Millions of anime fans worldwide stream content on Crunchyroll. But did you know that Crunchyroll’s huge library includes mature and 18+ anime?
This article will explain how to recognize any anime that Crunchyroll labels as “18/ Mature.” We will also show some easy steps you can take to avoid it.
Table of Contents
- A Note on International Standards
- What Crunchyroll Is and Isn’t
- Crunchyroll’s Ratings System
- Why Is This Series Labeled Mature/ Not Mature?
- Can We Filter Out Mature Content?
- Why Does Crunchyroll Have Mature Content?
- Examples of Crunchyroll Content
- Final Thoughts
A Note on International Standards
When it comes to adult-oriented material, different jurisdictions have different rules about what’s allowable, and what may be censored or banned.
In this article, we will abide by the age-based ratings and age restrictions used by Crunchyroll in the United States. When you see the word “mature,” you should assume that the content is restricted to people ages 18 and up.
Also, this is not an article on how to find hentai anime online. If it’s not on Crunchyroll, you won’t hear about it here.
What Crunchyroll Is and Isn’t
To be fair, Crunchyroll hasn’t become a full-blown, hardcore adults-only website. Most of the anime that you will find is safe for teenagers — Naruto, One Piece, Fairy Tail, etc. Crunchyroll also has quite a bit of content that is safe for younger anime fans — PreCure, for example.
Even some of the series which are rated “Mature” may have gotten the rating for violence and gore reasons, not sex.
Unfortunately, it is possible to accidentally stumble upon stuff which may make some viewers uncomfortable — at the very least, you wouldn’t want little kids to watch.
You may even find explicit images and nudity — including scenes which cross the line into obscenity or pornography.
Fortunately, Crunchyroll lists ratings, which can help you avoid series with certain themes.
Crunchyroll’s Ratings System
When you look at an anime series on Crunchyroll, it’s not always easy to tell if a series is safe or not. For one thing, the preview screen is often misleading. Even if a series is kawaii, cute, or chibi, it doesn’t always mean that it is kid-friendly.
Fortunately, you should see a rating directly beneath the series title. (In the screenshot above, the rating is circled in red.) This rating will tell you if a series is safe to watch.
Some series will have a TV-G (General) rating, which means that they are safe for all ages. A little higher up than that is PG (Parental Guidance).
Many series on Crunchyroll will be labeled as “12,” “14,” or “16,” which means that they are not recommended for viewers under that age. Assassination Classroom is a 14, while KonoSuba is 16 and up.
Anything that is for ages 18 and up will be labeled as 18/ Mature. The word “Mature” will also be in red.
Occasionally, you may find a series with no rating. The ones that I’ve found are generally safe for teen viewers. Interestingly, Naruto has no rating, while Naruto Shippuden rates a 14.
Of course, no ratings system is perfect, and viewers may disagree about them. However, generally speaking, a series with a “16” will have more sexy scenes, and/ or violence than one with a “12.”
Why Is This Series Labeled Mature/ Not Mature?
A wise man once said that when it comes to defining explicit material, “I know it when I see it.”
Keep in mind that there is more than one kind of “Mature.” Some Mature content will contain flashes of “ecchi” (not quite hentai, but not safe for work, either) or fanservice. Some will push the envelope further than others.
However, Golden Kamuy is labeled as 18/ Mature because the Western series has gore and violence, not because of sex scenes. (Of course, parents may still want to keep the series away from their kids.)
Even Laid-Back Camp gets a 14 — one of the teachers is a heavy drinker, and the characters visit an onsen.
Different community standards may also play a role. For example, early international releases of anime frequently removed stuff which was considered OK in Japan, but not in the U.S.
Crunchyroll’s current version of Dragon Ball doesn’t censor scenes which were taken out of earlier imports. Dragon Ball has a 14 rating on Crunchyroll.
Can We Filter Out Mature Content?
Crunchyroll offers a way to filter out Mature content completely.
You have to find “Settings” in your account menu. (Note: I did this on a Mac, but the process should be similar for phones or tablets.)
Under Preferences, find a toggle switch for “Mature Video Content.” Turn it off, and Crunchyroll will ask for your password. Once Crunchyroll has confirmed your ID, you will no longer be able to watch Mature content.
Mature stuff will still be visible in your library, but you will get a content warning if you try to watch.
The filter doesn’t distinguish between violent and sexual content. Also, Crunchyroll currently blocks Mature content by default, unless you unlock it.
If you want to avoid sexual content without eliminating violent material, you should read fan reviews, which tend to be more blunt than Crunchyroll’s bland descriptions.
Why Does Crunchyroll Have Mature Content?
Crunchyroll offers many different kinds of anime, which appeal to many different kinds of people.
With constant competition from other streaming companies, Crunchyroll may feel that it can’t simply ignore fans of Mature content.
On the other hand, pushing too far into NSFW content could damage the website’s reputation. Crunchyroll could risk offending established subscribers. So, the company must walk a careful tightrope between naughty and nice.
It is also possible that some hentai anime may slip through the cracks — that the people in charge may not notice (or care?) about the more hardcore bits.
Legally, Crunchyroll can show Mature content in the U.S. But, should it? Arguably, the Internet needs more safe spaces for children — hentai is already well covered.
Examples of Crunchyroll Content
While we can’t list every series that Crunchyroll has, we can provide some examples:
Rated TV-G (General) or PG (Parental Guidance)
- Delicious Party Precure (TV-G)
- Cardcaptor Sakura (PG)
No Rating (Probably Safe for Most Teens)
- Aharen-san wa Hakarenai — a safe, cute, sweet, and innocent high school romantic comedy
- Naruto
Rated 12, 14, or 16
- In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki (12) — cute and innocent ninja girls learn about a strange and mysterious new enemy — boys
- Toradora! (12)
- Spy x Family (14)
- Lupin the Third, Part 1 (14)
- Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid (14)
- Dropkick on My Devil! (16)
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (16)
- Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan (16)
Rated 18/ Mature
These look cute, but you should avoid them if you’re not interested in gratuitous fanservice, sexual situations, nudity, and/ or ecchi humor:
- Astarotte’s Toy — This series features misleadingly cute and chibi characters, but it’s also about a young succubus-in-training.
- OniAi — There is a lot of innuendo and fanservice, including some ecchi nudity, in this harem series about a little sister with a “big brother complex” (in Crunchyroll’s own words).
- Cosplay Complex OVA — This cosplay-themed parody features slapstick humor and fanservice. There’s also a pedophile character.
- Girls Bravo — A 2004 romantic comedy with a lot of fanservice.
- Kanokon — High school romantic comedy featuring a fox deity, and … fanservice.
- Yosuga no Sora — Based on an eroge (erotic video game), this series features hentai levels of incest.
Final Thoughts
You can avoid Mature and NSFW stuff on Crunchyroll as long as you follow a few simple rules:
- Set your preferences to filter out Mature stuff.
- If you don’t want to filter Mature out completely, check the ratings and read reviews.
With these suggestions, you should be able to navigate around Crunchyroll safely.
