Japan isn't the only nation flirting with banning drawn and animated images of underage girls - the UK just did. Passed as part of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, the "Dangerous Cartoon" Act makes anyone owning a picture, movie, video game, and so forth with a character that appears like a child in a sexual situation illegal.

Those in violation of the new law can face up to three years of prison time. This ban affects nearly every hentai manga or anime and makes watching even some mainstream shows illegal.

The only upside of this crackdown on British otaku is that thousands of people would be considered in violation of it, making it realistically unenforceable.

We at Anime Dream (Or if I don't speak for all of us, just the writer, though I think I probably do speak for all of us here) extend our condolences to the citizens of the UK and the continued excessive curbing of their rights and freedoms by the state.