Recently, the publisher Shueisha announced that the Shuumatsu no Harem manga (aka World's End Harem) will be adapted for the anime and released in 2021. The series is a popular science fiction work written by LINK and illustrated by Kotaro Shono, and to be publishes on the Shonen Jump Plus site. Set in a dystopian future, the manga follows the story of Reito Mizuhara, a young man waking up in a world where a deadly virus has eradicated 99.9% of the world's male population. Reito, being a man, is treated as a divine figure by women, and receives the mission of repopulating the world. All in one, a pretty crazy premise and one that has sparked controversy since the anime's production was announced.
Following the announcement, users began to inquire about the content of World’s End Harem and criticized the fact of converting this “almost pornographic” series to anime. A quick glance at the first chapters of the manga reveals quite explicit scenes according to the absurd but little seen premise. Considering this, it is easy to imagine the censorship that this series will include in its adaptation to the anime and in its broadcast on television. The risk that the World's End Harem will be censored is imminent, and there is also controversy over the fact that the broadcast is going to be done through mainstream television, since most people would not label this series as a hentai, but it is certainly very close to being so.
The harem genre has always been controversial. Criticism ranges from pretty trashy series and cliches to damnable and quite misogynistic content that gets awkward to watch. World’s End Harem does not do much to try to counter these criticisms, but it does have some misleading depth. In fact, the central idea of this is that the protagonist refuses to take advantage of sex-starved women, so instead of taking the harem, he rejects it and decides to look for his childhood friend. Unfortunately, this friend disappeared for three years, and the protagonist must resist the temptation of pleasure until he finds her.
As the manga continues, it becomes increasingly psychological, exploring the dystopian ramifications of a future populated only by women, rather than just showing it as a paradise for men. This does not change the fact that the basis of this manga is, of course, fan-service. There is a huge market for this category of manga, and this is another series that is part of it.
Threatened by impending censorship and criticized for its erotic elements, the future of World’s End Harem as anime is still unclear. A good indicator may be what happened with an adaptation to a manga, something similar in the degree of content. At the beginning of this year we witnessed how a storm was generated around the anime Ishuzoku Reviewers, an erotic comedy series in which the characters "review" different species of girls they sleep with. This series generated quite a bit of controversy, so much so that Funimation and multiple broadcast networks in Japan removed it from their catalogs. Apparently, broadcasters and content distributors did not bother to at least review how obscene the original content was originally and, as is common, they simply limited themselves to purchasing as many licenses as possible without reviewing what they purchased . The situation occurred makes viewers think that something similar awaits World’s End Harem.
Before he was retired, Ishuzoku Reviewers handled his censorship in quite comical ways, which worked quite well with the anime's natural comedy. However, World’s End Harem is a more serious manga and has a different art style, so the future of censorship in this series is quite uncertain. The original content could be modified to present a less explicit story or accept that its destiny is to be an immensely criticized series. However, it should not be forgotten that there is no bad publicity, since Ishuzoku Reviewers became a phenomenon on the internet due to its controversy. If World’s End Harem also ends up being banned from television for being too obscene, it could actually be an advertising element in favor, especially in that sector of lewd viewers who are pending this type of work.
© LINK ・ 宵 野 コ タ ロ ー ／ 集 英 社 SHUEISHA
