Otaku USA Magazine
Japanese Fans Rank the Series They Thought Were Too Hot for TV

Many western anime fans find themselves drawn to the medium because, unlike western cartoons, some anime films and series are aimed at an adult audience. This particular fan remembers well the shock he received on stumbling across the ultra-violent Fist of the North Star at a wee age.

Anyway, ultra-violent (and ultra-sexy) anime used to be the domain of films and, especially, direct-to-video features, but a late-night TV boom in the late 90s suddenly made it okay to show some gore and skin on terrestrial broadcast, so long as your show was on at a ridiculous time of night.

Even so, it’s sometimes shocking what gets on air, even to Japanese fans, who ranking site Goo has asked: what anime series did you think were too hot for TV?

The top 20, below.

20. Heaven’s Lost Property
19. Hanagai
18. Daimidaler: Prince vs Penguin Empire
17. Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt
16. Highschool of the Dead
15. Kissxsis
14. The Qwaser of Stigmata
13. Cream Lemon
12. Queen’s Blade
11. B Gata H Kei

10. Recently, My Sister is Unusual
9. Ikkitousen
8. Manyu Hiken-cho
7. OniAi
6. High School DxD
5. Yosuga no Sora
4. So, I Can’t Play H
3. Prison School
2. To Love-Ru
1. Ranma 1/2

Ranma 1/2 may be a bit mild compared to some of the other series on this list, but it definitely broke some taboos when it first started airing in 1989. Also, I was not aware Cream Lemon, the famous hentai OVA series on which many talented young animators cut their teeth, had ever actually aired on TV. The more you know.

OUSAers: what series have shocked you?

Source: Goo

Matt Schley

Matt Schley (rhymes with "guy") lives in Tokyo, and has been OUSA's "man in Japan" since 2012. He's also written about anime and Japanese film for the Japan Times, Screen Daily and more.

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