International anime fans who were introduced to shows like Dragon Ball Z and Tenchi Muyo! via broadcast TV are probably used to seeing some awkward edits in order to remove these series' violence and nudity, but a Redditor in Indonesia posted an example of that country's censorship that makes even the most egregious Toonami or 4Kids edits look acceptable by comparison.
The video comparison was posted in a response to a discussion of how anime shows are frequently edited for content when they are broadcast in South Korea, which has stricter standards for depictions of violence or sexually suggestive content than Japan does. Reddit user Tradaaa responded with a post entitled "I Saw How Anime Is Censored in South Korea Post, and Want to Presents You How Indonesia Censors Anime," along with a video example from the 2018 cheerleading anime Anima Yell that showcases how many cuts a show has to make in order to make on the air in their home country.
The clip features many sudden zooms and severe crops to the picture in order to avoid showing any of the female characters in their bathing suits, which is even in its uncensored version, relatively tame compared to the content that is allowed to air in other regions. The picture also completely cuts to a black screen for several shots and scenes in which the characters' bodies cannot be covered up with a simple crop. Strangely, the edited version has also been changed to a 4:3 aspect ratio, rather than the original 16:9 that's used for most modern video content.
Other users were incredulous after watching the comparison video. Reddit user Underscoredot99 replied, "This one makes South Korea’s censoring look nonexistent," to which user MapoTofuMan added "This one makes a good chunk of the anime itself look nonexistent." The video's original poster Tradaaa further clarified that this example was from the Indonesian public TV channel RTV, and they stated that there are cable networks within the country that air other anime series unedited. RTV also airs My Hero Academia in the region, and Tradaaa stated that that show is also frequently edited down for its depictions of violence.
While the Indonesian edits are particularly egregious, some Redditors from the United States and Canada commented on how this censorship compared to the Cartoon Network and YTV edits that aired in their countries. "They did have a few censored shows but it wasn't nearly as bad as you guys," intricatefirecracker wrote. "It was stuff like Sanji's cigarette in One Piece being turned into a lollipop." The Toonami edit of classic harem anime Tenchi Muyo! famously superimposed clothing over nude or scantily clad characters, while the censored version of Dragon Ball Z covered up bloody wounds and other depictions of violence. The dubbed, Saturday-morning edits of both Dragon Ball and Yu-Gi-Oh! also changed any dialogue that had any mentions of death to lines about "being sent to another dimension" or "the shadow realm."
Source: Reddit
