Swiss customs recently confiscated 66 pounds of comics that were shipped home by a fan returning from Comiket, the massive Japanese dōjinshi convention. According to Melonpan, the self-described otaku whose comics were held, customs seized the comics because of how young the fictional characters appeared. Customs ultimately released the comics because the material was entirely fictional, and did not represent the commission of a crime.
This incident was broadcast through Melonpan’s own Twitter, where he has almost 90K followers interested in his bizarre and lewd posts often centered around manga and anime culture. His public obsession with hentai and internet fame has cost him two jobs in recent history, but Melonpan has not let these real world problems slow down his social media presence. Instead he used his recent abundance of free time to attend Comiket, the world largest fan convention held biannually in Japan.
Having purchased more work at Comiket than his suitcase could carry, he shipped 66 pounds of hentai, mostly lolicon according to his own Twitter account, back to Switzerland. When he got home, he found the package had been seized and he was wanted for questioning.
Initially it didn’t look good. Melonpan tweeted that the officer in charge of the case didn’t like hentai, specifically lolicon, and he doubted that he would get the work back. But in the end Melonpan was able to convince the customs that the material was entirely fictional, and since no crime had been committed his purchases were returned to him. One of the online news outlets that covered the story, remarked on how lucky Melonpan is to live in Switzerland, and how similar cases have worked out far worse in other parts of the world.
While the situation probably seemed harrowing to Melonpan at the time, he’s actually lucky that Switzerland isn’t as strict about hentai as many other Western countries. Canada and the UK have both put people in jail for possession of hentai with characters that appear underage.
For a refresher on comics and customs, check out CBLDF’s resource on traveling with comics: https://cbldf.org/resources/customs/