Is this the correct word? The link suggests they are looking for books whose covers may be far tamer than their contents.

Or if “PG” rated stuff is doing better, they’ll insist some stuff be toned down which can (in some cases) really hurt the work. Sometimes the censoring is really dumb too. Felching Heck folks.

Ultimately people want ratings because some material out there is bad for kids and they want to protect them. Usually after ratings are put in place, there ends up being less material for kids to enjoy. Teens and Adults who were perfectly fine reading all ages material, decide they don’t want to read stuff labeled for kids. They gravitate towards the ‘adult’ stuff.

And kids usually don’t like it either. The adults (parents, schools, libraries) might like it and buy it for them. IF they’re lucky the kids will enjoy it too. Usually they’ll just find some way to enjoy the forbidden fruit, either via an older sibling or the internet.

Indeed, I’ve seen more than a few conservative media watchdog groups condemn warning labels, for that very same reason, since their real objective is not to shield children from such content, but rather, to deny the right of such content to exist.

That’s all? I’m keeping my kid out of Japan until she’s an adult.

“In another story from ComiPress, police are checking bookstores for comics whose interiors may be far tamer than the contents”

That sentence doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It should say something like: “Police are checking bookstores for comics whose interiors are far less tame than their covers”. The article the link points to makes that clear.

Every time I did the ethical case study on censorship vs. protection of the innocent, labeling has always come up as the best compromise. It does not infringe on the rights of the creator to have a freedom of speech. It does not stop an adult from reading whatever they want. But it does give parents the ability to protect their children.
This whole debate really flared up with the Tipper Stickers on albums, but Dee Snider was wrong. Labeling the music as explicit doesn’t hurt the music (if anything, there’s been plenty more explicit music created since then).
Entertainment in general would do well to set out a clear and defined ratings system. My friends and relatives that are parents prefer the TV system, of all things, as it not only tells their recommended age, but why said program got that recommendation.

Talk about your poor choice of wording.