Censorship is the suppression of free speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions
Reasons for Censorship
1.Cultural Fit
More obviously in exported shows, anime is censored by individual countries to conform with their own societal rules – In the Western world, this has always been present – since the first anime shown in America – “Panda & The Magic Serpent” in 1958.
The most infamous of these cultural reappropriation groups is 4kids, whom edit out many Japanese-specific items such as onigiri (rice balls) and enforce harsher censorship of violence, profanity and nudity. Their aim is to make shows more accessible to American audiences.
The infamous onigiri-sandwhich replacement in Pokémon
America is not alone in import censorship, many other countries have similar and often stricter opinions on what constitutes appropriate viewing for their citizens. In France, the C.S.A. (“Comité de Surveillance Audiovisuel” ) placed high emphasis on reducing the amount of violence in imported shows. They also cut scenes from shows to make time for more advertisements in order to increase profits from the productions.
Sailor Moon is a prime example of censorship in anime because it had so much applied to it. Another show targeting young girls at the time was Cardcaptor Sakura which was also heavily altered. These shows saw their characters’ sexes, love interests and relationships changed in order to keep with their guest countries’ ideals.
Thailand's rules are much stricter than most - bikinis are blurred out in both Doreamon (above) and Sailor Moon
2.Obscenity Laws
Certainly, anime has a bad reputation with people unfamiliar with it. Even the a brief mention of the term ‘anime’ can conjure up instant associations are tentacle monsters, young schoolgirls and indecency to the general population. Most of this is based off sensationalist journalism, but the problem stems from the vagueness of Japanese laws that deal with nudity, which have been taken advantage of by manga artists.
This is more of an issue in self-produced manga, as there is no publisher nor broadcaster involved to interject. Thus, Doujinshi artists are the leads in pushing the limit with these laws.
An example of safe doujinshi censoring on genitalia
An important point to note is that whilst Japan’s laws are abused, these laws are not reciprocated with countries in the West – In Japan the genitals of actors and actresses must be censored, and up until the mid-1990s so to must the depiction of pubic hair. In the process of getting around these laws artists have spawned new genres, such as the infamous tentacle monsters – to avoid displaying genitalia. This result of Japan’s self-censorship has resulted in the bad reputation anime has acquired, which burdens the industry’s penetration into new markets. [Pun intended].
Aside from generic censorship on nudity, there are much harsher restrictions on media that is broadcast to the masses, rather than privately purchasable. All media being televised must go through a process of checks before being released – As such, it is easier for the authorities to enforce inappropriate items to be changed. Depending on what time a show is to air at, a stricter or more lenient enforcement may apply.
Many titles of a echii or hentai nature are ignored completely by importers as they involve too much work, controversy and poor sales.
Don’t be mistaken by the focus on shows of a lewd nature in this segment though, shows targetted at children and other demographics occasionally are censored for this reason.
Sailor Moon bath scene censored for Western audiences by making the water level rise and lose its transparency.
3.Age Ratings
Sometimes a show will be censored to bring down the age rating to suit a target demographic. The item that crops up most in these cases is violence. Blood may be recoloured or removed altogether, fight scenes can be cut short, et cetera. Similarly, shows with fanservice are often covered up or skipped altogether.
Luffy from One Piece gets his bloody hands cleaned up in the American 4Kids version
4.To drive uncensored home media sales
A business tactic for shows (mainly echii [fanservice-y] shows) will intentionally censor TV broadcasts so that fans who want to see uncensored content must buy the DVDs. DVDs bring in a lot more money than the broadcasts, and this tactic has been proven to work so it is likely to increase in usage, or at least be a staple feature of the anime revenue model for many years. This is a tactic exclusive to the anime industry, and has been the topic of many fan frustrations over the years.
Methods of censorship
Steam & Lighting
As nudity is often a target for censorship, but is included to incentivize DVD purchases, a standard technique has developed in order to censor the scene without ruining viewer immersion too much – This trope has become a known hint to the fact that the scene may be uncensored in the home media version. This technique is commonly used in hotsprings, showers, baths and other hot watery areas that can produce copious amounts of steam to hide parts they cannot or do not want to air. This technique is commonly associated with Girls Bravo as it has an excessive amount of this type of concealment.
A comparison of the BluRay & TV broadcast in Nisekoi
This style of censorship rapidly gained popularity, but some production companies began being lazy in their efforts, merely applying bright light in streaks or patches on the scene.
Soon, the trend went on to spread past the echii genre and began being incorporated in anime with violent content. In this instance though, shadows are more commonly used – as murders and brawls majorly happen at night, in dark alleyways and other dimly lit areas. Many people believe that these are a result of last minute censorship requests by the broadcast companies, however this is a debatable opinion.
To-Love-Ru Darkness and Tokyo Ghoul both lazily apply censorship
Redrawing & Overlaying
Whilst steam censorship is a type of redrawing, it deserves a separate mention because of its prominence in the medium. More common instances of redrawing is by importers who need to alter content for their countries’ censorship rules. This may involve editing the scene to remove taboo weapons such as guns, bare skin, religious items or other common unsuitable items. This is also referred to as Bowdlerising – named after Thomas Bowdler who edited Shakespeare’s scripts and the Bible to be less extreme and more suitable (as deemed by the English government) for the population. Interestingly, Bowdler also promoted the uncensored version of his works to owners of the censored work.
U.S. Merchandise from Yu-gi-oh removes guns in favour of swords.
Overlaying is a simple technique where an image, censor filter or bar is placed ontop of the area of controversy. Usually this image will have insinuations about what it is hiding (for example, an elephant trunk) or accuse the viewer of perversion for comedic effect.
The mangaka's assistant Kosaku Maeda serves as a humourous censor for Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Scenery Censorship
As regulations do not allow nudity to be broadcast on air, many studios got around this by convenient scenery placement or camera angles/zoom . Occasionally these angles would be changed slightly in the home media copies to reveal more. Most of these scenes remain unchanged in the uncensored version as they are usually inserted as a humour-based scene with some fanservice, rather than the reverse.
Neon Genesis Evangelion edges dangerously close to the line with props
This type of censorship is common in many media formats, both in Japan and in the West. The concept of ‘conveniently placed objects’ is not a new one and occurs in everything from video games to advertisements. The origin of the trope lies in Western films which started trying to show female bath scenes with soap suds blocking the view of any genitalia.
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What do you think about the reason and types of Censorship?
does censorship bother or annoy you? in what situations do you find it unacceptable or when do you see the need?