What is the purpose of an eroge vendor that arbitrarily censors its products based on foreign policy?
As the saying goes, “when it rains, it pours.” Over the past year, we’ve seen numerous instances of American payment processors like VISA and MasterCard arbitrarily pressuring Japanese businesses to remove content they find problematic, threatening them with the loss of their services.
Given that VISA and MasterCard hold a dominant global monopoly over transactions, it was remarkable to see companies like DLSite and FANZA resist these cultural colonizers by telling them to fuck off.
However, it was inevitable that some would eventually yield, as seen with U-NEXT restricting access to its adult-oriented H-NEXT services for subscribers using VISA or MasterCard.
Things remained quiet for a while until Japanese retailer Toranoana succumbed to these oppressive demands, issuing warnings to certain doujinshi creators and creative circles that their works were labeled as CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) and that they would be suspending the sale of their content.
Coincidentally, during the same timeframe, Denpasoft also complied with the demands of foreign payment processors. They announced on their website that they had delisted several titles after being contacted by “their bank” (VISA & MasterCard), which categorized some of their products as being no different from actual child pornography.
For those unfamiliar, Denpasoft is a distributor specializing in adult-centric doujinshi and eroge material, also known as erotic video games, which typically fall under the category of visual novels. Denpasoft aims to bring these Japanese eroge products to global audiences through translated releases, which can also be purchased on platforms like Steam.
In a gesture of transparency, Denpasoft announced which specific titles were being delisted from their storefront. A total of 16 different titles have been removed so far, including works published by other localized distributors like Kagura Games and Shiravune.
Additionally, Denpasoft’s own English-published release of “Sex Friend Osananajimi Shojo to Doutei wa Hazukashii tte Minna ga Iu kara,” known as “Childhood Friends with Benefits,” has also fallen victim to the demands of VISA and MasterCard.
Additionally, Denpasoft announced that the aforementioned titles will no longer be available for redownload by users who have purchased them. However, they encourage customers with concerns or questions to contact them via support ticket.
Denpasoft will likely permit users who have already purchased the aforementioned games to redownload them, but due to VISA and MasterCard’s interference, they are currently unable to provide access to these titles by normal means.
Additionally, Denpasoft has warned that other eroge content may be removed in the future as Western regulators continuously redefine what constitutes child pornography in fictional content, shifting their standards unpredictably.
I previously mentioned the detrimental impact of Japanese businesses like Toranoana choosing to comply with VISA and MasterCard’s demands, which ultimately harms freedom of expression and creativity, affecting doujinshi creators across Japan.
In contrast, DLSite, one of the largest digital storefronts for doujinshi, resisted these pressures, choosing to protect its relationship with both customers and creators rather than purging its content.
For creators, it’s more beneficial for storefronts to create additional hoops for payment methods, such as leveraging Japan’s JCB for transactions, to avoid disrupting creative freedom and removing material.
Consumers of these goods generally avoid storefronts that enforce arbitrary foreign policies on acceptable content, with VISA and MasterCard demonizing businesses for distributing fictional material they deem as CSAM.
Denpasoft’s predicament appears to be the first instance of a Western-centric outlet being targeted for selling Japanese doujinshi. Consumers will need to stay vigilant as VISA and MasterCard may target other distributors like JAST USA and FAKKU.
Initially known for pirated scanlations of Japanese hentai manga, FAKKU has since legitimized itself as a distributor of self-published doujinshi, providing English translations for various forms of adult material.
VISA and MasterCard seem to aim at leveraging their monopoly over global payment transactions to compel businesses to comply with their demands to remove problematic material or risk losing their vendor license.
This approach could ultimately force artists to alter their content, as doujinshi creators often depend on their craft for financial support. If larger platforms exclude self-published works, creators will have to adapt to these changes to remain commercially viable or risk going it alone on alternative platforms, the longevity of which is uncertain.
It’s also increasingly likely that VISA and MasterCard could target the largest PC distribution platform, Steam. However, Valve Corporation has already garnered a reputation for hypocrisy by banning numerous games featuring characters they deem “child-like,” despite still hosting a significant number of games with similar characters, especially those featuring small male characters, known as “Shotas.”
This contradictory stance led to the term “Waifu Holocaust” being coined to describe Valve’s inconsistent enforcement policies, though it’s unlikely that VISA and MasterCard will threaten Valve to remove such titles from its Steam store or risk losing them as payment methods, they’re more than happy to directly target the little fish instead as we’re seeing currently.
