Print Shop Refused to Print Doujin: “It’s Too Erotic”
What can you say about “laws” that validate censorship and that, just because they are laws, everyone considers normal and doesn’t question? A stupid law in Japan requires adult material, which is only meant to be seen by adults, to be censored. Because of this, there are cases where a print shop refuses to print a manga or doujin if it considers it “too erotic.”
This happened to artist Mishiki before the latest Comiket, which took place on August 15 and 16. He revealed that his newest doujin featured Izuna from the game Blue Archive.
On August 15, Mishiki posted that the print shop had refused to print his doujin, saying that it was “too erotic.”
His tweet:
“Ahhh… For the first time, Graphic told me, ‘It’s too erotic, so we can’t print it.’ I think it’s still within the limits of what would be acceptable in a commercial magazine, but… Anyway, since I won’t be able to print it this time, I’m going to quickly prepare a sample of the printed version and a QR code for purchasing the digital version.”
Frustrated that he was unable to print his doujin, Mishiki later said that he might consider printing it outside Japan. And this is not the first case of a print shop refusing to print an adult doujin.
A few months ago, another artist, whose name I unfortunately don’t remember, also said that a print shop had refused to print their doujin.
In the comments, some people discussed the reason for the refusal and the rules followed by print shops:
- “Large companies need to avoid risks.”
- “Graphic has a good reputation, but they are extremely strict when it comes to adult content.”
- “Apparently, they need to be stricter than they would be with a commercial magazine. And, after all, the fact that it looks too young is also a problem…”
- “Whenever I see this kind of tweet, I end up wondering: are they talking about Graphic Co., Ltd. or Graphic Net Print Co., Ltd.? Which one is it?”
- “It also looks kind of loli, and Japan is very strict about loli.”
- “Aren’t the standards different for commercial magazines and doujinshi?”