Although it's been around for arguably over a century, the west still hasn't fully woken up to anime, at least as far as older generations are concerned. I'm sure a lot of you have had awkward conversations with parents, older relatives or teachers about what they see as 'weird foreign cartoons,' but with many broadcasters and streaming services showing a wide range of anime or anime-inspired media, surely they'd have learned a thing or two by now?

Apparently not, at least in Australia. Now, I'm definitely no political expert but from what I've seen and heard over the years, Australia is still a pretty conservative country, which is pretty ironic for an island where the British Empire shipped their prisoners. I remember reading loads of stories about video games and movies that were popular in the rest of the world being refused classification or outright banned down under. Now that it's 2020, attitudes toward explicit violence, sex and drug use in video games and movies have loosened, but now anime is coming under fire.

South Australian senator Stirling Griff delivered a speech to parliament about the evils of anime and manga:

“There is, unfortunately, a dark side and a disgusting side to anime and manga, with a significant proportion of the two media featuring child abuse material," he said in front of the Senate.

"They contain depictions of wide-eyed children, usually in school uniforms, engaged in explicit sexual activities and poses, and often being sexually abused."

And the worst of the bunch, according to Griff? Eromanga Sensei (pictured above), which he says "...heavily features incest themes and many scenes are so disturbing I just won't, I just can't, describe them."

In Australia, it's illegal to produce, posses, or distribute material depicting abuse of a representation of a person who appears to be younger than 18. Because of this, Griff is calling for a review of every single anime available for streaming or viewing in the country that has already recieved classification.

"The classification board appears to be making decisions in isolation to criminal law. This must stop." 

Griff has written to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher about the matter, and parliament is expected to further discuss the issue next week. Until then, what do you guys make of this? Do you agree with his sentiments? If there are any Australians here, how have you dealt with the nation's strict censorship laws? Let us know below as always!