MovieChat Forums > Makai toshi: Shinjuku (1988) Discussion > Rated 18 in the UK

Rated 18 in the UK

posted 16 years ago by mustard_monkey
4 replies | jump to latest

I remember when this came out on video in the UK and I was too young to watch it because it was an 18. I finally did get to watch it when it was released as a double feature on video with Wicked City. I could see why Wicked City was given and 18, but I remember being absolutely perplexed as to why they thought Monster City deserved one. There was a brief moment where the heroine is in danger of getting raped, but she is quickly rescued before anything happens to her. Apart from that, I don't even think the violence was particularly graphic and there was no blood. I notice that it's even a PG-13 in the US.

Does anyone have any clue as to why this was given an 18, or am I missing something?

[–] raggeddruid 16 years ago

It was given an 18 because of the attempted rape. Sexual violence is a very touchy subject in film in the UK.

[–] TheExpatriate700 14 years ago

That does seem rather odd, given how relatively tame this anime is. I might also point out the bit involving the semi-nude she demon. Still, I can't see why that would have put it above a fifteen.

[–] michaelkendall2 14 years ago

I think it was also an '18' at the time due to the excessive amount of bad language which was added to the dubbed version. The film would easily pass at '15' these days though.

[–] mustard_monkey 14 years ago

There was a history of Manga Video adding gratuitous amounts of swearing to their dubs to ensure a 'cooler' certificate of 15 or 18. I remember one particularly notorious example being Cyber City Oedo 808, which was actually hilarious. Devilman was also had some pretty comical swearing moments in it. However, the Cyber City videos were all rated 15, and Monster City I'm sure was nowhere near the level of that - it's quite hard to get an 18 on language alone I think, even back then.

On the sexual violence point, I'm very familiar with the BBFC's policies and I'm certain that the attempted rape in this film is nowhere near an 18 level. I'd even say it would have passed at 15 if not even 12, since it's only really even *implied* that they want to rape her, and they don't even get near actually doing anything at all. There are 15 rated films that have actual rape scenes in them, so no I don't think it was that.

I guess I'll have to give it a more critical watch some time. There are other Manga releases where I could never figure out the 18 ratings, it's sometimes an odd one.