Yaoi Creator Receives 10+ Year Prison Sentence Over Obscene Content

For plenty of artists, creating their own manga would a dream come true, but the gig has landed a troupe of creators in China in some serious legal trouble.

According to a report by Anime News Network, a female BL (Boys Love) author in China has been sentenced to prison for their work. The woman Liu has been sentenced to a 10-year and six month sentence after being found guilty of breaking obscenity laws.

As the reports explains, Liu worked on a popular BL title named Attack and Occupy. The series was sold on some of China's largest shopping websites like Taobao, and records show Liu sold about 7,000 copies of Attack and Occupy between November 2017 to May 2018. However, the BL title's popularity caught the attention of Chinese authorities who began an investigation into Liu's work.

The author was arrested on charges pertaining to China's strict obscenity laws. Liu was accused of "obscenely describing male and female homosexuals" and detailing "violence, abuse, vulgarity, and other behaviors related to sexual perversion." Liu was first put under investigation in November 2017, and police arrested Liu by the month's end along with several of her publishing contacts. Now, the troupe has been sentenced, and the ruling has prompted an outcry from manga fans worldwide.

Not only did Liu get a 10+ year sentence, but her proofreader Lin received an identical sentence. The two women are currently working to appeal the sentence, and they've gained the support of netizens worldwide. Both Chinese and Japanese fans are using social media to protest the sentence as they find the 10+ year punishment too harsh.

So far, no update has been given on the troupe's prison sentence, but it has had a ripple effect on the international BL community. Fellow creators in China have taken down their own stories and urged readers to not repost their content. With China's censorship laws working against the LGBTQ community, the growing BL fandom has rallied behind Liu in light of her hefty sentencing, and many are crossing their fingers the author will have the verdict overturned.

What do you make of this case? Are you surprised by China's crackdown on BL content? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!