Anime, as a form of entertainment, is often celebrated for its peak creativity and distinguished storytelling. The narrative can be diverse, from heartwarming tales to intense sagas full of intense action sequences. As a result, ever since trailblazer series such as Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, Cowboy Bebop, and many more, the art form has become infectiously popular around the world.
Despite being such a mainstream form of entertainment and making the audience get infectiously addicted to it, creativity can be a boon and a bane at the same time. Well, because sometimes this pushes the boundary of creativity and makes the series get a little too wild for its own good.
Even though there is a fragile boundary between pushing the narrative and being controversial, some countries have felt the need to ban the series because it can clash with their societal norms and can lead to its downfall.
5 Anime Series That Were Banned For Pushing The Limits of Creativity
Just like any other art form, anime has the potential to explore bold and unsettling subjects that might be a little too disturbing for its own good. The chilling acts of gore and unfazed exploration of deep mental and psychological concepts can prove to be a little too disturbing, and the titles increase as the narrative progresses.
To stop the shows from having a negative impact on their society, the government decided to take a stand against this. Here are 5 titles that are banned in countries all over the world.
5) Kite (1998)
Banned in Norway.
Produced under studio ARMS, Kite tells the chilling narrative of a girl named Sawa, who was orphaned in her early teens. The film gets interesting right off the start because the protagonist could use bullets to make people explode, but the showcase of bloodcurdling violence did not get it banned in Norway.
The title faced the ban because it featured a scene featuring s*xual assault, featuring Sawa, who was a minor in the scene. Since Norway has uncompromising laws against s*xually exploitative content involving minors, it was prohibited from being streamed or screened anywhere.
The heavily edited version of Kite can be streamed on Crunchyroll in the United States.
4) Paranoia Agent (2004)
The original version was banned in the USA and Japan.
Satoshi Kon’s Paranoia Agent is one of the most disturbing series that features the themes of social anxiety and mass murder. The narrative showcases how a schoolboy in elementary school is behind some of the most grueling street assaults.
The kid is called Shōnen Batto, or Lil’ Slugger in the dubbed form. The most gripping aspect of the show is how the violence is showcased, where none of the victims would remember the assaulter’s face. However, they would only remember three things, that is, the golden skates, a bent golden baseball bat, and a baseball cap.
3) Shōjo Tsubaki/Midori: The Girl in the Freakshow (1992)
Banned in almost every country.
Compared to all of the names featured in the series, none of the other titles have been banned globally, and for all the right reasons. The film revolves around Hanamura Midori, a young girl, aged 12, who has been kidnapped into a circus, where she was forced to witness bone-chilling abuse and other scenes that are too traumatizing to watch for the viewers.
Since the film was too disturbing for its own good, it sent its viewers into darkness and despair as they watched the grotesque scenes of cruelty. Hence, several countries around the world decided to ban the film to keep its citizens from watching the exemplified title.
Shōjo Tsubaki is not available for streaming.
2) Death Note (2006)
Banned in China.
Perhaps the surprising entry in the list would be Death Note, which features strong themes of subjective themes like death, justice, and murder. The anime adaptation of the title proved to be a corruptive influence on the children because there were several instances where kids were found to be making their own Death Notes.
The kids would imitate the show’s protagonist, Light Yagami’s murderous intent, and they would write the names of the people they did not like. Such incidents compelled China to ban this title.
Death Note can be streamed on Netflix.
1) Lily C.A.T (1987)
Released in the US after heavy changes.
The show takes place in a futuristic world, where companies look for alternative mining sources on distant planets. When the company found one such planet, they sent a team to investigate further, it even included a cat named Lily.
However, things take a horrifying turn when an extraterrestrial matter spreads the infection among the crew. The show resembled the popular Hollywood sci-fi film series Alien, but the film was heavily edited before releasing in the USA because it was just too disturbing for the children to watch.
Lily C.A.T. can be streamed on Crunchyroll.