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Despite China being a huge market for the anime industry, as observed in the case of Demon Slayer, the country does not back down when it comes to censorship. Previously, China's censorship came under the limelight when the anime's second season was released in the country. However, it seems like the focus has shifted back to it as the anime's third season recently got released in the country.
The Chinese government knows that anime tend to contain elements that not be pleasant for every viewer to watch. Hence, the government actively censors anime that may cause discomfort to the viewers. This includes anime with blood, gore, violence, and fanservice. Some anime that got censored in China include Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, Chainsaw Man, etc.
Demon Slayer: China's censorship ruins Doma and Mitsuri's moments
Previously when Demon Slayer: Entertainment District arc was released in China, the anime got heavily censored due to its partial nudity. Several characters like Tengen Uzui's wives - Makio, Suma, and Hinatsuru - and Upper Moon 6 Daki got some makeovers. While Makio, Suma, and Hinatsuru's clothes were modified to cover their bodies more, Daki received an all-new pair of pants.
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In addition, China often censors blood in anime by recoloring them to other colors like white and black, which often causes some stir in the anime community.
Nevertheless, the same sitch has been followed in Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village arc, as the anime's first episode was recently released in Mainland China.
Following the anime's release on Bilibili, Reddit user u/papaya_banana uploaded a comparison post showing the difference between the original and Mainland China versions. As expected, the anime's first episode was heavily censored to hide blood and nudity.
The censored version first tried to hide any form of blood shown in the anime. In the episode, Akaza is shown hitting Doma with his fist. This causes Doma to bleed. However, in the censored version, the blood's red color has been edited to black. Meanwhile, in a later scene where Tanjiro bleeds from his nose after being enticed by Mitsuri, the blood is completely removed.
Fans found the censorship for blood to be senseless as the anime was about slaying demons. Thus, the bleeding of characters is somewhat guaranteed. In addition, the demons use Blood Demon Art techniques. However, with China's censorship, the techniques would no longer make sense.
On the other hand, fans had mixed feelings about Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji's censorship. Earlier, they were impressed by the censorship, as instead of just adding mist to the bath, the animators added a bath towel for Mitsuri. This seemed like a much bigger effort than adding mist or even sunrays to hide the character's body.
However, fans soon realized that the censorship was quite odd, given that no one would wear a bath towel while bathing. Meanwhile, other fans liked the censorship as it gave Mitsuri a better look than the one originally shown in the anime. Demon Slayer's censored version made Mitsuri look better, which kind of went against what the censorship team might have been trying to do.
