Ubel Blatt Anime Director Talks Removing NSFW Scenes

Übel Blatt first premiered in 2004 thanks to manga creator Etorouji Shiono, so many fans have been waiting decades to see if the story of Koinzell would make its way to the small screen. Earlier this year, the franchise did just that as studios Satelight and Staple Entertainment dove into the world that was heavily impacted by the “Seven Heroes.” With a few episodes in the chamber, the anime adaptation has had some of its steamier scenes completely left on the cutting room floor. Now, in a new interview with the anime’s director, Takashi Naoya, the reasoning behind why the big changes were made has come to light.

To fill you in, Übel Blatt is a dark, brutal manga series that not only dives headfirst into some ultra-violent battles, but it also has some extremely erotic scenes that make up its story. So frequent were some of these moments, that the anime made the shocking decision to completely skip two of the biggest story arcs of the manga, meaning that big villains and battles from the source material didn’t make its way to the small screen. While plenty of the violence has remained in the series that is currently available to stream on Amazon Video, the more erotic scenes are nowhere to be found.

[RELATED: Übel Blatt Heavily Censors NSFW Scenes For Its Anime]

A Safe For Work Ubel Blatt

In interviewing with Anime News Network, anime director Takashi Naoya held nothing back in terms of discussing how certain scenes from the manga didn’t make their way to the anime, “When I was given the job, I noticed that the original work contained some erotic elements in certain parts. I discussed how to handle those with the studio, the committee, and the original creators. For this anime adaptation, I wanted to focus on Köinzell, who is consumed by revenge, regaining his heart through the various people he meets during his journey. The emphasis was on his growth as he overcomes his anger and revenge. As a result, we decided to remove the erotic elements and proceed without them. Apart from that, I tried to stay as close to the original work as possible.”

Naoya also reinforced the idea that while scenes might have been cut, the director was still attempting to stay true to the course material, ” I believe that, ideally, it’s best to stick to the original work without adding any unnecessary personal interpretation. However, because anime has the limitation of time, there are instances where certain scenes must be cut, depending on the work. For Übel Blatt, it was necessary to drop some scenes and re-edit the story. I recognize that re-editing the story involves both giving the anime a new tempo and providing a perspective on how the story should be viewed. When cutting scenes for this project, the focus was placed on how Köinzell, who was betrayed by his companions, forms new bonds and regains his ability to trust others. The story was shaped around this central theme.”

Want to see what other changes are made to this controversial anime adaptation? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for all the latest on the anime world and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime or hit me up in the comments!

Via ANN