by We are pushing the limits of terrestrial broadcasting!
When an anime adaptation of a manga with many extreme lines and scenes is announced, fans tend to express mixed feelings, saying things like, “I’m happy, but it could be full of restrictions,” “I want to see that scene in the anime, but it might be impossible,” and “I wonder if there are ethical issues.”
They were exposed in the key visual. Some anime are too “terrestrial TV-worthy” (3 images). Contrary to the feelings of such fans, some of these animes surprisingly had borderline scenes… Yoshino, who moved from Osaka to Tokyo after getting engaged, learns Kirishima’s true nature. At first, Kirishima is friendly, popular in class, and treats Yoshino kindly. Still, when Yoshino is in danger, he sacrifices a suspicious man to save her and reveals his twisted sexual preference of “being manipulated by a selfish woman.”
Furthermore, he was disappointed in Yoshino, who was surprisingly sensible, and suggested that she earn money by working as a delivery health worker, saying, “Your best selling points are your face and body, right? Can you sell them for money?” In the beginning, the elements of comedy were vital, and it seemed like a romantic comedy about a man and a woman living under the same roof by chance. Still, when Kirishima’s true nature was revealed, social media was abuzz with comments such as “This is not the story I expected” and “Kirishima is too scary, especially with Ishida’s voice.”
In addition to Kirishima’s proposal, Yoshino was almost broken by bullying at school. Still, her grandfather’s advice to her to “make him fall in love with her for a year, then mercilessly abandon him and come back” made her persistent, and in the first episode, she sold one of her kidneys for 4 million yen and made a bold move. Many viewers were already glued to the series’ extreme developments, with some commenting, “It’s true that Kirishima’s proposal and Yoshino’s boldness are literally ‘selling her body’…” and “Her Kansai dialect is too powerful.”
“Happy Sugar Life” The anime based on the manga “Happy Sugar Life” (by Kagisora Tomiyaki), which was serialized in “Young Gangan” (Square Enix) from 2015 to 2019, also had many extreme scenes and many voices of concern about broadcasting it on terrestrial television. At first glance, it seems like a story about the protagonist, Matsuzaka Sato (voiced by Hanazawa Kana), living a sweet and happy life with a young girl, Kobe Shio (voiced by Kuno Misaki). Still, it is a suspense story in which Sato commits a crime to protect her life with Shio. Originally, Sato repeatedly played around with men due to the emptiness of being unable to understand “love.”
However, after meeting Shio, she began to think about the emotion of “love,” she imprisoned Shio and worked hard at part-time jobs to continue living alone with her. Sato metes out cruel punishments to those who threaten their lives, and her bizarre actions, such as gouging out the eyes of a thug who tried to make a move on Shio, traumatized viewers. Furthermore, when someone close to Sato found out about Shio’s confinement and took a photo of her, she stabbed the person in the neck with a kitchen knife and set fire to burn the body.
Some people were horrified by the depiction of a stabbed person gradually becoming immobile as the entire screen turns a faint red, saying, “It’s too realistic and hard to watch, and the blood is so vivid that I wonder how they could have aired it on terrestrial TV.”
“Idaten of the Peaceful Generation” The anime of the same name, based on the manga “Idaten of the Peaceful Generation” (original story: Tenhara / art: Cool Kyou Shinja), depicts a battle between “Idaten,” who are born from the thoughts of living creatures, and humans, who look almost the same as humans, for the survival of the species. It was broadcast in 2021 on Fuji TV’s late-night anime slot “Noitamina.”
Although it is a late-night anime, it often features love scenes and grotesque scenes with vivid color production. Many viewers were stunned, saying, “It’s hard to recommend it to others with such gruesome expressions.” In addition, although the main character Hayato (CV: Park Michimi) and other Idaten can sense pain, they do not die even if they receive a great deal of damage, so there is a scene where a fellow Idaten is dissected alive.
There was also a scene where the invading nation, the Zoburu Empire, gathers women who have been raped by soldiers and become pregnant and makes them give birth to increase the number of soldiers to fight against the Idaten, which has led to comments on social media such as “their ethics are strange” and “this is too aggressive for terrestrial TV.”
