Ask John: Is There Any Manga or Anime Too Extreme for American Release?

Question:
What manga/anime in Japan is too grotesque, sexual and controversial to not get released in the U.S. or if released would be extremely edited to the point that the story would no longer be coherent?

Answer:
This may be surprising to hear, but I honestly wonder if there actually is any manga or anime that’s too extreme to be a potential American release. There are, of course, pieces of Japanese media which are more and less viable as American releases, but I think that the potential of any Japanese manga or anime depends on the willingness of an American distributor to handle it. In a theoretical sense, any manga or anime should be a legitimate potential American release because all manga and anime is hand drawn art, and legitimate art, no matter how offensive it may be, is protected as free speech under the United States constitution. Technically any art that contains a valid degree of artistic credibility is excluded from legal classification as obscenity. So any manga or anime that can be convincingly described as art can theoretically be legally distributed in America. There are erotic manga that involve babies and toddlers, and bestiality manga that would be considered outrageously offensive and disgusting in America, and therefore will likely never be released in America, but these comics don’t involve real people and therefore should be protected under the First Amendment protection for free speech. If the First Amendment can’t be applied to works of fiction, one has to wonder about the value of its jurisdiction.

The first two Japanese live action Guinea Pig movies, adapted from manga by Hideshi Hino, are widely available on commercial American DVD despite being banned in select Western countries. These two movies are simulated “snuff films” with a documented history of being mistaken for being real recordings of actual murders. The infamous “hara-kiri” live action film series, films in which Japanese women simulate committing suicide in bloody, graphic detail, are licensed for American DVD release. The Kite anime OAV series, initially released in America heavily censored, then re-released lightly censored, is now available on American DVD totally uncensored. The first Night Shift Nurses DVD, released heavily censored, had all of its most extreme and potentially illegal content presented uncensored on the second domestic Night Shift Nurses DVD. So there are already numerous examples of extremely grotesque Japanese cinema, and anime once considered too extreme for American release widely available on commercial American DVD.

There are unquestionably Japanese manga and anime that challenge the conventional standards of decency in American publishing and media. Anime like Haitoku no Shojo ~Gibo Shiiku Hen~, Aile Maniax, and Bondage Game, and manga works by artists such as Horihone Saizou, Waita Uziga, and Machino Henmaru have yet to reach America, probably because they’re such potentially offensive and controversial works. But I honestly believe that the reason why anime and manga like these haven’t reached official American release isn’t primarily because of their content. This sort of Japanese material isn’t widely distributed in American because few current American distributors have the courage (or foolhardiness) and means to license and distribute this sort of material, and because the market for this sort of material is very small in America, so its profit potential may be rather small as well.