Naruto was massively successful in Japan, to the point where it became a legitimate threat to One Piece, which had been dominating anime & manga sales for a long time. In many ways, Naruto was even more successful than One Piece, due to the fact that it managed to find a huge audience across the world. One Piece has only managed to acquire a cult following outside of Japan, while Naruto was appearing on Google's top search lists for years.

The problem facing the English localization of Naruto was the fact that the series is incredibly intense and action-packed from the very beginning. Naruto is essentially about child soldiers who are sent into battle against adults. We see people attacking each other as early as the first episode, while a ninja is slain at the end of the first major story arc.

Naruto managed to escape a lot of the ridiculous edits that were forced on its contemporaries, like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Dragon Ball Z, but it still had a lot of changes that were forced upon it for it to become broadcast worthy in America.

We are here today to look at all the times the Naruto anime and manga had to be censored outside of Japan.

16 Hazardous To Your Health

Shikamaru in Naruto

Hidan mortally wounds Asuma in battle and leaves him to perish in the arms of his former students. Shikamaru takes up Asuma's smoking habit as a means of coping with his pain. He later uses it as part of his revenge plot against Hidan, as a lit cigarette is used to ignite the explosive tags that bury him deep under the ground.

Shikamaru's smoking was censored in numerous forms. It was completely written out of the anime, which was for the best, as we may have ended up with a Sanji from One Piece situation where he was just eating a lot of lollipops. The official English version of the manga also removed the smoking as much as it could and just had him using the lighter. He was later allowed to smoke in the Boruto anime, as he was an adult by this point.

15 A Prank In Japan Censored Internationally

Kakashi in Naruto

There is a prank that is pulled by children in various countries across Asia that is called Kancho. This is when you clasp both of your hands together as if you were holding an invisible gun, with your two index fingers put forward as if they were the barrel of a revolver. You then stab someone in the backside using the fingers, while shouting "Kancho!"

Kakashi originally pulled this prank on Naruto during the initial bell test of Team Seven. He stabbed him in the behind with his fingers, as he was doing his best not to harm his students (as they were only trying to steal bells). The original English dub of the anime changed this scene so that there is an extended shot of Naruto's shocked face. It is meant to obscure where Kakashi poked him.

14 A Very Extreme Nosebleed

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Certain characters suffering from nosebleeds is a common trope in Japanese media. It has even been used as a plot device in some series, such as when they used Master Roshi's nosebleed blood to expose an invisible man in Dragon Ball, or when Sanji nearly ran out of blood after seeing mermaids for the first time in One Piece.

Naruto has its fair share of these characters who bleed from the nose at the sight of anything titillating; such as Ebisu, Jiraiya, and Sakura. The blood from these scenes was removed in the original English dub of Naruto. It was either digitally removed or the scene would be skipped. These scenes became less frequent over time, so there was less need for censorship.

13 Using English In Japan

via.Naruto.wikia.com

Western localizations tend to go either one of two ways; they can cut out all references to Japanese culture and replace them with English ones (like the Phoenix Wright series), or go full on and keep all of the Japan references, including having the voice actors using words like senpai and kawaii (like the Shin Megami Tensei & Persona series).

The Naruto localization removed or replaced all instances of the written Japanese language that appeared on the screen. This is a common thing that happens in almost all mainstream anime localizations. One example involves Naruto's registration form after he finally completes the Academy test. All of his answers were digitally edited so that they were in English. There are some instances where English text is written over the Japanese if it would be too difficult to remove.

12 Turning To The Bottle

via.JapaneseAnimeWiki.com

The first major story arc in Naruto was set in the Land of Waves. This arc is filled with gruesome violence, that was even-toned down in the transition from manga to anime in Japan. This arc is similar to the English version of the Saiyan Saga from Dragon Ball Z, as it required a lot of work and came with a certain amount of risk, due to how early on they happen in the story and how rough the action can get.

One of the first censorships required for the Land of Waves arc involved Tazuna, who was the old man who gave the protagonists the mission in the first place. He is inebriated when first encountered in the story, which we can see from the red shade of his face and the bottle he carries. These elements were removed in the initial dub, which made him straight-edge as a result.

11 The Color Red Is No Good

One way in which the Japanese version of the Naruto anime managed to tone down the action of the series was by using silhouettes and red backgrounds. This gave the viewer a general impression of what was going on, without needing to show the actual acts. The red of the background is also a helpful indicator that blood is being shed in the scene.

It seems that even this visual signifier was too much for the original English dub of Naruto, as the red backgrounds were turned blue in almost every one of their appearances.

10 Sometimes Even Swords Were Removed

Germany has earned a reputation for being one of the strictest countries when it comes to the censorship of its media. This is especially true for media that is produced in other countries, such as video games. Owning games like Doom and Carmageddon in Germany was like having much more dastardly items in your house until they were finally legalized.

The German dub of Naruto was forced to go to some strange places during the second broadcast of the show. Zabuza's giant broadsword had the blade digitally removed so that it appeared to be invisible. This included scenes when the sword was stuck in a tree and he was standing on the handle, which made him look like he was floating in mid-air.

9 Some Bodies Had To Be Removed

via: tvtropes.org

The Uchiha slaying is one of the most harrowing scenes in all of Naruto. Itachi Uchiha is ordered to eliminate all of the members of the family, as they are planning a coup against the rest of the village. He is able to spare his younger brother, Sasuke, at the cost of making him think that he performed the deed, for selfish reasons.

The destruction doesn't seem so bad in the English dub of the anime. All of the bodies were digitally removed, which means that Sasuke is just walking around an empty compound, instead of going past the bodies of relatives.

8 This Must've Been Too Graphic

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Zabuza is able to escape demise at the hands of Hatake Kakashi during their first battle due to the timely assistance of his ally, Haku. When it was obvious that Kakashi had the upper hand, Haku entered the battlefield under the guise of a Hunter-nin. He threw numerous needles into Zabuza's body, which made it seem as if he had perished. Haku is actually an expert with needles, to the point where he can attack numerous parts of the body without dealing lethal damage.

When Zabuza wakes up, he starts pulling the needles out of his body. This included several that were jammed through his neck and throat. This scene made it into the Japanese version of the anime, but it was censored in the English dub. The scene where he pulls out the needles from his neck is skipped.

7 Maybe It's Supposed To Be Candy?

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Smoking isn't treated nearly as harshly in Japan as it is in the west. As such, it isn't unusual to see adult characters smoking in anime intended for young children.

Naruto features a character named Asuma, who becomes far more important in the second half of the series. He is almost never seen without a lit cigarette in his mouth. The English dub kept the object but removed the lit part and the smoke coming from it. This was pretty much all they could do, short of removing it in every scene (which would have been far more difficult to pull off).

6 Naruto's Congratulations Was Removed

via.PrinceofTennis.wikia.com

Slots on TV stations in Japan work differently than in America. The reason a lot of anime series have filler is so that they don't have to go off the air and lose a preferable slot (like a prime-time one), as it can immediately be taken over by another show, which may last for years.

As Naruto became more popular in Japan, it earned a prime-time TV slot. The 26th episode of Naruto opens up with Naruto thanking the audience for helping the show to become successful. He also mentions that they took the slot that was previously held by a show called Prince of Tennis. The reason he is allowed to mention the name of Prince of Tennis is that they are both owned by the same publisher and were both printed in Weekly Shonen Jump at around the same time. This entire segment was removed from the English dub.

5 If You Don't See It, It Didn't Happen

via.YouTube.com

The second part of the Chunin exam takes place in an area called the Forest of Death, which involves the various Genin teams trying to survive in a harsh environment, whilst also trying to steal scrolls from the others taking part. The test quickly takes a turn for the worse when it is revealed that Orochimaru has infiltrated the exam and is going after Sasuke.

Anko manages to work out that Orochimaru is the one who has snuck into the Forest of Death, as she was a former disciple of his. She manages to trap him against a tree by stabbing a kunai through her hand, which also goes through Orochimaru's hand. The scenes where you actually see the blade entering someone's flesh were removed in the English dub, though the reactions were kept.

4 They're Okay Everywhere Except The Neck

via youtube.com (Freex3r)

Zabuza wasn't the only person who was struck by Haku's needles. Sasuke also suffered a barrage of razor-sharp pieces of metal, when he tried to protect Naruto from being killed. It seemed as if Sasuke had been killed, which caused Naruto to go into a rage and tap into the power of the fox demon inside of him. It was later revealed that Haku had purposely missed all of Sasuke's vital areas, in the same way that he did to Zabuza.

This scene did appear in the English version of the anime, but the amount of blood and needles was severely toned down. This is especially true of the ones jutting out of Sasuke's neck, which were removed completely.

3 The First Battle

Via fabiansm.deviantart.com
Naruto maturing Ways Naruto Is WORSE Than Boruto

Naruto is notable for having one of the best first chapters of any manga series. It lures you into its setting and makes you curious about how all of the ninja techniques work, while also giving you an emotional attachment to the main character and his struggle.

The problem with the first chapter of Naruto is that it is also quite intense. This became a problem when the English dub of the first episode was produced, as a lot of the heavy scenes of combat between Iruka and Mizuki had to be toned down.

The main issue with this episode was the copious amounts of blood that was shed in the battle. It seemed to be ok when blood was seen at a distance, but any close-up shot had to be removed.

2 Changes To A Rock Lee Moment

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Rock Lee has a peculiar relationship with Might Guy, who is the leader of his ninja squad. The two of them have a close bond, due to their similar backgrounds and training methods, yet Guy has no problem punishing Lee when he acts out of line. Guy punches Lee square in the face when he discovers that he has been fighting the students in the year below him. These scenes were followed by Guy crying at the realization that he harmed Lee and the two of them quickly reconciled.

The original scene showed quite a bit of blood and it was removed in the original English dub of Naruto. It was replaced by a longer close-up of Guy's fist as it came towards him.

1 The Battle Between Rock Lee And Kimimaro

via.ScreenRant.com

There was one scene in the Naruto manga that fans predicted was going to cause trouble when it was finally adapted into the anime. It involves the fight between Rock Lee and Kimimaro. Lee drinks a bottle of liquid that he believes is medicine during the battle. It's actually a bottle of sake, which gets Lee leglessly inebriated. This allows Lee to use his Drunken Fist techniques, even though he is not aware that he can use them.

This scene was censored in different ways in both the English versions of the anime and manga. The sake is referred to as an Elixir and a Potion, with the name of the Drunken Fist being changed to Loopy Fist. The editing of these scenes makes it pretty obvious what is actually supposed to be happening.