This weekend the second season of the anime adaptation of “Mushoku Tensei: Reincarnation without a Job“However, the premiere was overshadowed by a situation that fans didn’t notice until a few hours after the first episode aired. It turns out that the version of the episode broadcast on Crunchyroll and other streaming platforms internationally was censored.
The fans found this clever, which noted the strange content structure, with very long close-ups, moving out of place, and other types of “stuffed” animations. Most of the censorship corresponds to the dialogue scene during a drama, where one of the participants has a crush on a girl, however, the Japanese versions are still being compared to the International to see if there are different items .
- In the video below, the above version is “Version Released Outside of Japan“, while the one below the”Version Released in Japan“.
The reason for the censorship in the version that aired outside of Japan, or the version that Japan delivered to streaming platforms around the world, is not entirely clear, but rumor has it that it was so that the series could be distributed in Chinese . market. In other words, the version they produced to comply with broadcasting statutes in China was the same version they gave to the rest of the world, for some reason.
None of the changes were that big, but it’s something to keep in mind. Especially since “Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation” had ongoing problems with censorship in its international editions, and the first eleven light novels had to be republished in English due to substantial censorship that made the plot incoherent. Comparisons between some of the revised scenes are being circulated on the Internet.
As little consolation for the fans, the censored scene is not a significant change. However, it raised fears of more censorship in the 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 that this is an isolated incident.
Censorship of anime outside of Japan is not new, as there are many shows that have received complaints from international fans regarding censored scenes, including shows such as “Onimai: I’m your Sister now!” (oddly from the same animation studio). Fans hope that this controversy will be addressed and that future episodes can be enjoyed without censorship, while respecting the original content and maintaining the artistic integrity of the anime.
Let’s review the feedback from the community:
- «Ah, that’s why the animation looked weird in that scene.».
- «Maybe it’s just me, but I honestly think the overall animation quality was a bit weird. From the first scene, when the boar monster pushes Luke in the river, I felt like I was watching something else, other than the 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 a higher resolution».
- «However, it is absolutely true that there are some concerns in Japan regarding the spread of content in the West. A few years ago, Kadokawa’s president had to apologize for it. Here’s his take: “With this in mind,” he said, “many Japanese manga will not pass Google’s or Apple’s review. With that in mind, I’m feeling like we need to reset the norms of what’s okay to post and what’s not in the internet age. In the publishing industry where I am, everyone is in favor of free speech, but I have a strong feeling that we need to draw the line somehow.”».
- «It is worrying that they felt the need to censor something so insignificant, I wonder what else they will censor…».
- «It doesn’t surprise me, it just seemed weird to me that they repeated those animation frames».
- «People are already blaming Crunchyroll, it’s always funny when this happens».
- «Yeah, that’s what always bothers me. They are always in arms to say that disgusting Westerners are imposing their values on the innocent Japanese, but when it turns out that Japan has made the changes, they stop up.».
- «Not really, when the changes themselves are still politically motivated by the creators or when the creators are “too cautious” about the international market. The double standard still exists. It’s just less motivating because we feel inherently less powerful than them because of low expectations that they’ll 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 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 anyway, because we hate them for allowing censorship or not using their services to get the uncensored product.».
- «It’s funny to see people defending censorship. It’s a scene to highlight how disgusting a certain character is, to think that censorship is okay because a certain media outlet makes you a little 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 get it without censorship easily on the usual site (torrent). I’m not going to give spoilers, but if something so insignificant is censored, it will probably get worse in the future. It seems like pirates always win».
Fountain: Reddit
