This is not the only Asian country to have placed absurd vetoes and censorship on the work of Hajime Isayama
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| Image Credit: Crunchyroll |
Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan is certainly one of the most popular manga and anime of recent years, with numerous awards won and records achieved, including having even ousted the unbeatable One Piece from first place in the ranking in 2014. Isayama's work has generally raised enthusiastic comments, and has been defined as "memorable", "unpredictable" and "full of suspense". But, as often happens, even here there has been no shortage of controversy. In 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Culture banned 38 Japanese animated series from the country, with the justification of the presence of "scenes of violence, pornography, terrorism and outrage to public morals".
Among them was Attack on Titan, as well as other famous sagas such as Death Note and Claymore. Undoubtedly, the elements of violence and “terrorism”, if we want to call it that, are found in the story, which talks about the struggle for the survival of humanity against the giants, enormous humanoid creatures that devour people for no apparent reason. Yet, it seems that behind the decision of the Chinese government, there is another, much darker reason. In fact, the anime has been very successful, especially in the Hong Kong region, where young people have strongly identified with the theme of the struggle for freedom, interpreting the invasion of the giants as a metaphor for the threat from mainland China.
The escalation of this movement occurred in 2014, when during a protest a group of activists built a puppet depicting the Colossal Titan, comparing the story of Attack on Titan to China's domination over Hong Kong. China is not the only Asian country where these protests have arisen against Isayama's work, often accused of promoting imperialism and nostalgically representing the Japanese militarism of the Second World War. In 2010, for example, the author's blog was invaded by insults and death threats, after the author revealed that the character of Dot Pixis was inspired by the general of the Imperial Japanese Army Akiyama Yoshifuru.
In addition to China, Attack on Titan was banned in Russia, because it was considered guilty of promoting violence among minors. Even in South Korea, the anime is not well regarded due to the conflictual relationship with Japan following the long and cruel period of Japanese occupation. In 2018, for example, the popular idol Kang Hye Won was attacked by public opinion for having advised her fans to watch the series. And finally, the prize for the most ridiculous censorship undoubtedly goes to Malaysia, which in the meantime has focused on a completely different issue: the nudity of the giants.
Yes, in this country Attack on Titan is visible without restrictions, but it was decided to cover the "obscene" monster characters (who in reality do not even have genitals) ... by drawing pants on them!
Source: SlashFilm
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