12.17
Shinmai Maou no Testament—still running as of this writing—is not a good show for many reasons. The show revels in derivative light novel clichés and sleazy fanservice that only the most desperate teenage boy could enjoy in earnest. Our main character Basara breastfeeding on his stepsister or massaging cake batter on a succubus’s ass become regular occurrences. Boobs jiggle more than there are breaths from my lungs, shaking and quivering as much as I presume the intended audience’s right hand is doing. But any sexual release from the broadcast is a hollow pursuit, as what this show loves more than bizarre sexual acts is blinding censorship.
I know complaining about censorship in ecchi anime is like yelling at clouds for blocking the sky. They all have beams of light in the way of any nipple, or dark matter in the place of ass. But Testament takes it one step further. Any hints of perversion are bowdlerized with yellow tape and chibified pictures of the characters warning us to not look. For those moments, the show shifts into abstract territory, with nothing but the viewer’s imagination to discern what’s going on in front of them. In time, the censoring went from annoying to amusing to absolutely Orwellian. At one point, I wondered if this show had an inner struggle going on. One side wanted to show all of this decadence while another demanded it be gone from their sight.
Of course to any weathered anime viewer, they are naught but only the most cynical attempts to drive the curious viewer to buy the blu-ray. These were only a vain cry to squeeze a few thousand yen from the people who could willingly buy these, before more savvy connoisseurs would just download them off of some torrent site. But why were they so abundant? I saw the uncensored clips, and there was nothing to suggest a more thorough suppression than the standard jigglyfest. And as the closest thing this blog has to an occultist, I didn’t sense any bizarre symbols of Illuminati hints from the blu-ray rips.
Indeed, the censors overstep their boundaries at points and even block kissing from being seen. Is this a mistake on their part, an artistic statement criticizing this discretion, or the producers’ legitimate belief that their audience is not mentally prepared to see kissing? Were the producers hoping to market this anime to nearby caliphates and prepared in advance? I want to believe there are better intentions than that. But there will always be that suspicion, one that will eventually be confirmed if a leading member of Islamic State is seen carrying a Mio Naruse body pillow.