Help with my paper (its about anime)

Hey guys, I wanted to ask you all if you could help me with my paper. My paper is going to be about anime. Basically what we have to is take a particular choice of interest of ours and talk about some kind of issue with it. So what I'm going to do is introduce anime and then talk about American cartoons. From there, I'm going to talk about how anime is having an influence on new cartoon shows that are aired (Teen Titans, Avatar, etc.) because of the general art style used and the way the story is presented, things like that. And then after that, I want to talk about the censorship that animes go through when licensed and broadcasted on American tv because of how cartoons are generally aimed at children. Censorship is the main issue that I'm going to be stressing throughout the paper, using an Japanese animation vs. American cartoons conflict.

So what I needed help on from you guys was examples of censorship from any animes. Right now, I'm going to be using Naruto, One Piece, Dragonball Z, and Gundam Seed. I think this would be enough but I just want to have some back-ups and maybe a couple of more. It can be any kind of edit; names, blood, dialog, fight scenes, whatever. As an example, in Naruto during the episode where they first leave Konoha during the Zabuza/Haku arc, they were attacked and Naruto caught a poison. In the original version, he stabbed himself with his kunai but in the dub, my friends explained to me that a red filter was used just as he stabbed himself so viewers couldn't see anything.

Its just more examples of animes that have gone through censoring that I need help with. And I hate to ask for more, but could you post a screenshot of the scene from the original version that was edited for whatever you post (if possible)? I want to make a table of images at the end and explain each edit one by one. Thanks for any help! :)

Edited away. Sorry.

Kyle Pope from Animenewsnetwork.com has a column which lists edits from anime broadcasts on American TV (most of it Cartoon Network). That will probably be a good resource.

In general, I've noticed that all the more recent series on Cartoon Network are undergoing a lot less editing than in years past. Of course you get the occasional hack-job like One Peice (due entirely to 4Kids - Cartoon Network/Kids WB had no control over that one), and there are still minor edits that make very little sense, like how blood can be shown, but "flowing blood" is out of the question. But the majority of anime that goes on to, say AdultSwim, suffers very little editing - despite what fans may say about their favorite shows being "butchered".

Kraco also brings up a good point that Japan has prettty strict censoring standards about porn/hentai. The rule is that they cannot show genitals, but if it's sold or produced outside of Japan, it doesn't have to be censored. The odd exception to this is that little boys privates are shown (in Dragonball, Abenobashi, or Crayon Shin Chan, for example). Full frontal nudity is ok though. This is almost the complete opposite of American standards, where porn is untouched, yet nudity in general on TV is a no-no. 'Cause, you know...sex is evil :p.

I'll help you with your paper about anime if you help me with my paper about Batman/Superman

One example that immediately springs to mind is in One Piece. One of the characters, Sanji, has a 'trademark' of sorts where he will always be smoking a cigarette. In the American dubbed version they've changed it so he is always holding a candy-cane.

I don't know how they'll get through later parts of the series where the fire/ash from his cigarette will be incorporated into a plot-point or joke, or what they'll do when eventually Captain Smoker is introduced (a man with about 10 cigars strapped to his jacket).

Oh, do how whenever dubbed, rap or something along those lines is put in the anime or theme song to attract little retards:mad: . The onepiece Opening for example. Gotta Go? Sure do. *flush*.:D And put how they mess up seens where someone shoots someone else by just showing a white flash. The scenes dont even make sense.

Badguy "and now you will die!"

*White Flash*

Good guy *on the ground*

One Piece is probably the most extreme example of anime censoring, but that does NOT happen with most anime. The reason is that companies like 4Kids try to target shows for children ~12 years-old, and as such, have to obey the American censoring standards for childrens shows. This is probably true for most Shounen anime (like it or not, shounen anime's target audience is kids in their early teens). If a series contains something that "is not suitable for children" or other such nonsense, then it's edited. But heck, even Naruto got a PG rating instead of a Y like other shows of its kind. Most people weren't expecting that.

This is a good website I found in the One Piece forum here (even though I never watch One Piece): http://opguide.bravehost.com. It lists every difference between 4Kids' version of One Piece and the original.

Other censoring cases are more in line with other American television shows. I mean, no where on basic cable are you going to hear the word "shit", so chances are it'll be edited out of anything on AdultSwim. As far as violence goes, for most of the recent series broadcast here, censoring has been pretty damn lenient. Seriously, just count the number of "completely unedited" episodes in that Kyle Pope link. Swearing and nudity are still kinda taboo though. Snakes on a plane, I guess...

http://www.jazzmess.com/

Cowboy Bebop is THE example of editted anime. Not only was it editted in Japan (with only half of the shows being shown on its first run, but its American TV debut was right aroud September 11th)

After 9/11 CN decided not to air 3 of Bebop's Sessions: Cowboy Funk (the main plotline is about a bounty whose signature is destroying gigantic buildings...), Waltz for Venus (which includes a scene early on, although not very important to the episode, involving an attempted spaceshuttle/airplane hijacking) and Sympathy for the Devil (which has nothing offensive in it, but was cut out because CN thought the actual title of the episode would look bad!)

the website Jazzmess also has every single edit that CN did on that show. It's also important to note that Bebop aired on AdultSwim, not just the regular network, so it should have had fewer edits than it did. It was when Adult Swim was just starting out, and I think the censors at CN were still being much stricter than they were.

Comparing some of the edits from Bebop to things they let slide nowadays on Cartoon Network (see especially how they treat US made cartoons such as Sealab 2021 and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, among others) which makes it look like animes just get censored more than non-animes... (IMO)

Hope that helps. Check Jazzmess' News archives for info on the 9/11 edits, for particular episode edits go to 'Sessions' pick the episode and go to Edits (their references is also really cool misc. info)

If what you are worried about is censoring in anime, censorships and edits in CN shouldn't be the point of focus. Everything gets edited/censored on TV in accordance to the laws/rules/practices on cable networks. The main focus should be on censorship/edits on the DVDs, where the series should be shown how it was intended to be. If you're going to talk about censorships/edits of anime that get air on TV, then it's important to differentiate from things that should've remained unedited, things that got edited to be in compliance with the laws and practices of cable networks, and things that got edited simply because they are deepshits.

You guys are the best!

@Xan: Those lists you provided are the best!! I've got some of those animes on my external harddrive so getting images should not be a problem. I didn't think of using anything about Japan's censoring standards but I do see that a paper comparing Japan's censoring standards for shows on tv to America's could be another great comparison to use. As part of the assignment, our professor told us to use some kind of context(s), a field of interest for considering a question and making the argument. So far, I've only included "media" to be my context but that was only for the media in America (comparing the cartoons to anime). I think using Japan's standards would be great. Thanks!

@Raven: That was exactly what I was thinking of using for my One Piece example. :D

@Masa: I didn't know that Bebop had some unaired episodes due to 9/11. I believe that was the case with Full Metal Panic!, when the plane was hijacked by Gauron to kidnap Kaname. Much thanks for the list about Bebop also! :)

@Bud: Didn't think of using the DVD's either. But I do agree with your last sentence there. As I stated with my example of Naruto, I'm going to discuss how that red filter should have never been used, and people should have seen how forceful Naruto stabbed the kunai into his hand. It was to show how determined he is to complete the mission. Just because they were only a few minutes away from Konoha doesn't mean they should go back, they were sent on a mission and that is what is most important to a shinobi. Also, I'm not really sure but...if the dub passed the Chuunin Exam, when Neji defeated Hinata, did she cough blood on the floor? If she didn't, then that would be another fantastic example to use because of when Naruto puts the blood on his hands and turns into a fist at Neji. Its a good thing Xan posted that list because now talking about what should have remain unedited and such should work out just fine.

Thanks alot for the great posts guys! Please continue posting, any input will all be going towards my paper. :D

EDIT: I was thinking about Bud's post some more...and I was just wondering. Do you think I should ditch the American cartoons vs. Japanese animation conflict, and instead use a Japanese animation vs. American TV laws conflict? I'm starting to think the latter will be much more effective.