Torishima replied with “Compliance is like an all-powerful god. It’s something that is using the name of good but is actually bad. It’s impossible every single person doesn’t feel uncomfortable. It’s fine to feel uncomfortable. Beautiful and ugly, good and evil, it depends on the person.”

Torishima also discussed selling manga in the west, “When selling manga in America and the west, everything had to be categorized by age groups. With Shonen Jump, they couldn’t be sold unless they were rated age 13 and older, because there’s a risk of lawsuits and they need to have insurance.

“Doing business with a ridiculous country like this is such a hassle,” Torishima said. “Coming from this, Japan gets negatively influenced as well.”

“In Dragon Quest, you used to be able to choose between a male and female protagonist,” Horii said. “But now you can’t choose between a man and a woman anymore.”

Horii added, “We have to call them Type 1 and Type 2. I truly wonder who is even complaining about this?”

Honestly it's a disgrace that the supposed land of freedom has caused this many problems for creative expression. Torishima and Horii have good heads on their shoulders (unsurprisingly), but it seems this cancer comes from above them and is imposed on them.

Japanese entertainment becoming globally popular is increasingly looking like a mistake, at least with the way western culture currently is. I hope they keep trying to make their works for the Japanese, but ill tides like this concerns me.