Earlier this month, Netflix India reportedly listed Record of Ragnarok as starting streaming on June 17. The day came and went, but the show was missing.
Debuting as a manga in 2017, Record of Ragnarok is written by Shinya Umemura and Takumi Fukui and illustrated by Ajichika.
As ANN noted, Netflix described the anime as the following:
Before eradicating humankind from the world, the gods give them one last chance to prove themselves worthy of survival. Let the Ragnarok battles begin.
Record of Ragnarok features a number of famous and infamous people, including Nikola Tesla, Rasputin, and Jack the Ripper, as well as religious figures, such as Buddha, Zeus, and Shinto god Susanoo-no-Mikoto. Included in those deities was the Hindu god Lord Shiva, which became a source of contention, and the India Post reported that a group of Indian American activists had been urging Netflix not to broadcast the show.
“Attempts at distorting of Hindu gods and goddesses would be slighting of ancient Hindu traditions,” said Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement (via India West). “Besides hurting the sentiments, any misrepresentation created confusion among non-Hindus about Hinduism. Insensitive handling of faith traditions sometimes resulted in pillaging serious spiritual doctrines and revered symbols.”
Previously, Zed had been critical of Hindu gods appearing in video games, speaking out, for example, against Smite and Symmetra’s Devi skin in Overwatch.
The show did premiere on Netflix US but hasn’t debuted on Netflix India. With approximately 1.2 billion believers, Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world. It is the dominant one in India.
As Indian site Republic World reports, the first Record of Ragnarok trailer on Netflix showed Lord Shiva’s angry face (above), but it was removed in the preview that followed. According to Republic World, the original trailer cannot be viewed by people in India.
Netflix is making a big push in India with content geared towards the country, so the last thing the streaming platform would want to do is alienate large swaths of Indian viewers.
Kotaku reached out to Netflix for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
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