Funimation: Evangelion 3.33 coming out February 2 2016

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

So in Europe an 18+ rating would be the equivalent of a US R rating?

Depends what gave it that 18+ rating. There are slightly different standards of decency we've come to accept. For example, England finds certain words offensive that we Americans would find the same words funny and/or playful. I think our tolerances to the concept of violence might be different as well.

Also, the rating "PG-13" (as well as the ratings "G," "PG," "R," and "NC-17,") belongs to the MPAA, so Funimation can't rate anything using those symbols themselves. They need the MPAA to rate that for them. If I recall right, the other NTE movies ave been rated "PG-13" by the MPAA, so this should also be rated by that same organization. Other anime's released in the US simply gave their approximate equivalent rating to a movie or TV show, resulting in "13+" symbols to indicate how appropriate the distributors thought the media was for children. These are used because the media was not rated by the MPAA.

All that being said, Anno's been known to go off the rails for his final theatrical Eva installments. The original OA show coasts on a generalized "PG-13"/"TV-14" aesthetic throughout, but I've absolutely no idea what The End of Evangelion would receive if it were rated by the MPAA. I tend to think of it as one of the best "NC-17" movies never rated by the MPAA.

Eva Q does seem to be exploring the blurry areas between MPAA's "PG-13" and "R" ratings. I don't know if Shin Eva will be more explicit in its content or not.

[robersora]

^
As a rule of thumb, in terms of rating media, I'd say American rating systems are stricter when it comes to nudity and sexuality, in turn Europe has a stricter stance concerning violence.
So an exploding Kaworu head might be enough to warrant an 18 rating.

[Bagheera]

Kaworu's head exploding is all that comes to mind, but that surely isn't any worse than Unit 02's dismemberment.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

^ Unit 02 isn't as identifiably human as Kaowru. To a lot of people, these Eva Units look like giant mechs. Dismembering Unit 02 isn't anymore violent in the eyes of many as the Gypsy Jeager getting smashed up in the beginning of Pacific Rim.

That being said, I don't know what rating Manga Ent. gave Eva Ha in its UK release.

Another thing to consider is the potential for lawsuits, especially around adult-oriented cartoons. Parents see saturated colors trapped inside thick outlines or wrapped around 3-D computer models and immediately think "I should take my kids out to see that." When a local theater ran Evangelion 2.0, the theater gave it a rating equivalent to "R" just to be safe, stating that no one under the age of 17 will be admitted without an adult. (I forget if the theater demanded that the adult would need to be a parent or legal guardian, though.)

[jcmoorehead]

That being said, I don't know what rating Manga Ent. gave Eva Ha in its UK release.

The previous films have been rated 15 by the BBFC. It's not up to Manga Entertainment, the films have to go to the BBFC to be certified. Same as with video games, it goes to the BBFC by law and is given a rating. Some things can be exempt.

It could be the dismemberment, I know some places can be funny about that when it comes to people.

[pwhodges]

Jo is rated (12) "Contains moderate violence and bloody imagery" in the UK, and Ha is rated (15) "Contains strong gore and moderate sexualised nudity".

[Ray]

Kaworu's head exploding is all that comes to mind, but that surely isn't any worse than Unit 02's dismemberment.

Or Shinjis infamous fap-session.

@freaky

Seriously? 3.0 I could see with an R-Rating. But 2.0? That's mild compared to the usual Michael Bay transformers fare that gets a PG-13 rating when it clearly should get an R.

[BlueBasilisk]

2.0 did have several nude shots of Asuka and Rei. Maybe it was that?

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

I think all we really see are the buns of the ladies. There's some playful nipple-hiding of Asuka, but no real explicit full-frontal. I think it was just the theater owner not desperately not wanting to refund angry parents who confused the movie for something else entirely. Giving it a policy matching that of an "R" rating helps in that regard.

The movie wasn't actually rated "R," though. Both Jo and Ha were officially given the parental guidelines "TV 14," which is labeled on the back of cases for the US releases of Funimation's DVDs and Blu-rays. I'm not sure if Eva Q will be the one to break that trend, though.

[Reichu]

Unit 02 isn't as identifiably human as Kaowru. To a lot of people, these Eva Units look like giant mechs. Dismembering Unit 02 isn't anymore violent in the eyes of many as the Gypsy Jeager getting smashed up in the beginning of Pacific Rim.

The viscera are clearly organic and not mechanical, so... really poor contrast. You honestly think a rating's board would think any better of the Eva-02 scene that, say, a lengthy one focusing on the gruesome torture and evisceration of some other non-hominid but identifiably sentient (i.e., feeling) life form?

[Bagheera]

The viscera are clearly organic and not mechanical, so... really poor contrast. You honestly think a rating's board would think any better of the Eva-02 scene that, say, a lengthy one focusing on the gruesome torture and evisceration of some other non-hominid but identifiably sentient (i.e., feeling) life form?

They might. I mean, ratings boards aren't exactly known for being rational; the show clearly identifies the Evas as human beings, and we know that Kyoko is the soul of Unit 02, but will a ratings board pay attention to that? All they see is a mecha being eviscerated. People paying attention realize that that's horrible, and a gruesome assault on a human being, but are the ratings boards doing that? I suspect not. They should be, but doublethink is a thing.

Kaworu is recognizable as a person. Unit 02 is not. The show doesn't support that distinction, but ordinary people won't understand that. So I can see what Freaky's getting at, even if I (and he, I suspect) don't agree.

[unz]

They were likely to pay attention to it and whoever coloured everything used anything but red not to lose any bit of gore which would be otherwise censored. The shots are so narrow and everything is so crammed you can't see shit and some previous kills focused on implications outside the frame, like a rain of blood the first time an eva is killed etcetcetc

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

The viscera are clearly organic and not mechanical, so... really poor contrast. You honestly think a rating's board would think any better of the Eva-02 scene that, say, a lengthy one focusing on the gruesome torture and evisceration of some other non-hominid but identifiably sentient (i.e., feeling) life form?

We weren't discussing a ratings board, rather just one theater owner's policy on the screening of Eva Ha in his theater. He treated the film with the policy he treats a film with an "R" rating, just so there wasn't any confusion as to how much Eva Ha wasn't a kids show for the whole family.

As for an actual ratings board, Unit 02's dismemberment might be classified by them as "Sci-Fi Violence." It's graphic in that we see brains peeking out of the skull. But the animation aesthetic used can do strange things to the grotesquery of the image. Evangelion's animation style really doesn't do much to highlight gore as much as the animation style for Akira would. Whereas the content pushes the "PG-13" rating quite a bit, the style of the animation might keep it from being a full-on "R" rating.

All this being said, Eva Ha was officially given the "TV-14" rating, though Funimation might have more to say about what the ratings are than the FCC or the MPAA. I'm also not sure if that "TV-14" rating only refers to the Toonami TV edit of the film or not. The "TV-14" rating is plastered on the un-edited DVD and Blu-ray case, sure, but Funimation also has a history of being a little loose as to what kind of "extra content," print or otherwise, is released with their products.

[Bagheera]

Seriously? 3.0 I could see with an R-Rating. But 2.0? That's mild compared to the usual Michael Bay transformers fare that gets a PG-13 rating when it clearly should get an R.

Apart from Kaworu's head exploding what in Q would warrant an "R" rating? In Ha there's all sorts of stuff: the Bardiel scene, the Zeruel scene, the sexualization of Asuka, nude shots of Rei, etc. What matches any of that in Q? I can't think of much of anything either as gory or as sexualized, apart from Kaworu exploding.

Q has some dark subject matter, but it's not terribly explicit. That's a big difference from Ha, which was essentially the opposite (though neither compare to EoE, which makes this ratings choice rather bizarre; as you note, the hospital scene should be enough to push things up a notch no matter your standards).

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

^ Eva Q's rating might be dependent on how far a ratings board's "Thematic Elements" tolerance goes. I'm thinking it'll land nicely in a "TV-14" rating anyway. "TV-14 for Sci-Fi Horror/Violence, Thematic Elements."

And yeah. EoE is that greatest "NC-17" anime never rated by the MPAA. Explicit Nudity, Graphic Sexual Elements, Sci-Fi Horror/Violence, and Thematic Elements. (Language too, I guess, if you watch the English dub.)

[Tumbling Down]

If I recall right, the other NTE movies ave been rated "PG-13" by the MPAA

Only the first one, actually. They didn't bother with the second one for some reason.
http://filmratings.com/search.html?film ... on&x=0&y=0

[Rosenakahara]

My 3.33 copy has been cancelled like 5-6 times so I think I'll just wait till its out in proper now.

[pwhodges]

My 3.33 copy has been cancelled like 5-6 times so I think I'll just wait till its out in proper now.

Where?? I pre-ordered on Amazon UK when first announced, and it was eventually cancelled, after a year or more (I don't recall exactly, though I suppose I could search this forum). I then re-pre-ordered when next "available" a couple of months ago, and that order stands.

[Rosenakahara]

On Amazon Uk, I keep ordering it and they keep cancelling it.

[pwhodges]

Well, I just checked, and my order is still there. Is this the item?