Russia Gives Update on Ban of Death Note, Tokyo Ghoul, and More

When you look at anime, there is all manner of series under the medium, and not all of them have [...]

By Megan Peters

When you look at anime, there is all manner of series under the medium, and not all of them have been met with praise. Some shows are simply panned while others draw ire for their controversial content. This means a fair number of anime have been banned over the years, and a Russian court recently upheld its recent ban on Tokyo Ghoul, Death Note, and more.

The update comes from Anime News Network after reports surfaced about the ban last year. At the time, it was said that several websites in Russia were under review for hosting Death Note, Tokyo Ghoul, Naruto, Elfen Lied, and several others. A new ruling has since been made on the ban, and it seems two websites have been formally barred from streaming a few of these series.

DEATH-NOTE
(Photo: Madhouse )

According to The Moscow Times, the Kolpinsky court district of St. Petersburg has banned Death Note and Inuyashiki from streaming on two unnamed websites overseas. The court also ruled that Elfen Lied had to be removed from another website following a lengthy investigation.

Reports in Russia say the three series were singled out on these sites since they didn't have any age restrictions. However, as the newspaper Kommersant notes, the prosecution arguing for the ban took time to vilify the shows overall. One such argument even stated the shows contain "cruelty, murder, and violence" in every episode.

This new ruling went into effect on January 20, and it bans only the three named series and the offending websites. However, the case has opened the door to further bans. The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media has the power to ban other pages hosting these shows now without additional legal proceedings. And at the moment, an investigation into the anime Aki Sora is being sent to the Minister of Internal Affairs. The show is being accused of violating Russian law, but no formal ruling has been made on the case just yet.

What do you make of this latest update? Do you see any reason for these shows to be banned? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.

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