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INTEREST: Newspaper Ad for Raunchy Tawawa on Monday Manga Draws Ire

Anime News Network: Newspaper Ad for Raunchy Tawawa on Monday Manga Draws Ire and the comments aren't happy about this

Also Anime News Network: Condemns the likes of Shield Hero, Goblin Slayer, and Redo of Healer

Sareail wrote:

Not only that, but even if they did have said right, they weren't exposed to anything sexually explicit anyway. The picture isn't just tame, it's downright G-rated. I wouldn't have known it was about a fan service manga just by looking at that ad.

It honestly depends. I'm an erotic artist and love sexualizing my art, but I'm also against the sexualization of women when uninvited, so I've had to manage where I draw the line and become aware of my own biases, which has made things like this more apparent. I've attended school in Japan at different times of my life and one of those uniquely anime things is how high school uniforms are made to look slightly more sexy than what is usually allowed in real school settings. Shorter skirts are the stand out point, but it also extends to things like how tight the chest is on the shirt and so on. Not to mention, camera angle and choice of body shape (the manga is still fanservice and the character's body and outfit were clearly designed to draw attention to that). This angle shows her body from the side with the clothing tightened where her curves would look most attractive. Put another way, I would totally draw this pose on purpose. Lol

It's subtle, but I can probably point to the general oversaturation of sexuality in media (and especially anime) as to why it seems normal to many of us, but stands out to other people who are directly involved in an organization that tries to combat that normalization. This is also probably why it passed through the newspapers' own editing department unnoticed. Most people would probably not think twice about it.

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With that point out of the way, though, I think I agree with most people here. It's not censorship to find it violates the newspapers own rules, and it probably didn't belong there, but it's a very minor issue and doesn't mean we should take this as meaning sexualization=bad. People should be free to sexualize themselves (age appropriately) and I clearly enjoy sexualized art, but a fictional character with no agency for herself is subject to whatever a platform feels appropriate for that platform and their audience. This wasn't the right newspaper for the ad.

Well, this issue gives me headaches.

1 - People have the right to read the manga, no "ifs" nor "buts" about it. And I know that's not the topic in discussion, but I need to stress it. People have the right to read and like this piece of fiction, and people have the right to their fetishes, of which people never actually choose. All characters are fictional.

2 - On the other hand, one could argue that the ad, placed where it is, seems to indicate that the newspaper thought it was a good idea, making it sound as if all office workers and businesspeople are heterosexual males with a school girl fetish. Plenty of them are, to be sure, but... Not the most inclusive experience. I mean, by their own statement, only these men exist in the labor market.

"April 4th is the first Monday of the year for new employees," a representative from Young Magazine told Comic Natalie. "We put up a full-page ad to blow away their anxiety and cheer them up"."

(and I know there are women who are more than happy to read the manga/watch the anime)

3 - On the other hand, they have the right to advertise in that same newspaper, should that same newspaper welcome their money, of course.

4 - However, treating it isolated from its context is not intelectually honest, and to pretend that plenty of the people who defend this ad would feel repulsed/outraged at a similar ad regarding BL is a bit intelectually dishonest.

5 - Also, the ad, from what I gather, doesn't pass the 3 P's test. But then again, I think the anime doesn't show male faces, so, whatever. One could also make the argument that the 3 P's test is not contextual, so...

6 - At the end of the day, International organizations have a bad habit of picking up on what is or isn't legal in Japanese media.

7 - But again, Japan has a legit horrible Gender Inequality issue, unfitting of the Developed Country. Stereotyping never helps matters.

8 - But then there are people who will treat any form of sexy entertainment as an assault of Women's Rights.

9 - But then there will be people who will pretend that there is no such thing as Gender Inequality or even try to justify it.

10 - One of the big issues in Japan is how common it is for a salaryman to grab a school girl (just for example) on the subway.

11 - Though no such behavior, as far as I know, is displayed in this work of fiction, so it could not, in good faith, be argued that the manga promotes molestation and harrassment.


The list could go on and on. All in all, this just gives me headaches.

Well, this issue gives me headaches.

1 - People have the right to read the manga, no "ifs" nor "buts" about it. And I know that's not the topic in discussion, but I need to stress it. People have the right to read and like this piece of fiction, and people have the right to their fetishes, of which people never actually choose. All characters are fictional.

2 - On the other hand, one could argue that the ad, placed where it is, seems to indicate that the newspaper thought it was a good idea, making it sound as if all office workers and businesspeople are heterosexual males with a school girl fetish. Plenty of them are, to be sure, but... Not the most inclusive experience. I mean, by their own statement, only these men exist in the labor market.

"April 4th is the first Monday of the year for new employees," a representative from Young Magazine told Comic Natalie. "We put up a full-page ad to blow away their anxiety and cheer them up"."

(and I know there are women who are more than happy to read the manga/watch the anime)

3 - On the other hand, they have the right to advertise in that same newspaper, should that same newspaper welcome their money, of course.

4 - However, treating it isolated from its context is not intelectually honest, and to pretend that plenty of the people who defend this ad would feel repulsed/outraged at a similar ad regarding BL is a bit intelectually dishonest.

5 - Also, the ad, from what I gather, doesn't pass the 3 P's test. But then again, I think the anime doesn't show male faces, so, whatever. One could also make the argument that the 3 P's test is not contextual, so...

6 - At the end of the day, International organizations have a bad habit of picking up on what is or isn't legal in Japanese media.

7 - But again, Japan has a legit horrible Gender Inequality issue, unfitting of the Developed Country. Stereotyping never helps matters.

8 - But then there are people who will treat any form of sexy entertainment as an assault of Women's Rights.

9 - But then there will be people who will pretend that there is no such thing as Gender Inequality or even try to justify it.

10 - One of the big issues in Japan is how common it is for a salaryman to grab a school girl (just for example) on the subway.

11 - Though no such behavior, as far as I know, is displayed in this work of fiction, so it could not, in good faith, be argued that the manga promotes molestation and harrassment.


The list could go on and on. All in all, this just gives me headaches.

I love how there are only 2 people in this discussion who have actually read the article.

TL;DR: The paper is part of a coalition dedicated to eliminating gender stereotypes in advertisements and media. Having a giant full page ad for a manga that fetishizes school girls (in the Japanese equivalent to the Wall Street Journal no less) is counter to those goals. The organization behind the coalition is upset by the decision to run the ad and wants to know whats going on.

I think you did a great way at addressing either side!

Tbh no manga promotes any of its contents. Its all just fiction.
But yeah. Other than that, brilliant take and pretty much summarizes the entire situation.

Why won't these people worry about actual sexual abuse crimes going on in 3rd world countries.. OH WAIT.

Lucen007 wrote:

Anime News Network: Newspaper Ad for Raunchy Tawawa on Monday Manga Draws Ire and the comments aren't happy about this Also Anime News Network: Condemns the likes of Shield Hero, Goblin Slayer, and Redo of Healer

Lucen007: Makes a new account just to badmouth the site in a meme style

Also Lucen007: Apparently doesn't know the difference between Editorial Reviews and News Articles so their badmouthing rings hollow

I feel like the more they do these kind of thing for small things that doesn't have a high level agreement among people as a problem, the less seriously people will take them even when they talk about things that people would otherwise agree on if it doesn't come from their mouth.

Kinda like PETA.

Storm in a J cup

I think people need better reading comprehension skills before lashing out: the reason this stupid thing is happening at all is because NS is affiliated to the UNWUA, supporting the organization’s philosophy, dumb and overreactive as I think it may be.

I personally think the WUA is a waste of resources that could be directed to better agendas that really matter and actually make a difference, but if the NS is openly backing them up then the WUA is in the right here. You want to (rightly) publish an ad for a harmless manga that the WUA does not approve of - because they deem it sexually exploitative - but still want to say you are a progressive newspaper supporting this organization? Sorry, can’t have your cake and eat it. You don’t actually agree with the WUA’s philosophy and want to print whatever you feel like? Then don’t openly support it. You’ll still get backlash anyway but now you can rightfully just tell them to f**k off.