Nogami Takeshi is a Japanese mangaka known for works such as Koutetsu no shoujo-tachi (art, Shounen Ace), Serafuku to juusensha (Champion Red Ichigo) or various artworks for the Strike Witches franchise. He has written an open letter to CNN in reaction to the latest report about Rapelay, the Japanese hentai game.

Dear CNN reporter,

I am an author of manga [Japanese comic books]. I started out drawing hentai manga. I put out hentai books. Of course, I also draw manga that aren’t hentai. Nowadays, most of my work consists of non-hentai manga.

I have seen your news report that tries to stir up fear, prejudice and misunderstanding. I have no connection with the spiffy hentai game featured in your report, I am sorry to say; however as an author of Japanese hentai manga, I think I am well qualified to object to the views you present.

As this objection had to be put together promptly, precise data will be presented later, but it is a fact that in this 21st century, we Japanese enjoy one of the most safe and peaceful societies on Earth. Naturally, that is not to say that our society is without problems, but to be honest, I frankly do not think that you are the ones to tell us.

Men and women are equals in politics and in the law. Your society and ours are no different there. Moreover, the crime rate statistics for both general crime and sex crime in Japan are, with all due respect, several times lower than in the United States. Did you, for instance, fear for your safety while walking the streets of Akihabara, or Ikebukuro (holy ground of hentai books for women)? They’re probably many times safer than the streets of New York, let alone those of the suburban housing districts around. (And guns are illegal, too.) Furthermore, in our Akihabara and Ikebukuro, there is no persecution of men or women alike, or of sexual minorities like homosexuals. We all live together in peace, expressing ourselves freely.

It also goes without saying that human trafficking and violence against women are serious crimes in Japan too. As a Japanese citizen, I am deeply offended by the insulting implications of that so-called expert who associates Japanese people at large with heinous criminals.

Is hentai detrimental to the upbringing of children? Yes, it some circumstances it may well be the case. It certainly true, for instance, of that game you reported about. I am an average citizen with a younger sister and two nephews; I can relate to your concerns. And precisely as such, I beg to differ with your argument.

Those products are developed for rational adults. You surely don’t believe that a rational adult would be influenced by such a game into committing rape, do you? Of course, in Japan, both that game you reported about and the hentai manga I draw are only distributed and sold under strict age restrictions to adults.

That your children might obtain such materials on the Internet is a trouble for us as well. Those are pirated copies. We would be grateful if you could let families and schools issue proper warnings to children. And would it be too much to ask that appropriate age restrictions are put in place in stores in your country so that the rational adults can buy legitimate copies?

By the way, in the proud Japanese traditional popular art of ukiyo-e (woodblock prints from the Edo period), there were many works with sexual subjects, called shunga. You did like these too, didn’t you? Well, we are their successors. We make works of art. Let me say that again. It is just art. I assume that you are capable of distinguishing fiction from reality like we do. Are you not?

Obscenity? Ah well, on that point, I would rather quote from the book beside your bed.

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

(John 8:1–11)

I am afraid I am Buddhist, not Christian, but I respect your Lord nonetheless. His word that you, me and all mankind are hentai is pregnant with meaning. Yet, there is a difference between “His” views (that you share) and mine. I do not think that people being hentai is a sin. There is nothing wrong with rational people being hentai.

I, at any rate, do not see anything wrong with that. Do you?

Sincerely,

Takeshi Nogami.

Personally, I feel this big hoo-ha was pretty much WOLS as the original report came up more than a year ago and CNN only made a video about it on the 31st of March 2010. Besides this, seeing that their Japanese correspondent is essentially a hyper-nationalistic Korean (What were they thinking!?!), the bad blood between the entire issue isn’t that surprising anymore. Nogami Takeshi’s letter was pretty well-written and summed all the main arguments – The consumers are adults and know what they are doing so just STFU and please bring your lame reporting somewhere else – pretty much in its entirety. I urge everyone who sees this to consider emailing this to CNN just to let them know how ridiculous their moral censure is. I don’t like rape hentai, be it in manga or in a VN or a game. However, what I hate more is someone trying to take the moral high ground and impose their moral values on another person. If you are depending on the Internet to be your kids’ moral guardians, well, let’s just say you are going to be in for a nasty surprise.

Related posts:

1. The Ninja Otaku
2. Spicy Wolf Manga

The point is, being an otaku isn’t exactly the coolest of things and it can sometimes prove to be quite an awkward moment in a discussion. When I meet someone who share my interest, and I know is totally fine with mine, I will usually start to open up. However, most people will just give you a strange look if you start going on an extended otaku conversation with them. Worse, they remember you as “the strange otaku” and that will be the end of your social life so far. Ok, that was probably an exaggeration but you get the idea ^^ Anyway, until then, I will just keep a low profile with regards to my otaku interests and at best, be just a typical narutard/bleach or increasingly, a K-ON fan. Mind you, the first 2 categories are pretty hard for me as I don’t keep up with either Naruto or Bleach at all. Being a fan of the moe-blob show isn’t that hard….its engineered to let everyone like it. Why else 5 girls prancing around and doing funny stuff? Surely there must be a reason don’t you think so?

For those with a similar inclinations to remain under the radar, I have 10 tips for you. Not to be presumptuous but I guess we could use every tip we get.

1. The first is one of the easiest – Do NOT discuss anime or profess to knowing ‘popular’ (read cult hits/mega otaku obsession level) titles like Haruhi. When absolutely pressed, talk about shows like Gundam, Bleach and Naruto and just show a passing interest in them.
2. Do NOT attempt to have a lecture or ‘teaching’ session with other people. If you find that you are dominating the conversation and is already on a 1-minute monologue, stop immediately. Otakus generally feel like they have to attempt to level up other peoples’ otaku knowledge. We have a tendency to correct others or make known our point of view. DO NOT! This is a trap to lure you out of your otaku ninja-hood!
3. Do NOT talk about figures/PVCs, especially the gazillion collection that you have or that 1 moe bootylicious PVC girl winking at you from the corner of the shop. Knowledge about The Most Evil Company in the World (TMECW), otherwise known as GoodSmile Company, should be kept to a need-to-know basis. Its partially for their own good as well since no one can withstand the various poisons unleashed periodically on the unsuspecting public by TMECW.
   
   Talking about bishoujo figures is obviously off-limits if you haven’t figured it out by now. Do not identify or even show recognition of popular collections, the nendoroids or any limited edition rare items. Talking about retail websites such as amiami (finally!), hobby-link japan or even hobbystock/otacute etc are obviously a big NO-NO. When absolutely needed, a discussion about gundam plamo & its difficulty is your best bet. Do not venture in Macross Plamo because it will just spiral out of control into a Ranka vs Sheryl debate.
4. Do NOT confess to reading any manga or even any scanlations. Its a dead giveaway for a ninja-otaku especially if you let slip you are reading some obscure or niche titles.
5. Do NOT in any case talk about cosplay, cosplayers’ raison d’être (fancy phrase which basically means why a cosplayer do what he/she does) or celebrity cosplayers (KIPPI !!). People don’t really want to know what you think of it, and knowing it inside out just make you sound like a creep who stalks those cosplayers. Just say its quirky, interesting and colorful and most people will leave it at that.
6. When someone says that some show is the BESTEST show of the season/year/decade/EVAR, and even if its the moe-blob show K-On or some show which you can obviously see is missing a plot, do NOT interject and argue that they are sacrilegious/rubbish/out-of-their-freaking-mind/obviously have not watched enough anime. Just let it go and suppress those urges to knock some sense into that person’s head. This rule applies to game(ero-games…), manga or anime movies as well.
7. On that note, do NOT even talk or venture into ero-ge/game territory. The less said about this, the better. Self-explanatory for anyone who wants to be a ninja-otaku.
8. Do NOT use words like orz/moe etc in your regular vocabulary. Besides making you sound like a terrible weaboo, its very disorientating for anyone who is trying to take you seriously when you are in ninja-otaku mode.
9. Most importantly since chances are that many people will trip up on this due to the surprise, do NOT in any case name popular anisong artists as your favourite band/musicians. A regular j-pop one is fine but will set some peoples’ otaku-radar on alert though. Anyone that starts to shift towards the niche like Nana Mizuki, Yukarin etc, no matter how awesome, is of course NOT appropriate for an answer if you are trying to be a ninja-otaku.
   
   Personally, I will say Fire Bomber, High & Mighty Color and Orange Range. Most people who are not in the know will just wave them off as regular western bands. Those who are slightly in on the joke might find it slightly familiar on account of Orange Range though.
10. Which brings me to the last point. Its fun to know more people who you can just discuss/debate random stuff and commit every mistake the above 9 points have tried to prevent you from committing. This means you have to spread out some ‘feelers’ but nothing too obvious. Sometimes it feels much better to be yourself and have a nice chat about how moe-anime is killing the industry. Do NOT wall yourself away from the world

That’s all for now. Have fun and good luck!

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