Top 10 Most Censored Naruto Moments

While this long-running franchise is no stranger to brutal, drawn-out battles for survival, one moment in the manga proved too violent for the anime adaptation. When Neji squares off against Kidomaru of the Sound 4, he sustains a severe shoulder wound from the villain's chakra-infused arrow. In both versions, Kidomaru was aiming to kill, but you really only get that impression in the manga. There, the arrow slices clean through the Byakugan-wielder’s shoulder, leaving a sizable hole even Tsunade would struggle to patch up. When the scene was adapted for the anime, the wound was toned down significantly. While it doesn’t carry quite the same intensity as a result, it does at least make it more believable the prideful Genin survived such a lethal encounter.

As if this snake-like villain isn’t formidable enough, his inhumane experiments allow him to take on new hosts or develop forbidden jutsu. Naturally, his secret lab is full of horrifying examples of these operations. The manga doubles-down on the horror elements of this setting, but the anime had to gloss over implications. Instead of chained up bodies awaiting their own horrific procedures, Orochimaru’s lab contained jars of various organs already removed from their hosts. It gets the same point across, for our money, it lacks the same impact.

We always knew this sunglass-wearing shinobi was stronger than he appeared, but no one expected him to also be this brutal. In their fight in the preliminaries of the Chunin Exams, the undercover sound ninja is rendered defenseless thanks to Shino’s bugs clogging the air tubes in his palms. In the anime, the fight ends with Zaku’s arms limp and useless, but otherwise fine. The manga, however, sees the sound ninja's arms completely blown off due to the built up pressure. Yeah, we get why this was changed - it’s hard to look at the insect-based ninja the same after such a ferocious showcase.

This scene is noteworthy for being censored not just once, but twice. In the flashback to Kaiza’s torture and death at the hands of Gato’s mob, the manga sees his arms completely torn off. This was evidently too gruesome for the anime, which left him with his arms, but compromised by stringing him up in a crucifixion pose. When the English broadcast version came around, the scene was deemed too brutal still, and so his damaged arms were left hanging by his side. From no arms, to arms tied up, to arms still lifeless but hanging to his side, Kaiza’s corpse sure has been through a lot, but at least each version left him in a better state than the last.

With the ability to manipulate his own skeletal structure for any combat situation, it’s no wonder this bone-wielding villain is one of the most memorable in “Naruto’s” lengthy catalogue of foes.
However, the true nature of his abilities didn’t quite make the jump from manga to anime. The process of removing bonelike weapons from his body appears much grislier in the manga, with ample blood and scarring involved. The anime justifiably toned this down, and while it does take away some of the darker implications of the character, Kimimaro is still left plenty intimidating. Scarring or no, his boney exterior is enough to make us hesitate to jump into a fight with him.

The sexy-jutsu exists as a passable, if groan-worthy, running gag throughout “Naruto,” but one instance in the manga went several steps too far for the anime. In an attempt to impress Sakura, Konohamaru makes a jutsu not of the usual scantily-clad lady, but of Sasuke and Sai, presumably nude, in a compromising position together. If that weren’t weird enough, Konohamaru was just an early teenager at this point in the series. The English release of the manga silhouetted the panel, but the bizarre context remained. And as for the anime, the scene was omitted entirely.

While smoking was present throughout “Naruto’s” early days, it only became an issue when, following in his mentor’s footsteps, the manga saw a teenage Shikamaru take up the habit. The anime removed this bit, but managed to retain the spirit of the storyline by having him instead carry around Asuma’s lighter. Notably, this changes the scene where the brilliant-but-uninspired Chunin buries Hidan - the final bomb is set off by this lighter instead of a cigarette. It’s not quite as poetic, but for what it’s worth, this censorship manages to retain the intent of the original better than most.

You don’t need the Byakugan to see why this was censored. To protect the secret of their hidden eye-based jutsu, the Hyuga clan each bear a mark that seals the power of their bloodline. In the manga, the seal bears a striking resemblance to a similar symbol that has extremely negative connotations in parts of the world. While it’s also a holy symbol in certain religions, it’s other implications were too great to overlook, and so it was adjusted to a simple X in the anime adaptation. Regardless of the censoring, it’s hard not to agree that leaving the seal as it is in the manga would have been more distracting than it was worth.

The original English broadcast of the series began running into issues with the amount of blood and violence as early as episode 6. When Naruto is poisoned and told he must return to the village for treatment, he instead slices open the wound to let the tainted blood leave his system. It’s one of the most illustrative characterizations of the young ninja in these early episodes, but the English broadcast removed much of what made the scene great. By replacing the blade’s impact and much of the blood with lengthened close ups of the rest of the team, the impact just isn’t the same. The intent of the act remains, but without the visual, it’s nothing more than a hollow replication of an iconic moment.

Germany’s initial dub of Naruto made some bizarre choices in its localization - like removing bodies from a scene where the bloodshed is completely integral to the story - but nothing leaves us scratching our heads more than outright removing Zabuza’s sword. You heard that right - the German dub took away the weapon of one of the major villains of the first arc. What did they replace it with, you ask? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It’s completely ridiculous to see Zabuza threaten others with a seemingly invisible weapon, or float in mid-air when he’s supposed to be standing on his sword’s hilt. It’s absurd, makes no sense, and goes down as one of the most egregious examples of censorship we’ve ever seen.