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Naruto is undoubtedly one of the world's oldest and most popular anime series. Its appeal in and outside of Japan is unsurprising. However, with popularity comes scrutiny, and Naruto was not spared the inspection of the onlookers. Many scenes have had to be toned down over the years to comply with censorship standards in many countries, including Japan.
Throughout the anime that has spanned over 20 years in Japan and other parts of the world, there were several scenes that got omitted and several instances which got changed. While some fans may argue that censoring some of those parts was necessary because the anime's target audience was largely children, it is equally crucial to recognize that it diminished the authentic experience of the anime.
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Reflecting on the many experiences of fans, this article will look at the 10 particular scenarios that were censored in the anime version of Naruto around the world.
As always, it is crucial to consider that the list is ultimately subjective and fans can always have their own opinions regarding the content thereof.
Orochimaru's lab and 9 other instances where censorship affected Naruto negatively
1) Blood censorship
The Uchiha massacre was one of Naruto's most devastating incidents. However, in certain dubbed versions, the animators carefully showed only particular parts of the tragic aftermath, censoring blood and bodies entirely from the scenes.
The censorship weakened the impact of the scene on Sasuke because it was the death of his clan that pushed the latter to become strong and follow the path that he did.
2) Neji's wound against Kidomaru
It is safe to conclude that when Neji fought Kidomaru in the original version of Naruto, he barely survived. Kidomaru certainly damaged Neji's shoulder while attempting to pierce the latter's heart, as depicted in the anime.
However, in order to censor it, only a mark near Neji's shoulder was shown. Unfortunately, this was not the case in the manga, where it was explicitly illustrated that Kidomaru had pierced Neji's shoulder in and out.
This is a huge letdown because when someone is battling a tough enemy, showcasing the serious damage that the latter is doing adds to the thrill and enjoyment of the fight.
3) Orochimaru's lab
Orochimaru is known to be one of the most cruel and formidable villains in all of Naruto. He is known to perform experiments on humans and for that he often collected subjects from all over the world.
As such, in the manga, this aspect was clearly showcased where the lab focused on humans hanging from boards on whom Orochimaru was performing all sorts of tests. However, this aspect was censored in the anime as instead of showing the bodies, they only showed jars filled with various organs that were removed.
The issue with censoring scenes such as this is that when there is a villain as treacherous as Orochimaru, displaying the human body magnifies the intensity of his cruelty. Simply showing the organs for a split second does not convey the same impression, as in most cases, anime watchers will probably even miss the content.
4) Shino vs Zaku
Shino fought against Zaku during the chunin exam back in the original Naruto. Up until that point, there were doubts regarding Shino's strength, but this fight sort of cemented that he was smart as well as strong.
As it turned out, Shino used his bugs to close the air tubes in the palms of Zaku, which in turn affected his chakra flow. Now, in the anime it was shown that despite the clogging, the arms and limbs of Zaku were still fine.
However, in the manga it was shown that Zaku got his arms ripped apart due to the pressure from the chakra inside the body. Now, an argument can be made that showing arms ripping apart might be a bit too brutal.
However, it also makes logical sense that extreme internal pressure causes the same. In a way, the manner in which it was portrayed in the anime was anti-climatic, which sort of diluted down Shino's true strength.
5) Kimimaro
Kimimaro was a special shinobi in Naruto, who had the ability to manipulate his bones to create weapons. He could basically extend the bones out of his body and adapt to several fighting situations.
As it turns out, the bone transformations in the anime were much less toned down. The bones came out of his body, but his skin and everything else remained intact in the anime.
In the manga, however, the bone transformations were quite brutal and it involved muscle tears and bleeding. This is another instance where changes made on account of excess blood and gore is understandable.
However, it is also true that a bone simply coming out of one's body makes absolutely no sense. The anime could have very well omitted the bleeding, but it would have felt much more authentic and fearsome if the open muscles and ripped skin were showcased during the transformations.
6) Konohamaru's S*xy Jutsu
This was arguably one of the most hilarious aspects of Naruto, that was completely omitted from the anime version on account of censorship. As it happens, Konohamaru used the same S*xy Jutsu that Naruto is known to use, but instead transformed into Sasuke and Sai in front of Sakura.
Now, this was one of the funniest aspects of the manga, however, the fact that it was omitted completely from the anime sort of deprived the viewers from some light moments, especially more so when the S*xy Jutsu has been used several times in the anime itself.
So it made no sense that when it came to this particular instance, it got removed.
7) Asuma's smoking
Asuma Sarutobi was one of the most iconic characters in Naruto. While there was no doubt that he was quite strong, the thing that separated him from his peers was his cigarette.
As such, during the anime, several times it could be found that Asuma was smoking. Unfortunately, to censor the same, Asuma's cigarette was never shown to be burning.
He always had cigarettes in his mouth, but its tip was always covered in grey ash instead of the red burning tobacco. This was another hilarious instance of censorship as it completely spoiled the fun.
In fact, it would have made no difference if he was handed a lollipop as having a plain cigarette in mouth looks very odd.
8) Nosebleed censorship
This is another instance along with the S*xy Jutsu in Naruto, where the anime subscribed to censorship guidelines. This instance, related to nosebleeds, was solely cropped out by the American version of the anime.
Usually, within the anime, whenever Naruto used his S*xy Jutsu, every character starting from the Third Hokage to Kakashi Hatake, ended up having a nosebleed. However, the American version felt that so much blood spraying out of the nose might be harmful for children to watch.
This is another aspect that made no sense, considering the bleeding was not at all harmful and sort of added onto comic relief, it felt a bit too unnecessary. Nosebleeds in anime are not uncommon, and most viewers are accustomed to them.
9) Naruto stabbing himself
Back in episode 6 of the original anime, there was an instance where Naruto was poisoned and was asked to return for treatment. As a result, Naruto ends up piercing his hand to let the poisoned blood flow out.
As it happens, the English version of the anime had issues with this, hence, they ended up omitting the scene completely. The problem with this is that Naruto stabbing himself was an instance where his personality as a stubborn young kid was showcased quite well.
Apart from that, this was also one of the instances where it showed that Naruto was not afraid of getting hurt as the Nine Tails chakra provided him intense healing.
Unfortunately, eliminating the stabbing part greatly ruined the scene, since it missed out on developing Naruto's never-give-up attitude while also making the Nine Tails healing less impactful.
10) Zabuza's sword
Zabuza was one of the most iconic characters in the original version of Naruto. He was one of the legendary swordsmen who was feared and revered across various villages.
However, the German dub of the anime completely removed the sword and replaced it with absolutely nothing. The hilarious part is that, in the German dub, Zabuza threatened others with just the back-end of the sword with no blade in front.
This has to be the worst censorship ever, as it turned such a brilliant personality into a complete joke.
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