What do you think of when you hear of Obama? America? What does the world think of when they hear the word “namaste”? India? Similarly, as soon as hear the word anime and manga you instantly think of Japan, don’t you? Infrastructure and most importantly mind-blowing talent coupled with mesmerizing creativity. Japan is a land of beautiful monasteries, magnificent mountains, attractive buildings, advanced Japan looks at anime like any other animated show but the world perceives it as a part of the South Asian culture, especially Japan. Wondering what are the Anime Banned In Japan?
Such notions are only fair given the first anime was indeed made in Japan around the 1950s. Then their popularity rapidly expanded even more as it started airing on theatres and then in colored forms. Some animes are banned in certain countries but you’d think Japan would never ban one. It is quite opposite actually, even Japan is strict about the portrayal of the content to the country and is very picky in the selection of the anime on run. Violating the rules and integrity of the country is banned by the Japanese government. Even though it is a rare case there are still quite a few anime that has faced obstruction in their nation.
1. Osomatsu-San
This anime is in the form of a parody that sims to make the viewers laugh it has been from a 1962 anime series named Osomatsu-Kun that was created by Fujio Akatsuka. Yuichi Fujita took up the responsibility of directing the manga into a series. Then this comic series was produced by Pierrot in 2015. The show has three seasons where the first season was launched from October 2015 to March 2016. The second season saw its release from October 2017 to March 2018 which was followed by the third season two years later, from October 2020 to March 2021. The plot is about the six mischievous Matsuno brothers. Osomatsu, Karamatsu, Choromatsu, Ichimatsu, Jyushimatsu, and Todomatsu was the name of the brothers who were also ‘identical sextuplets’. The show is funny but only with adult humor and jokes that should not be discussed in front of children. Japan looks to prevent the perversion of any form openly because it is indecent and disrespectful. Anime is mostly watched by kids so it might mislead the mentality of kids too. Then the first season seemed to be downright plagiarised from many popular shows like DragonBallz. Hence owing to the respectful virtues and clarified dignity of the Japanese entertainment world it was banned.
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2. Excel Saga
Excel saga excels in quite a versatile sector of various genres whose impact was too powerful to be permitted by the Japanese authorities. This is inspired by a manga series framed very intelligently by Koshi Rikudo. Shonen Gahosha collected the volumes and them on tankobon volumes. Victor Entertainment led the team of turning this printed artwork into a sci-fi visual artwork show also lined with comedy. It was very skillfully directed by Shinichi Watnabi and produced by Shigeru Kitayama, Michihisa Abe, and Yuji Matsukura. It is centered around the concept of world domination where the first pin of domination was the city of Fukuoka. This concept was shown in the form of a mission that must be fulfilled by an organization that is kept in secret called Across. Excel Saga the title is named after the saga of the lead character. He was the leader of the missions in charge of completing the domination quest. The show was aired on several networks nationally and internationally but the last episode launch which is the twenty-sixth episode was banned in Japan due to the intense visuals of offensive themes like pornography, violence, and inappropriate. It is said that Watnabi purposely made the episode like that so it has increased. This way viewers would talk more about it since the whole show ran except the climax episode which was named ‘Going Too Far’. It indeed went a little too far!
3. Shōjo Tsubaki
This anime is a movie that is also known as Midori: Shōjo Tsubaki is an Ero Guro anime that truly leaves shivers down the viewer’s spine. It is said to have horrifying visuals that can seriously mess up someone’s brain. The manga of the show written by Suehiro Maruo was first published in 1984. Hiroshi Harada was the creator of the film as he directed, published, and also took up the responsibility of screenplay in the film. It runs for a time length of forty-six to fifty-six minutes and was aired on May 2, 1992. The theme was very psychologically challenging to indulge in as it portrays the shady mishap and offensive incidents that go on inside the closed doors of a shiny house. The movie revolves around a character named Midori who unfortunately lost her mother. But she once came upon a man who swore to be there for her whenever and wherever. Hence, after her mother’s death when she was suffering all by herself, she was seeking for him to confide in. As she went to look for him she got into a circus where she was taken advantage of her physically and this was shown in very disturbing visuals that cross the boundary of ethical content. Hence this movie was banned. The brutal and intolerable display of serious issues like rape, abuse, etc would leave a very negative impact on the viewers.
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4. Paranola Agent
Paranola Agent was a how that was centered around a Shounen Bat that terrified everyone. There was an unknown attacker in the city called Musashino City that harmed people using the bat randomly. Some detectives set out to track him down. The anime was aired online first so the Japanese authorities were displeased with the lack of professionalism among the makers because they did not launch it on the official TV network first. Therefore, Paranola Agent was banned in Japan.
5. Aki Sora
Aki Sora is a manga adapted into an anime. The anime and manga both went out of order in Tokyo in 2010. It shows incest and the anime is banned because it was discovered that the makers disregarded the age restrictions while framing the anime.
6. Yamishibai
Yamishibai is a collection of Japanese horror stories that are shared by an aged man wearing a yellow face mask. There was a particular time which was 5p.m and a particular playground where he shared the stories. It is a very convincing show that can make the viewers confused between the fictional narrative and their reality. This man carried an object called kamishibai to enhance his with the matching visuals on that kamishibai. The anime ran for six seasons which was extremely frightful but it was not a typical banned. The show had some gore scenes that were banned and hence, edited out.
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7. Hetalia: Axis Powers
Hetalia Axis powers seemed to have a little too much power to stay on the run for visual display. Let’s get into the details of the show. It was adapted from a Japanese webcomic written by Hidekaz Himaruya and has six volumes. Studio Deen was responsible for the anime release alongside the director called Bob Shirohata. It was launched in two sets – one with fifty-two episodes launched from January 24, 2009, to March 5, 2019. The other one with fifty-eight episodes that aired from January 24, 2009 – to March 5, 2010. This anime had a historical background flared with other sociological and economic issues. But it shows the laughable side of it as it creates different situations between the characters with significant historical backgrounds such as world war two and other notable historical events. The events are shown in the form of satire to make the viewers and bring light to serious issues also turned out to be bitter and disrespectful to certain cultures. These cultures included Japan and South Korea thus the show was banned in these two places.
8. Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya
Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya was originally a manga series that was written by Hiroshi Hiroyama. The show was turned into an anime by Silver Link. This anime creates an ambiance of fantasy that was beautifully portra1279yed by the director Shin Oonuma, Takashi Sakamoto, and Mirai Minato. It launched on several channels like Tokyo Network, Anime Network, Sun TV from July 10, 2014, to September 11, 2014, with a run of ten interesting episodes and then OVA. The show starts with the transition of the first main character named Illyasviel von Einzbern into a magical girl. Then it goes to show several obstacles faced by her but then she makes other friends like Miyu. The whole link of battles and missions are linked by the thread of collecting a certain type of cards. It was banned for a while in Japan because it has child pornography.
All the listed shows might have been banned in Japan but they were still aired in a few other countries except Midora, which was banned all over. One can catch up to them on OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Crunchyroll, etc. which are also available on DVDs.
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