Following persistent pressure from Western credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard, DLSite, the Japanese digital distribution platform specializing in adult-oriented games, books, and other doujin works, has declared significant changes to its search term policies.
This move aims to diminish the explicitness of search terms, marking another step in the ongoing struggle against Western influence.
Just weeks ago, Gumroad abruptly revised its guidelines, prohibiting sexually explicit material on its platform. This led to a surge of adult-oriented creators offering their Gumroad products at discounted rates to maximize profits, with only a 24-hour window before the new guidelines took effect. Following this, Gumroad boasted about the record revenue they were generating.
The sudden ban on sexually explicit content was likely prompted by pressure from foreign payment processors such as Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and PayPal, which have shown an increasing interest in blocking payments for material with problematic themes or kinks.
Mastercard, for instance, had previously threatened Niconico to remove a viral clickbait video titled “decided to abuse a ditty kitty,” which depicted nothing more than a man giving a baby kitten a bath in a sink. Similarly, DMM terminated its contract with Mastercard when the payment processor attempted to intervene regarding content on their FANZA service. Pixiv, reliant on western payment processors for services like Fanbox, has also banned a significant portion of content deemed to “insult public order and morality.”
Now, DLSite, arguably the largest Japanese digital distribution platform for erotic content, has come under scrutiny from Western payment processors. In response, the website has taken drastic measures by renaming how it categorizes certain themes, genres, and fetishes.
As noted by Twitter user aoi_ninomae_, the name changes implemented by DLSite are both drastic and intriguing, as they involve sanitizing numerous terms and genres to evade pressure from foreign credit card companies.
DLSite’s message essentially outlines that many other platforms have taken similar actions in response to requests from credit card companies regarding adult content.
It acknowledges that DLSite itself has received such requests and, after careful consideration, has decided to comply, given that credit card transactions make up over half of their total sales and the significant impact on users and creators.
The message expresses regret that certain expressions may become inaccessible due to these measures. In response to the requests, DLSite plans to implement redaction for certain terms, potentially rendering some genres and materials unsearchable, akin to actions taken by Pixiv.
Additionally, they will replace certain terms with new genre tags, as listed below.
The term “Mesugaki,” denoting a young girl with a mischievous or playful disposition, has been updated to “Small Fry♡“.
Similarly, material formerly labeled as “Rape” will now be referred to as “Non-consensual“.
The Loli genre will now be referred to as “chick,” while the concept of a “Loli-baba,” depicting an older woman with a loli body type, has been updated to “chick hag.”
Additionally, the tag “Confinement” has been replaced with “Imprisonment,” and “Brutal” has been modified to “Extremely Cruel.“
Moving forward, “Reverse Rape” has been revised to “Reverse Coercion,” and the traditional Japanese theme of Incest has been transformed into “Incest Play.“
“Torture” has been redefined as “Torment,” and “Hypnosis” will now be referred to as “Inducement.”
Additionally, “Beastiality” has been updated to “Animal Friends,” while “Brainwashing” has been changed to “Mental Domination.“
“Molestation” will now be referred to as “Secret Fondling,” while “Discipline” has been updated to “Training.”
“Slave” has been modified to “Servant,” and “Violation” will be denoted as “Humiliation Insult.”
“Gangrape” will be henceforth known as “Rotation,” while “Insect Rape” will be labeled as “Insect Ecchi.“
“Mob rape,” typically depicting faceless perpetrators, will be altered to “Mob Uncle.“
“Different Species Rape” will be simplified to “Different Species,” and “Machine rape/torture” has been changed to “Ecchi Machine.”
“Sleep Rape” is now referred to as “Sound Asleep,” and finally, “Hypnosis Voice” will be identified as “Inducement Voice.“
With these name changes, it’s evident that there’s a significant shift away from themes related to rape. This shift is understandable, considering crowdfunding platforms like Patreon have explicitly removed creators who produce non-consensual or animal-related content, as well as content involving hypnosis.
Many of the terminologies being altered in the near future have been simplified drastically, such as referring to “lolis” as literal baby chicks or changing beastiality to “animal friends.”
It’s striking to observe that DLSite hasn’t seen fit to censor or alter the terminology for “Shota” or “Shotacon,” especially given its focus on the portrayal of young boys, in contrast to the modification of “loli” to “chick.”
This inconsistency resembles the approach taken by Valve’s Steam store, which prohibits explicit games featuring “underaged” female characters while permitting those with underaged boys.
The changes implemented by DLSite have sparked a trend on Japanese social media, with many individuals finding amusement in the idea of referring to lolis as chicks and creating their own artwork in response. However, there’s also widespread criticism regarding the influence exerted by Western payment processors on foreign companies.
In light of platforms like Niconico accepting the removal of Mastercard support, many are disappointed that DLSite, the largest Japanese distributor of eroge, seemingly prioritized profits by appeasing Visa and Mastercard without addressing the concerns directly.
DLSite has acknowledged that half of its transactions are credit card purchases, and given its popularity not only among native Japanese audiences but also worldwide as a premier outlet for purchasing erotic material and h-games to support artists and developers, it’s understandable why they’ve taken such measures to maintain their operations.
While some of the name changes are humorous, I cannot lie that “メスガキ” being changed to “ざぁ～こ♡” is pretty funny. However the majority are seen as unnecessary and absurd. Ultimately, consumers are seeking to purchase pornographic material that fulfills their preferences, they don’t require or deserve to be treated like a toddler with such careful wording by DLSite.
EDIT: One day after the initial change, DLSite has made adjustments to some of its recently introduced terminologies. Specifically, they have replaced the newly introduced loli tag “chick” with “tsurupeta” or “Flattie,” which provides a more appropriate definition.
Consequently, “Loli-Baba” will now be referred to as “Flattie Hag.” Additionally, the modified tag for bestiality, previously labeled “Animal Friends,” has been altered to “畜えち,” a term more commonly associated with “Animal H,” ensuring that unsuspecting DLSite visitors do not inadvertently encounter such content under the guise of “Animal Friends.”
