This weekend the second season of the anime adaptation of " Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation " finally premiered, however, the premiere was overshadowed by a situation that fans did not notice until a few hours after the broadcast of this first episode. It turns out that the version of the episode broadcast on Crunchyroll and other streaming platforms internationally is censored.
This was cleverly picked up by fans, who noted an odd structure to the content, with very long close-ups, misplaced panning, and other types of “filler” animation . Most of the censorship corresponds to the dialogue scene during a play, where one of the participants lewdly fondles a girl, however, the Japanese versions are still being compared with the International to detect if there is other different segments.
- In the following video, the version on top is the “ Version Issued Outside of Japan ”, while the one on the bottom is the “ Version Issued in Japan ”.
The cause of the censorship in the version broadcast outside of Japan, or rather in the version that Japan delivered to streaming platforms around the world, is not entirely clear, but the rumor states that it was so that the series could be distributed in the Chinese market. Meaning, the version they produced to comply with broadcast statutes in China was the same one they ended up delivering to the rest of the world, for some reason.
None of the changes made were that big, but it's something to keep in mind. Especially since "Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation" has had continuous problems with censorship in its international editions, and the first eleven light novels had to be republished in English due to substantial censorship that ended up making the plot incoherent. Comparisons of some of the modified scenes are circulating on the Internet.
As little consolation to fans, the censored scene isn't a significant change. However, it has raised fears of more censorship in upcoming episodes. Fans pointed out that the second season of “Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation” is likely to include more sensitive scenes based on what happens in the light novel. Because of this, they fear that there will be more censored scenes in the upcoming episodes, although they hope this is an isolated incident.
Anime censorship outside of Japan is not a new thing, as there have been many shows that received complaints from international fans for censoring scenes, including shows like “ Onimai: I'm Now Your Sister! ” (curiously from the same animation studio). Fans hope that this controversy will be addressed and that future episodes can be enjoyed uncensored, while respecting the original content and maintaining the artistic integrity of the anime.
Let's review the feedback from the community:
- " Ah, so that's why the animation looked weird in that scene ."
- « Maybe it's just me, but I honestly think the whole animation quality was a little weird. From the very first scene, when the boar monster crushes Luke in the river, I felt like I was watching something else, rather than a second season of what I think is the best isekai anime ever. Or this is one of the titles that we should not see in higher resolution ».
- « However, it is absolutely true that in Japan there is some concern about the dissemination of content in the West. A few years ago, the president of Kadokawa had to apologize for it. His comment was as follows: “With this in mind,” he said, “many Japanese manga will not pass Google or Apple's review. So with that in mind, I have a feeling we need to reset the norms of what's okay to post and what's not in the internet age. In the publishing industry that I'm in, everyone is in favor of free speech, but I have a strong feeling that we need to redraw the line somehow ."
- « It is worrying that they have felt the need to censor something so insignificant, I am worried about what else they will censor… ».
- « It does not surprise me, it seemed strange to me that they repeated those animation frames ».
- " People already blame Crunchyroll, it's always hilarious when this happens ."
- « Yes, that is what always annoys me. They always take up arms to say that the disgusting Westerners are imposing their values on the innocent Japanese, but when it turns out that it is Japan that has made the changes, they shut up ».
- « Not really, when the changes themselves are still politically motivated by the creators or the creators are “too cautious” when it comes to the international market. The double standard still exists. It's just less triggering, as we basically feel less powerful to them due to low expectations that they will be aware of the international response. Basically, we feel like they don't even care about us, so we move on to something else, and that whether we speak up or not, they don't care about us, since we're not their main target. Western and international distributors will be hurt in either case, as we either hate them for allowing censorship or simply don't use their services to get the uncensored product ."
- « It's funny to see people defend censorship. It's a scene meant to highlight how disgusting a certain character is, to think that censorship is okay because a certain media outlet makes you slightly uncomfortable is ridiculous. Still, the main problem is that this episode sets a precedent for future ones, and the possibility that more and more things will be censored and that something important will be left out of this censored version in the future » .
- « Fortunately, you can easily get uncensored on the usual (torrent) site. I'm not going to give spoilers, but if something so insignificant gets censored, it will probably get worse in the future. It seems that the pirates always win ».
Source: Reddit
