本週五 ANN 的 "Hey! Answerman" 專欄提到了こどものじかん (台譯 "萌少女的戀愛時光", 東立出版社發行) 這部作品, 一如預期地再次引起了正反兩方的爭論. 說實話, 這種東西吵了又吵, 我都已經懶得再去看, 反正吵來吵去就是那麼幾個論點, 吵完了也沒有人會因此而改變觀念. 不過一位網友發言時提及 Battle Royale (台譯 "生存遊戲", 又名 "大逃殺", 長鴻出版社發行) 引起我的注意.

This Friday, ANN's Hey! Answerman column mentioned Kodomo no Jikan (English title: Nymphet, licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment), and as expected it lit up the flame as similar topics before. To be honest, I'm really tired of debates after debates and don't even bother to look at the flame war, for all points (yeas and nays) are so old, plus no one would change their point of view after the fight anyway. However, an user mentioned Battle Royale in his post, which attracted my attention.

關心台灣漫畫產業的人應該都對 "生存遊戲" 這個事件不陌生. 簡單來說, 就是這部漫畫所充斥的血腥暴力與性行為畫面, 讓以財團法人中華民國出版品評議基金會為首的衛道人士怒不可遏, 硬是讓長鴻出版社回收了兩次 -- 第一次是加註 "限制級" 的標籤後重新發行, 但在基金會公布了 "逾越限制級" 這個等同於禁書的新標準後, 長鴻出版社在不堪其擾的情況下宣佈全面回收, 這項舉動也讓原出版社秋田書店頗感意外.

Those who care about manga in Taiwan should be familiar with the Battle Royale incident. In summary, the bloody violence and sexuality made moral groups like The R.O.C. Publication Appraisal Foundation really mad and forced Every Glory Publishing to recycle it twice -- first was the "Restricted (18+)" label, then after "Beyond Restricted" level was unraveled, a new rating that is equivalent to prohibition, Ever Glory Publishing announced the complete removal from bookshelves. This action surprised its original publisher Akita Shoten.

令我不解的是, 在台灣引起這麼大風波的一部作品, 到了美國卻是無聲無息, 所受到的抨擊不及 "萌少女的戀愛時光" 等蘿莉作品的一半. 須知, "生存遊戲" 裡所描繪的都是重罪, 而 "萌少女的戀愛時光" 所開的惡質玩笑卻連犯罪都談不上, 何以遭致如此批評? "生存遊戲" 的主角們是國三, 比 "萌少女的戀愛時光" 的女主角大了六歲, 可是在法律上都一樣是未成年人. 老美為何對 "生存遊戲" 裡的殺戮與性愛場景視若無睹, 卻對九重凜開的玩笑避之惟恐不及? 在美國本土與 ANN 各待了三年半的觀察, 我得到一個結論: 對老美來說, 只要與暴力結合加上成熟的肉體, 血腥與色情的情節 (即使涉及未成年人) 也是可接受的; 反之, 貧乳幼女則是迎合變態蘿莉控的猥褻物, 即使她和其他角色從未做出違反法律的情事.

What I don't understand is that such a controversial title in Taiwan received almost no criticism in United States, not as half much borderline lolicon titles e.g. Kodomo no Jikan. One has to remember that all crimes depicted in Battle Royale are felony, while evil pranks in Kodomo no Jikan cannot even be regarded as a criminal act. How so? Characters in Battle Royale are 9th graders, six years older than Rin in Kodomo no Jikan, but they are still minors according to both civil and criminal laws. Why Americans take blood and gore in Battle Royale as granted, yet fear pranks by Rin like avoiding plague? After being personally in the soil of United States and at ANN for both three-and-a-half years, I've made a conclusion: for *average* Americans, bloody and sexual scenes (even with minors involved) are acceptable as long as violence and mature-looking bodies are presented; on the other hand, flat-chested little girls are jail baits designed for perverted lolicons, even if the character has done nothing illegal or has fallen victim of any illegal action.

諷刺的是, 在批評 "生存遊戲" 的名人中, 也包括了 "麵包超人" 的原作者やなせたかし (柳瀬 嵩), 不過個人認為其實麵包超人的行善方式也挺恐怖的...而且根據蛙蛙宅男社的聚會內容顯示, 絕對不只我一個人這麼想.

Ironically, among those celebrities criticized Battle Royale, one of them was Takashi Yanase, creator of Anpanman. Personally, I think the way Anpanman does his deeds is quite terrifying, and according to Otaku Society of WaWa Books I'm definitely not the only one thinking that way.

延伸閱讀:
PChome個人新聞台-無責任漫話 - 看不見，不等於沒有傷口《生存遊戲》
性別人權協會：新聞 - 生存遊戲　爭議下架
財團法人中華民國出版品評議基金會 (舊網頁) - 殺同學？ 生存遊戲漫畫 入侵校園