Gamers Are Crying ‘Censorship’ Over ‘Granblue Fantasy’s … Anime Shorts?

Are shorts censorship? Should we turn over the entire gaming industry because a little bit of rump has been covered? Discourse rages on Steam for the video game Granblue Fantasy: Relink, where a PC gamer aptly summarized the issue: “I want panties,” they said. “I’m a degenerate gamer, gimme panties.”

Uhh, hm. OK? So, did Granblue Fantasy: Relink actually get censored, or are gamers just blowing a few new outfits out of proportion? Here’s what you need to know.

The Granblue Fantasy: Relink censorship claims, explained

Granblue Fantasy: Relink came out on Jan. 31, 2024. Developed by Cygames, the game offers a sprawling JRPG experience with both singleplayer and multiplayer co-op options. The Granblue Fantasy series has a wide assortment of beloved anime women and girls, and while I’ll spare the details on this action role-playing game’s story, it’s worth noting that this is the first Granblue Fantasy RPG game in quite some time. The past few releases were fighting games. They were also known for having upskirt shots for several female characters during certain animations.

This is not the case in Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and longtime series fans quickly noticed. On the Steam discussion board for Relink, thread after thread cropped up, claiming the game is censored. These users were outraged that Cygames decided to alter some of the Granblue Fantasy characters’ outfits, believing the game’s artistic integrity was ultimately harmed in the process.

As one Steam user pointed out, the characters Zeta, Djeeta, Ferry, Narmaya, and Cagliostro all had modifications done to their undergarments. Instead of wearing bikini panties that allow users to gaze at female characters’ crotch and rear, several women now have longer pants that cover their butt and the top of their thighs. Other changes may be present as well, although it’s worth noting that not every female character had a design change. As another player pointed out, “Lyria and some town NPCs are not censored and the player can look up their skirts to see underwear at any time.”

Nonetheless, angry gamers are now claiming that Relink is “censored,” as they believe certain female characters had compression shorts added on to their outfits at the tail end of production. Oh no! No more voyeurism of, um, children? Yes, it’s worth noting that Djeeta is 15 according to Rising, and that Cagliostro (despite being technically thousands of years old) has the body of a young girl. So, yeah, gamers might not want to cry foul about Cygames preventing two children from exposing their underwear to adult gamers.

“Spats are nice for sure, but what the f*** happened?” one Twitter user complained of 15-year-old Djeeta. “Did they just bait and switch at the last minute?”

Some gamers aren’t buying the Relink censorship claims

Creepy as these complaints might be, the Steam discussion board for Relink is now a discourse battlefield. One user acted as as if the game was vastly and obscenely censored. “Please understand, I don’t want [you to] refrain from playing the game. I actually encourage you to try it out for yourself. It’s your right to after all. However, people need to be made aware of the fact that this game is censored — quite egregiously,” they complained. “To say otherwise, is peak delusion.”

But what exactly was censored about Granblue Fantasy: Relink? Nothing. Cygames simply updated a couple of its characters, giving them less revealing underwear. That’s it. For that exact reason, many Steam users felt the censorship complaints were ridiculous. One player even vowed to buy the game just to piss off the “anti-censorship” crowd.

My favorite Steam comment, for the record, is from a user correctly pointing out that this is not censorship, but rather, that real cases of censorship are out there in the world and worth paying attention to. You know, stuff that actually matters, instead of whether a 15-year-old can show you her rear.

“Have you people seriously completely lost it? Is THIS seriously something you decided that it’s something you need to almost start a virtual revolution against?” that gamer wrote. “While in the scope of things in the world, this is not even a single salt piece in an entire universe of hay. While there is some REAL censorship happening in the world (think of Russia, etc.), this is what you decided is the most unacceptable form of censorship.”

So no, Granblue Fantasy: Relink hasn’t been censored. You just can’t get upskirt angles anymore for certain characters, two of whom are depicted as young girls. Oh, the travesty. How awful.

(featured image: Cygames)