Thanks to Anime Maru for the article
The most recent episode of the NBC crime drama Law and Order: Special Victims Unit has touched off intense discussion in the anime community. The episode, titled “Loliconvict”, featured detectives Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Tutuola (Ice-T) pursuing an illicit doujinshi ring. The episode takes the detectives to an anime convention where they attend a boring panel discussion on the topic “what the hell is moe, anyway?”, and to several basements packed to the rafters with idol figures and dakimakura.
Throughout the episode, the agents crack down on otaku and the recent “moe” phenomenon, hinted to be synonymous with child pornography. Otaku, the episode explains, are dangerous reclusive criminals who peddle explicit cartoons. Agent Tutuola apprehends one otaku early in the episode and uncovers his harem of wives (known as “waifu”before remarking that the man’s waifu were “shit.”
While many members of the anime community criticized the episode for inaccurately portraying anime fans as sexually deviant misogynist polygamist socially inept criminal weirdos, the writing staff insists that the episode was carefully researched.
“Our writers spent hours poring over Anitwitter, /a/, and several major anime websites in order to make the episode as believable as possible,” episode director Warren Leight told Anime Maru.
“In one scene, Detective Tutuola says that he read on ANN that Kirino was, in fact, best OreImo. That’s actually something we really saw on that website. See what I mean? We are committed to being authentic.”
