Top 10 Banned Anime Scenes

#10: Kirby’s Itchy Trigger Finger

“Kirby: Right Back at Ya!” (2001-03)
Given their iconic ability to absorb the power of whatever they swallow, you’d think that Kirby wouldn’t have a need to be strapped. This anime said otherwise. While working a stint as an officer, we see what happens when Kirby accidentally is given a firearm. Basically, he shoots up everything, narrowly avoiding committing numerous homicides while peppering the entire police station with holes. Seriously, this puffball was one unlucky shot away from joining Luigi in the clink.

#9: Imprisoned Child

“Beyblade” (2001-05)
Remember, in Russia, they take Beyblading very seriously. So much so that failure could land you in a gulag. Or at the very least, trapped in a dark abbey. Not exactly the kind of thing you expect to see in a kid’s anime about spinning tops containing magical beasts. And yet that’s exactly what happens when Kai goes snooping around, not only discovering a link to his own past but also a child behind bars who had failed Boris’ malicious Beyblading training camp. Needless to say, we didn’t get to see this dark revelation in the dub.

#8: Lewd Attire

“MegaMan NT Warrior” (2002-03)
Yeah…not the kind of anime where you’d expect this kind of thing to pop up, given the age of the cast as well as the general style of the show. After a virtual idol starts causing chaos and kidnapping several of their female friends, Lan and his buddies attempt to go undercover and save them. By dressing in skimpy clothes themselves. Naturally. Look, if they want to strut their stuff, that’s one thing, but we could have quite happily gone our whole lives without seeing Dex in a crop top.

#7: Robots Get Randy

“Zoid: New Century” (2001)
Mechas indulging in lewd behaviour is not new to anime – in fact it’s a trope that will likely continue to become even more obscene as time goes on. That being said, out of all the robots wanting to get down and dirty, Benjamin and Sebastian from Zoids were not on our bingo cards. Wanting to soak in some summer sun on the beach, it doesn’t take long before the two are lathering each other up with oil and making noises that will make you question who on the production team allowed their fetish to slip in.

#6: Holding the Tower

“Transformers: Robots in Disguise” (2000)
This ban is both unfortunate yet understandable. On the one hand, it’s a pivotal scene from the episode, where Sky-Bite and the rest of the Predacons hold up an entire building in order to save the trapped citizens inside. Something we’d never thought we’d see. Alas, this scene was completely removed during the episode’s western release given how close it aired to 9/11. Meaning that Sky Bite’s unforeseen act of heroism is forever lost to the annuals of anime history.

#5: Misty’s Exorcism

“Pokémon” (1997-)
Apparently, Misty is a god-fearing woman. Or at least a wannabe ghost hunter. Why else would she have a cross, hammer and wooden stake on standby. After encountering a Ghastly, Misty decides to take a practical approach to dealing the phantom by…threatening to exorcise it? Would that even work? Either way, the Hindi dub of the episode had this scene cut out entirely – likely due to the presence and intended use of a crucifix. If they thought that was bad, wait until they meet Arceus.

#4: The Brothel

“Sonic X” (2003-05)
Turns out this warrior Echinda, for all his bluster and punching power, is a little stumpy when it comes to understanding the wider world. Case and point – when he proceeds to get utterly flustered after walking into an Arabian brothel. No, this is not a plot thought up by Chris Chan. While pursuing two of Eggman’s robots, Knuckles finds himself walking into the raunchy establishment, filled with belly dancers aplenty – before promptly hightailing it out of there. As you’d expect, this whole segment was cut out from the dub entirely. Maybe they wanted to keep all the sex appeal contained to Rouge’s character only?

#3: Snake Lady’s Got a Gun

“Dragon Ball Z” (1989-96)
Goku’s journey across Snake Way had all kinds of crazy caveats to it, but none as wild as the time he ended up meeting Princess Snake and her royal attendants. Determined to keep Goku at bay for as long as possible, one even suggesting they play a game…of Russian Roulette. It’s played off as comedic, even though she goes right on ahead and ends up pulling a Raditz and exiting the series early. While there’s plenty of violence to be seen across the original dub, apparently poppin’ a cap in a snake woman’s cranium was a step too far for the censors.

#2: The Disney Chop

“Macross Dynamite 7” (1997)
The Macross saga has not had the easiest time finding mainstream success aside from within the unflinching hearts of the most hardcore fans. That being said, the franchise in its original format has slowly been dripping onto streaming services, so there’s never been a better time to enjoy Macross and its many, many, many, many, many spin-offs and sequels. Except for this specific OVA. Why? Because it originally featured the character of Mylene, an underage girl, being drugged and assaulted. Naturally, Disney+ wasn’t going to allow that to fly, and so the scene suffered the chop of the mouse.

#1: Yugi’s Mom

“Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters” (2000-04)
Wait, Yugi has a mother?! That’s right. All these years and you just thought it was just him and his grandpa, but nope, Yugi does indeed have a living breathing parent…just not in the dub. For reasons apparently most unfathomable, all her scenes from the original were cut, painting the picture that Yugi’s parents just didn’t exist. Did 4Kids send them to the shadow realm or something? Hang on...why does she look strikingly similar to Kaiba? Oh sweet Ra!
Which of these banned scenes do you think should have been kept in? Let us know in the comments!