Ask John: How Many Anime Have Aired on American TV With Episodes Missing?

Question:
To date, I am still a bit fascinated or mystified over how many episodes of CARDCAPTOR SAKURA were completely omitted from the English version, presumably for being “too mature” for the intended target audience – I won’t even go into the issue of dubbing. And I am led to believe that the same fate befell the original POCKET MONSTERS. Are there any other examples of what I call “episode omissions” in other anime properties that come to your mind?

Answer:
Editing and condensing anime for American release has occurred for as long as anime has been available in America. Thankfully, the frequency of editing and condensing seems to be slowing. Just a few examples include:

Only 52 episodes of the 56 episode 8 Man TV series were broadcast on American television.

The 105 episode first Gatchaman television series was reduced to 85 episodes in America.

The 49 episode Tekkaman Blade television series was edited down to 43 American episodes of “Teknoman.”

Only 40 of the 54 Cat Ninden Tyandee episodes were released in America.

The first 68 Japanese episodes of Dragonball Z were condensed into 53 American episodes by eliminating some episodes entirely, and re-editing and combining others.

Outlaw Star episode 24 was never broadcast on American television due to its excess nudity.

The final 3 episodes of the first Sailor Moon season were condensed into a single American episode.

In cases such as “Mew Mew Power” and St. Seiya, only part of the show was released in America because the series weren’t successful enough to warrant a full release. Pocket Monster, for example, has been heavily edited in America, and had some episodes excised from American release, because certain scenes or episodes were considered too violent or offensive for American release. (It’s ironic that a Warner Bros. cartoon can depict Daffy Duck being shot with a shotgun, but Pokemon can’t show Satoshi being slapped across the face by Kasumi.) And in the case of Mobile Suit Gundam, America only got 42 out of 43 episodes because director Yoshiyuki Tomino disliked one of the episodes and requested that it be withheld from the American release. Anime series being condensed and episodes omitted is a fascinating aspect of the history of anime in America because there are nearly as many stories to go along with the edits are there are edits themselves.

Article revised November 15, 2006 to add additional examples provided by “Gendo” and “Emi.”