Sexy Manga Girls and Apple App Store Rules

sexy_manga_iphone There’s a new adult oriented application being reviewed for Apple’s App Store called Otakulous. It will contain no nudity; in fact, it contains no actual photos, only sexy manga drawings.

If approved, does it have a chance to become a hit? Possibly, although it seems to be a very simple application, merely offering you a bunch of images to look at, which probably won’t satisfy the true manga fan. But it’s interesting because once again, it shows the limits of what’s approved in the App Store.

Ever since the Store was opened, developers tried to capitalize on adult content, but Apple’s rules have proven to be very strict, which propped many of them to try alternative routes, such as launching an adult site optimized for the iPhone instead of an actual application. Although Apple has recently introduced age ratings for applications, the closest iPhone owners ever got to seeing nudity was the Hottest Girls application, which was quickly removed from the store.

Is it possible that Apple has more lax rules when it comes to (manga) drawings? For now, it seems not. The requirements for authors who want to contribute art for the Otakulous application make it quite clear that nothing even remotely adult is accepted. From the rules:

“- only softcore, no hardcore!
- no nudity, just sexy (lingerie, bikini, underwear)”

Let’s look once again at those age ratings for applications. This is what the 17+ rating says:

“May also contain frequent and intense mature, horror, and suggestive themes; plus sexual content, nudity, alcohol, tobacco, and drugs which may not be suitable for children under the age of 17. Consumers must be at least 17 years old to purchase apps with this rating. Whenever an app of this rating is downloaded, a message will popup saying if you are 17 and to confirm you are 17 or over.”

It seems that even if we’re talking about virtual or drawn nudity, Apple App Store is still an impenetrable fortress when it comes to adult material.

Tags: Adult, iphone, manga, nudity, sexy