New Fighter Anime Coming in 2025 “Refuses to Be Classified”
Upcoming fighting game adaptation of the manga and anime series ‘Hunter x Hunter’ will launch on Switch and other platforms in 2025but it seems it was denied classification in a particular country before release.
The nation (and classification) was knocked back Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact is Australia. The official rating simply notes that it was “refused to be classified”. Automaton-Media contacted ACB and there were some more details about exactly why it was blocked:
Hunter x Hunter: Nen Impact was denied an age rating because the game contains descriptions that suggest “sexual violence against characters under the age of 18 by an adult male character.” They further explained that there was no context in the story that could justify these types of depictions in the game, which contributed to the decision to reject it.
The same source speculates the character potentially involved in this decision is Hisoka (you can see him in the screenshot above):
If you’re familiar with the Hunter x Hunter source material then you’re probably thinking of Hisoka right now, as the character is famous for showing inappropriate affection towards 12-year-old protagonists Gon and Killua . We don’t know if this is an exact issue or to what extent it’s depicted in fighting games, but as things stand, the game won’t be able to launch in Australia unless Bushiroad take some action.
It looks like Bushiroad and Arc System Works may now have to make some adjustments or add a bit of context to get this game accepted by the classification board. However, whether this will happen or not is another question.
EQUAL recorded by EventHubsThis actually isn’t the first time a fighting game has been denied classification in Australia. The title is brutal and bloody Life and death battle 9 was “notoriously banned” in 2011 and was eventually classified with the introduction of a local R18+ rating.
Although this upcoming fighting game based on Hunter X Hunter has been denied classification, the series itself is still considered one of the best anime and manga of all time.
