We recently decided to send a letter of support to the company MangaGamer, in response to their decision to not censor potentially “objectionable” content in upcoming eroge releases. We also made use of this email to ask for their moral support in our campaign for free speech. Below is the full text of the email we sent to info[at]manga-corp.com.
Dear MangaGamer:
In light of the recent events that led to your difficult decision to not censor bishoujo games released under your label, we feel that it would be prudent to formally introduce ourselves. We are known as “Yes To Freedom” and are a grassroots group which has formed out of sheer frustration over the outrageous actions of radicalized pressure groups such as Equality Now, that generate censorship issues all around the world. We applaud your decision to resist the censorship of “offensive” fictional material, and as your message boards make it very obvious, you have the utmost respect and support from our group as well as your customers and fans all across the world.
Apart from this extremely well-deserved words of encouragement, we are writing for a much more important reason. There is no shortage of groups and organizations on this planet that seem to have no purpose in life beyond forcing their own moral codes upon others through whatever means possible, and Equality Now is merely the loudest and most troublesome of these at present. Unfortunately, the number of groups that actively oppose such clusters of overzealous moral crusaders is small enough to be statistically insignificant; those who have formed thus far to defend a person’s right to make their own decisions about what they purchase have just as easily fallen apart due to the intense fear of being labeled as “evil” by their opponents.
Yes To Freedom possesses the resolve that many other groups have been unable to maintain for more than a couple of weeks. We have proven to the Japanese subculture fans’ community – the very community your business relies upon – that we are not a one-shot group which will simply fade to black in a week. The actions that we are taking on a daily basis directly affect your customers. Yes To Freedom’s campaigns may one day make the difference between you choosing not to censor “questionable” eroge art and being forced by law to censor what a small group of loud-mouthed moralists decides is “disgusting”, “sick” or “obscene”.
We do not, and never will, ask for anything tangible from anyone such as money or products. What we need is your support, now and in the future. In order for the “teeth” of Yes To Freedom to become stronger and sharper, we need all the support we can possibly muster. Every single individual is important. Your support will bolster our efforts to keep fictional expression free of unnecessary and Draconian censorship. With your help and the help of others in a similar position, we can provide the sorely needed “push back” against these people and groups that would otherwise take away what the world of modern Japanese visual culture offers, amongst other content they deem objectionable.
Thus, please consider supporting our efforts to maintain the freedoms that you and your fans currently enjoy so that we all may continue to enjoy them tomorrow. We gladly welcome and strongly encourage any communication and collaboration you are able to provide, and we look forward to sharing a bright future in anime, manga, and eroge with you. Thank you for taking your precious time to read this email. We truly appreciate the recent choices your company has made, and eagerly await your response.
Sincerely,
Yes To Freedom
To our surprise, we received a reply soon after. However, it merely proved our greatest fears to be true:
Dear Yes to Freedom,
Thank you for your interest in MangaGamer. As a company, we seek to provide
English localizations of popular Japanese bishoujo games, of which, some may
contain adult content.
Please do understand that as a private commercial company, we cannot provide
support to a group such as yourself no matter how similar our ideals may
seem. The decision to uncensor was made as an internal policy decision,
not as the statement for freedom of speech that you seek. Although we
appreciate your support of our decision, we cannot afford to take sides in
the ongoing debate between yourselves and those that oppose you, as we are a
commercial entity and must only remain as such.Sincerely,
MangaGamer
The first paragraph is already disappointing: it appears to be a staple short paragraph intended to be sent along with “all emails” – and if it is not, then it is quite obvious that they did not read our email… but the second paragraph dismisses the second hypothesis.
They appear to have yet to understand that merely publishing bishoujo games uncensored is in itself a “statement for freedom of speech,” as they are publishing material which, while not actually harming any child in its creation, is nonetheless deemed illegal and categorised as “child pornography” in several countries including Canada, Australia and the UK. Furthermore, being a “private commercial company” in no way means that you cannot take position in an ethical/political debate, especially if your core business relies on the issue of said debate. A perfect example of this would be Microsoft’s “When you program Open Source, you program Communism” poster campaign.
Even worse is the opening statement that seemingly implies that private corporations cannot support external, non-profit organisations. That is such an ignorant statement on both logical and factual planes that the time spent on creating an informative response to it seems pointless, as it would fall on deaf ears. It should now be obvious to everyone that both those that censor and those that don’t can be equally proficient at using modern “Newspeak.”
It is unfortunate that MangaGamer has chosen this path. The MangaGamer forums are filled with posts which express a vicious and acerbic customer response to the mere consideration of censoring future MangaGamer releases. Clearly, the consumers of bishoujo games are strong opponents to censorship, and it is not limited to customers of MangaGamer. JAST USA, another company which specifically deals in anime-style dating simulation games, experienced a similar customer backlash for the exact same reason: the suggestion that future titles could possibly be censored left a sour taste in the mouths of many fans.
Both companies experienced consumer boycott threats if they went through with the proposed censorship plans. Both companies buckled under the pressure of a mob of angry fans and made “internal policy decisions” to cancel the planned censorship. Both companies’ bottom lines are apparently safe for now.
But what of the future? MangaGamer and JAST USA are blessed with the freedom to make that decision as one of “internal policy” today. There exists today a series of misguided movements by vehement moralist groups to force their personal morality onto all people using the legislative, judicial, and police powers of governments at all levels, completely disregarding the freedom of other adults to make a fully informed personal decision about the material they purchase and view. Sadly, the moral hysteria and fear that these groups generate has already seriously degraded freedom in many countries around the world, and not just in terms of what kind of drawings are allowed in a video game. The momentum is already flowing opposite from the direction of freedom. If it remains unchecked, MangaGamer and JAST USA will be forced under legal duress to censor their games – an action which their entire customer base will severely punish them financially for taking.
It may be true that – for the moment – MangaGamer refuses to support Yes To Freedom. However, the freedoms that we must protect are those of their customers and fans of their products. We do not require MangaGamer’s support to work for your freedom to choose. Take this opportunity to show your support! Even a short comment on this post helps us to achieve our goal of protecting the freedom of responsible adults to make their own financial, moral, and ethical decisions.
[Clarification update: YES, we are aware that MangaGamer's letter is not outright "refusal to support." It seems the hyperbole was lost on some readers of the post and they got upset over it. We get it: most of MangaGamer's staff members support our cause, but they do not wish to say so "officially" due to corporate hazards. We had to officially ask, they had to officially refuse. Technically, that is still called a refusal.]
Tags: Campaign, Censorship, email, Logic, MangaGamer, Newspeak
@ Sacchinftw,
Well, I certainly did not expect that. I appreciate that you took some time to reply.
Yes, there is a difference between “cannot” and “refuses to”. However, this is not a matter of actual incapacity, but rather of refusal for a number of reasons that are, doubtless, amply sufficient. Do not get me wrong, I can understand that very well.
As for the first paragraph, we wouldn’t have written to you unless we had extensive knowledge of what MangaGamer is/does, right >.< Still, sorry if my reply was insulting – I did cringe a bit myself reading that part of your email though…
Regardless of the above, I am very happy to read that "there are more people in Manga Gamer that support your cause than that email leaves you to believe". Indeed, that email didn't leave place for much support within the company. I thank you for these encouraging words.
@ Star,
Reading Sacchinftw’s reply, I can believe that. And I did understand that aspect as I first read the email. But this kind of widespread attitude in businesses and the like – namely that of low-risk choices – is exactly what allows censorship to thrive, which does not help to make me any less hostile.
As one of the people who helped draft the MG response, let me first point out that there’s a very big difference between “cannot” and “refuses to support.” Secondly, I am slightly insulted that you think there’s some sort of a form letter response in there, I spent a whole five minutes on that first paragraph making it seem “official” looking.
tl;dr
The entire point of that email was to say that there was no political motivation in making the decision. The people who didn’t want to censor are quite avid supporters of your cause but as a company, at best, all that can be done is to watch from the sidelines.
There can be no engagements between Manga Gamer and those that may seek to do bad things to you. Manga Gamer is an international organization and although the products might be legal in one country, it’s illegal in another. In the end, all of this comes back to the Japanese managers and shareholders, if any substantial negative press comes back to Manga Gamer…well, you saw just how eagerly the Japanese companies were willing to fold over Rapelay…
As someone who helped draft that response, but isn’t a Manga Gamer employee, over this medium I can openly say that there are more people in Manga Gamer that support your cause than that email leaves you to believe.
It seems to me that you read MangaGamer’s response in almost the exact opposite way it was intended. As an outsider, it looked pretty clear to me that they do agree with your ideals (they even mention it themselves), but it’s not a matter of refusing to lend support—it’s that they CAN’T. MangaGamer is a relatively small company, and some matters of legality can carry a much heavier weight.
Seriously, where do you guys get “refuse to support” out of that e-mail?
The first paragraph is probably just a brief introduction to go in tune with the lengthy one you sent them. So to me it reads like an exchange of business cards between two companies. I know I’ve received some replies from MangaGamer before, and they do take the time to read the mails, cuz I’ve never had the opening paragraph state the same thing. If anything, they probably just don’t have the spare time to compose long passages like you guys did.
And yeah, I’m sure their decision to decensor the games WAS influenced by the fans, but is that a bad thing? They listened. MangaGamer is still a small company who hasn’t even been around for two years yet. Hell, at Otakon 2009 they mentioned that they were still trying to break even with their releases.
They make it a point to thank you and encourage your support several times so I don’t see how you would think they didn’t want to work with you. The “cannot afford” is probably exactly what it says: They probably don’t have the time, money or other resources to support your group on the political field. If anything, I’d bet they’re trying to lay low and avoid being noticed by groups that would try to overturn their decision. Unlike JAST USA MangaGamer probably doesn’t have the established community or funds to fight a legal battle.
Unlike Yes to Freedom, they run the risk of suffering severe losses if their support attracts attention to them.
I’m sure most of the employees DO support Yes for Freedom on a personal level, but as that e-mail says, I bet they “cannot afford” to support you as a company giving their current status and the current political climate.
@ Yamato,
Read the comments above. I believe that it will address to much, if not all your concerns.
Editorial liberties taken; update applied. If further clarification is required, let us know.
This entire website is just some really elaborate troll right?
…no? I see little that might have led you to believe so, but all events reported in our Timeline are real, and so are our existence and mission. I would advise you to actually verify the facts before making some poor attempts at discrediting legitimate attempts at activism, and if you truly see ways to make our website less “troll-ish”, you would be more than welcome to share them with us.
Also, disregard this comment if you were trolling…
@LOLtbh: that has to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. If you’re looking for places to say stupid things that don’t even qualify as valid statements, please look elsewhere. Thanks.
Well seeing as how most of the comments on here seem to be hate mail, I’d like to be the first to say thank you all for fighting against censorship. As a personal fan of all things anime, the mere thought of censoring it makes me sick to my stomach. Please continue to fight the good fight.
It’s sad, ridiculous, and frustrating that for MangaGamer to officially support their fans and employees rights to freedom would lead to, in all likelihood, a rabid horde of moralist groups finding ways to file legal claims against them. This is, correct me if I’m wrong, likely the reason why they can not officially support Yes to Freedom; it would result in bad publicity and financial suicide for a small business. It is also, in my opinion (I have many, it gives me something to discuss), disgusting that even on a personal level expressing an opinion contrary to what “moralists” spout as “normal” ostracizes you from society. It is sad to see that people in countries like Egypt and Libya fighting, protesting, and even dieing for their freedom, while groups like Equality Now can take ours away simply by shouting loud enough and long enough at governments, companies, and individuals. All I can say is you have my support, in whatever freedom you are fighting for.