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.]

We have named said character Freedom-tan – or, in Japanese, Jiyū-tan (自由たん) - as a clear reference to our goals and ideals. While her rather diminutive frame is somewhat meant as a reference to our campaign on lolicon art, her usual items hold a more mainstream meaning. The pen/brush is a way of defining writing as a “peaceful weapon”. The art palette, on the other hand, stands as a shield – art – against censorship and everything Yes To Freedom opposes. Finally, the feather, official logo of Yes to Freedom, symbolizes both freedom itself, through its link with bird-like features.

The character was designed and drawn by Deth with help from an exterior artist, ATOM-ix, as well as our community for insight and the overall concept. She is licenced under Yes to Freedom’s own licence as are all original creative works authored by its members for the organisation.

Here are the basic versions. Click on them to see them in full size. Several more accessories, poses and clothes will be added later to create a complete persona.

This is what we are doing – we are beginning to tell the world our message in a way they understand.

No matter whether you are a hardcore otaku or grandparent, policeman or convict your words will help: every little thing counts. Show the world what we believe in the only way possible. That is, through the raised voices of a million normal people like you and me, fighting for freedom. Help us by joining, by sending letters to politicians and congressmen, presidents and prime ministers, clergymen, friends and family: get the word out that as a race, we will not stand by and watch our freedom be trampled.

You may use this pre-written code to include the buttons.

HTML, small button:

<a href=”http://yestofreedom.org”><img style=”border: 0px solid ; width: 125px; height: 25px;” alt=”Small YtF Button” src=”http://yestofreedom.org/files/public/ytf_button_small.png”></a>

HTML, large button:

<a href=”http://yestofreedom.org”><img style=”border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 50px;” alt=”Large YtF Button” src=”http://yestofreedom.org/files/public/ytf_button_large2.png”></a>

BBCode, small button:

[url=http://yestofreedom.org][img]http://yestofreedom.org/files/public/ytf_button_small.png[/img][/url]

BBCode, large button:

[url=http://yestofreedom.org][img]http://yestofreedom.org/files/public/ytf_button_large2.png[/img][/url]

As Yes To Freedom‘s first two campaigns begin, it is worth mentioning that the future success of this initiative entirely depends on mass participation. Your help is therefore primordial.

Passion alone will have to kindle interest in taking action, as money, fame and such have yet to be on our side. Whether you are an otaku, a fervent advocate of free speech or anything else is irrelevant, as long as you are passionate about reaching the goals we aim to attain.

These goals are: on a long-term basis, the factual recognition of absolute freedom of expression as an unalienable right of every human, and, on a short-term basis, the end of the growing censorship of otherwise criminal behaviour depicted in fictional material.

We believe that through our actions, we will succeed in proving the existence of a sufficient public outcry on the current wave of bans to initiate changes in the attitude of politicians towards fiction, so as to get closer to a world where imagination would truly know no bounds.

Of course, by the very nature of the material we defend, we are destined to meet strong opposition. Controversial issues need however to be reflected upon significantly more thoroughly than any other. Consequently, the mere act of sparking off a sensible debate around these matters is likely to do good to our cause.

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