Every time I see tanuki nutsacks referenced it reminds me of when I was younger and used to joke about the tanuki at the start of the stages in Legend of the Mystical Ninja on SNES having a giant nutsack. I didn’t think that’s what it actually was, just what it looked like. Joke was on me decades later when I learned that it was, in fact, a giant nutsack. Surprised censor-happy Nintendo just left it as-is.
Every time I see tanuki nutsacks referenced it reminds me of when I was younger and used to joke about the tanuki at the start of the stages in Legend of the Mystical Ninja on SNES having a giant nutsack. I didn’t think that’s what it actually was, just what it looked like. Joke was on me decades later when I learned that it was, in fact, a giant nutsack. Surprised censor-happy Nintendo just left it as-is.
This is a screenshot from Pom Poko (1994) Studio Ghibli. They were cool with this for kids.
I think some countries are just less prudish. Personally I let my kids watch it, better than seeing someone getting gutted or shot.
Nintendo probably started cracking down harder as they grew because of backlash from parents across the globe. Have to meet everyone’s expectations.