Ask John: Why Isn’t Anime Rated?

Question:
I was wondering why anime is not rated? I love anime but some series and movies I will not watch because they are vulgar. I also have a little sister and I know some anime series are to mature for her. I want to know why don’t dubbing companies rate their series like Hollywood?

Answer:
Japan does not have a ratings system for television or movies, with the exception of labeling pornographic material as “over 18 only.” In Japan it’s simply expected that viewers educate themselves about what a particular program or movie is like in advance, or anticipate what a show will be like based on an educated guess. In America, most of the anime distribution companies do list suggested age appropriate guidelines on their releases, but these “ratings” are subjective and vary from company to company. For example, what AD Vision considers suitable for ages 13+ may be rated 15+ by Pioneer or vice versa. Most anime that receives a theatrical release in America does carry an MPAA rating. For example, both Spriggan and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust are rated “R.” However, even the adoption of voluntary MPAA ratings in the American anime industry is subjective. Rather than accept an “X” rating, the Urotsukidoji movie was released to American theaters several years ago “unrated.”

The anime industry in America is simply not big enough to warrant the creation of a standardized ratings policy like the American motion picture or video game industries have. And to a large degree, there’s simply not been a vital need for standardized ratings for anime releases in America yet. Relatively little emphasis is placed on ratings or content advisory warnings for anime because anime is intended for viewers that are prepared for and accepting of possibly “vulgar” content. In Japan it’s simply taken for granted that young children will not watch or will be prevented from watching mature anime like Berserk or Hellsing or Cowboy Bebop. The very style of character design and the entire “look” of these shows is considered enough of a “warning” to forgo the need for literal ratings. However, even children’s anime including Crayon Shin-chan, Dragonball, and Detective Conan may include nudity and graphic violence that would be considered unsuitable for American children. This “mature” content in even some children’s shows makes age classifying anime a difficult proposition. While both Detective Conan and Cowboy Bebop include black clad, gun wielding assassins that ruthlessly murder people, there’s clearly a difference in intended target audience between these two programs. However, uniform ratings may not distinguish between the two nearly as much as you’d expect- thereby creating a great deal of confusion. AnimeNation does not currently list ratings on our website partially because there is no standardized ratings format that applies to all anime, and partially because existing arbitrary ratings can possibly do as much harm as good by creating confusion among releases by different companies.

Essentially, the anime industry in both Japan and America largely relies on the discretion and intelligence of viewers to sort out what is suitable for whom. If you find that “vulgar” content is simply offensive or if you consider such content unsuitable for animation, you may want to limit what you watch. If you have questions about the content of particular anime releases and series, the AnimeNation staff is always glad to answer questions via phone or e-mail inquiry.