Monster Monpiece Censored for Sexual Imagery of Girl Monsters

[lacktheknack]

Ya...no its Mature material but nothing higher than that...the US is so messed up...

You finger women and their clothes fly off as their breasts twitch.

There's something very messed up here... and it's not the US...

Nope.. it is the US. Insecure about its sexuality since ever!

(and nope i dont mean that every us citizen should like this kinda stuff, im talking about demanding that stuff like that seizes to exist or be changed to be more "acceptable")

You'd have a point if anything ceased to exist or if anyone demanded change.

The ESRB looked at the sent-in game footage and rated it AO. That's fine, that system's been in place forever, and it seems rather appropriate (this isn't a game that kids should play).

The developers then retooled it because THEY didn't want an AO. No one forced or blocked anything.

 

[loa]

Each card that had its image changed will have the same number of levels for the player to increase, but "higher level card images will be the same as the lower level." Idea Factory International reiterated that the game's playtime, system, and features are the same as the original Japanese release.

The following cards are limited to their level 1, 2, or 3 evolution form due to "the strong sexual nature of the card images": Vampire, Kraken, Goblin, Cockatrice, Kobold, Skeleton, Titania, Bahamut, Fia, Brownie, Pegasus, Mandragora, Mau Sibau, Rafflesia, Death Scorpion, Phantom, and Tengu.

Well that's not only censorship but also making the game more boring.
Imagine bulbasaur never evolving to ivysaur or venusaur. How lame is that.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

]

Now, if you want to talk about the Japanese obsession with incest - that I can speak about with authority.

That actually does sound like an interesting topic. Mind expounding on it a bit?

Not at all. However, as it is rather off topic, I'm believe I will just PM you instead.

OT: - wait, no, I can't type that with a straight face.

Off Topic in a way that is relevant to the current trend of the thread: I'm pretty ambivalent about this.

On the one hand, I dislike censorship (even self-censorship to avoid a rating) and think the USA needs to get over its prudish, puritanical issues.

On the other hand, I also dislike the Japanese fetishization of little girls (aka loli) in general, and this game specifically since it just looks like the worst kind of pandering crap. The guy jerking off his Vita is just... unpleasant.

So congrats - I hate both sides of the argument equally. **throws up hands in frustration**

Edit: Clarity

Edit2: Aww. I missed my 7000th post. I just now noticed that I was no longer in the 6ks. Sadness. It's like when you miss turning over 100k on your car.

Ah well, only 991 left til next time. **sigh**

 

[Weaver]

I like how people are commenting how perverted Japan is while ignoring the 12 in PEGI territories. In Germany a 12 year old kid can literally just walk into a store and buy this.

Face it, North American sensibilities are just too prude. It's time for a mass loosening up of our stupid society that is afraid to express sex in any way.

 

[Atmos Duality]

On the one hand, I dislike censorship (even self-censorship to avoid a rating) and think the USA needs to get over its prudish, puritanical issues.

On the other hand, I also dislike the Japanese fetishization of little girls (aka loli) in general, and this game specifically since it just looks like the worst kind of pandering crap. The guy jerking off his Vita is just... unpleasant.

So congrats - I hate both sides of the argument equally. **throws up hands in frustration**

That sums up my only thoughts on the matter.
Fortunately, I don't have to deal with these games because I self-censor like a reasonable grown-up, instead of relying on someone else to do it for me (or encourage it for me; *cough*ESRB*cough*)

 

[likalaruku]

Seems like pointless censorship....The adult male target audience is being told that they should have chaste thoughts when playing games & accept an inferior product so that something originally aimed at a specific demographic can be retooled & sold to all demographics for the shot at an extra dollar; a pathetic low quality business practice. This censorship makes more sense with Yu-Gi-Oh, which IS a children's card game.

It makes me think of Nelvana's insultingly bad dub of Card Captor Sakura. "Hey, let's take this show for girls & edit all cultural & homosexual references from it, Americanize it, 7 edit it to make this secondary character the new hero, & aim it at a young male audience."

 

[Roxas1359]

Face it, North American sensibilities are just too prude. It's time for a mass loosening up of our stupid society that is afraid to express sex in any way.

Ah the good old US of A. The land where you can show violence and horror to a child without parents caring as much, hell most of the time the parents buy them the content with that stuff in it, but the moment some testes or breasts are shown suddenly the parents must "protect our children" from the fact that they too have that anatomy...

Coincidentally I found this webcomic to be surprisingly accurate about how it all really is:

Spoiler: Scandinavia and the World

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Ya...no its Mature material but nothing higher than that...the US is so messed up...

You finger women and their clothes fly off as their breasts twitch.

There's something very messed up here... and it's not the US...

Nope.. it is the US. Insecure about its sexuality since ever!

(and nope i dont mean that every us citizen should like this kinda stuff, im talking about demanding that stuff like that seizes to exist or be changed to be more "acceptable")

You'd have a point if anything ceased to exist or if anyone demanded change.

The ESRB looked at the sent-in game footage and rated it AO. That's fine, that system's been in place forever, and it seems rather appropriate (this isn't a game that kids should play).

The developers then retooled it because THEY didn't want an AO. No one forced or blocked anything.

So? Don't like it don't buy it, even censored the game is not made for most people so there is no sense in censoring it.

The US has very prudish and dumb views on sex that is at odds with how it dose things even how the laws work.

Ya...no its Mature material but nothing higher than that...the US is so messed up...

You finger women and their clothes fly off as their breasts twitch.

There's something very messed up here... and it's not the US...

Yes, yes it is. Just look at how it treats gays.

 

[Coakle]

I DID however, find this

I'm dying.

OT: I thought this was going to be a Monster girl spin-off from One Piece. I'm still going to pretend that this is the penultimate monster girl game.

Oh shit, they got Kuuchuuyousai, Mota and Yoshitaka Ushiki illustrating?! This is just like when Studio Ghibli did the art for Ni No Kuni. Mizuki Hagino being brought in to VA is just icing on the cake.

Newcomers, make no mistake, this game will be unforgiving. It seems that the battle system from MonBye hasn't undergone any major changes. The key is to protect the growth of your Aura Bonuses during a fight, this gets tough early on when enemies begin to use Potentials to desynchronize your Fusion. Skills can act as a basic counter, but you have to be willing to spend MP (Monster Points) to reinforce the major struts that hold up the Aura Bonuses.

I'm just curious how The Flop God (the seal) was able to travel to a different continent. The lore was pretty explicit that he couldn't sustain himself outside his clam shell temple. Maybe, after the evil was purged from the land, he grew more powerful? Oh well, he is a fan favorite.

Overall I'm very pleased on how this game turned out.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

..."However, Western society is not as lenient as that of Japan when sexual images are involved - especially images of humanoids that appear to be younger than a socially acceptable age."

If there is any solid, peer-reviewed literature that explains why things like this are seen as acceptable in Japan, please do not hesitate to recommend it. Japan is obscured from my eyes and requires further understanding.

Age of consent in Japan is 13, that's probably the biggest contribution.

 

[lacktheknack]

Ya...no its Mature material but nothing higher than that...the US is so messed up...

You finger women and their clothes fly off as their breasts twitch.

There's something very messed up here... and it's not the US...

Nope.. it is the US. Insecure about its sexuality since ever!

(and nope i dont mean that every us citizen should like this kinda stuff, im talking about demanding that stuff like that seizes to exist or be changed to be more "acceptable")

You'd have a point if anything ceased to exist or if anyone demanded change.

The ESRB looked at the sent-in game footage and rated it AO. That's fine, that system's been in place forever, and it seems rather appropriate (this isn't a game that kids should play).

The developers then retooled it because THEY didn't want an AO. No one forced or blocked anything.

So? Don't like it don't buy it, even censored the game is not made for most people so there is no sense in censoring it.

The US has very prudish and dumb views on sex that is at odds with how it dose things even how the laws work.

I like how you tell me "If you don't like it, don't buy it" when the developers clearly don't agree with you. If they did, they would have just joined the ranks of AO games available for import.

The "dumb view" that was exercised is "Children should not have access to a game where you literally flick a scantily clad girl's clothes off as her boobs dance". I fail to see how that's backwards.

Ya...no its Mature material but nothing higher than that...the US is so messed up...

You finger women and their clothes fly off as their breasts twitch.

There's something very messed up here... and it's not the US...

Yes, yes it is. Just look at how it treats gays.

Irrelevant.

 

[Candidus]

Snip

I believe in mixing my views with another credo: do whatever you want, insofar as you don't impinge on the ability of others to do whatever they want. That precludes the viewership- which makes necessary the production of- actual child pornography and real rape pornography, which naturally impinges on the victims.

But fictional depictions of either? Hmmm. Look, I don't care what you're drawing, unless you're drawing it on a vagina without permission then calling it a sex crime to draw it or collect it is ape-like, frothy mouthed, wild-eyed shit flinging hysterics of the highest order.

And I say that as a man who likes his videogame women more Dead or Alive 5 than Touhou.

I don't like lolicon, but if it's not explicit (contains graphic sex) then I think censorship is too strong a response. That's basically that.

 

[balladbird]

The "dumb view" that was exercised is "Children should not have access to a game where you literally flick a scantily clad girl's clothes off as her boobs dance". I fail to see how that's backwards.

You fail to see how that sentiment is backwards? Let's try something else then:

the act of murder takes place in video games. Children should not have access to a game where they can commit murder, therefore, any video game with an instance of murder must be censored before it can be released in the US.

Bet you can see why it's both backwards and dumb, now. It's what the conservative-right has been saying for years. You're championing a way of thinking that, I can assume by your presence on a video game forum, if not from personal experience with you, you've spent years struggling against, just because in this instance you, personally, find the subject morally reprehensible.

Yeah, lolicon is pretty weird, but censorship is pretty all or nothing, and games have a rating system specifically to prevent kids from playing the wrong thing. Arguing that in this case it's justified is letting your personal tastes color your attitude. Why is it justified? Because to you it's disgusting? irrelevant. I promise you that someone out there is every bit as disgusted by the fact that murders or sex take place in video games as you are that this game has... whatever the hell this game has *hasn't played it, nor seen it.* Since no single person's taste should be allowed to dictate what is or isn't acceptable, so long as content is properly displayed and rated beforehand, then there is a generally pretty absolute rule you can follow when deciding if censorship is necessary: If the reason you support the censorship is grounded in morality, then you are in the wrong.


I know that none of the points I made in this post are new, and some who came before made them better, but censorship is a pet peeve of mine, so I figured I'd sound off, even if I did so into an echo chamber.

*also, please note that while I quoted Mr.Knack up top, and proceeded to use the pronoun "you" a lot, only the first paragraph actually referred to him directly. the other "yous" were just kinda generalized... it's early... I'mma sleep now.

 

[Sarge034]

I believe in mixing my views with another credo: do whatever you want, insofar as you don't impinge on the ability of others to do whatever they want. That precludes the viewership- which makes necessary the production of- actual child pornography and real rape pornography, which naturally impinges on the victims.

And what of the children who consent or don't know any other life? It is still child porn, but without the victim status because the child knows no better life or, again, consents. Do you think that should not be censored? I think it should. Like I said, the censor is in place for a reason.

But fictional depictions of either? Hmmm. Look, I don't care what you're drawing, unless you're drawing it on a vagina without permission then calling it a sex crime to draw it or collect it is ape-like, frothy mouthed, wild-eyed shit flinging hysterics of the highest order.

You better check the aggression before someone else does. I think that if you need to get off on a picture depicting a youth's body then there is a problem. And I'm not talking about the bodies that could be mistaken for being of legal age either. Some of these pictures look like 12 year olds.

I don't like lolicon, but if it's not explicit (contains graphic sex) then I think censorship is too strong a response. That's basically that.

But that's not what you said, at all or in the slightest.

I quote,

I've got too much self-respect to tacitly consent (via purchase) to an industry (the censorship industry) that consists of adults telling other adults what they ought and ought not to see.

I don't care what you've studied, who you've joined or what authority you represent; there is nobody anywhere who can ever know better than myself what I should and should not be exposed to.

So if your point was that only an individual can decide what they should or should not see you are advocating for the free trade of child porn because a lot of people will decide that it is alright for them to watch it.

Also, I guess if you have "too much self-respect to tacitly consent (via purchase) to an industry (the censorship industry) that consists of adults telling other adults what they ought and ought not to see" you don't buy movies, watch tv, read books, play games, utilize any government services, post on moderated forums, get any news, or work in any official capacity. I would surly hate for you to wake up one day and lose your self-respect by encouraging censorship through consumption.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Ya...no its Mature material but nothing higher than that...the US is so messed up...

You finger women and their clothes fly off as their breasts twitch.

There's something very messed up here... and it's not the US...

Nope.. it is the US. Insecure about its sexuality since ever!

(and nope i dont mean that every us citizen should like this kinda stuff, im talking about demanding that stuff like that seizes to exist or be changed to be more "acceptable")

You'd have a point if anything ceased to exist or if anyone demanded change.

The ESRB looked at the sent-in game footage and rated it AO. That's fine, that system's been in place forever, and it seems rather appropriate (this isn't a game that kids should play).

The developers then retooled it because THEY didn't want an AO. No one forced or blocked anything.

So? Don't like it don't buy it, even censored the game is not made for most people so there is no sense in censoring it.

The US has very prudish and dumb views on sex that is at odds with how it dose things even how the laws work.

I like how you tell me "If you don't like it, don't buy it" when the developers clearly don't agree with you. If they did, they would have just joined the ranks of AO games available for import.

The "dumb view" that was exercised is "Children should not have access to a game where you literally flick a scantily clad girl's clothes off as her boobs dance". I fail to see how that's backwards.

Ya...no its Mature material but nothing higher than that...the US is so messed up...

You finger women and their clothes fly off as their breasts twitch.

There's something very messed up here... and it's not the US...

Yes, yes it is. Just look at how it treats gays.

Irrelevant.

Only reason they are doing it it because they want to target a larger audience it dose not make it right it makes it pragmatic.


Not really I am saying adults should not be told how to treat fictional people.

The hell it is if it were not for sex gays would not even be on the goddamn radar!

 

[lacktheknack]

The "dumb view" that was exercised is "Children should not have access to a game where you literally flick a scantily clad girl's clothes off as her boobs dance". I fail to see how that's backwards.

You fail to see how that sentiment is backwards? Let's try something else then:

the act of murder takes place in video games. Children should not have access to a game where they can commit murder, therefore, any video game with an instance of murder must be censored before it can be released in the US.

Bet you can see why it's both backwards and dumb, now. It's what the conservative-right has been saying for years. You're championing a way of thinking that, I can assume by your presence on a video game forum, if not from personal experience with you, you've spent years struggling against, just because in this instance you, personally, find the subject morally reprehensible.

Yeah, lolicon is pretty weird, but censorship is pretty all or nothing, and games have a rating system specifically to prevent kids from playing the wrong thing. Arguing that in this case it's justified is letting your personal tastes color your attitude. Why is it justified? Because to you it's disgusting? irrelevant. I promise you that someone out there is every bit as disgusted by the fact that murders or sex take place in video games as you are that this game has... whatever the hell this game has *hasn't played it, nor seen it.* Since no single person's taste should be allowed to dictate what is or isn't acceptable, so long as content is properly displayed and rated beforehand, then there is a generally pretty absolute rule you can follow when deciding if censorship is necessary: If the reason you support the censorship is grounded in morality, then you are in the wrong.

Nope.

Sexual content being displayed on a screen has a direct and tangible effect on brain chemistry, and it has easily noted effects that, quite frankly, I'm fine with not giving to kids. Simulated murder does not do the same thing (although, quite frankly, I'm also OK with removing children's access to violent games as well, because it DOES cause temporary rises in aggression and heaven knows the only thing worse than a kid having a hyperactive fit is an aggressive kid having a hyperactive fit).

You keep saying "censorship", and even note that we have a rating system to keep kids away from certain products. You DO realize that there was no censorship, right? The ESRB rated the game AO, which is "The game is illegal to sell to minors", they didn't ban it or demand that its content be cut. That's not censorship by any stretch.

The devs then decided to cut the content themselves to get an M rating. That's not censorship, that's them deciding that they don't want the AO.

I know it's all nice and stuff to sound off about censorship, but try it in a topic where censorship is actually involved.

 

[lacktheknack]

Only reason they are doing it it because they want to target a larger audience it dose not make it right it makes it pragmatic.

And?

Not really I am saying adults should not be told how to treat fictional people.

They aren't. If the company left it at AO, interested parties could still have bought it, it would just be a bit harder.

The hell it is if it were not for sex gays would not even be on the goddamn radar!

False. If religious texts didn't specifically mention homosexuality, it wouldn't even be on the radar.

 

[Candidus]

Snip

Children who consent? Children aren't fit to consent. How alarming that you didn't know. How alarming that you think the consent of a child suspends the status of victim.
-
How are those two statements incompatible? I do think censorship is too strong a response. And I also wouldn't buy it from western distributors if I had been interested in the first place.
-
I didn't think I had to be painstakingly specific, but in cases where adjustments are made to the original vision of X, Y or Z and those adjustments are known to the public, I will avoid the article of media in question or circumvent the censorship by some means. Example: Manhunt 2 in the UK. Vanguard Princess in the west.
-
Again, no. Children and rape victims are victims whose rights are being curbed by others. Drawings are neither and have no rights. The fact that I had to explain that to you at all is kind of funny...