Writier comments

who said it would impinge on freedom of expression and allow authorities to make arbitrary decisions about art.

I think this is the line that really got me thinking about this topic. Before starting off my argument I would like to state clearly that I in no way condone the existence of real child pornography. I think the major issue here was brought up well by Tahoochi.

The characters being depicted are DRAWINGS and ANIMATIONS and therefore age identifications outside of the manga/Anime outright saying it is impossible. There have been plenty of shows in which the main character is vastly older than they appear or younger for that matter. Who then gets to decide what's child and what's not? My thoughts here then go back to the original quote "... Allow authorities to make arbitrary decisions about art..." And even if after being accused the creator could in fact prove the people provided in the images were not children, Does the likeness of being children then should also be banned? And who gets to determine who looks like what age?

Another thought that comes to mind here is I think the word "child" brings everyone to an immediate stance of defense. Forgive me if I am mistaken am a "Westerner", but I people the age of high school also falls under the idea of being children (again not that I condone the publication of real high schoolers) but many characters are placed in a high school setting to achieve some kind of life point or turning point if you will. In the same way a rapper might use a political statement and a series of Anglo-Saxon curse words to achieve a desired outcome from an audience, some writers/ artists may use a sexual provocative scene as a turning point in two peoples relationship. Now before asking "Why not use something else?" I would like to pre answer this. While I agree it is possible to continue a story with the absence of sexual scenes it should be the decision of the artist as to what route they'd like to use to enhance their characters.

So to sum up, I am not stating that I would like to see sexual scenes involving minors, more I would like to see the artists allowed to use their own discretion while creating material. If you personally find something out of line then I encourage you to stay away from what makes you uncomfortable in terms of manga and Anime.