Ask John: Is Madoka Magica Too Dark for TV?

Question:
Apparently, some controversy has surfaced regarding the Madoka Magica series and that it’s possible that the series could be canceled. Apparently, some watchdog groups are petitioning for the series to be canceled and there have been complaints over the series due to “magical girl abuse.”

Answer:
Upon hearing of the controversy surrounding the ongoing Madoka Magica television series and the Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization’s assertion that Madoka Magica, “Is a late night anime, but… still had scenes of a little girl having her head bitten off by a monster! …It is outrageous for TV programmes to be so flagrantly profiting from this sort of horrible material,” my own sense is that much of this “controversy” is being stirred up by bored Japanese otaku that just want to “troll” rather than honestly offended mainstream critics. Doubtlessly Japanese readers will criticize me for stating my honest opinion, but I’m going to share my honest perspective regardless. The most egregious offense cited as example that the Madoka Magica television series is too extreme for Japanese television broadcast is a sequence which occurred in the series’ third episode. That episode was now broadcast six weeks ago, and the Madoka Magica television series may have as few as three episodes remaining. If the show hasn’t been pulled from broadcast yet, I don’t anticipate that it will be.

Anime series have been pulled from broadcast over concerns of controversial or explicit content. But I personally can’t recall a single contemporary anime television series pulled from broadcast in response to viewer complaints. The planned television broadcast of the Hetalia ~Axis Powers~ anime series was canceled in response to tremendous international pressure from Korean critics. The Japanese, and eventual international, distribution of the Hetalia anime did proceed, just not on TV. The final episode of the School Days television series was pulled from broadcast on some Japanese networks, not in response to viewer complaints, but because the networks deemed the episode too graphic. Moetan episode 6 was pulled from television broadcast by broadcaster decision, not in response to viewer complaints. The seventh episode of Senko no Night Raid was also pulled from television broadcast, not because of viewer complaints, but because television networks chose to avert potential viewer outrage.

The numerous viewer complaints that Madoka Magica is too violent or too cruel remind me of the results of MarkeZine’s December 2007 online poll of Japanese anime viewers that determined that Sola was 2007’s “number one” anime production, earning more than double the number of votes of second place ranking Lucky Star. The poll results were summarily dismissed as having been obviously manipulated by Japanese otaku. Intensely graphic , violent, and shocking anime series including Gantz, Shigurui, High School of the Dead, and Umineko no Naku Koro ni have successfully aired on Japanese television in recent years without being canceled or pulled from broadcast. Albeit, the television broadcast of these shows has been censored, but the imagery in these shows has been more graphic than anything visually depicted in Madoka Magica so far. In other words, there’s no precedent for an anime series to get canceled or pulled from continuing broadcast due to viewer complaints. And while Madoka Magica is thematically grim and shocking, it’s not the first television broadcast anime to depict violence against children (shows like Ima Soko ni Iru Boku, Narutaru, and Bokurano immediately come to mind), nor is it the most graphically intense or violent television anime of recent years. Some public criticism is inevitable. Japanese parental groups have criticized the Crayon Shin-chan anime for years, calling it a bad influence on children, yet the Crayon Shin-chan anime continues unabated. The bulk of the “controversy” over Madoka Magica being too violent or “too cruel” to its children characters feels largely like a result of hardcore Japanese otaku having fun manufacturing controversy because they know that their ironic pleas are unlikely to have any appreciable effect beyond launching more blog posts and message board discussion.