If you perform a simple Google image search for 'anime girls', Google will deliver to you hundreds of pictures of sexy anime characters. Are we really going to pressure the Classification Board into classifying a huge chunk of a country's population as deviants? Or is it a cultural difference? Many of them will be bringing similar content with them in comic books (manga) and on phones and laptops. Millions of Japanese tourists and business travellers come to Australia every year. If Australia classifies this game as child porn, then it is classifying the bulk of one of Japan's main cultural outlets as prurient and abhorrent. Secondly, the game represents classic Japanese-style anime (cartoons). The situation raises some very serious questions regarding Australia's Classification system (yet again) and also regarding cultural differences.įirstly, if the game does feature child porn, why does moving the rating from a PG rating to an MA15+ rating make everything alright? This comes off the back of complaints saying that the loosely-clad young girls that feature in the game are sexualised and under 16 and that this represents child pornography. Kotaku is reporting that a major games retailer is stopping selling Dead or Alive: Dimensions, hoping to get it rated MA15+ instead of its current PG.
