The anime is being censored in India by Animax

February 22, 2023

The renowned Anime channel, animaxhas recently returned to India through jiotv, as part of the streaming service. However, in this testing phase there have been some drawbacks, such as the fact that only content with Japanese audio and no English subtitles is found. But what caught my attention the most was the censorship which is being used on the female characters.

When Anime is broadcast on television, especially in countries like India with strict broadcast regulations, they also choose to censor certain content. In this case, the censorship has been applied to the portrayal of female characters, due to the way Anime shows girls with exaggerated features, such as large breasts or prominent curves.

Anime/179521/news/animax-censors-Anime-in-india-all-you-need-to-know” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>IGN Indiareported that during the broadcast of Katsute Kami Datta Kemono-tachi e (To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts) a rather intrusive blur could be seen on the chests of some characters, which, beyond the issue of whether or not censorship is okay, hinders the user experience quite a bit.

To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts Censorship 2

Censorship in Anime is not limited to TV

According to a report by the same outlet, this type of intrusive censorship has been present in other media. During the screening of jujutsu kaisen 0 verbal sexual jokes were censored with muted audio and altered subtitles, despite the fact that the film was advertised with all the mature themes included. Again, the problem here was the shocking sudden change in audio, which of course was perceptible to the viewers of the tape.

To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts Censorship 3

It should be clarified that Animax Asiahas not shown traces of this type of censorship in the trailers of its titles, so it is likely that India in particular is choosing to be stricter measures compared to other regions.

Animax returned to India through KC Global Mediaafter its acquisition by Sony in 2020. The company has already announced other Anime such as Golden Kamuy, Naruto, Kuroko no basket and gintama. The situation with censorship in AniMax India it paints an uncertain picture, since the titles mentioned above, such as Gintama or Golden Kamuy, are characterized by suggestive humor and double meanings.