Ask John: Why Does the Style of Girls Bravo Change Half Way Through?

Question:
Having watched Girls Bravo, I’ve found it both entertaining and a tad perplexing. I knew going in this variation on the harem anime wasn’t for kids, what with modest amounts of nudity and sexual hijinks through the first 11 episodes. But in the 12th, the show suddenly went crazy with both, including all the female characters going from fully clothed to stark naked in the OPENING! Have you ever heard of a series going from PG-13 to NC-17 literally at the drop of a hat?

Answer:
The sudden change in the content of the Girls Bravo anime series makes perfect sense if you’re aware of the show’s background. The first season of the Girls Bravo anime consisted of ten episodes broadcast on the Fuji TV network. (The first season contains 11 episodes, but one of them was never broadcast on television.) Fuji TV censored its broadcast of the first season by digitally adding excess steam during bathing scenes in order to hide gratuitous nudity. Girls Bravo Second Season moved to the satellite television network WOWOW where it was allowed to not only air uncensored, the freedom of a premium television network allowed the show to indulge in excessive, gratuitous fan service. Episode 12 on the American DVDs has a new opening animation and a lot more nudity because it’s actually the first episode of the second season. Around the same time, Fuji TV also heavily censored its broadcast of Gantz First Stage. Likewise, the second season of the Gantz anime moved to the premium Animax TV network where it was able to air uncensored.

A few other less extreme examples of anime that had its style or content change as a result of different TV network broadcast standards include Full Metal Panic and Galaxy Angel. The first Full Metal Panic series aired on premium satellite network WOWOW. The less violent second series moved to broadcast on terrestrial network Fuji TV. The third and most graphic series moved back to broadcast on WOWOW. The first Galaxy Angel anime series broadcast on premium network Animax put Forté in a very provocative uniform that emphasized her ample cleavage. When later seasons moved to TV Tokyo channels, Forté’s uniform suddenly became less revealing. On average, Japanese television network may be more liberal in their allowance of sexuality and violence than American television, but Japanese television networks do their own individual standards, which sometimes have an affect on the content of television anime.