“Some things can get censored”: Hell’s Paradise Director was Scared MAPPA Would Remove Some of the Best Parts of Yuji Kaku’s Magnum Opus
When it comes to adapting erotic and grotesque scenes from the manga, anime studio usually avoids it due to censorship. However, it is a completely different case with Mappa. Mappa is known for giving justice to the manga by adapting every sequence of it as it is, or even making it better than the source material.
The same concerns were faced by one of the directors of Mappa when adapting Hell’s Paradise. Makita from Mappa discussed the effort involved in animating Hell’s Paradise. He explained how the staff focused on colors and creature designs.
According to him, they faced challenges with the erotic and grotesque scenes due to censorship. Here’s a closer look at Makita’s comment on how they adapted the erotic scenes from Hell’s Paradise.
Mappa’s Director on Adapting Erotic and Grotesque Scenes in Hell’s Paradise
In an interview with Crunchyroll at Anime Expo 2023, the interviewer questioned Makita about how in his previous interview with RealSound magazine, he mentioned that he was drawn to Kaku-sensei’s manga because of its erotic and grotesque visuals.
Now that the first 13 episodes of the anime are done, he was asked if the visuals turned out the way he wanted and if he is happy with the results. Makita said Mappa’s staff worked hard on the colors and how the creatures looked.
They got very close to his visual goals. Adapting the erotic and grotesque visuals was tough because of possible censorship, but many of those elements made it into the anime. They kept creating without giving in to the regulations and made it exactly how they wanted it to be.
“Makita: The staff put a lot of effort and work into the colors and how the creatures were presented. We were able to get very close to what I wanted to achieve visually. When it comes to adapting those erotic and grotesque visuals, it’s very difficult because some things can get censored or regulated, but we were able to put a lot of those elements into the anime.
We were able to keep going and not run away from what we wanted to create because of the regulations. We were able to make what we really wanted to make.” – Cruchyroll’s interview with Makita at Anime Expo 2023
It would have been a worse choice by Mappa if they had chosen to trim the erotic and grotesque from Hell’s Paradise. The anime became a huge hit because Mappa stayed true to its manga and did a great job in the animation department.
Even though some studios have restrictions, they managed to adapt erotic and grotesque visuals despite censorship. It’s impressive how they followed the rules without compromising their vision.
You can watch Hell’s Paradise on the Crunchyroll streaming platform.
