Compared to its contemporaries Naruto and One Piece, Tite Kubo’s Bleach is more hardcore in some ways, especially with graphic violence. But worry not, Studio Pierrot always comes to the rescue with censorship in the anime. There are many scenes in the manga that are bloody and gory, but all the explicit details were toned down in the anime.
As stringent as the animation studio is the violent scenes, the same rule seemingly doesn’t apply to fan service. It’s a bit questionable to see that fan service is appropriate, but gore is not. Rangiku is the best character to highlight this hypocrisy, as she has been a victim of both censorship and fan service.
Bleach anime and the hypocritical standards of censorship
Bleach anime is infamous for censoring gory scenes from the manga. There are many fights where the characters suffer life-threatening injuries, but the anime toned down their injuries. This even affected the impact of some fights.
For instance, Rangiku’s torso was gouged out during one fight, but the anime doesn’t fully show us this scene. However, a Reddit comment pointed out one scene of Rangiku that puts things into perspective.
Comment
byu/TrashClear483 from discussion
inbleach
In this scene, Rangiku tries to seduce Ichigo to let her stay in his house. This particular scene was not the only time when Rangiku tried to seduce someone in the show. Her physical appeal is a huge part of her character and the emphasis on her body is proof of that.
And, she’s not the only character who is treated in this way, Orihime is another character who is a victim of the fan service in Bleach. The reason why violent scenes are often censored is because of the time slot during which Bleach used to air on Japanese television. To make the anime more appropriate for kids, such scenes are usually censored.
This is also why, Thousand-Year Blood War anime was not as heavily censored, as it used air at midnight. However, it makes one curious how heavy fan service qualifies as appropriate when it also reduces female characters to their physical appeal.
A selective approach that hurts the overall experience
Fan service is all too common in anime, and almost every mainstream anime is guilty of excessive fan service. However, what hurts more with Bleach particularly is Studio Pierrot’s selective approach. The fights are more relevant to the narrative than the suggestive scenes. The damage and injuries incurred from a fight can impact how the audience perceives the severity of that fight.
The characters’ reactions can also seem overblown if the effects don’t get translated properly. By censoring such scenes, the animation studio is softening the blow of the battles in the ‘battle shonen’ series. This results in a lackluster experience overall, compared to the manga.
Bleach is available to stream on Netflix.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
