Banned-in-Canada Visual Novels

[Depreciation]

I think censorship over porn is yet another instance of 'form over substance'. Except for serious cases like occasionally busting child p0rn rings, the authority tend to go after those who are 'easy catch', such as isolated passangers going through airport security. At the same time, they have to at least pretend to be listening to the segment of voters who get freaked out whenever there is even a suggestion of p0rn.

Even before the era of broadband internet, I should point out that p0rn was not terribly difficult to obtain. For example, I was with my buddy at his home. We had nothing else to do, so he went to a neighbor to borrow a bunch of video tapes. I thought he was going to borrow typial stuffs like sci-fi and action flicks. No! He brought a stash of p0rn tapes! Later, it turned out that the guy who owned these video tapes went out for an errand and his parents did not bother to check up on the titles of the tapes borrowed! After these tapes were returned, the neighbor hardly said anything bad about it ... no big deal.

Speaking of 'substance over form' -- not very likely for the authority to go after p0rn industries in any significant way: Economics. A while back, a classmate of mine did a short presentation on p0rn industry for our economics class. It is a big business. Top four revenue-makers: China, Japan, South Korea, the US. (These big four are also among the largest trading countries in the world!) Hehe ...

[Lurker]

What about lolicon?

"The following goods, insofar as they may constitute "undue" exploitation of sex within the meaning of the terms as set forth above, may be classified under tariff item No. 9899.00.00 and their importation into Canada may be prohibited: [...] goods describing sexual acts involving children or juveniles, and depictions or descriptions of children or juveniles in total or partial undress, alone or in the presence of other persons, and in which the context is even slightly sexually suggestive. Children and juveniles are persons actually or apparently under the age of 18 [...]"
- Memorandum D9-1-1, February 1998

"Note: Depictions and descriptions of sexual activities involving children and/or juveniles (persons under the age of 18) will generally constitute child pornography."
- Memorandum D9-1-1, February 2008

Underage sexual content was originally listed on the "obscenity checklist", but has since been removed. This is because the importation of child pornography is met with a stricter punishment than importation of obscenity (prison term vs. confiscation). Such content is still reviewed on a case-by-case basis, allowing works like Vladimir Nakovov's Lolita to be imported because of its literary value. I'm certain School Days would fall under this category if the ages of the characters were ever brought up (and, in the cases of Setsuna and Kokoro, their ages don't need to be mentioned since they clearly look underage). Since the characters' immaturity is a major plot point, this would pass the Internal Necessities Test.

Sounds similar to American law in fact if not word...except the Canadians seem serious about it. Yikes.

Note to self: When the draft notice comes, don't flee to Canada. Find a country with a less oppressive regime. Like Australia.

I'm not sure where you live now, but I really think this song is appropriate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhnUgAaea4M

[Corbane]

Anybody got something seized when ordering from J-list?

[TDOMMX]

Anybody got something seized when ordering from J-list?

Never happened to me. I think the CBSA has a blacklist of sorts; my orders from Himeya were almost always opened, whereas I never had any problems with JAST, J-List, RightStuf, or Amazon. Incidentally, I own original copies of Critical Point, Little My Maid, Pretty Soldier War 2048 AD, and Tokimeki Check-In despite all of these titles being banned. I think all that matters is where you buy a title and how it's packaged...

[Astraea127]

Hello, I want to ask has anyone have trouble going through Canada customs at the airport? I have 6 eroge that I bought from HK and I'm starting to freak out about the stories people said about going through customs at the airport. And I'm not sure what to write on the declaration form. Anyone have ideas how to get through this? I also have my mother going back to Canada with Me, maybe that won't raise any suspicions?


The ones I bought are: fdm 020, 018, 014, 011, 008, 005

You can find them here
http://future-digi.com/

Just click on the first blue "hot!
" icon on the left when u enter the link and u should see them

[TDOMMX]

Hello, I want to ask has anyone have trouble going through Canada customs at the airport? I have 6 eroge that I bought from HK and I'm starting to freak out about the stories people said about going through customs at the airport. And I'm not sure what to write on the declaration form. Anyone have ideas how to get through this? I also have my mother going back to Canada with Me, maybe that won't raise any suspicions?


The ones I bought are: fdm 020, 018, 014, 011, 008, 005

You can find them here
http://future-digi.com/

Just click on the first blue "hot!
" icon on the left when u enter the link and u should see them

I'm not a traveler myself (I wish I was, though), but an otaku friend of mine had a very unpleasant experience following his trip to Japan last summer. He bought a considerable amount of games and visual novels, and a Customs official went over every single one of them before letting him through. The official's instructions were to seize all oversized game boxes (ie: larger than an Amaray case). My friend's copy of Sengoku Rance was confiscated, and he had to fight to keep his copy of the PS3 LE of White Album (noting that there was an age rating on the box and that console manufacturers don't allow obscenity of any kind on their systems). The official caved, thankfully, but my friend didn't get Rance back and eventually had to import a second copy a few months later.

My advice would be to pick up the games, but mail them to your home address beforehand instead of taking them with you on your return flight. The customs declaration is a bit of a crapshot: gifts less than $80 and commercial goods less than $20 get by Customs scot-free, without tarifs or inspections, but if you lie about the value and something happens during transit, you can't claim the full value of the damages if you have to file a complaint. Also, gifts have to be clearly labeled as such, ie: with giftwrap and a To-From card, so just checking off the "gift" checkbox isn't enough. Lastly, if you lie and say that a DVD case is, for instance, a book, the fact that you tried to pass off something as something else will be noted (and used against you if you're concealing the presence of child pornography). I'd declare the goods as "video games" or "computer games" if I were you to stay on the safe side. I'm slightly annoyed that, during my confrontation with the CBSA last year, Himeya labeled my visual novels as "toys". Technically, that's not wrong, but you know the perpetuated stereotype of video games being nothing more than toys for children...

Well, I hope this has been helpful. I wish you luck.

[Guest]

Well, J-list always labeled my packages as "toys", too. I don't mind if the alternative would be "explicit drawings of underage characters having sex". Even though it's not illegal in my country either way.

[Baldo]

Well, J-list always labeled my packages as "toys", too...

If so, http://www.jlist.com/category/184 becomes less attractive to me ...
Italian Customs have not problems with packages labeled 'games' or 'videogames' (erotic or not), but importing 'toys' lacking the CE mark is more risky here:

http://pe.usps.com/text/imm/il_008.htm

[Guest]

You can always ask them to put whatever label you want, I think. J-list is quite versatile on such issues.

[TDOMMX]

Well, J-list always labeled my packages as "toys", too...

If so, http://www.jlist.com/category/184 becomes less attractive to me ...
Italian Customs have not problems with packages labeled 'games' or 'videogames' (erotic or not), but importing 'toys' lacking the CE mark is more risky here:

http://pe.usps.com/text/imm/il_008.htm

What the...? Photo albums and playing cards are illegal? Seriously!? I can understand not wanting to ship a cremated relative's urn, but photos, postcards, and postage stamps...? What's wrong with those? And wooden toys are okay, huh...

It's illegal to have English and French printed in the same size on a sign here (damned Bill 101... Chinese is okay, but not English?), so we've both got it pretty bad. This is why I prioritize ethics over legality.

[Astraea127]

I'm not a traveler myself (I wish I was, though), but an otaku friend of mine had a very unpleasant experience following his trip to Japan last summer. He bought a considerable amount of games and visual novels, and a Customs official went over every single one of them before letting him through. The official's instructions were to seize all oversized game boxes (ie: larger than an Amaray case). My friend's copy of Sengoku Rance was confiscated, and he had to fight to keep his copy of the PS3 LE of White Album (noting that there was an age rating on the box and that console manufacturers don't allow obscenity of any kind on their systems). The official caved, thankfully, but my friend didn't get Rance back and eventually had to import a second copy a few months later.

My advice would be to pick up the games, but mail them to your home address beforehand instead of taking them with you on your return flight. The customs declaration is a bit of a crapshot: gifts less than $80 and commercial goods less than $20 get by Customs scot-free, without tarifs or inspections, but if you lie about the value and something happens during transit, you can't claim the full value of the damages if you have to file a complaint. Also, gifts have to be clearly labeled as such, ie: with giftwrap and a To-From card, so just checking off the "gift" checkbox isn't enough. Lastly, if you lie and say that a DVD case is, for instance, a book, the fact that you tried to pass off something as something else will be noted (and used against you if you're concealing the presence of child pornography). I'd declare the goods as "video games" or "computer games" if I were you to stay on the safe side. I'm slightly annoyed that, during my confrontation with the CBSA last year, Himeya labeled my visual novels as "toys". Technically, that's not wrong, but you know the perpetuated stereotype of video games being nothing more than toys for children...

Well, I hope this has been helpful. I wish you luck.

well right now i have 4 VN's and 2 other PC games (batman arkham & alice in wonderland), that should be ok i guess? i'm going to list what you suggested and not lie about not having anything. If anything happens, i'm just going to say its for my personal use and relieve my stress, heck everyone has stress and it just so happens i play VN's to get rid of them.

btw, do you know if 18+ artbooks will pass through such as this? http://www.jlist.com/product/APO215. i asked Jlist and and they replied back saying they "think" they can ship it to Canada........

[TDOMMX]

well right now i have 4 VN's and 2 other PC games (batman arkham & alice in wonderland), that should be ok i guess? i'm going to list what you suggested and not lie about not having anything. If anything happens, i'm just going to say its for my personal use and relieve my stress, heck everyone has stress and it just so happens i play VN's to get rid of them.

btw, do you know if 18+ artbooks will pass through such as this? http://www.jlist.com/product/APO215. i asked Jlist and and they replied back saying they "think" they can ship it to Canada........

I'd list them as 6 PC games on the Customs declaration if I were you (you're free to disagree). The CBSA has the right to open any package if it feels so inclined (they typically don't unless a shipper is blacklisted), but they're legally obligated to declare that they have done so when they do (a yellow "Opened by the CBSA" tape will replace the original packing tape when this is the case). If an item appears to be suspicious, it may be detained for a proper inspection. If the item fails the inspection, then it's seized as contraband and you have 90 days to file an appeal. The CBSA will notify you in writing if any of the above has occurred, more often than not via a letter they include in your original shipping box, along with instructions regarding the appeal process. I doubt it'll happen, but if an item is seized (not to be confused with detained), let me know and I'll link you to the paperwork you'll need to write a proper appeal.

Personally, I don't see any problems with trying to import a Japanese artbook from J-List, but I can't say for sure if you'll be safe or not since I've only ordered maybe a handful of things from their Japan branch in the past (that'll change soon since I'm ordering The Devil on G-String in the very near future). The best I can tell is you'll probably be fine, but ask that you keep your fingers crossed either way. If this was Himeya, on the other hand, I'd ask that you proceed with extreme caution; every single one of my packages from them was opened by customs, though only my most recent one had items detained (I got back all but one, and the seized one only cost $10.00).

[Astraea127]

well right now i have 4 VN's and 2 other PC games (batman arkham & alice in wonderland), that should be ok i guess? i'm going to list what you suggested and not lie about not having anything. If anything happens, i'm just going to say its for my personal use and relieve my stress, heck everyone has stress and it just so happens i play VN's to get rid of them.

btw, do you know if 18+ artbooks will pass through such as this? http://www.jlist.com/product/APO215. i asked Jlist and and they replied back saying they "think" they can ship it to Canada........

I'd list them as 6 PC games on the Customs declaration if I were you (you're free to disagree). The CBSA has the right to open any package if it feels so inclined (they typically don't unless a shipper is blacklisted), but they're legally obligated to declare that they have done so when they do (a yellow "Opened by the CBSA" tape will replace the original packing tape when this is the case). If an item appears to be suspicious, it may be detained for a proper inspection. If the item fails the inspection, then it's seized as contraband and you have 90 days to file an appeal. The CBSA will notify you in writing if any of the above has occurred, more often than not via a letter they include in your original shipping box, along with instructions regarding the appeal process. I doubt it'll happen, but if an item is seized (not to be confused with detained), let me know and I'll link you to the paperwork you'll need to write a proper appeal.

Personally, I don't see any problems with trying to import a Japanese artbook from J-List, but I can't say for sure if you'll be safe or not since I've only ordered maybe a handful of things from their Japan branch in the past (that'll change soon since I'm ordering The Devil on G-String in the very near future). The best I can tell is you'll probably be fine, but ask that you keep your fingers crossed either way. If this was Himeya, on the other hand, I'd ask that you proceed with extreme caution; every single one of my packages from them was opened by customs, though only my most recent one had items detained (I got back all but one, and the seized one only cost $10.00).

What if I bought the artbook and go through the customs? From what I know, the book is an "artbook", and should be ok?

[michelous]

customs can be strange

[TDOMMX]

What if I bought the artbook and go through the customs? From what I know, the book is an "artbook", and should be ok?

To be honest, I don't know. My intuition tells me there shouldn't be any problems, but I've heard stories about people forced to stand around in public while a Customs official tears off the shrink-wrap and flips through every single page of a manga or artbook in the search for illegal content. I've never been through this myself, and I don't know how commonplace such an occurrence really is... Given my recent experience with the CBSA, I'd rather play it safe than bring an artbook with me, but that's just me and my paranoia.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help in this department.

[Ericridge]

What if I bought the artbook and go through the customs? From what I know, the book is an "artbook", and should be ok?

To be honest, I don't know. My intuition tells me there shouldn't be any problems, but I've heard stories about people forced to stand around in public while a Customs official tears off the shrink-wrap and flips through every single page of a manga or artbook in the search for illegal content. I've never been through this myself, and I don't know how commonplace such an occurrence really is... Given my recent experience with the CBSA, I'd rather play it safe than bring an artbook with me, but that's just me and my paranoia.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help in this department.

Fucking assholes of them. I dont know how i'd be able to restrain myself cuz that'll spoil the story of the book as they rifle through it.

[Lancer-X]

Fucking assholes of them. I dont know how i'd be able to restrain myself cuz that'll spoil the story of the book as they rifle through it.

Spoil the story? Of an artbook?

[Nandemonai]

I think it was supposed to be a joke, but I'm not following it either ...

[Astraea127]

Fucking assholes of them. I dont know how i'd be able to restrain myself cuz that'll spoil the story of the book as they rifle through it.

Spoil the story? Of an artbook?

I think he meant the manga not the artbook. Btw, doesn't Canada have the "freedom of speech/expression"?, I thought the artbooks are a form of expresion, and shouldn't be a problem unless it really has offersive material in it, which in my case it doesn't, besides I read that people made it through with adult magazines such as Playboy.

[Corbane]

Technically, that's not wrong, but you know the perpetuated stereotype of video games being nothing more than toys for children...

Do I have more or less chances for the package to be opened if it's labelled as toys?

[TDOMMX]

I think he meant the manga not the artbook. Btw, doesn't Canada have the "freedom of speech/expression"?, I thought the artbooks are a form of expresion, and shouldn't be a problem unless it really has offersive material in it, which in my case it doesn't, besides I read that people made it through with adult magazines such as Playboy.

Yes, Canada has its own set of Freedom of Speech laws, but they aren't absolute as they are in the US. Many people abuse their right to free speech to promote hate crimes, racism, slander, and sedition, so exceptions are permitted to allow such offenses to be prosecuted.

Naturally, this is a double-edged sword. A smaller "gray area" means everything is a lot more "black and white" than it should be. As I've mentioned elsewhere on this forum, if a person or character in a sexual situation is shown having undeveloped secondary sex characteristics (ie: a woman with a complete absence of breasts), their actual age does not matter - the material would be banned, even if the model is in her late 20's. This is to get around the often-abused loophole regarding lying about a person's age (this might clue you in to why I do not agree with JAST's censorship policies).

If an anthology or an artbook that contains a single piece of obscene material (urination, defecation, vomiting, non-consensual infliction of pain/humiliation, violence/killing for the sake of getting off, sexual coercion, bestiality, rape, etc... There's an actual checklist for this stuff), the entire collection is banned. Curiously, some rape-/gangbang-themed art CDs have gotten through just fine, according to the CBSA's quarterly reports; the context is what matters most in all cases. A standalone piece of artwork is less offensive than a sordid tale of debauchery illustrated by said artwork. In short, if a piece satisfies their list of obscenity indicators, it's deemed obscene until you file an appeal and prove otherwise, and the more items checked off, the harder it'll be to make a solid case. If they have nothing to check off or if the checked-off material is essential to an otherwise great story, the work goes through no problem. Thankfully, "inconclusive" inspections always rule in our favor, regardless the reason; the burden of proof is on them, and if they can't prove anything, they have to let it go.

Do I have more or less chances for the package to be opened if it's labelled as toys?

I don't think it'd have too much of an impact. I'd still list 'em as games, personally; remember that my last Himeya package was labeled as "toys", and it was still opened by Customs (my hunch is that Himeya was blacklisted at one point, so all of their shipments were inspected). You never need to declare that an item is of adult nature (though you'd want to if the item is a vibrator or the like; adult toys are not subject to any of the above legislation and get through scot-free); even adult manga can be declared as "books" or "trade paperbacks" without any repercussions.

[Doddler]

customs can be strange

This is pretty much it. What they do is more or less up to the person who opens the package. I've had a bunch of packages of games held and released. One package actually had an inspection form packaged with it but they didn't identify anything wrong with it and let it go. Considering the games I brought in (pic1 pic2), I'm surprised they didn't try to sack me for it (Importing maiden breeder 2 was probably a bad idea, but they let it through none the less). Actually, recently my Sengoku Rance and Daibanchou copies slipped by just fine, which is unusual since someone mentioned here that they had their copy seized. Even with customs apparently being all over my shipments, they've never cracked the plastic wrap on any of my game boxes, they just looked at the boxes and put them back.

It actually scares me a bit when ever I try to import anything... I don't want to have police breaking in my house because of an eroge I tried to get into the country. But what can a person do about it? So far I've had no issues with CBSA (other than the fact that they often end up delaying my packages by a few weeks), but I just have to be a little unlucky before it could be an issue.

[TDOMMX]

This is pretty much it. What they do is more or less up to the person who opens the package. I've had a bunch of packages of games held and released. One package actually had an inspection form packaged with it but they didn't identify anything wrong with it and let it go. Considering the games I brought in (pic1 pic2), I'm surprised they didn't try to sack me for it (Importing maiden breeder 2 was probably a bad idea, but they let it through none the less). Actually, recently my Sengoku Rance and Daibanchou copies slipped by just fine, which is unusual since someone mentioned here that they had their copy seized. Even with customs apparently being all over my shipments, they've never cracked the plastic wrap on any of my game boxes, they just looked at the boxes and put them back.

It actually scares me a bit when ever I try to import anything... I don't want to have police breaking in my house because of an eroge I tried to get into the country. But what can a person do about it? So far I've had no issues with CBSA (other than the fact that they often end up delaying my packages by a few weeks), but I just have to be a little unlucky before it could be an issue.

This much, I can take a well-educated guess on. The one thing that my detained items had in common was that they all had many explicit CGs on the back of the box. That's why they raised eyebrows at Customs. Cogwheel Country (Sharin no Kuni) went through just fine since there was only one, but Men At Work! 4 and Moon. were covered with them. This is another reason why I don't approve of shamelessly plugging the sex scenes of a game with a strong story on the back of the package (ie: G-Collections' original pressing of Figures of Happiness). On that note, I would love to be able to get a high-resolution version of the revised Figures box art that I could use to make a replacement insert at my local print shop...

As you can tell from my collection, I'm not exactly new to importing: pic1 pic2, and there's over $400 work of stuff on the way this very moment.

[Jinnai]

This much, I can take a well-educated guess on. The one thing that my detained items had in common was that they all had many explicit CGs on the back of the box. That's why they raised eyebrows at Customs. Cogwheel Country (Sharin no Kuni) went through just fine since there was only one, but Men At Work! 4 and Moon. were covered with them. This is another reason why I don't approve of shamelessly plugging the sex scenes of a game with a strong story on the back of the package (ie: G-Collections' original pressing of Figures of Happiness). On that note, I would love to be able to get a high-resolution version of the revised Figures box art that I could use to make a replacement insert at my local print shop...

As you can tell from my collection, I'm not exactly new to importing: pic1 pic2, and there's over $400 work of stuff on the way this very moment.

Well if its not a nukige, I'm suprised they try putting any on there. The manditory Z label should give enough info with less explicit scenes on the back. I would also say it would be a way to differentiate themselves from those games that focus on each new sex scene.

[TDOMMX]

...Damn it. The CBSA does it again.

Earlier this week, I received the Japanese portion of my latest order, consisting of The Devil on G-String and Casual Romance Club. The shrink-wrap on G-String was removed, but it was otherwise handled pretty well (the game disc was thankfully still sealed when I got it). CRC, not so much. Like Men at Work! 4 and Moon in my Himeya order last year, the CRC disc looked as though the data area of the disc had been sanded (an inch of neat but densely-arranged concentric scratches). Running it through CDCheck, the disc appears to be unreadable - the table of contents loads, but many of the files report CRC errors (...how appropriate... -_-;) and the program ultimately hangs...

Ironically, the American portion of my order, which actually contained items from the above list (TCI & AO), made it through no problem without even being opened. From this, I think it's safe to say the country of origin of a package is a key factor in whether a parcel is inspected or not (I'm fairly certain the parcel wasn't detained given how soon it arrived - just a few days after its American counterpart).

Surprisingly, I wasn't anywhere near as pissed as I was last time around (my exact response upon inspecting the CRC disc was "...not again..."). In part because of the difference in value ($210 last time versus $19.99 this time), in part because I may be getting accustomed to this kind of stupidity, and in part because I was nursing a cold at the time...