Hentai will continue being a legal gray area for years to come, I'm sure, but where do we draw the line? Being fictional characters, their age isn't always as obvious as you'd first think and you can't go off looks alone.
I wanna hear what they say when they find out that this character, Zakuro Mitsukai, is only 9-years old!
Or how about the girls from Lucky Star? They're all around 16-18 from what I've heard.
A majority of anime already either takes place
in high school or involve characters that are seemingly in high school, so doesn't that technically mean that most hentai involves "minors" in one way or another? If a law passes that says that any hentai depicting characters under the age of 18 in sexual acts is considered child pornography, I'm sure a large majority of those that enjoy hentai would be in jail the next night!
Do I agree with the sentencing? Absolutely not. I honestly don't think the 60 days in jail is nearly as bad as having to register as a sex offender for the next ten years - that could really ruin somebody's life. And what happens after he gets released? Are they going to keep tabs on him for the next few years? I highly doubt spending two months in jail is going to rid him of his interests in hentai and does that mean that even if he
is careful to avoid any obvious loli material, will he just be jailed again and again? I'm sure these people have better things to do with their time!
As far as laws against hentai are concerned, the most I could agree with is allowing "loli" hentai to be a grounds for further investigation, allowing authority to search for actual child pornography and if they don't find anything, you should be let free.
It doesn't help that CNN reported on a manga that is apparently a horror manga, blurring out a cover that shows nothing but two girls covered in droplets of blood. There was also that story a while back where a young girl apparently burned down her family's house while reading a volume of Soul Eater, even though she wrote in her diary that there "would be no safety in this house" if her mother kept disciplining her. If things continue the way they have and anime/manga is continually pounded by the media, I don't see a bright future for anime/manga in general, let alone hentai.