Interest

TV Tokyo Censors Recent Mr. Osomatsu Episode

Yūichi Takahashi, the head of TV Tokyo, apologized for Episode 3 of the anime series Mr. Osomatsu at a press conference on October 29. The episode premiered on October 19 as a terrestrial broadcast. It featured regular series character Dekapan as Dekapan-Man, a parody of beloved children's anime character Anpanman. While Anpanman feeds children with his head (bread filled with bean paste), Dekapan-Man feeds the needy with things pulled out of his oversized pants (which are what his name refers to) — such as karintō, sweet fried bread snacks that happen to be long and dark brown.

On the satellite broadcast on October 24, Dekapan-Man's cape was recolored, his red nose and cheeks were removed, the parody was retitled "Dekapan-Man" from "Horeike! Dekapan-Man," the background was altered, the suspicious karintō was recolored, and the golden ball Dekapan-Man pulls out of his pants in a later scene ("golden ball" is a Japanese term for "testicle") is changed to a baseball. The edits were made to distance Dekapan-Man from Anpanman. "After the terrestrial broadcast, [some people] asked if we should make edits. Anpanman is an important anime for children. This was disrespectful to it," Takahashi explained.

A different sketch parodying Saw was also retitled.

[Via Daily Sports Online and Nijimen]