Record of Ragnarok is a recent Netflix anime adaptation of a popular manga by the same name. Record of Ragnarok is about a tournament arc between Gods and humans. Even though the anime was long-awaited, it is not released on Netflix India. Even an early version of the trailer, which featured Lord Shiva was removed from Youtube.
Record of Ragnarok – Plot
Gods decide to put an end to humanity due to human’s ill behavior towards each other and their planet. But before destroying humanity gods give humans a chance of survival by having a tournament between humans and gods, with 13 participants on both sides. The team of Gods involves gods from various cultures like Shiva, Odin, Thor, Zeus, and the human team involves various people from human history like Adam, Jack The Ripper, Buddha, and even Nikola Tesla.
Controversy
The gods depicted in the Record of Ragnarok are worshipped worldwide and are part of major religions, which is one of the main reasons for backlash. Lord Shiva, who is one of the main Hindu deity is portrayed as a brutal fighter. According to Hindu Mythology Lord Shiva is a god responsible for destruction, but the purpose of destruction is not a bad one, instead, it is to pave the way for new creation.
The Record of Ragnarok controversy started even before the release of the new anime. In October of 2020, The President of the Universal Society of Hinduism Rajan Zed made a statement criticizing the portrayal of Hindu deities in the manga. He said,
“Hindu gods and goddesses were divine and entertainment companies were welcome to create projects about/around them showing their true depiction as mentioned in the Hindu scriptures. Inappropriately reimagining Hindu deities/concepts/scriptures/symbols/icons and redefining Hinduism for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the feelings of devotees.”
India has a major Hindu population, and as it is also a big market for Netflix, so it is highly unlikely that anime will ever be released in India.
Till then you can wathc the trailer below: