Vinland Saga has always been a story that fans find themselves resonating with in many ways. The pacing, storytelling, and characters are all spread out in a way that makes it deserving of the top spot. Be it the manga or the anime, each and every chapter and episode grips the fans with astounding storytelling in expressing a narrative of a world that could be.
There are many who criticize anime and manga for some reason or another, but it would seem that they too have found a united front against censorship. When it comes to Chinese censorship, things are always more unexpected.
Blood can get changed from red to white, and people with revealing clothing find a change no matter how popular the anime may be. This isn’t limited to manga and anime either, spreading even in games.
Vinland Saga‘s Chinese Censorship Does the Unexpected
Censorship has always been a sensitive topic of discussion. While censorship laws in some countries are strict, to say the least, they have never really interfered with the plot of the story. Vinland Saga, however, might be one of the unfortunate animes to find itself in the midst of a botched storyline because of censorship that took away an important aspect of a scene (via AniNewsAndFacts on X).
During the end of the second season, Olmar is seen talking to a girl who’s family is trying to trick him so as to get his father’s fortune. During that scene, the girl seems to be covered only by a blanket while conversing with Olmar. Although there are not any s*xual connotations to that scene, her lack of clothing became a concern for the Chinese censorship.
While a way to fix the problem at hand would be to cover up the girl or add clothes to her, perhaps even cut just to her face, they chose not to do any of that. Instead, they did something unexpected by cutting the girl out completely.
Vinland Saga’s Scene Took Away a Major Conversation’s Meaning
The scene in question has farmers dying from battle wounds as one of them tries to get Olmar to take care of his wife and daughter. He is talking to the daughter, who is also trying to convince him to stay on the farm. Now that the girl is completely removed from the scene, it looks as if Olmar is talking to himself and his sword, his voice echoing in an empty room.
No wonder birth rates are in decline. Women are getting Thanos snapped over there.
— WIREDRayne (@WiredRayne) May 24, 2024
I haven’t seen Vinland Saga yet, but how the hell would this scene work?
— KevinM21 (@KevinMatrix21) May 24, 2024
censoring out the ENTIRE girl is something else wow
— MARCTHEPROPHET!🌟🇭🇹 (@MARCTHEPROPHET_) May 24, 2024
So he talks to himself in this scene?
— Anime fact of the day (@Eevee297) May 24, 2024
turns out, Olmar was talking to his hand the whole time
— Omar🇵🇸🍉🍉 (@Omarxxxddd) May 24, 2024
Having an entire girl removed in the name of censorship isn’t something fans had expected at all. The value of that scene goes away and so does its importance. The sequence makes no sense at all as the conversation is more ghostly than anything else.
Needless to say, fans were more than amused by the censorship and couldn’t understand how the scene would work without all its elements being present at all.
Vinland Saga is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
