Before anime series flow to us in the West, they first air in the production country. Once a series is successful in Japan, it is also released worldwide. However, according to the head of the animation studio Pierrot, which is responsible for anime hits like Naruto and Bleach, the audience in the West is a major problem for the anime industry.
What is the West to blame for? As studio head Michiyuki Honma explains in an interview with Natalie magazine, it is difficult to produce an anime series that is popular abroad or planned as a long-term series. He claims that anime becomes increasingly boring due to its release in the West, that is, outside Japan.
Thus, animation studios must restrict themselves on certain points when creating anime series intended for release in the West:
- Characters must not smoke to be shown abroad. A prominent example of this is the 4Kids censorship of Sanji, who sucks on a lollipop instead of smoking (via One Piece Pedia).
- The violence in action-packed anime must be toned down. The studio was even affected by such censorship with its own anime. In Germany, Naruto was shown in a heavily edited version, where content was completely taken out of context.
- According to Honma, “sexy expressions” should be avoided. There have already been instances where entire series and movies have been omitted in countries because scenes with nudity were not removed. A prominent example is the second Demon Slayer movie. The film was banned from theaters in Saudi Arabia due to a bath scene featuring Mitsuri Kanroji, also known as the Love Hashira (via X).
A similar phenomenon can be observed in video games. For example: In the West, IGN France criticized Stellar Blade for the protagonist “being sexualized by someone who had never seen a real woman.” The discussion found its way to South Korea: The Korean version of Maxim magazine asked how a body could be unrealistic if it was based on a real woman.
For Honma, too much is being cut back on violence. See for yourself the level of violence in the following trailer:
Anime producers are caught between two paths
Honma does not believe that people in the West want to watch anime containing many such expressions. However, the problem is that anime series that are a hit in Japan also come to the West. And that is ultimately the target.
He adds that production studios should be careful not to choose the wrong approach with their anime. By this, he likely means that the series should not be restricted just to make them more popular in the rest of the world.
According to him, studios need to become more selfish so that anime do not become “boring.” Presumably, the golden mean is the perfect solution for anime to become a global hit.
Where is the Pierrot studio known from? Naruto and Bleach are not the only animes from the studio. The company has been producing anime series since 1979. Their first work may not look like anime at first glance, but in fact, “The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson with the Wild Geese” is a production from the Japanese studio Pierrot.
Yu Yu Hakusho, for which a Netflix live-action movie is currently available, also originates from Studio Pierrot. In addition, series such as Kickers, Tokyo Ghoul, Black Clover, and Great Teacher Onizuka have been created in this studio. Honma himself has been the company’s president since 2012, so he brings several years of experience.
By now, Naruto has handed the baton to his son Boruto. The anime for this is also animated by Pierrot. It seems that Boruto’s sister Himawari will soon play an equally important role:
Boruto: The manga reveals why Naruto’s daughter could become one of the strongest ninjas
