Apple requests censorship of illustrations showing feet and cleavage from Japanese bishojo game 

On August 28, DMM Games and Koei Tecmo Games announced that they will make alterations to a number of card illustrations in the iOS version of Blue Reflection Sun. Five different card illustrations are being revised in order to satisfy the platform standards after the issue was pointed out by Apple. Additionally, while these revisions are being made, the relevant cards will temporarily have their illustrations swapped out for different ones.  

Blue Reflection Sun is a free-to-play “Heroic” mobile and PC RPG  developed by DMM Games and Gust, a division of Koei Tecmo Games. It marks the third title in the Blue Reflection series and takes place in a world where a mysterious Ash began to rain down a year and a half ago. This Ash was in fact a toxic substance that causes the Ash Syndrome, a disease that invades the human body and eventually leads to death. Furthermore, the Ash also gives birth to Testa, bizarre monsters that attack humans. The only way to defeat the Testa is with a special power that on rare occasions has been known to manifest itself within humans who have been infected with the Ash Syndrome. The game follows a group of young girls who possess such power and have gathered at a certain school. As the world heads toward its end, these girls, linked by powerful yet transient bonds, endeavor to quell the destruction. 

Progression in Blue Reflection Sun is tied to quests, which include both story scenes and battles. The battle system is turn-based, with turn order determined by a timeline. Players must give commands to each member of their party as they aim to defeat their foes. The game also includes a gacha system where you can obtain new characters as well as Frag Cards, which can be equipped to characters to provide them with extra stats and skills. 

A few of these cards seem to have caused a bit of a fuss, however, as an announcement from the game’s official X/Twitter account on August 28 explains that several card illustrations in the iOS version are being altered. This decision was made after Apple took issue with the illustrations, and Koei Tecmo Games and DMM games are now in the process of revising the illustrations in order to satisfy the iOS platform standards. Five of the game’s Frag Cards are being revised and will have their illustrations replaced by different artwork of the same character in the meantime. Each of the cards in question were already in the game prior to August 28. 

It was also noted that more illustrations may possibly be altered in the future. Even for cards that are not having their artwork temporarily changed, if Apple has indicated that they are problematic, then they too may be revised to come into line with the platform standards.  

The illustrations in question range from bath and pool scenes to a girl showing the sole of her foot. The reason that these illustrations were flagged by Apple is unclear, but the announcement gave some indication of what kind of illustrations may need to be revised in the future, including “sexually suggestive depictions of characters” and “illustrations that show an excessive amount of skin or focus too heavily on certain parts of the body.” We can infer that the five images mentioned in the announcement are being revised likely for these or similar reasons. Although there are many titles with content that differs depending on what is allowed on each platform, it’s rare for a company to be so upfront about the reasons while also acknowledging the possibility of future alterations.  

The announcement notes that the relevant cards are only having their illustrations temporarily changed in the iOS version, and that the effects and skills of the cards will remain unaltered. They also remind players to check the Frag Card name and skill when equipping or strengthening your cards while the temporary illustrations are being used. 

Written by. Marco Farinaccia based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-08-28 21:24 JST)