A meeting of the British Board of Film Classification has put a halt to the release of Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid. The reasoning for this was due to the anime showing “children engaged in sexual activity” which violates the Video Recordings Act of 1984 along with the board’s guidelines. Here’s the statement that was given regarding the series.
“Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid [Season 1, Episodes 1 -12] is a Japanese anime series submitted for DVD classification with an 18 request. Two of the main characters are described as being 15-years-old and 16-years-old respectively. They are shown engaging in sexual activity, both with each other and with other characters. They are also sexualised. Sections of the submission were viewed by the Chief Executive, the Head of DEA, the Head of Compliance and the Compliance Manager. It was concluded that the submission is not in violation of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 but that the scenes showing the children engaged in sexual activity, or otherwise being sexualised, are in violation of the ‘harm’ provisions of the Video Recordings Act 1984 and the BBFC’s Guidelines which prohibit portrayals of children in sexualised or abusive contexts. Accordingly, a general cuts list has been issued instructing the distributor to remove all such material throughout.”
So what do all of you think about it?
