My dear and fellow beloved otakus across the state from Florida to fellow neighbors Texas. I do indeed have some very bad and awful news to tell you. This news is truly disappointing. As a Floridian otaku, I urge all of you to spread the news on what’s going on in Texas. It’s important for the anime, manga, and video game content. This topic is about censorship. It’s not only about how it will affect you. It even lands you into prison if this bill is passed.

Now, keep in mind, I am not a supporter of lolicon/shotacon. I never have liked it and have zero interest in it whatsoever. When it comes to the actual topic of real-life harm to children, everyone must denounce it. Material like AI that harms children in real life is unacceptable. I 100% denounce any type of explicit material and horrific harm done to children. Those who commit such disgusting acts deserve to be imprisoned. Justice must be enforced with law and order to secure safety for our children. As an otaku, I have never been a fan of lolicon and shotacon. In fact, I have always been an avid and vocal critic of lolicon and shotacon. Your preferences and opinions, whether you like or not, do not influence my business or interests. I simply have my opinion on that material.

But, what I am about to talk about is our beloved anime, manga, and video games. In the state of Texas, our beloved passion is in a huge crossfire. This is due to a law that passed unanimously in The Texas Senate. The question you probably ask is, what bill is it, and what’s this bill about? Well, this bill is known as…

Senate Bill 20. Intended to be an amendment of Texas Chapter 43 Penal Code 43.21(a)(1)(B). This bill, passed by the Texas senate, aims to target obscene content. It focuses on minors specifically through the use of artificial intelligence (AI). This bill will also enforce the law. Those who hold such material will be criminally charged as a felon for possessing, promoting and viewing such content. The bill reads:

“A person commits an offense if the person knowingly possesses, accesses with intent to view, or promotes obscene visual material containing a depiction that appears to be of a child younger than 18 years of age engaging in activities described by Section 43.21(a)(1)(B), regardless of whether the depiction is an image of an actual child, a cartoon or animation, or an image created using an artificial intelligence application or other computer software.”

The law sounds 100% justified and reasonable. The bill specifically aims to combat unlawful and criminalizing disgusting acts against children through the use of AI. Nonetheless, the bill has also left a dangerous slippery slope. This specifically relates to what I was talking about earlier. What am I talking about?

More information about Senate Bill 20 indicates that the new bill grants the law to be open to interpretation. Nevertheless, standards acts considered deplorable by most, would have the definition of obscene described as this as it reads:

“[Material or a performance that] taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value”.

Now, you will probably ask, what makes the bill so dangerous? I mean, it sounds a bill with good intentions against such material that shouldn’t exist and be allowed, right? Well, this is when the issue comes. According to the bill, as stated before, the penal code also includes cartoons and animations. It probably includes computer software. This undoubtedly includes video games. Why is this problem? Because let’s be honest…

Anime and manga are NO stranger to having the weirdest, lewdest and questionable content. Especially when it’s about the semi explicit side of anime and manga. Heck, even the most normal and romantic sides of anime and manga have a long-standing history of controversy. This is especially true for those that deal with deep and heavy content not suitable for the norm. But, we can’t cover the sun with our thumb. We must acknowledge that an overwhelming majority of settings are set in high school. This means that the characters by law are considered minors. The high school period mainly involves school kids in their late teens. They are either continuing their high school years or are about to graduate, which means they are still considered minors. Aside from high school settings, there are other controversial genres. These genres have raised a lot of questions about existence. Of course, these concerns mainly come from those outside the otaku hemisphere. These individuals have no experience or knowledge. They have never even seen the slightest of what anime and manga is about. They lack understanding of the culture of Japan, its history, genres, and tropes. Now, again, you will probably ask, how will anime and manga be affected by this?

Firstly, I am going to talk about the many popular anime and manga series beloved to everyone. They range from classic hits, like Gurren Lagann and Kill La Kill. They also include mainstream long-running hits of the past like Bleach. Also including are niche hits circling around the otaku demographic, like Bakemonogatari. This even extends to video game hits, like the Persona series. These titles mentioned, if the bill is passed, are put into serious trouble. Which result in bans, and even those who view, or own these titles. Wait, but how is this possible? Well, let’s do a quick rundown on these series.

First, let’s start with Gurren Lagann. A successful and critically acclaimed anime from studio Gainax and considered one of the best anime’s of the 2000s. It’s one of my favorite anime’s of all time. It has proudly resided in my top 10 for nearly a decade now. About the content that results in legal issues, one of Gurren Lagann’s main characters is important. Yoko Littner is described as being a 14-year-old in the first arc of the story before the time skip. A major highlight of the issue will probably be her outfit. The new bill will prompt problems solely for this reason. Let’s be honest, Yoko’s outfit will be deemed as too sexual due to her age. This will prompt the law to declare it as a series with obscene material. There will be a ban on the series. Legal issues will arise for those who viewed it and promoted it as a favorite. Recommending it to the community to watch, and even possessing it, will also be problematic. Yes, I’m not kidding you. Go read the bill again and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

Then we have Kill La Kill. Another critically acclaimed series from studio trigger, and is often regarded as the spiritual counterpart to Gurren lagann. Although I haven’t watched Kill La Kill yet, which I will plan too soon. The series, according to those who watched it, is set in high school. As you know, as I have stated before, high school settings are 99% settings about minors. The series is known for its sexual themes. Of course, done in a comedic manner.

Now, onto Bleach. Tite Kubo’s gigantic WSJ hit series needs no introduction. Highly responsible for getting a lot of people into anime and manga while defining a generation. Often regarded as one of the hit pieces of the 2000s that still lives on to this day. Still, one should remember that the shonen genre is known for its constant features of fan service. It still happens today. Bleach is known for having many fan service scenes with characters. Also, once again, like Kill La Kill, Bleach is a mixture of a modern day and fantasy setting. It’s a manga/anime series with a high school setting. Orihime is one of the most popular characters in Bleach. She is regarded as an adorable waifu charm for fans of Bleach. Orihime is known for having many fan service scenes. This is despite the fact that she’s 15 years old during the beginning of Bleach. Hence, under the new bill, that will be deemed as obscene material against a minor. I find it quite hilarious. Many of these hardcore shonen fans are celebrating this bill being passed by the senate. They are unaware that their beloved shonen titles like Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece are in major trouble. This will happen if this bill continues to pass.

Then we have the Bakemonogatari series. Like the others, Bakemonogatari is an anime that I haven’t watched yet. Although it’s been on my radar for a VERY long time, I still haven’t watched it yet. I do plan too as soon as possible. This anime is one of the most beloved created by studio Shaft. It is regarded as not just a Light Novel masterpiece. Some even consider it to be a perfection of Japanese literature. But, like most titles, Bakemonogatari is a high school setting series. Meaning, that once again, like most characters, they are in their late teens. From what I heard, they are actually younger than that. One specific character goes by the name of Shinobu Oshino. She is a 599 year old appearing as an 8 year old vampire girl. Despite being considered above 18, she has a young girl appearance. That’s when the bill will be allowed for “interpretation.” This means that no matter the age number of the official story, it is completely nullified. This will result in more legal trouble. Even worse.

Finally, onto the video games. Here we have the Persona series. Some consider the Persona series to be an extremely popular video game franchise. It is also mainstream in the otaku hemisphere and the JPRG genre. Yet, it is still seen as a niche series. This is when compared to giant video game titles like Super Mario, Pokémon, Call of Duty, and Fortnite. The Persona series has a long history of diving into topics deemed, “controversial”. in 2007, In an interview with 1-Up, someone from the localization team spoke. Nick Maragos said that Persona 3 never received a “Jack Thompson-ing”. It didn’t get any complaints from worried parents. This was despite Persona 3 having some very controversial plot elements. Making the GTA series look more tame and mild according to critics. So? What controversial elements am I talking about? Well, it all boils down to heavy topics. These include sexual exploitation of minors and relationships. Romances revolving around underage characters are also addressed. Additionally, there are dating options for characters under the age of 18. This is despite the protagonists being under 18 as well. In fact, Persona will probably the most controversial for senate bill 20. It is also the most dangerous thing to consider what it does. How the bill will be interpreted is uncertain. All I can predict is the negativity.

As I have stated before, this bill is a huge problem, and for every otaku in Texas. I urge them to please stay focused and stay alerted. In fact, as an otaku from Florida, I am doing my utmost of what I can to spread this message. Let every otaku know about the bill. This includes otakus not just in Texas, but all over America. They should be aware of what’s going on in the state of Texas. Again, there is nothing wrong with wanting to take down content that specifically promotes and distributes harm against real children. Those who engage in such acts deserve to be thrown into prison. Justice, law, and order must be enacted. Also, once again, I do not consider myself an individual who likes the lolicon/shotacon content. I have always been an avid critic and spoken out against the genre. Yes, even in non-H anime and manga. The problem is, this bill goes beyond just Ai. It includes contents like animation, cartoons, aka anime and manga, and computer programmed art, aka, video games. These are added to that bill. This will cause massive complications of unfair interpretations against specific anime, manga, and video game titles as mentioned before. This happens without the titles ever having the intent of promoting such horrific content. This opens a frightening opportunity. It allows political authority to silence expressive creativity. This happens if it is deemed falsely offensive or unlikable by those enforcing it. My main concern is that if this bill is fully passed, it will be a major blow. It will severely affect the flourishing growing otaku culture in Texas. It will also start a domino effect across America. From states like Florida, California, Georgia, Washington State, states that have strong otaku culture landscape, and more states too. If similar laws are enacted in other states, I fear that anime, manga, and the otaku culture will suffer significantly. They will suffer greatly in America. Also, I would like to point out that this issue is a 100% bipartisan issue. It doesn’t matter if you have right wing or left wing views. Freedom of expression and its content must never be infringed. This is especially true if they cause no harm. It should not matter how you disagree with them. The 1st amendment is the 1st amendment. Period.

Once again, I understand that this law was done with good intentions to protect the children. Nevertheless, it also creates a dangerous slippery slope. This will lead to massive misunderstandings. It also result in false prejudice against a piece of entertainment that is so beloved today among many in America. Of course, including myself. For those otakus in Texas, and other states in America. Spread the message. While I do hold some positive hopes that I don’t think a bill like this can truly become law. Especially since it hasn’t been fully signed into law yet, its best to stay alert, careful, and aware. In fact, spread the message, and let everyone else know.

Thank you for taking your time to read this. Please let me in the comments!

“100% Akihabara Style”

Sources: dexertro, tribune, timesnownews,