The eternally appealing concept of the animal-eared girl could vanish from eroge landscape, if The Man has his way. Further proving that censorship kills kittens, publisher Norn has frozen the release of its latest title "due to the situation surrounding the recent censorship imposition." Inugami-sama (lit: "Dog-Goddess") was apparently ready to ship when Japan's lead censorship body, the EOCS, laid down the law. Norn announced the postponement in its newsletter, noting that "in future, it seems there is a possibility that non-human heroines and themes of pregnancy and impregnation will be banned from sale in shops."

Note that this isn't proof of an actual, official ban on animal ears and pregnancy. Norn is most likely acting out of caution, since the announcements used such vague terms as "seems," and "possibility." That said, it's almost certainly due to the chilling effect of the fallout from the rape game scandal. Historically, such self-imposed censorship in reaction to societal pressure and moral panic has set back many creative industries. Just look at how long it took graphic novels in the U.S. to recover from the Comics Code Authority and for film to recover from from the Hayes Code. Nekomimi fans are advised to hug their copies of Let's Meow Meow!, for they soon may be collector's items.

Those looking for more *ahem* details regarding Inugami-sama can check out the game's official site. The premise involves a virile young man landing on a deserted tropical island, befriending and eventually screwing the brains out of a dog-eared goddess. As an aside, I've never personally been "into" the nekomimi concept. It's cute, but whenever I see an actual animal-aspect character, I keep wondering "if those are her real ears, what is on the sides of her head, where normal human ears would be?" See? That's the unanswered question, because their hair is always covering that place. 

[Via Sankaku Complex]