Censorship in BEMANI

BEMANI is notoriously notable for its censorship when the arcade games are ported to console or overseas, specifically South Korea and the Americas.

This list is here to point out various BEMANI-related things, such as songs or jackets, that were changed over-time to circumvent it or to keep the demographic for general audience.

The list is under construction.

beatmania IIDX

beatmania IIDX 14 GOLD CS

• The videos for Last Message and Sense 2007 were removed and both songs were replaced with the 6th RAVE generic video. Last Message was edited likely due to its shot of Meg's cleavage, while Sense 2007's video featured multiple skimpy-dressed women in its video. Both videos got axed to keep IIDX GOLD's A-rating with Japan's Computer Entertainment Rating Organization Video Game Rating System (CERO) rating scheme.
  • Curiously, Last Message had earlier appeared with its video in 7th style CS, despite the game also getting an all-ages (全年齢) CERO rating.

beatmania IIDX 15 DJ TROOPERS CS

• satfinal's overlays, which featured Acty Aries, had the jiggling of her breasts removed to keep the game's A rating.

beatmania IIDX 16 EMPRESS + PREMIUM BEST

• The ARCHIVE MODE, which features result screen artwork from past beatmania IIDX games, excludes the bikini images from 5th style CS through 9th style CS to keep the game's A rating.

South Korean versions

• Korean arcade versions of beatmania IIDX from tricoro beyond remove the videos for Click Again and New Decade IIDX Edition, replacing them with the generic videos for tricoro CYBER and 7th TECHNO respectively. This is due to both videos featuring images of the Rising Sun Flag, which is de-facto banned in South Korea.
• Similarly, FAKE TIME's overlays are also removed, due to the IIDX characters dressed up as yakuza members.

BeatStream

• 回レ！雪月花's video was edited in BeatStream, with Takahashi-san (タカハシサン) added in the video to cover the shot of a naked bust scene halfway through the song.
  • In the DanceDanceRevolution series, it was circumvented by blocking that shot with another background shot.

DanceDanceRevolution

DanceDanceRevolution CS (America)

• 20,NOVEMBER (D.D.R. VERSION)'s animation was modified, replacing the female silhouette and the text "I made a sign to him with my eyes" with gun shooting animations and the text "She's the killer queen of a gun" respectively.

DanceDanceRevolution 3rdMIX VER.KOREA

• OH NICK PLEASE NOT SO QUICK's CD and background were censored, adding pants to the man who previously only wore underwear. This also carried over to its its sequel.
• CHARMY was edited to include stockings. The stockings would stay on her in all future appearances of her from 4thMIX beyond, though.

DanceDaceRevolution KONAMIX

• CUTIE CHASER's background was modified by changing the blood color to pink, and removing the bullet holes and pistol in the cop dog's hand in the background to preserve an E rating with the United States' ESRB rating system.
  • Curiously, the modified background was carried forward to the arcade releases in DanceDanceRevolution EXTREME.
• The vocal samples for THE EARTH LIGHT were removed.
• AFTER THE GAME, an instrumental version of AFTER THE GAME OF LOVE, is used, due to the suggestive content of the original song's lyrics.

DDRMAX -DanceDanceRevolution-

• Like with the original CUTIE CHASER in KONAMIX, CUTIE CHASER(MORNING MIX)'s background also censored/removed the bullet holes, red blood, and pistol. Its modified background was also used when the song made its arcade debut in DanceDanceRevolution EXTREME, and the song's Japanese PS2 debut in DDRMAX2 JP CS.
• gentle stress (AMD SEXUAL MIX) was renamed to gentle stress(SENSUAL MIX) as the word "SEXUAL" is inappropriate for a family game. This renaming was brought forward in DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA.
  • Curiously, the song was renamed back to gentle stress ～AMD SEXUAL MIX～ in the DanceDanceRevolution X2 internal data.

DDRMAX2 -DanceDanceRevolution-

• THE WHISTLE SONG (Blow My Whistle Bitch) was renamed to THE WHISTLE SONG (Blow My Whistle Baby) as the word "bitch" is censored to preserve ESRB's E rating.

DanceDanceRevolution ULTRAMIX / Dancing Stage Unleashed

• The background for TRIP MACHINE～luv mix～ was edited by changing the word "mammy" to "mommy", due to negative connotations with the Mammy stereotype, an American historical stereotype depicting black women working in white families.
  • Despite this censor, its original background was retained in future DanceDanceRevolution series, including its jacket, since DanceDanceRevolution X2.
    • Curiously, TRIP MACHINE～luv mix～'s background was left uncensored back in KONAMIX and Dancing Stage PARTY EDiTiON.
• Like in KONAMIX, the vocal samples in THE EARTH LIGHT have been removed.

DanceDanceRevolution ULTRAMIX3

• Alphabet Aerobics's lyrics censor the first two words in the song's N verse, due to using an offensive slang term for African Americans.
• Giudecca was given different vocal soundbites, due to the original soundbites containing explicit language.
• Hey Mama uses a clean edit of the song.

DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA CS (Japan)

• Scenes from the OVA SKY GIRLS were heavily edited in the video for Baby's Tears (スカイガールズ オープニングテーマ). Any shots of the girls' behinds were removed and replaced with alternate video clips.

DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA2 CS (Japan) / DanceDanceRevolution X CS (America)

• Trust -DanceDanceRevolution mix-'s was heavily edited in console releases:
  • In SuperNOVA2 CS (Japan), all the shots featuring Yoko's breasts were replaced with zoom-ins of her face. This was also done in X CS (America).
  • X CS (America) also edits an additional scene with Kamina, from a shot with blood to a shot of him in shades.

DanceDanceRevolution Disney Channel EDITION

• exotic ethnic and PARANOiA MAX~DIRTY MIX~ were renamed to EX. ETH. and P.N. MAX respectively, as the original titles contained words inappropriate for a Disney-themed game.

DanceDanceRevolution X CS (Japan)

• 零 - ZERO -'s video was edited, removing two shots of blood from the original beatmania IIDX video. This edit also carried over to the North American PlayStation 2 X2 home release.

DanceDanceRevolution X2

• New Decade's video was removed from the Korean arcade releases of the series due to showing the Rising Sun Flag.
  • In DanceDanceRevolution A, the purple variant of the REPLICANT stage is used, though the monitor displays become black for the song's entirety.
  • In DanceDanceRevolution (2014) and from DanceDanceRevolution A20 onwards, the BOOM DARK dance stage is used instead without any visible monitor displays.

DanceDanceRevolution (2010)

• The jackets for three songs, dreaming can make a wish come true, New York EVOLVED, and Until the End were all edited: the first adds clothes to the once naked woman; the second replaces a skeleton with a picture of a woman's eyes; and the final removed human skulls' eyes and noses, as well as blood, from its jacket.
  • All three songs use their uncensored jackets from the PlayStation 3 release in the arcade series beginning with X3 VS 2ndMIX.

DanceDanceRevolution Classroom Edition

• So What and Walk Like An Egyptian's lyrics were modified by using a different cut from the original release, as well as censoring the word "drink" in both songs.

DANCERUSH STARDOM

• The woman in ATRAX's jacket was removed in the South Korean version, due to her posture resembling bondage (BDSM).
  • Its jacket is uncensored in the Korean releases of jubeat festo, though.

MÚSECA

MÚSECA 1+1/2

ネトゲ廃人シュプレヒコール's uncensored jacket.

• ネトゲ廃人シュプレヒコール's jacket censors Miku giving the middle finger by covering her hand with a black bar.
  • The uncensored jacket can be seen in SEGA's Project DIVA games.

pop'n music

pop'n music éclale

• TENT-KANT, the character for シュレーディンガーの猫 and ジオメトリック∮ティーパーティー, was modified by changing the shape of the star on its head from a six-pointed star to a five-pointed star, as the former bears resemblance to the Star of David, a Jewish symbol.

SOUND VOLTEX

South Korean versions

In an update on December 28th, 2017, many of the songs from HEAVENLY HAVEN were censored and replaced with generic jackets credited to -, in accordance with Korea's Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC). Between July 24th and August 9th, 2018, songs added after the November 16th, 2017 update were temporarily unplayable, also due to GRAC. Songs added after the July 24th, 2018 update were added on August 23rd, 2018, and songs added on March 10th, 2021 was postponed [1] until March 18th, 2021. [2] This soon spread to other BEMANI games as well censoring jackets for content.

A full list of the songs that had their jackets removed (including songs released after HEAVENLY HAVEN):

• Apocrypha
• Archangelio
• Aurora(Latinized Style)
• Awakening
• Call of the World
• Candy Star
• Chocolate Planet
• Cy-Bird
• dreamin' of u
• ECHIDNA
• Fáfnir
• GERBERA-For Finalists-
• Ghost Trigger
• Gorgetech
• Grand-Guignol
• Heavenly Adventure
• HEAVENLY SMILE
• iLLness LiLin
• Justitia Gladius
• Legendary Road
• NEON LOVE♥POTION!!!
• Nexta
• OZONE
• PROVOES*PROPOSE ≪êl fine≫
• Reverenced Flower
• rhythmology study
• Sailing Force
• SO FLY ME TO YOU
• Spirit of the Beast
• STIGMA
• ULTiMATE INFLATiON
• VɅZiLiSQ
• Vigor
• Xibercannon
• デュアルメモリ
• 準備運動
• 壊Rave*it!! 壊Rave*it!!
• まじかる生主@りすなちゃん
• 胸の中で誰かが
• ナナイロライト
• オニユリ
• 獅子奮迅
• セイレーン ～悲壮の竪琴～
• 私とあなたのMYOURENJI☆

The following songs are not censored in SOUND VOLTEX, but are in other BEMANI games, due to their crossovering after GRAC stepped in:

• Lord=Crossight
• Prayer
• Preserved Valkyria
• VeRtrageS
• 乙女繚乱 舞い咲き誇れ

SOUND VOLTEX EXCEED GEAR

• The Live2D animations for many female NEMESYS crew members have been slightly altered in the Korean version by removing breast bouncing. The comparison can be seen here.
• The soundbite from the original video during the middle of 777 was changed from "Motherfucker" to "Are you ready?".
• The following wallpaper customizations from VALKYRIE GENERATOR are absent in the Korean release: Awakening, Cy-Bird, Justitia Gladius, Nexta, ULTiMATE INFLATiON, サイコパスラビット, オニユリ and セイレーン ～悲壮の竪琴～.