'Attack on Titan' News: China Bans Anime Because of Fighting, Anti-Authority Themes

By Claudia Balthazar First Posted: Jun 11, 2015 04:23 PM EDT

China banned the famous "Attack on Titan" because of its plots about fighting against authority.

According to Mary Sue, the communist country banned more than 30 other popular anime titles for the same reasons and because many of them feature violence, murder and dark themes.

Chinese Ministry of Culture official Liu Qiang mentioned that more titles will be added to the long list of banned materials in the nation.

The People's Republic has been targeting websites that stream Japanese animation and have already warned 29 websites of its new rules. People who want to stream online animation now have to get approval from the government first.

Businesses, activists and artists are hurting from the recent bans in China. About eight companies ran out of business after the government banned its content, according to Kotaku East via Kyodo.

The Chinese government said it banned certain material because the shows "lure minors to delinquency and glamorize violence, pornography, and terrorist activities."

Yet, many fans called the latest bans anti-Japanese and an act of censorship.

The crackdown on online content went into effect on April 1 where series on the list would be banned from all forms of distribution in China including print, Daily Dot notes.

Other anime on the list of banned content include:

"Terror in Resonance"

"Blood-C"

"Highschool of the Dead"

"Ergo Proxy"

"Parasyte"

"The Skull Man"

"Another"

"Inferno Cop"

"Afro Samurai"

"Tokyo Ghoul √A"

"Sword Art Online II"