Anime/manga rated for older viewers abroad, yet targeting kids in Japan and reasons that caused it.

Aug 19, 2020 8:40 AM

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Jul 2018

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The spark for the creation of this topic was that currently I am watching Corrector Yui that was cancelled by Viz in the States.
I see Viz rated the series for ages 13 and up. I thought, OK, series must be something like Madoka Magica or similar series. It takes place in a virtual world after all. Yet in the series during eye catch, they show character fan drawings made by 5-7 year old viewers!
First 18 episodes I saw do not contain any material that would be unsuitable for kids to watch either! No ecchi, no fanservice, nothing! My only clue is that Viz were probably freaked out by the transformation sequences that show body line details and expressions of pleasure by the characters that transform. Though this demonstrates more about the perverted minds of Viz and editors in general instead of the series itself.

What other examples do you know of? I read other TV series like One Piece and Conan suffer similar treatment abroad.

Aug 19, 2020 8:55 AM

_cjessop19_

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Nov 2018

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If it ain't safe for my Christian household, then it ain't for children.

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Aug 19, 2020 8:59 AM

Scordolo

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_cjessop19_ said:
If it ain't safe for my Christian household, then it ain't for children.

Lol somethingelsyt was not able to watch pokemon because his parents thought that they were 'demons'.

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Aug 19, 2020 9:00 AM

Zlyiond

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Jul 2020

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I think this due to the cultural differences between Japan and the States. Like someone mentioned, shows like Fairy Tail and One Piece are certainly aimed for children, but the sexualization of certain characters would be deemed inappropriate for children and would upset the masses. There is something wrong with western media. Like, an author could draw the most gory and gruesome things but as soon as a character shows a Boob its inappropriate.

ZlyiondAug 19, 2020 7:36 PM

Aug 19, 2020 9:18 AM

_cjessop19_

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Ad12345 said:

_cjessop19_ said:
If it ain't safe for my Christian household, then it ain't for children.

Lol somethingelsyt was not able to watch pokemon because his parents thought that they were 'demons'.

I wasn't allowed to watch Power Rangers or Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy because it made me too violent and I kept on getting into fights with my brother. (true story)

_cjessop19_Aug 19, 2020 9:22 AM

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Aug 19, 2020 9:37 AM

Zimzky

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Jan 2017

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I am so glad Norway is more like Japan when it comes to stuff like this. The best non anime thing I can think of is the Entourage movie, which included lots of boobs. Rated R in the states, yet was rated PG in Norway. We rarely censor here thank goodness, but unfortunately TV anime was pretty rare. Only Pokemon and Digimon that I can think of. Even MHA is not airing on Norwegian TV I think

Aug 19, 2020 9:37 AM

Lucifrost

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Feb 2016

14960

Probably the most ridiculous is this 14+ age rating for Gundam Build Fighters. You know, the show about kids playing with plastic toys.
http://www.nozomientertainment.com/product/gundam-build-fighters-blu-ray/

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Aug 19, 2020 9:52 AM

kona-peach

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Aug 2020

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Yeah, it seemed like a lot of relatively inoffensive-ish anime/manga were given a 13+/16+ rating in America. Not sure if that's still in practice, but I'd imagine in the 90's-2000's it might've had something to do with the strict censorship that was done to anime (DBZ, Sailor Moon, etc.) in order to air them.

Could also boil down to "Values Dissonance". Something that's more of a Y7/PG-rated anime in Japan will get slapped with a 13+ rating, just so some parent won't get up in arms because Little Sally saw some mild nudity in her magical girl show or whatever.

Aug 19, 2020 10:00 AM

Ramcius

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Do they even aired Dragon ball in US? I mean original one, cause most people say DBZ from what I notice

Aug 19, 2020 10:05 AM

#10

Lucifrost

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@Ramcius
They used to air the original, but it never received as much attention as Z.

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Aug 19, 2020 10:19 AM

#11

inim

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Apr 2019

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The sad truth that American TV prudery is only surpassed by the muslim countries. Come to Europe, we have prime time nipples.

Aug 19, 2020 10:32 AM

#12

Tropisch

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Apr 2015

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inim said:
The sad truth that American TV prudery is only surpassed by the muslim countries. Come to Europe, we have prime time nipples.

The ironic part about the US flipping out about seeing a boob on TV is that the US is one of the world's biggest porn producer's, lmao.

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Aug 19, 2020 11:24 AM

#13

Lucifrost

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@Tropisch
I think that's intentional. (Lady) Boobs are for porn only.

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Aug 19, 2020 2:27 PM

#14

removed-user

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Inuyasha's an interesting case. It was going to be in a kids timeslot but they weren't able to get Inuyasha being pinned to the tree past standards and practices, so it was put on Adult Swim... Yet it was still immensely popular with kids who stayed up to watch it anyway.

Interestingly, the reverse has happened. Outlaw Star is very much an adult series, aired late at night in Japan and has nudity and such, the MC has sex with a sex worker in the first episode...... Yet it was shown afterschool on Toonami in the states, edited down to a Y7 rating.

Aug 19, 2020 2:31 PM

#15

Thegib98

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Jan 2019

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Ranma is definitely targeted toward a younger demographic, but is rated TV/MA on Hulu because the old man is a panty thief and there is slight nudity in a few episodes. I mean, those episodes should not be shown to kids, but it doesn't deserve a "mature audiences only" tag either.

Aug 19, 2020 3:54 PM

#16

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HeruruMeruru said:

Interestingly, the reverse has happened. Outlaw Star is very much an adult series, aired late at night in Japan and has nudity and such, the MC has sex with a sex worker in the first episode...... Yet it was shown afterschool on Toonami in the states, edited down to a Y7 rating.

After reading this, those guys must be sadists.... Imagine if they did the same with Cowboy Bebop. I'll cherish the BD even more after this....

https://toonami.fandom.com/wiki/Outlaw_Star/Toonami_Edits

Aug 19, 2020 6:08 PM

#17

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petran79 said:

Supposedly they were going to do the same with Trigun but they just gave up because S&P didn't approve of the gunplay and there was no way to get around it without completely butchering the show beyond recognition. They also said they wanted Excel Saga, but it was vague if they meant for Toonami or Adult Swim, if the former hoo boy.

Interesting how they managed to get Outlaw Star past the radar but couldn't do it for Inuyasha. What I don't understand about Outlaw Star's case is that Adult Swim already existed when they aired it. They could have easily put it there alongside Bebop.

removed-userAug 20, 2020 8:31 PM

Aug 19, 2020 11:21 PM

#18

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HeruruMeruru said:

Supposedly they were going to do the same with Trigun but they just gave up because S&P didn't approve of the gunplay and there was no way to get around it without completely butchering the show beyond recognition.

Interesting how they managed to get Outlaw Star past the radar but couldn't do it for Inuyasha. What I don't understand about Outlaw Star's case is that Adult Swim already existed when they aired it. They could have easily put it there alongside Bebop.

It is common practice not to put two same genre series to compete with each other in ratings, as it would damage both. Bebop was their flagship TV series after all and probably the most expensive to license. Or Sunrise would not allow it, who knows the deals....

I'd also add Crayon Shin-chan Funimation dub, though instead of following the approach of the Spanish version, they added their own adult American humour version which did away with many of the series original themes and humour.

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Anime/manga rated for older viewers abroad, yet targeting kids in Japan and reasons that caused it.

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