Wine About It!

Dear Capcom,

I was playing Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth today, when I noticed that the passengers in Episode 2 were drinking grape juice out of wine glasses and wine bottles. Now, your game is rated T by the ESRB here in the States. Really now? Your games are chock full of murders, assaults, and kidnappings, yet you localized "wine" as "grape juice"?

Really now. Gamers are smarter than that. We're much more mature about such things than you think. Just because we see "wine" involved in a video game does not mean that we're going to want to go out and drink it (though I could go for some sparkling red grape juice about now...) after playing it. Teens are perfectly capable on making intelligent choices as well as separating fiction from reality. Give them a little credit.

Unless it's all just a jab at 4Kids, in which case, please disregard.

Lulz @ 1:30

You Can Haz Freedom of Speech, Just Not in Your Manga

There's been some buzz in the manga industry lately revolving around a man named Christopher Handley. So who is this guy? Is he an artist? A journalist? An internet personality?

Nope. He's just an average guy who owns manga depicting children in sexually graphic situations.

Mr. Handley was charged and recently sentenced to six months in prison followed by five years probation for owning "obscene" manga. Personally, I don't approve of the depiction of underage people in sexual situations, so I don't read it. However, like many artists and authors, I believe there is a hard line between drawings and live action when it comes to pornography. One features animated, fictional characters. The other features real human beings, quite often abused or unable to comprehend what is happening.

THERE'S A BIG DIFFERENCE!

People have been up in arms over this because it sets a precedent for artwork and freedom of speech. Check out Neil Gaiman's reply to a letter he received about the case. The courts have ruled, and now you can get arrested for owning certain forms of art that do not in any way, shape, or form, portray actual, real children. So if you own loli, heck perhaps even innocent moe, there's now standing precedent that can land you in prison depending on who's feeling "righteous" (and by righteous, I mean "who says to hell with your first amendment rights for their own narrow range of vaaaaaaalues.")

The kicker? Read the bottom of the ANN article about his references and psychological profile. He's normal! Just like you and me. Most people like porn. I think it's swell as long as all parties involved in the production are consensual. Oh right, it's physically impossible for it to be non-consensual when it's ANIMATED!

Good job American justice system.