Jan
Dragon Ball Super is really popular right now. The series is a sequel to Dragon Ball Z which ended decades ago. Dragon Ball Super was announced back in 2015 and has enjoyed quite a lot of success. It had a lot to live up to. When you have something as successful and legendary as Dragon Ball Z, it is hard to follow it up with something just as good.But, Dragon Ball Super, although it may not be as popular as Dragon Ball Z, it is still pretty good. There have been some ups and downs in DBS. Earlier, fans had problems with the show beginning with the anime adaptation of Battle of Gods, and Resurrection F as well. The animation staff was also heavily criticized back in 2016. But the show has improved considerably since then.
One big thing that upsets fans, and is still missing in Dragon Ball Super is blood. While Dragon Ball series isn’t generally one filled with gore, it used to have its bloody moments during epic fights. Every single fight in Dragon Ball Z had powerful moments where the fighters would get severely injured, and hence end up all soaked in blood. There were even moments of extreme gore, like this one:
Dragon Ball Super has its issues with censorship, and as a result, we don’t get to see blood in the anime anymore. It isn’t really a big issue. However, it is one that has been questioned often. The fact is that Dragon Ball Super isn’t allowed to animate scenes with blood in them. This is because Dragon Ball Super is aimed at a younger audience. They just aren’t allowed to make such content.
Shida Naotoshi, an animator that works for TOEI was recently asked about the lack of blood in Dragon Ball Super anime. He was asked:
“Hi! why is there no blood in Dragon Ball Super?”
Shida: “In the past it was fine, but in recent years, it has been banned by the TV broadcasting code.”
This is why you don’t see blood during fights anymore.
Censorship is good, when you keep in mind the audience it is aimed at. However, it also creates a lot of problems for the fans. Back in Dragon Ball Z, you had scenes such as Vegeta’s death at Namek, which was very touching. Now imagine that without any blood. Or when Vegeta escaped from Earth after his invasion. If those scenes didn’t have any blood, they wouldn’t have been as mesmerizing, and would’ve just been weird to look at. Now, you have Goku nearly dying, but still there is no blood. It is all just a little too weird to look at, but that’s just how it is going to be.
What do you mean “censorship is good, when you keep in mind the audience it was aimed at”? Should children not be made aware of the consequences of violent behaviors? That they make you bleed and hurt?