Master Roshi leering at Yurin. Toei Animation.
Master Roshi is something of an oddity for an older gentleman. He’s over 300 years old and spends his days chowing down on pizza, playing video games, visiting online adult sites, and reading porn magazines. Could he be suffering from arrested development, as he acts just like a lecherous teenager?
Well, one thing is for sure - his behavior just got him in a fair bit of trouble. According to Anime News Network the Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization, or BPO, is a Japanese watchdog that has taken note of Master Roshi’s fervent and dubious behavior towards a younger female character, Yurin. The BPO recently published the following complaint that explains the situation:
"In an animation program, there are scenes of an older man touching young girls' bodies and peeping at their underwear against their will. These scenes are almost irrelevant to the story. I love watching this show with my child every weekend, but it's also inappropriate for children to see this in an anime."
Poor Yurin is harassed by the lecherous Master Roshi. Toei Animation.
The BPO doesn’t mention the exact anime series of Master Roshi’s antics, but from the description, we can deduce that it's referring to his shenanigans against Yurin - the new martial artist character introduced in Dragon Ball Super. Our take is that this scene may disturb sensitive viewers, but we’ve witnessed heavier sexual content in other teen-friendly series.
Master Roshi can't contain himself. Toei Animation.
While BPO doesn’t go into exact detail into the various scenes that they’ve received complaints about, they do briefly clue us in on what's deemed offensive. Sushi eaten off a women’s body in Detective Conan, the masturbation scene in Mr. Osomatsu, the level of violence in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, and the main characters wearing swimsuits in PriPara drew complaints and criticism. Once again, these scenes may rub sensitive viewers the wrong way, but it’s unlikely that longtime anime fans would find these disturbing.
We won’t argue that the BPO does provide audiences of anime with a valuable service. There are anime series that aren’t suitable for certain audiences, and it’s better that they’re forewarned of content they may find offensive. We just hope that Master Roshi will be on his best behavior from now on so that he can win over more fans!
Source: Anime News Network
