Interest
BPO's Latest Viewer Complaint Criticizes Depictions of Anime Boy's Genitals
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Complaints to Japan's Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization (BPO) watchdog group regularly relate to anime, and messages the organization received in November were no exception. BPO reported that it received 1,557 complaints from television viewers in Japan last month, and it recently posted a summary of 21 of those viewer concerns.
One comment said, "In a late-night anime program, the genitals of a boy character around the age of an upper elementary school student were shown over and over. Aside from infants and toddlers, isn't that something outside of society's standard wisdom?" (In Japan, most schools define upper elementary students as fifth and sixth graders.)
Although, BPO's published complaint does not name a specific anime, fans suspect that it is referring to the 34th episode (pictured above) of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable, which aired in November. In the episode, the 11-year-old character Hayato Kawajiri fights with the serial killer Yoshikage Kira in a bathroom scene. The anime repeatedly shows uncensored views of Hayato's genitals.
BPO did not report who sent the complaint, but it did provide demographics for all messages received in November. Of the people that sent in their opinions, 65% were male, and 34% were female, with 1% unidentified. People in their 40s made up 30% of viewers who shared their concerns, followed by 29% in their 30s, 18% in their 50s, 14% in their 20s, 7% in their 60s, and 2% in their 10s.
BPO has published complaints about many anime, and its regular report also included in August complaints about the smartphone game Pokémon Go and its portrayal in news programs. The watchdog's anime-related published complaints include criticism of a scene in Detective Conan in which sushi is eaten off of a woman's body, the masturbation scene in Mr. Osomatsu, a scene involving "suggestive banana-eating" in Yōkai Watch, the violence in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, and the main characters of PriPara being shown in swimsuits in the ending.
[Via Yaraon!]
Link contains NSFW image
