Social media users on X (formerly Twitter) are buzzing over leaked images revealing Russia’s extreme manga censorship methods. Instead of simply deleting or blurring content, authorities cover entire pages with thick black bars that look like supermarket barcodes.
When manga turns into “barcodes”
Recently, the international manga community stumbled upon a shocking truth about the Russian manga market. According to widely shared posts, censorship there has reached a new extreme. Instead of just hiding a few sensitive details, entire pages are sometimes covered with dense black stripes, making the content completely unreadable and turning the book into a collection of strange black blocks.
This phenomenon has actually existed for several years, but thanks to improved automatic translation on X, reports from Russian readers have recently reached the global community. A notable example shared on Reddit from the manga Oshi no Hada ga Areta shows pages mercilessly crossed out, leaving viewers shaking their heads in disbelief.
The consequences of strict regulations
Online investigators explain that this harsh censorship is directly linked to laws aimed at restricting content considered “LGBT propaganda,” which have been enforced in Russia since 2013. The Russian government claims these measures are necessary to protect young people. However, the line between protecting society and restricting freedom of expression is becoming increasingly blurred.
Censorship goes beyond gender issues. Netizens worry that banning certain topics so heavily sets a dangerous precedent for limiting other types of content. For example, the Japanese game Brave x Junction was banned in several countries with similar laws simply because it featured characters in bikinis.
Russia is not the only country with sensitive censorship laws, but the experience of having manga pages shredded into barcode-like black bars is truly horrifying for any manga fan.