Malaysian Fans!

to kavz30, you can purchase from Amazon. Just that when you proceed purchase, don't ever click the link which stated x used & new....you should click the right- hand column which stated add to shopping cart^^
I'm not sure did anyone ever purchase yaoi manga/ novel from amazon, anyway the good news is I can be the white mice cuz I just purchase Only The Ring Finger Knows Volume 3: The Ring Finger Falls Silent (Yaoi Novel)....and according to the shipment detail, it will arrive at my doorstep on 4th Sept...I will inform you guys whether the book will arrive safely or not^^

@sef
pls..pls..pls.....inform us if u get ur yaoi novel safely ne? ne? i'm planning to buy 1 when i get approval of my visa registration *sobs*sobs*<--still non-stop cursing the useless gov (- -'''

@sef: thanks for the info!

minna-san, i just found out from another website that leads me to suspect that the non-English tabloids are practising irresponsible journalism. Apparently, Harian Metro featured an skewered article on anime figurines on their front page on 4th Aug. THEN Kosmo does one-upmanship on 8th Aug... hmmm ... do i see a trend here? A fan wrote to Star in response to that article and he pasted in on FaceBook:
Here's a letter I just e-mailed to the Star @ The Editor to state how I felt this morning as I read the news.What'ja think of the matter?Am I wrong and over-reacting or is watching a vinyl model of Rei Ayanami in bandages wrong and pornographic in nature which qualifies me as a pervert and almost all anime and hobby shop owners porno-mongers?Your call folks

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Title: Why hate anime?

Dear editor,

I was walking to work today (Monday, 4th August 2008) when I saw the big headline on Harian Metro which says ‘Kartun Terlampau’ (Extreme Cartoons in rough Malaysian translation); an article on some sexy toy models based on Japanese Animation or anime characters and the ‘danger’ it poses to Malaysian youths and children.

Being an anime fan myself, I was taken aback by the article for its inaccuracies and am confused on a number of things. One, everyone should know by now that Japanese animation or anime or Japanese cartoons or whatever genre people wants to call it, is not entirely targeted towards children. Matter of fact, its main core audience or target market are young adults that ranges probably maybe 14 to 16 years onwards so it is understandable some of these anime stories and even their characters themselves are ‘mature’ in nature, content-wise among others. Often these shows touches on many issues which western cartoon shows rarely touch or even mention such as teenage or life’s hardships, philosophy, psychology and even sexuality so its no wonder it is appealing to many and has a huge following outside Japan, namely the US, UK, Europe, South America and of course Asia; Malaysia included. The figurines sold in our country are no doubt sexy in nature but to say it is of pornographic nature, is just absurd. I’ve seen poses on advertisements in shopping malls that are just if not more sexier than those of said plastic figurines. AND these advertisements portray the images of real women, mind you. Some even are from local models and popular entertainers. Where’s the outrage in that?

The shop owners who sell these items at their stores who were interviewed by Harian Metro were wrongly made to look as villains who sell these so-called erotic merchandises just because they stated that these figurines are for sale to adults only. They were just business people whose current crime is only stating the simple truth; the figurines ARE for adults. Not because of mature portrayals or sexy poses of said figurines but because of the detail and work that goes into actually putting up and building the figurine model. Here’s a little piece of information, they have to be put together carefully and stick together by using some tweezers and glue before being painted and framed for the owner’s personal collection. These are models, the very same models like the ones for battleships and aircrafts. They are not ready-made action figures.

Things like this made me question the mentality of the people in charge of our country. Who or what actually determines as to what is acceptable to Malaysian society and what are the basis of such judgments that actually justifies them so? Do they even investigate the matter thoroughly? Do we have to condemn and vilify anything that we don’t like just because it’s different from the norm or new? If we were to do so, then I have a few other questions. Whatever happened to tolerance?Understanding? What happened to an open mind and acceptance to view things in a different light? We shouldn’t hate something that we don’t understand or know little about. We SHOULD hate something because we know everything about it. If we don’t then by all means, let the powers that be censor, control or better yet cut off the internet for all Malaysians. Apparently they do not think Malaysians are capable to think for ourselves and handle the consequences of our action ourselves.

When you have third world mentality leaders like ours, it's no wonder that monkey see, monkey do.

Whether we like it or not, M'sia is still an Islamic country (not state yet, for now) with Islam as the official religion. If they can ban sexy singers/shows and impose their values on non-muslims, this is nothing. Just look at the Anwar "liwat/sodomee" case. It is a crime for having sexual intercourse 'against the order of nature'. It is punishable up to 20 years.

So of course the shonen-ai/yaoi genre is branded as "gay" by that newspaper reporter and the local authorities. And the leaders in our country who preaches Islam consider "gays" unnatural and just wrong. I don't see when in the future where Malaysians can be more open-minded and act rationaly.

@kavz30
u're rock man! i second u!! =____=''' these reporters didn't do their research/homework & throwing sheeets on anime especially the adult rated, be it hentai or yaoi *sad*

@rokusasu13
it's all the current's gov fault...that anwar's sodomee case, do u actually believe it? it was a stupid conspiracy by gov with d same old episode (when he 1st accused on 1998)...even the US against our gov (uwekz! i don't wanna admit it...not my gov) way of manipulating law =___= if u read raja petra's blog, u'll know plus, video clip of tun mahathir's confession where he tell the truth behind his plan to dispel anwar from gov XD besides, in d 1998 sodomee case, anwar used to have full support of m'sian gay assoc. XD XD XD irony huh?

*ooops...we shouldn't talk about politics eh T___T my mistake...gomen

You know what...I went to Kinokuniya today and asked the lady at the counter about Junjo Romantica and she told me it's government ban on it. However, I manage to buy it but they have to open up a box for me in the end and still sell it to me. I think that in the end, we will not get anymore yaoi manga at all in Malaysia. That's a big blow for us fans >.< Very sad about it. There are some like Loveless & Gravitation which I saw weren't taken away from the shelves...

I am just upset about this news...
Then again I actually expected it will happen sooner or later, especially when I was so surprised how it made it in our local bookstores in the first place.

Now, the problem is... can we still import it via post? =x
If you guys know any online websites to buy English yaoi manga, where can we buy it from?

@aarin
i knew from sef we can order from amazon or jpqueen n i still looking for other alternative websites...the kinokuniya staff especially ms. joanne is really kind & understanding how we the yaoi fans' feelings regarding this XD she kindly told me we still can import via post/individually purchase through on9 though >.<'' aaaa! hopefully this is going to be ok..1 more thing, i got a message from a friend (in my friendster's comment), she told me borders bookstore at gardens (next to midvalley) is still openly selling yaoi mangas & she managed to buy some O___o' so, shall we ambush there minna-san? XD

oh ya, forgot to ask...does anyone here know if animetech store could still order english BL manga on9 for us? when i viewed its official website, the list of yaoi mangas is still there, but it's not updated >.< has anyone make a confirmation with them (animetech)?

Hmm ok thanks for the tip. I haven't check Borders (I always buy from Borders) but I am pretty sure it may follow suit ~_~;;;

As for AnimeTech, isn't it a place that sells non-original animes too? Like fansubbed version videos?? I am not sure, heard it from someone a few years ago.

aww..kino's not selling it anymore?damn.about that metro harian,i really hate it when i read the article.one of my friend's forum also discussing the same thing.the government had kinda put a ban on figurine as such now.

*i thought government have no power to stop post order unless it is drug or food stuff or cigarette*

I bought some yaoi and shonenai manga at animetech before. I bought my first yaoi there I think, though they were a tad bit more expensive. Iono if they still sell it though, even so, not all animetech outlets sell them.

Animetech's anime dvd quality is terrible I must tell you. I suspect whether they just download from somewhere and sub it in such a hurry or just take it from a fansub. I felt cheated when the translation is sucky and they got the nerve to say that it's original. After buying various anime from there I stopped going as it was waste of time and money. Unless they buck up, I'll stick to fansubs.

The borders at garden too is selling shonenai/yaoi though the selection isn't that much. I wonder if they will follow suit with what Kino did. Maybe that nosy reporter might go there and the next day we'll see another article on "gay komik dijual di kedai buku Borders".