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Canadian Child Exploitation Coordination Center Misdefines Anime

The Canadian National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre, a Canadian Government initiative, has created a "fact" sheet regarding hentai and anime.

The document fails to differentiate between hentai and other non-pornographic forms of anime and manga. One paragraph states:

Also, it should be noted that in Japan, adult oriented material that contains scenes depicting sexual acts is not considered pornography if the sexual content is shown to be relevant to the plot (Pornography 2005). This material, which in Western nations is referred to as animé is a growing concern among Canadian law enforcement. Although it is produced mainly in Japan, any form of animation that can be categorized as child pornography is illegal to possess in Canada . Due to its graphic content, hentai has also been used during the grooming process to lower the sexual inhibitions of children.

While another states:

Hentai can be produced in various formats including film (animé), comics (manga), and computer games (bishojo games) (Hentai 2005). As Japanese animation is a form of expression, hentai is an expression of sexual fantasy that in many cases requires animation as many of the sexual acts portrayed would be impossible to capture on film. As hentai depictions are often considered unacceptable in society, graphic artists in Asia, Europe, and North America often try to push the envelope by making their designs more extreme (Hentai 2005).

The entire document can be read here.

Thanks to Cameron for this item.