The biggest news in anime in recent weeks is a report from Mantan Web, which claims that China is cracking down on anime, a revelation I initially dismissed.
I mean, Japan is the Mecca of anime, and Japan and China have a complicated history. The list of atrocities Japan committed against the Chinese in WWII is longer than my arm. Also, Japan tends to favour the West, which China perceives as a rival.
But I could not imagine those factors influencing China’s opinion on anime. And then a Google search took me to an IMBD page listing all the anime and manga China had banned in recent years, and it blew my mind.
What beef could China have with Parasite, Tokyo Ghoul, Attack on Titan, Psycho Pass, Elfen Lied and the like? Essentially, China is opposed to content that features sex, nudity, violence, and most importantly, rebellion. International publications have spent years reporting on the strict censorship China enforces on social media.
They routinely punish entities that expose their population to content with questionable morality, particularly children’s entertainment. They won’t tolerate comics and cartoons that glorify violence.
SlashFilm in 2024 noted that China’s Ministry of Culture had also forbidden the consumption of other famous but violent titles, such as Death Note and Claymore. To the powers that be in China, showing your children violent cartoons erodes public morality by promoting terrorism and pornography.
Russia followed suit, criticizing shows like Attack on Titan for their wanton brutality. Malaysia preferred to censor the manga by forcing artists to give the titans in AOT pants (The titans in Attack on Titan are usually naked, although they don’t have genitals).
Unlike Japan, which treats anime like any other piece of adult-oriented content, China believes that children are the primary target for all animated movies and shows, which is somewhat understandable.
At the very least, it kills many of the criticisms Western audiences keep raising. Does anyone remember the Ninja Turtles cartoons from the 80s and 90s? As a child, I could not understand why the Ninja Turtles would draw their swords, daggers, and nunchucks beforehand, only to kick and punch when the fighting began.
American censorship was so ridiculous that the Ninja Turtles were prohibited from using their weapons. That changed in the mid- noughties, but only because the studio replaced human opponents with robots, enemies the Ninja Turtles could cut and batter without offending parents. How about G.I. Joe?
Why do you think the characters would shoot a hailstorm of lasers at each other without ever actually hitting anyone? I have not even mentioned that ridiculous Yu-Gi-Oh English dub.
In the original Japanese version, Keith points a gun at Pegasus’ head. But that scene was deemed too controversial for American children, which is why the studio doing the dub erased the gun.
The result was a bizarre scene in which Keith points a finger at Pegasus’ head. At no point do they explain why Keith is acting like his finger is a weapon. Most people will agree that China’s decision to ban every anime in which a group of underdogs rebel against a higher power has more to do with China’s dictatorial government.
They don’t want shows to plant seeds of rebellion in the minds of impressionable young children. But that does not explain why China also banned the likes of My Little Pony, Peppa Pig, and Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures.
According to Elite Readers, which covered the story back in 2021, China’s Jiangsu Consumer Council criticized those kids’ shows for showing inappropriate behaviour and gloomy, suspenseful scenes.
They gave the example of a moment in Peppa Pig where the main character falls out of a plane. While I can understand Attack on Titan and Death Note, banning Peppa Pig and My Little Pony is just silly.
