For obvious reasons, onscreen nudity in anime has to be censored during its regular telecast. While this may seem like a detriment, some anime found a creative way to either incorporate censorship as a joke or in a serious manner.
Where some anime used the censorship for a silly punchline or a visual gag, others found a way to tie the nudity (or lack thereof) to the story or the characters' personalities and arcs. Either way, these anime somehow made censors seem more fun than they really are.
CONTENT WARNING: Explicit imagery and themes will be discussed.
10 Gintama Maximized Classic Censors For Comedic Effect
The simplest way to censor anything for television is to obscure whatever needs censoring through pixelized mosaics or solid black bars. Besides anime, these censors are also common in Japanese Adult Videos (JAV). Naturally, the shamelessly raunchy gag anime Gintama used these censor effects while deliberately evoking JAV aesthetics.
Many jokes in Gintama either ended in a naked punchline or used suggestively lewd scenarios, making censors necessary. That being said, the anime still found countless ways to make every censor as hilarious as possible. This also applied to unlicensed cameos and parodies, which the anime blurred out to avoid legal trouble.
9 Neon Genesis Evangelion Made Good Use Of Some Strategically Placed Cans
Before things got incredibly bleak and destructive, Neon Genesis Evangelion started out as a seemingly normal shonen-centric mecha anime with some dark moments. As such, its first few episodes weren't averse to including silly sitcom hijinks, like the time Shinji Ikari accidentally exposed himself to Misato Katsuragi after getting surprised by Pen-Pen.
Shinji's full anatomy was conveniently blocked first by Misato's beer, then by a toothpick can. The visual gag quickly became one of Neon Genesis Evangelion's most remembered scenes, so much so that it wasn't just remade in the first Rebuild of Evangelion movie but reenacted by Askua Shikinami Langley in the second installment as well.
8 Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Used Boota & A Drill To Do The Trick
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's hot springs side trip wasn't just its wackiest episode, but the one with the most comedic fanserivce in the whole series. Here, almost every character gave fans what they came for, though Kamina and Simon arguably provided most of it. To comply with TV censors, the two had Boota and a drill cover them.
If Kamina was covered up by his pet pig mole, Simon had his drill do the job. No matter how wild the ensuing fights got, Kamina and Simon's privates were always conveniently hidden by their respective censors. The same logic applied to everyone else – Yoko and the other women's towels conveniently never flew off amidst the chaos.
7 One Piece Used Water 7's Scenery To Maintain Franky's Dignity
When The Franky Family realized that Franky (their beloved leader) had a massive bounty put on his head after the Enies Lobby incident, they hatched a plan to get him to escape Water 7 with the Straw Hats. This meant stealing Franky's swimming briefs and inciting his anger in a wild goose chase that led to his escape route.
As Franky chased his family across the shipwrights' city without any pants on, the surrounding scenery like lumber or a baseball in midflight, covered up everything below his waist (minus his butt). This visual gag-laden chase lasted for most of the episode, and it ended on a surprisingly heartfelt note when The Franky Family gave Franky a tearful sendoff.
6 Sayonara, Zetsubo-Sensei Gave Kosaku Maeda A Funny Cameo
Sayonara, Zetsubo-Sensei was always a satirical anime with ecchi strains, making censorship in certain fanservice shots inevitable. Rather than just black things out or pixelize them, Studio Shaft animators gave Maeda (Sayonara, Zetsubo-Sensei creator's assistant, Koji Kumeta) a silly cameo as the series' go-to censor.
Whenever things got too lewd for television censors, a circle featuring Maeda-kun's reaction would block whatever needed to be censored. At times, Maeda-kun would either be shown grimacing or face palming, giving the anime both a meta gag and a funny jab at Sayonara, Zetsubo-Sensei's audiences who only watch it for the fanservice.
5 My Hero Academia Gave Toga Himiko A "Bodysuit"
Toga's ability to shapeshift into her target is a lot messier than the power's depiction in other media. In both the manga and anime, Toga has to be fully naked whenever she takes on her target's clothed appearance. After the transformation's time runs out, the appearance she took on literally melts off her body, leaving her naked in public.
To get around this, My Hero Academia's televised broadcast painted everything below Toga's neck a grayish white, making it seem like she wore a pale bodysuit underneath her uniform for such occasions. Manga readers and sharp-eyed viewers quickly caught this, but it wasn't an obstructive censor. The anime's home releases did away with this edit.
4 Shimoneta Weaponized The Puritanical Need To Censor Through Blue Snow
As its full title implies, Shimoneta: A Boring World Where The Concept Of Dirty Jokes Doesn't Exist is set in a dystopian Japan that has been overtaken by extreme conservatives. In the name of purity, the Public Morals Committee passed the country's strictest censorship laws yet, making it illegal to even talk about sex.
Leading the revolt is Blue Snow (aka Ayame Kajou), who wears nothing save for a white blanket (which conveniently covers her most private regions) and underwear on her face. Due to the PMC's prudence, authorities can't physically detain Blue Snow lest they risk exposing her, leaving her mostly free to spread sex-positive contraband and yell lewd jokes.
3 Kill La Kill Used Fanservice For Comic & Serious Effect
Minus its more controversial scenes, Kill La Kill generally used fanserivce playfully while still tying everything thematically. Here, nudity was equated to free will and power, meaning that scantily clad warriors were literally and symbolically "bold." That being said, Ryuko Matoi, Satsuki Kiryuin, and others weren't shown fully naked at all times.
Full-on nakedness was obscured by comical obstructions like lens flares, shadows, or strategically designed Goku Uniforms, Kamui, and especially Nudist Beach's regalia. These were justified through the Life Fibers' true nature. Life Fibers (which infected all clothes) mind controlled whoever was fully dressed, meaning nudity was their only weakness.
2 Sailor Moon Stylistically Covered Up The Girls' Transformations
Whenever Usagi Tsukino and the others unleashed their magical girl selves for battle, a fully animated transformation sequence played out. While some Western telecasts may have trimmed the full montage by a few crucial seconds, it's made clear that the girls were naked before they reemerged wearing their uniforms.
None of Sailor Moon's anime played these for fanservice, as they were all done respectfully. Anything that needed censoring was either obscured by magical effects or by the girls' colored silhouettes. Not only were these transformations iconic and synonymous to the series, but they inspired an almost infinite number of imitators and parodies.
1 Ghost In The Shell's Thermoptic Camouflage Suit Was More Than Just Major Motoko Kusanagi's Suggestive Uniform
Whenever she's on a stealth mission, The Major donned her thermoptic camouflage bodysuit to blend in with the scenery. While a skintight flesh-colored bodysuit may look like an obvious way to get around censors despite Motoko having some rather overt nude scenes, it actually served a narrative and thematic purpose.
As a cyborg, Motoko was disconnected from basic human experiences, and treated nudity mechanically. This is why she had no reservations about her thermoptic suit's nude appearance, but this could also be read as her desire to feel human since being naked (read: physically vulnerable) was the polar opposite of being a nigh-indestructible cyborg.
Source: Trendz OH
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