Deathnote01This story from Reuters is a bit brief but it seems a government crackdown on crime comics has swept up such things as DEATH NOTE in China:

China’s capital is seizing ghost and horror books from shops to protect the “physical and mental health” of its youngsters, local media said on Tuesday.

Authorities have been scouring bookstores, newsstands and shops near schools, known for their orthodox and conformist teaching but where youth subcultures have flourished with an increasingly diverse society, the Beijing News said.

“The illegal publications are quite popular among students and are apt to harm the physical and mental health of young people,” the newspaper quoted a government circular as saying.


Although that Reuters story makes it sounds as if the Death Note stories are bootleg, the published claims to be legit, and he is telling you, he’s not going.

A Beijing-based publisher says it will defy a municipal government ban on its horror tale and continue to ship copies of “Death Note”, one of eight books the city has ordered off the shelves.

The Beijing municipal government blacklisted the horror stories calling them “illegal terrifying publications”.

Hualing Publishing House says ‘Death Note’ is not an illegal publication. “I want to make it clear that we have official approval to publish and we will continue to do so,” a man with the publishing house who declined to give his name told Xinhua over the phone.

Described by some readers as “exciting and interesting”, the books, which are mainly about ghosts, have a lot of followers on the Internet. The municipal administration of industry and commerce, however, says many young people are reading the books which it claims are “harmful to the psychological health of teenagers”.


Makes you glad to live in a country where Harlan Ellison is the greatest threat against free speech, doesn’t it?

1 COMMENT

  4. Very interesting. China is definitely a hit-and-miss country, they’re open to a few things, but closed to others…. and the paradox of their new wealth brings up more questions than answers.

    Meanwhile the arts will get stomped on. Death Note is pretty damn good. A shame those folks will have to resort to illegal means. I wonder if they’ve banned the Anime series, as well? There’s so many ways to snag it off the Internet – however even that is curbed in China.

  5. i don’t understand why people continue doing business with a country that seriously needs to get Civil Warred by it’s own people.

    And I agree with Chris Moon.

  6. Aunque como The Beat nos hace notar, este artículo de Reuters hace parecer que la versión de Death Note que circula en Beijing es pirata, Hualing Publishing House, su editorial en China, dice que es legítima y que tienen la licencia para publicarlo, además que piensa desafiar al gobierno municipal por esta nueva ley de censura.

    Fast translation of this comment (please forgive any mistakes):

    Although The beat has noted this, this Reuters article seems to say that the version of Death Note being circulated in Beijing is a pirated version. Hualing Publish House which is publishing in China, says that it is legitimate and has a license to publish it. It’s even more interesting to think that it is going to defy the municipal government’s new censorship law.

  7. Aunque como The Beat nos hace notar, este artículo de Reuters hace parecer que la versión de Death Note que circula en Beijing es pirata, Hualing Publishing House, su editorial en China, dice que es legítima y que tienen la licencia para publicarlo, además que piensa desafiar al gobierno municipal por esta nueva ley de censura.

    Fast translation of this comment (please forgive any mistakes):

    Although The beat has noted this, this Reuters article seems to say that the version of Death Note being circulated in Beijing is a pirated version. Hualing Publish House which is publishing in China, says that it is legitimate and has a license to publish it. It’s even more interesting to think that it is going to defy the municipal government’s new censorship law.

  8. I say….i mean, death note is certainly that show with truthful meaning. It truly is touching and moving in the sense of the way the television series goes.

    Such a bad time to part when a movie is also about to premier. I say, i in dudably disagree with this. Why must chine go so far? It certainly *gasp* shocks me to recall child peer pressure once again….but this? Dear me *squeal* Children fall for such things?

    I do say….I do…truly

  10. The books are mainly about ghosts?? Learn the facts first of all, then try to say something. Seriously, this is stupid, horror stories don’t destroy children’s minds. They are merely stories, like any others. You might as well ban Shakespeare because it was sex and murder. Stories increase your imagination and help children. If your phyche is too week to handle these types of things, then don’t read them. You can’t put children in a bubble, and have them grow up now knowing fictional horrors, not even going to being to mention actual horrors. If they can’t handle fictitious ones, how are they going to handle real ones? They’ll never make it in the real world. They need to learn to cope, if any coping is need, because really, come on, it’s JUST a story, it’s not real. Get over it.

  11. i somewha agree with all of the above statements, as in china there is a lot of freedom for somethings, but not others. fr example, after you finish reading this, type Tiananmen square into google, and you will get tons of hits, mainly on the tragedy that occured there. however, in china there are only a few articles (or so ive been told by some of my chinese friends)
    on the tragedy, they just say it was the scene of something terrible, without going into the details.

  12. What the hell. I mean they ban it there. It is not harmful to them. Teens can make their own decisions quiet well. The Chinese government has gone to far at banning ‘CERTAIN’ manga. Ohh well I agree with Slava and Chris.

  13. what the hell if they gonna ban the mangas that mean they have complete control of the teens over there now that piss me off. They are always strict on everything thank god I’m not chinese or in beijing or I’ll just download the anime or the movie cause they only say horror (death note is not a horror type its what makes the people wonders what would happen next in the anime isn’t that right) books being banned lol but dam I only watch death notes.

  14. Kids dumped on the streets every year thats the prob.
    but banning death note cuz uts “Danger to teens mental health?!”

    You gotta be kidding me.

  15. okay that is just stupid, deathnote is one of the best mangas and it inspireds the imagination, its flippin rediculous that they ban it.

  17. I am a fan of Death Note (*cough*L*cough*), I may sound too over obsessed, but I think this Death Note thing is real. Well, not the supernatural “shinigami” and death stuff, but people being punished for having “Death Notes”. It’s like the people are “Kira” and the police are after them…

    If they act as “Kira”, would someone take the role as “L”?

  20. I am a Chinese, Chinese government don’t want bad things happen to the youngsters, they ban something for the yongsters’ safe. but they don’t really ban it. China has her own ways to develop, we all love China no matter what other coutry’s people say. and I think every country have their own things which don’t want their people know, just those people don’t know what their government are banning, in China, we know what the government are banning. so we are clear.

  21. Thats really boring why do they need to ban it? *kira* is the one who punished the Criminals not only some Gays or someone….
    and they’re like Misa…. Killing without a Reason amf(but she’s hot!) :-> i meant PUNISHING!

  22. Well…. I’m a death note fan, and I’m just sad they have to ban it.

    Death Note is a great entertainment and it also makes youthink about what is good and evil, not like other anime. DEATH NOTE TEACHES US SOMETHING GOOD.

    It’s the point of view of readers/watchers, however, if it’s good and bad. It’s my opinion. But really, I’m 13 and I don’t believe some fictional stuff I see. If the children there have such credulity and being influenced by the bad stuff they see, why don’t the government just educate the children about it? Like, you know, “That’s not true so don’t believe it. It’s just made up and meant for entertainment. If you see them killing others… don’t do that, it’s bad”

  23. I don’t like how the Chinese gorvernment are teaching teens. I’m in 7th grade but kids in the chinese classes are like babies. (Im in China right now) You wouldn’t even dare to think what the kids here are like. & they’ve not only banned Death Note, they’ve banned Youtube too! (*sob*I’m missing my favorite shows…*sob*) What’s wrong with Death Note! I mean it’s just fake! Banning stuff should be left to kids parents to decide not gorvernments. Even if they ban it bad people (kids) will continue to do bad stuff.

  24. Ok…. so some kids went overboard with the whole death note thing? So what? Holy crap, if they think writing names of people in a who you don’t like in a notebook is overboard then imagine what they’d think about narutards! Its not like there gonna die or anything anyway, if someone gets killed from writing names in a notebook, I’ll eat my socks. Deadnote is a good, interesting, thought provoking book. If they wanna put themselves in a little bubble and not read it then thats fine with me, don’t ban it for a whole country who wants to read it!!! If I lived in China it would be like, Ohhh hell no. I’m going to read- AND ENJOY- deathnote all I want and you can stick it up your fat deranged arse! Me and my homies would all be cosplaying deathnote and flicking them off like ‘Stfu silly deathnote haters’ And… uhhh *curses nonstop*
    oops, most of thins was a rant…. ohhh well
    when I’m angry i get ANGRY!!!! D:’