The latest trailer for strategy JRPG Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny omitted several female characters, leading to concerns the game will be censored. We investigated further.
We previously reported on the game’s English story trailer. Sankanku Complex reports (Editor’s Note: NSFW link, reader discretion is advised), the game’s Japanese story trailer seems longer, omitting several female characters (thanks Immahnoob!) You can find both the English Japanese trailers below.
It does seem strange to have the Japanese trailer be longer, especially when a prior trailer discussing the series history and new features cut all footage from prior Disgaea games in the European trailer.
The new trailer also cut several female characters including Melodia, one of the characters with a revealed English voice actress. The character’s clothes feature deep cleavage, and the character art at the end of the English trailer seems to censored.
While the editing of her clothes and omission in the trailer may lend to the theory the game will be censored in the west, we also see that tubby king Misedor did not appear voiced either (though he does appear in battle), along with several female characters with far more modest designs not making the cut (who have not had English voice actresses confirmed for them).
Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it be that the English lines for those characters (or at least the lines NISA would want to use in the trailer) had not yet been recorded or approved. The voice actor and actress could also simply have had other commitments to attend to before being able to record lines for the trailer.
In addition, the official English website shows Japanese screenshots of the game [1, 2], including a busty female Armor Knight. We also see the censored Melodia artwork across the website, and she has not appeared on the Characters subpage; which does have several entries “Coming Soon.”
A glimpse of her original costume remains in the “Preorders are available!” news thumbnail; artwork depicting all the characters standing together as past games have had.
On the product page, we see the censored artwork on the English box art. However, we also see very convenient light reflections right across Melodia’s chest in the poster and SteelBook of the Limited Edition (though not on the collector’s box, as it was likely too small to warrant concern).
We also see the reflection right across the image of what seems to be a female Minotaur. The Japanese screenshots show the character seemingly uncensored, and what is likely to be large cleavage.
One final note is that the game is releasing in Japan on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in Japan; yet only on the latter in the west. Due to Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) policy on censoring sexual Japanese content.
In late December 2018, SIE Japan Asia President Atsushi Morita stated the then recent spate of censorship of anime-styled sexual content on PlayStation 4 games had been “to meet global standards.” This censorship was seemingly forced in Japan.
This led to Japanese developers to release on other platforms, or create different versions. In the case with D3’s “Breast-Expansion Dungeon RPG“ Omega Labyrinth Life, the game was released uncensored on the Nintendo Switch. A censored version for the PlayStation 4 titled Labyrinth Life (omitting the “Omega” which is stylized as a busty girl in the logo) was released.
If Disgaea 6 is avoiding the PlayStation 4 in the west, it could mean two things. Firstly, that SIE’s censorship policy is beginning to soften in Japan, while remaining rigorous in the west. It may also mean that the developer decided to skip the western PlayStation 4 release if it meant heavy censorship would have to be conducted.
If there had been demands to censor the game from Nintendo or NISA, then it stands to reason NIS would have censored the game and gone ahead with the PlayStation 4 release in the west. Nonetheless, we cannot rule out dealings between those involved that we would have no knowledge of.
In summation, we feel it is unlikely- but not impossible- the game has censorship based purely on the current evidence. We propose that censorship of Melodia’s costume in the western box art was to ensure the game could still be sold on store shelves and at major online retailers without objection.
The character’s omission from the trailer may be intentional, to avoid drawing ire from those who would object to sex appeal in video games. These is also a chance the voice actress’ lines had yet to be recorded or approved.
However, censorship of sexual content in NISA games have happened before [1, 2]. Seraphina from Disgaea 5 also featured clothes with deep cleavage, and remained uncensored.
On a slightly different note, Disgaea 4 Complete+ featured censored dialogue [1, 2]. A trap-like demon (a creature with a feminine appearance but a male) was referred to as a trap in the original PlayStation 3 version of the game, with the line cut in the Complete+ edition.
Nonetheless, the omission and censorship thus far draw reasonable skepticism. The use of Japanese screenshots on the English website is also likely due to those scenes not yet being fully translated; as we have seen in past English trailers using Japanese gameplay. As seen with Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE Encore, some may believe this is an attempt to hide any censorship the game has undergone.
We shall keep you informed as we learn more.
Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny is launches January 28th in Japan for Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4. In North America and Europe, it launches Summer 2021 for Nintendo Switch.