It’s a bath scene, so it can’t be helped?
Many people think that late-night anime is a time slot where it is acceptable to use some degree of extreme content. However, in the past, some late-night anime complaints have been filed with the Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization (BPO). This third-party organization handles complaints about broadcasts and issues of broadcasting ethics due to sexual depictions. Some complaints were about scenes that were not intended as entertainment.
In episode 34 of “Diamond is Unbreakable,” the third film adaptation of the “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” series (broadcast in the late night hours in 2016), elementary school student Hayato Kawajiri and murderer Yoshikage Kira, who was disguised as Hayato’s father, engaged in a battle in the bathroom, and Hayato’s genitals were occasionally exposed, which is said to have led to a complaint to the BPO.
In November 2016, when episode 34 was broadcast, the BPO received a comment stating, “In a late-night anime program, the genitals of a male character in the upper grades of elementary school were repeatedly drawn. It may be understandable if it was an infant or a toddler, but it seems out of line with social norms.” Although the name of the work was not mentioned, it is clear that the comment was generally directed at episode 34 of the show. Another anime that was a bit more explicit, “A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn’t Exist” (broadcast in 2015), was also a “BPO case.”
The show is set in a world where sexual expressions are prohibited by the Public Order and Morals Healthy Development Act. Still, there are many vulgar remarks made by “Hanashiro Ayame,” the vice president of the student council at “Tokioka Gakuen,” which belongs to the dirty joke terrorist organization “SOX.” In the first episode, a scene was depicted in which flies mating was projected on a large screen in the gymnasium and dubbed in obscene voices. In July 2015, when the show was being broadcast, the BPO received a complaint stating, “In a late-night anime program, although the voice was processed, lines that suggested slang terms for genitals and gestures indicating sexual intercourse were used.
The expressions were so explicit that even a child could imagine them, and it was going too far.” Although the show’s name was not mentioned, this complaint can also be seen as a complaint against the show. In addition, the BPO is said to have received a complaint about episode 13 of the first season of the TV anime Osomatsu-san (broadcast from 2015 to 2016), based on the manga Osomatsu-kun by Fujio Akatsuka.
The episode in question was in the C section of episode 13, “Accident?”, in which the third son of the Matsuno family, Choromatsu, was seen masturbating by the eldest son, Osomatsu. This led to him being teased by Osomatsu and called “Shikomatsu,” “Choroshikoski,” and “Jikahatdensaburo.”
Although it became a hot topic online after it aired, it seems that some viewers were not impressed, with the BPO receiving a message saying, “In a late-night anime program, there was a scene where a man was seen trying to masturbate by his brother and was teased. Although it was late at night, they could have been more considerate of young viewers.” However, on social media, many fans suggested it was an accident, saying things like, “The naming sense was great” and “I laughed out loud at Jikka Hatsuden Saburo.”