From The Hip | Forget Attack on Titan - China issues its own attack on anime

38 cartoons have been blacklisted by the Ministry of Culture, but is this censorship justified?

A screencap of Attack on Titan, the latest anime to receive acclaim worldwide but controversy in China. Photo: SCMP Pictures
China has recently enjoyed a rocky relationship with foreign television programmes, removing fan favorites like The Big Bang Theory from streaming sites and airing a heavily edited version of international hit Game of Thrones.
Events last week showed that animated fare is at no less risk of facing the chopping block. According to reports from The Japan Times, 38 Japanese cartoons have been blacklisted from Chinese streaming sites in an effort to, in the words of Ministry of Culture official Liu Qiang, “protect the healthy development of youth”.
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