BEIJING -- Chinese officials are continuing their crackdown on the hugely popular Japanese manga “Death Note”, which Beijing authorities believe promotes death fantasies, by shutting down a website which allowed users to watch or post videos based on the banned novel.

In June, China confiscated 6,000 “Death Note” comic books, as part of a campaign against horror publications that it deems harmful for children and other “illegal terrifying publications”, which began in April. “Death Note” stories center on a teenage boy who decides to punish evildoers using a notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it.

In Japan, many youngsters bought similar notebooks to describe the deaths of people they hate. The novel has sold some 26 million copies and been turned into a successful two-part pic. “Death Note” also caused a sensation in China when it arrived as a pirate edition – it is not sold legally in China, although it is available in Hong Kong -- leading to a ban.

Chinese authorities said the comics “contain elements of mystery, death and revenge, and are harmful to children's psychological development.”

Yang Yong, an official with the Shanghai Culture Inspection General Team, said that all videos on the site, including cartoon and live action descriptions of hoped-for deaths, have been deleted. “This is the first Website we have caught to spread 'Death Note.' We welcome reports about other Shanghai-based Websites involved in spreading such works,” Yang said.

© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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