Revenge of the Lolis

On July 1st, 2011, Rule 156 went into effect in Tokyo.  Pushed through by Governor Ishihara, the rule would give the Metropolitan Government added authority to regulate and ban objectionable works depicting minors in adult situations.  Child pornography is illegal in nearly every jurisdiction in the world.  But we’re talking about anime and manga.  These are drawings of fictional children.  Can you claim harm on a child that doesn’t exist?  This will be discussed for ages.

The rule only affects Tokyo, so the other prefectures have their own rules (or not).  However, as the largest prefecture in Japan, and the traditional seat of the anime and manga industries, Tokyo’s influence looms large.

However, almost as an act of defiance by the anime industry, we are seeing a resurgence of lolis in series this Summer.  In fact, lolis are playing a greater role this season than in almost any season in recent memory.

In the series Ikoku Meiro no Croisée, Yune is a young Japanese girl living and working in Paris.  It’s a classic “fish out of water” tale, with culture clashes aplenty.  However, it’s a charming little series with very little drama.  We do get fanservice shots of Yune bathing.  Alice, a rich French loli is also seen bathing.  It’s hardly prurient.  In fact, it’s quite tastefully done.  But naked lolis would seem to run afoul of Rule 156.

In Kami-sama no Memo-chou (God’s Notebook), Alice is a genius hacker and detective.  She solves crime from her computer cave with the help of ne’er do well NEETs, and an earnest and helpful high school boy who falls into her circle.  It’s an enjoyable romp – sort of an A-Team meets Nero Wolfe.  Alice is said to be 12, and we occasionally see her in states of undress.  Again, nothing leering, it’s just part of the show.

Finally, if you aren’t satisfied by just one loli, how about a basketball team full of them?  In Ro-Kyuu-Bu, middle-school girls need the help of a hotshot high school basketball player to help coach their team.  If they lose a match against the highly-ranked boys team, they have to disband.  That would be enough, however producers feel the need to show 6th grade girls bathing, showering and changing in the locker room nearly every episode.  It’s gratuitous, but the girls are all innocent and they don’t quite know how to process their feelings for the handsome older boy helping them win.

I’m amused by the loli backlash, but I’m also worried.  It can go too far.  In fact, there was an OVA released in July called Baby Princess 3D.  In it, a boy comes to live with the family he never knew – Mama + 19(!) sisters ranging in age from 19 to 0 (newborn).  Setting aside the “vagina as clown car” bit, the girls all seem to have a crush on the boy.  The first episode sees them going swimming and to a hot springs.  Gee, there couldn’t be any gratuitous nudity there, could there?  Let’s just say all the girls showed their “assets” in one form or another.

I hope producers have worked this out of their system this Summer.  Young girls can play a vital role in an ensemble.  But sexualizing them and objectifying them just seems wrong to me.

There’ll be plenty of time for that when they hit their teens!