Looking it up, possession was actually technically legal until 2014 due to a loophole in the laws, possession with intent to sell or distribute was stated to be illegal but possession on its own was not (it is now though the new law they made specifically excludes anime and manga). Production and distribution, and commercialisation however have all been illegal pretty much since TV and videos became a thing.
So yeah, if this had happened 5 years ago you wouldn't have even hear about it.
I don't want to fill up this thread with law talk though so it's probably best to stop here.