China’s state media praised for return of Japanese anime Cells at Work! but some unhappy series edited to be less violent
- A Japanese animation series about human cells as heroes and villains has been allowed on China’s state-controlled television after a decade-long ban
- Public health education cited as the reason for state television’s easing of restrictions
A popular science anime that makes heroes and villains of human body cells has become the first Japanese series on China’s state broadcaster since a ban on foreign cartoons more than a decade ago.
Cells at Work!, which shares the daily lives of human blood cells as they work to maintain the body’s health, became an instant hit among Japanese animation fans after its release in 2018.
On Chinese film review website Douban, the series has been rated 8.9 out of 10 by viewers. However, the aired Chinese version has been criticised by some for cutting scenes that authorities believed were too violent and changing the colour of blood from red to black.
“I have to say I’m disappointed to find that a lot of fight scenes are deleted. It’s much less exciting with such editing,” another user said.
The recent return of Japanese animation prompted some to speculate, asking why now? It could be a signal of improved Sino-Japan relations, said Live Japan, a weekly newspaper for Chinese readers in Japan.
There was a time when Astro Boy and Ikkyū-san were the most talked about animation series among Chinese children but in a bid to encourage the growth of the country’s own animation industry – coupled with deteriorating Japan-China relations - the Japanese series gradually disappeared from screens, reported the publication.
