Ask John: What are the Limits of Japanese Television?

Question:
I was wondering why some anime like Neon Genesis Evangelion or Dragon Ball aren’t afraid to push the envelope a little bit in terms of content, whereas shows like, let’s say, Slayers shy away from excessive violence or suggestive content (ie: Slayers was actually censored a bit from the original novels). Does this depend on timeslot? Different standards on different channels? Demographics?

Answer:
As you’re probably aware, Japanese television is much more liberal about what can be broadcast than North American television is. It’s not uncommon for late night Japanese television to feature topless girls hosting various types of programs. What can be and is shown in animation, then, largely depends on a number of factors including age, creative control and demographics.

The graphic content of anime, especially within the past two decades, has fluctuated dramatically with cultural opinion. In the 1980s nudity wasn’t uncommon in television anime including City Hunter, Dirty Pair, Ranma, and Urusei Yatsura. In the 1990s, graphic nudity became virtually taboo in television animation, with shows in the mid and late 90s breaking the trend. In the current decade, mature topics and graphic presentations seem to have made a dramatic comeback in current television broadcast anime.

A shows age and time of release do very much influence its content. In the 1980s, programs like Gundam, City Hunter, Hokuto no Ken, St. Seiya and Macross showed no hesitation toward displays of bloody violence and death, including the deaths of main characters. In the 1990s, a decade dominated by Nadia, Tenchi Muyo, Sailormoon, Evangelion, Nadesico and Escaflowne, graphic violence and sex were significantly less common. In fact, several programs from the 1990s definitely pushed the envelope, leading to the revolution in “mature” anime on air right now. The Street Fighter V TV series was shockingly bloody for its time, and Evangelion, which aired around the same time, was nearly pulled off the air twice, first for the excessive bloodshed of episode 16, then again for the on-air suggestion of sex between Misato and Kaji in episode 20. But the influence of Evangelion opened the door for a new wave of more graphic content in anime. Following Evangelion came a wave of “underground” anime series including the late night broadcasts of Berserk, Devilman Lady, Colorful and Iketeru Futari which included sequences of child rape, graphic murder, lesbian sex, and teen prostitution in addition to a degree of graphic violence never before seen in television.

We must also consider that particular creative staffs and production studios will prefer to produce more or less graphic productions. To use extreme examples, Hayao Miyazaki prefers to create animation suitable for all ages while Koichi Ohata has stated in interviews that his goal has always been creating the most excessively graphic animation he could come up with. We have to assume that particular animation directors simply decided that a less graphic approach would serve his show as well or better than presentations of graphic nudity and violence.

Intended audience also plays a significant role in the way a series is constructed. Nudity and/or violence will naturally be included in any show that warrants it. From very violent series like Berserk to war story including Gundam to even shoujo anime like Sailormoon, if the story calls for nudity or violence, it will be there. Even children’s programs like Detective Conan can include disturbing imagery including decapitation, bloody murder, and a small child trapped in a car trunk with a severed head. But programs are naturally tailored toward their target audience. Some of the most disturbing imagery on television anime, including shows like Berserk and Devilman Lady, are broadcast only at 1 AM while more general audiences anime like Slayers may be broadcast at 6 PM.

Beside the aforementioned graphic detail of shows like Berserk and Devilman Lady, programs like Ima Soku ni Iru Boku and Noir have dealt extensively and graphically with sex, violence, rape, teen pregnancy, and children killing others and being killed themselves. Brother Dear Brother and Lain have dealt with teen suicide. Initial D, Iketeru Futari, and Super GALS Kotobuki Ran have all dealt with teen prostitution. The original Steel Angel Kurumi TV series has non-graphic suggestions of lesbianism. While the depiction of offensive material in television broadcast anime will likely never be as graphic as what can be shown in OAVs or theatrical releases, what has been presented in television anime has already established the general precedent that Japanese television anime can show virtually anything it wants to show.