The upcoming fighting adaptation of the manga and anime series 'Hunter x Hunter' is set to release on Switch and other platforms in in 2025but it appears to have been refused classification in one particular country prior to release.
The country (and classification board) that released Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact is Australia. The official rating simply records “classification refused”. Automaton-Media approached the ACB and gained additional insight into exactly why it was blocked:
Hunter x Hunter: Nen Impact has been denied an age rating because the game contains depictions that suggest “sexual violence against characters under the age of 18 by an adult male character.” They further explained that there was no context to justify depictions of this type in the game, which contributed to the decision to reject it.
The same source speculates that a character that could potentially be connected to this decision is Hisoka (you can see this character in the image above):
If you're familiar with the Hunter x Hunter source material, you're probably thinking of Hisoka right now, as the character is known for showing inappropriate feelings towards 12-year-old protagonists Gon and Killua. We don't know if this is exactly the issue in question or to what extent it is represented in the fighting game, but as things stand now, the game won't be able to launch in Australia unless Bushiroad takes some action.
It looks like Bushiroad and Arc System Works may now have to make some adjustments or add a bit more context to get this game accepted by the classification board. Whether it will happen or not is another question.
As noticed by EventHubsthis isn't actually the first time a fighting game has refused to be classified in Australia. A brutal and bloody title Mortal Kombat 9 it was “famously banned” in 2011 and was eventually classified alongside the local introduction of an R18+ rating.
Although this upcoming fighting game based on Hunter X Hunter was rejected for classification, the series itself is still considered one of the best anime and manga of all time.
