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Kadokawa Recalls Manga That Tokyo Designated as 'Unhealthy'

Publisher Kadokawa issued a "voluntary recall" for its Imōto Paradise! 2 manga after the Tokyo Metropolitan Government designated the volume as an "unhealthy publication" under the revised Youth Healthy Development Ordinance due to its "glorification of incestuous acts." The publisher noted it is considering how to move forward regarding the volume's publication, and has not decided if it will protest the government's decision and other matters.

As a result of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's designation, bookstores are prohibited from selling or renting the book to minors younger than 18 years old, or allowing them to browse the book. Bookstores are legally obligated to separate and place the book in an adult section. However, Kadokawa decided to recall all copies "so that bookstores can avoid confusion and trouble."

Kadokawa gave bookstores notice of its recall on Tuesday, one day after the designation was announced, but the ruling did not go into full effect until Friday. Amazon already removed the volume from its Kindle store on Wednesday and removed its listing for the printed version by Friday evening.

The Imōto Paradise! 2 ~Oniichan to 5-nin no Imōto no Mo~tto! Echi Shimakurina Mainichi manga by artist Sekizai Mikage adapts Moon Stone Cherry's 2013 adult game Imōto Paradise! 2. The series inspired two adult original video anime projects.

Kadokawa published the manga on April 3, and the book was initially not classified as adults-only. The Youth Healthy Development Council, which is composed of members tied to publishers, scholars, and guardians, then received the government's request to evaluate the book. On Monday, the council reported to Tokyo Governor Yōichi Masuzoe that the proposed "unhealthy publication" designation was appropriate for the book, and the government sent a notice of the decision to publishers and other organizations on Friday.

The revised Youth Healthy Development Ordinance expanded the number of manga and anime that fall under "harmful publications," the legal category of works that must not be sold or rented to people under the age of 18. Erotic material was already restricted before the amendment, but the amended law also restricts the sales and renting of materials that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government considers "to be excessively disrupting of social order."

Imōto Paradise! 2 is the first publication to be formally restricted as such by the government since Bill 156 went into effect, but the Youth Healthy Development Council had deliberated over previous works such as the To Love-Ru -Trouble- Darkness manga and the Yosuga no Sora television anime series. However, the council decided that these earlier works did not violate the revised ordinance's new standards. Three months before Bill 156 went into effect on July 1, 2011, Masahiro Itosugi announced that there will be no more printings of volumes 1 and 3 in her Aki Sora manga, due mainly to their depictions of incest, after the series was considered for restrictions.

Source: IT Media