Oh, wow, this topic. Dang, I just joined this forum and this pops up. I was hoping this topic would not show up until I got adjusted to this place.
Okay, so... Hi. Your friendly neighborhood lolicon here. I guess I'll address this since this topic seems to be popping up alot. I'll have to face it someway.
So first, I will inform everyone that I do not condone the act of any adult perusing any romantic or erotic action with anyone underage. It's not going to happen, at all. Children, teens, they are not capable of handling it. It's not possible. Leave them alone because it's never going to happen. I have to make this clear.
However, I must also inform you that I am attracted to younger people. I won't go into it, I know you don't want to hear it, you're probably already freaked out by it, and what I said on top still applies. I just needed to inform you to give you context.
Now that we got that out of the way, in terms of the fictional space, lolicon drawings, and stuff like that, I'm not against it. I'm sure that's no surprise but I do want you guys to ask yourselves, why does it even exists in the first place? Because there's people like me, that's why, and they seem to get jobs in the anime/manga industry, and there's a large demographic for it. You think what you see in anime is bad? Well, my friend, do not go to pixiv and turn off the adult filter. Trust me, you don't have to look for it in order to stumble upon it.
It's large, the surplus is uncountable. It's everywhere, just not in plain sight. There are so many of us, that we do make a demographic, at least in Japan. I live in America, the home of the free unless you get caught with cartoon porn, I guess.
But I agree with everyone's sentiment that it's nothing but fanservice and smut. It practically is, and I'm getting sick of it myself. The thing is, I don't look at the smut, the hentai, the erotic stuff. I don't want to. What I like is the manga and anime that takes the topic seriously or lighthearted (there's a few lighthearted takes on it). There's this great manga called Kore wa Koi no Hanashi (This is a Love Story), a manga about an author in his mid-30s who starts falling for a 13 year old girl. You probably don't like that premise in itself, but trust me, it's not as bad as you think. It's not smutty, it's actually quite mature in the way it approaches. It may not deal with the situation seriously, but it takes it serious enough. But if romance is not something you like, I also recommend Watashi no Shonen (My Boy). This is shota, actually, but its not romance, it's more psychological as it deals with a female office worker who has feelings for a 12 year old boy, but what those feelings are, she's not even certain. I highly recommend Watashi no Shonen for those who want to examine the concept of adults attracted to young people as it's not offensive at all, even if it looks like it might.
But I guess this isn't lolicon/shota, but more age gap, I guess. Still, considering that the idea behind lolicon is about sexualizing minors, and there's so much of it, we need more of these age gap stories that take the topic seriously. A serious look at what exactly an actual relationship with a minor would be. This is what I want to see more of. I'm done with the typical tropes associated with lolicon and am searching for these kinds of stories, ... except for Wataten! That's the only onne-loli yuri I will ever love.
With that said, if you guys really want to learn more about this topic in an academic way... too bad. The subject is not really talked about, which is a damn shame considering just how much of the material there is, just how much it's talked about, and how ignorant people are about it. Only one source has given me more insight on this topic. Try to look up an excerpt called "The Lolicon Guy: Some observations on researching unpopular topics in Japan" by Patrick W. Galbraith. This guy went around Akihabara, researching lolicon material and gives some good insight about the sub-culture. He also has a more or less neutral tone, though he does encourage the research on it.
Finally, I am planning some stories about the topic that take it seriously. It's a work in progress but I do have ideas. I want to take lolicon and even shotacon and make it to a more serious level of actually looking into the subject matter from a psychological perspective, mainly on the adult. I truly feel we need research on this topic but nobody will dare actually talk about it. I guess it's up to me.
So... yeah... Hi, I'm still new, I'm a lolicon, I don't condone the practice in real life, but I do want to see more serious material about it.
I'm sure this all a shock to you, maybe you have questions about it. I'll be happy to answer anything. I hope I'm not coming in too strong about this, but considering it's becoming more and more of a topic of late and people still don't want to talk about it, I feel now is the time to finally face it head on.