A court in Russia today banned several popular anime franchises, including Death Note, Tokyo Ghoul and Inuyashiki, stating that Russian teenagers recreate violent scenes depicted in the animations. State prosecutors had also asked the St. Petersburg court to ban Naruto, Elfen Lied and Ishuzoku Reviewers (Interspecies Reviewers) in December 2020.
"Each episode contains cruelty, murder and violence in general," declared the St. Petersburg judicial system in an announcement made on December 18, 2020, which had registered five lawsuits against 49 internet sites. St. Petersburg's Kolpinsky District Court ruled on January 20 that the distribution of Death Note and Inuyashi has been banned from two websites, while Tokyo Ghoul has been banned from one website, according to the court system.
The state news agency RIA Novosti reported that the judicial system specified that the bans only affect the internet addresses listed. The court continued to hear arguments about the other three franchises mentioned, as well as the song based on memes by popular Russian rapper MORGENSHTERN, titled “I Ate Grandpa (СЪЕЛ ДЕДА)”.
Russian parents have campaigned constantly to ban Death Note since 2013, after a fifteen-year-old girl with a collection of the manga from the franchise committed suicide. This year, Saint Petersburg media reported that a teenage Death Note fan had jumped from a window in a white dress shirt and red tie, the same style as the franchise's protagonist.
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