matter, please contact me below.

Sincerely,

(name redacted)
Kinokuniya Bookstores of America Co., LTD.

A follow-up call to the store revealed that five moe-style magazines were currently affected by the ban: Megami, Megami Deluxe, Nyan Type, Dengeki Hime, and Dengeki Moeoh.

None of these titles carry explicit nudity or sexual content – only doe-eyed anime maidens in great profusion.

The store contact avoided giving any precise reasons or specific content which led to the sudden ban, and was quick to offer reassurances that magazines already previously sold by their store and available for subscription over the last decade were not ever “illegal” in any respect.

When it was pointed out that other anime and manga sellers in the US still offer these magazines for sale or subscription, the contact apologized and explained that this was a “precautionary measure… due to certain recent events and changes” – a possible allusion to the Handley case.

A search of the web reveals that non-subscribing direct buyers will also find that the store no longer carried their monthly dose of moe pin-up goodness on their shelves.

Whether US Customs was an issue or not was not clarified (although other retailers have long shipped them without issue), but the contact admitted there had been customer complaints regarding the content of the magazines.

Meanwhile, Megami, Nyan-Type and other anime pin-up magazine subscriptions still remain available through less spineless retailers, both in the US and beyond.

Anime fans opposed to rampant censorship with no basis in law are advised not to support so craven a company as Kinokuniya in future.

I whole-heartedly agree with Kinokuniya... When it comes down to it, these magazines aren't necessary... And as they do depict humans most, if not, all, of the time, they probably should be put on level with pictures of actual humans in these kinds of situations.

 

[Ella]

Huh. I just bought a CD from Kinokuniya at Otakon. o -o

I personally don't read such magazines, but I highly respect Kinokuniya as a retailer for making japanese goods easier to obtain in the US by legal means (as far as I know). I would much rather they stop carrying such a product than see them shut down by the government. However, I could see myself feeling differently if this had happened with products I actually use, such as jpop CDs and the like.

 

[Rellik]

I whole-heartedly agree with Kinokuniya... When it comes down to it, these magazines aren't necessary...

There are alot of things that aren't "necessary." Anime isn't necessary. Manga isn't necessary. Video games aren't necessary. If simply not being "necessary" was justification for banning something, the world would be a very dull place.

Anyways, I'm not familiar with Kinokuniya or the pin-up books that they offer, but if it's true that they don't depict any nudity or sexual content, then I don't see why they were banned if not as a knee-jerk reaction to the Handley case, which just further proves how much that case has fucked things up for the US anime/manga community.

 

[Steven]

There are alot of things that aren't "necessary." Anime isn't necessary. Manga isn't necessary. Video games aren't necessary. If simply not being "necessary" was justification for banning something, the world would be a very dull place.

To specify, 'necessary' to the culture of it all.

 

[Rellik]

To specify, 'necessary' to the culture of it all.

That doesn't specify anything. What culture? American culture? Japanese culture? Otaku culture? Really, it doesn't matter, because whatever culture you might be alluding to doesn't make my previous statement any less true in any way.

 

[Steven]

Not holding your hand. In what part of the forum are we? What is this thread about? It's quite obvious.

Now, back on topic.~

 

[fate]

which just further proves how much that case has fucked things up for the US anime/manga community.

A company trying to make sure it doesn't get hammered with legal problems isn't exactly going to wreck the community.

Alternatively, I'd say actions like this might help. There's too much sexualization of little girls in a lot of recent anime and manga and a rising interest of it here. The magazine in question here, Megami, while not usually explicit, still proliferates that. In Japan it's no surprise, but I have no idea of how that caught on here so fast (though I largely blame the prevalence of "moe" anime growing over here)