The world of anime is once again involved in controversy over censorship, and this time all eyes are on Boku no Hero Academia (My Hero Academia). The surprise recently came to fans of the series in the Middle East, where the adorable character Eri has been subject to unexpected modifications.
The Arabic dubbing of Boku no Hero Academia, which is broadcast on SpacePower television, with a wide audience throughout the region, introduced a striking change. Instead of Eri, the girl is now known as Rei in the Arabic dubbed version. The reason behind this adjustment? It turns out that this edit was made for localization reasons, as the name Eri has inappropriate connotations in Arabic. In the Syrian dialect, Eri is locally translated as “My Penis.” To avoid misunderstandings and maintain the integrity of the content, the dubbing team opted for the more neutral name of Rei.
It is important to note that Boku no Hero Academia in Arabic is not broadcast on Spacetoon, the children’s television channel that pioneered the introduction of anime and video games to the region. Instead, the series is presented on SpacePower, a sister channel aimed at a more adult and adolescent audience. Although SpacePower also implements censorship on inappropriate content, it appears that Eri’s name change was an additional measure to accommodate local linguistic sensitivities.
The information was made known to Western audiences when the YouTube channel “Spacetoon Go” released the trailer for the fourth season of Boku no Hero Academia, presenting the child character as REI instead of ERI. This decision reflects the careful attention paid to content adaptation to ensure an experience free of misunderstanding and offense for Arab audiences.
And of course, the data did not pass without comments:
- «It would certainly be strange for a 6-year-old girl to call herself “my penis.”».
- «Well, I don’t think that’s something like censorship, but rather a localization issue.».
- «As someone from Egypt, I was very confused when you said “Eri” was NSFW, then I saw the trailer and I understood».
- «It is understood. There are some changes that were made to my language for the same reason. Count Dooku from Star Wars was also renamed because he translates to “Count of Ass,” and Kurapika from “HUNTER x HUNTER” means Cure Penis.».
- «I’ve seen posts like this about the Spacetoon channel and I always wonder why the Middle East goes out of its way to pick the most objectionable series to broadcast. This is more of a localization issue, but it’s not like Arabs don’t censor something every day.».
- «Interesting. She knew that names are changed depending on the country and language, but this is the first time this has happened to a Boku no Hero Academia character.».
Fountain: reddit
