Japan Is in an Anime EMERGENCY

Japan is in a serious anime crisis, and the government’s stepping in to save it.

The Cabinet Office’s Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters in Japan announced on Friday that it would enact an “emergency measure” to stop anime and manga piracy, in an effort to save the craft from financial collapse, according to the Japan Times.

In this emergency measure, the government plans to encourage internet service providers to restrict access to websites that offer pirated anime and manga “on a voluntary basis.” It named three websites as specific targets of the measure: Mangamura, Anitube, and Miomio.

Mangamura.org, one of Japan’s most popular websites, is now offline following the announcement, but it’s unclear whether it’s down because of the measure or unrelated issues. Japan Times reported that the site had more than 174 million visitors in March, making it the 25th busiest website in the country.

In June 2016, Japan's Ministry of Trade, Economy, and Industry (METI) hired human backup to help curb anime and manga theft and support piracy-catching software monitoring systems. According to a 2014 METI press release, in major cities, anime and manga piracy costs JPY 560 billion (approximately US$ 5.6 billion) in damages per year.

If you stan for a pretty manga schoolboy or busty anime warrior, maybe consider paying their creators instead of pirating.

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