From the Eroge Front: Bullet dodged, but bleeding may continue

Those who fear slippery slopes may find a brief opportunity for relief, as the legislative tsunami triggered by the rape game controversy seems to have subsided somewhat in the wake of greater politics.

A bill proposed to expand current child pornography bans and criminalize "simple possession" of "apparently underage" material had been slowed as the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) were pushing revisions to cover just "repeated" and "for profit"distribution, as opposed to the original "total" bans put forward by the Koumeito.

However, the bill itself among others, is in danger of being scrapped entirely, given Prime Minister Taro Aso's orders to dissolve the current session of parliament, calling for general elections by August 30th. 

Japan's vast porn industry has dodged a legislative bullet ("apparent" is such a dangerous word when used in law), but the battle isn't over. Eroge makers are still in some danger, with the threat now coming from themselves. 

Though upcoming H-games don't seem to be in immediate danger of restriction, the future of fetish properties is still in question. Eroge developers and publishers should take a hard look at their own advocacy groups, whose supine reaction to the political pressure helped set off the storm in the first place. After all, what good is a lobbying group that won't lobby?

[Via Canned Dogs, Yahoo News and others]

Chara-Ani announces a new High School of the Dead figure

We here at Japanator love High School of the Dead. I put it on my wishlist for 2009, and I'm still waiting for Vertical to license it. It's a manga series about what happens after a zombie outbreak across the world, following a group of high school students. What's great about it is that not only is the manga littered with references to American flicks, the characters actually have brains and make rational decisions! It's a rare title that would be great here, I think.

Organic has already released two awesome HSOTD figures, but this one from Chara-Ani features removable clothing -- a rarity on a $77 figure -- for the supergenius Saya Takashiro. But of course she comes equipped with a high-powered rifle that can fit in the most...convenient of spots.

Pre-ordering this is sorely tempting, and I know I'm going to have to try and hold back on buying the Organic figures while I'm at Otakon. I don't need a repeat of Anime Expo.

Japan haets Twitter: Only 2.6% ever tweeted

Tweeting isn't for everyone. I myself haven't completely warmed up to this intertube sensation. It might take a lot longer for Japan at large though, as a recent survey by the iBridge monitor group revealed that just 2.6% of Japanese people ever used Twitter (current and in the past) and only 16% even know what it is. Of those who used the service, more than two-thirds reported having at least four followers.

Given how much Japan uses its cellphones, I'd have thought Twitter to be an immediate hit, since it can direct messages via SMS. Plus, with kanji, one can say a lot more in 140 characters. Then again, Japanese also have an unparalleled level of mobile net access. Do they have a problem with reading all the messages from the bottom up? Perhaps they have something better that they've been using all along?

What do you think it will take for those moon people to get our @Japan messages?