‘Re:Zero’ Anime Character Designer Confirms Liliana And Capella Censored In Season 3 Due To International Standards: “The Field Is Doing Its Best To Deliver The Best Possible Product Under The Many Restrictions”
Spencer Baculi
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According to current series character designer Haruka Sagawa, the upcoming third season of Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World- has been forced to censor the original designs of two new female characters, Liliana and Capella, in order for it to air in international markets.
First introduced in Volume 16 of writer Tappei Nagatsuki’s and artist Shin’ichirō Ōtsuka’s original Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World- light novel, Liliana (CV: Aya Yamane – Riho Tsukishima in The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses) is a petite 22-year old bard who, upon crossing paths with series protagonist Natsuki Subaru and his crew, finds herself fighting alongside them in their battle against the villainous Sin Archbishops.
In service of her profession as a traveling performer, Liliana’s standard outfit consists of a small black bikini underneath a sheer cloth wrap and flowing harem pants, all of which combines to leave her with a general appearance reminiscent of Middle Eastern belly dancers.
Meanwhile, Capella (TBA), could not be any more the opposite.
The ‘Lust’ representative of the Sin Archbishops, Capella is shown to be an absolute terror of an existence, her brash and selfish nature, as well as her propensity for treating humans as little more than bags of meat with which to play with, making her a pariah among her fellow team members.
To this end, in attempting to visually communicate the villainess’ character, Nagatsuki and Ōtsuka chose to design her as wearing little more than a bikini, thigh-high leggings, and extremely short hot pants (with a whale-tail to boot).
Unfortunately, in disappointing everyone from the series’ creative duo, to fans, to anyone who earnestly cares about respecting a given artists’ creative vision, it seems that both women have been covered up during their leap to the small screen.
Said changes were first discovered on March 23rd courtesy of the latest trailer for the Re:Zero‘s hotly-anticipated third season.
Therein, rather than her bikini, Liliana is shown to be wearing a more ‘sporty’ variant consisting of a sports bra and gym spandex (her pants are also no longer sheer, but there does exist the distinct possibility that this could be an ‘animation budget’ issue rather than a censorship one.)
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As for Capella, the evil entity received a similar treatment, her original purple bikini top instead being replaced with a more ‘sports bra’-esque top featuring a small ‘chest window’.
Curious as to the reason behind these changes, in response to his sharing of a promotional illustration on Twitter to celebrate the trailer’s release, fans pressed the aforementioned Sagawa as to whether or not he could provide any insight into the production team’s decision.
In turn, the character designer sadly confirmed, “It’s not limited to Re:Zero, but in order to reach as many people as possible, each country has its own broadcasting code, and in order to reach as many people as possible, the field is doing its best to deliver the best possible product under the many restrictions.”
At current, Season 3 of Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- is currently set to revive isekai discourse for at least a couple months when it hits in October 2024.
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