Ask John: Are Domestic Anime CDs Edited?

Question:
I have become increasingly concerned and puzzled lately as I continue to purchase domestic releases of anime OSTs. Two that I recently purchased were the Lain Cyberia Mix, and Hanenone, the Haibane Renmei OST. With the Cyberia Mix, I have had MP3s of it for almost two years, and they show that there is supposed to be a remixed version of “Duvet” in track 2 that isn’t present on the domestic version. with Hanenone, the “TV version” of the ending song is not on the domestic release. It is on the import release. What’s the deal with this? Should I be concerned?

Answer:
I simply don’t know enough about the details of licensing anime soundtracks for domestic release to say whether discrepancies between the Japanese originals and domestic release soundtracks are caused by copyright issues or lack of concern on the part of domestic distributors, or compromises made to decrease domestic CD prices. But in any case, there certainly have been compromises made in the ongoing effort to bring Japanese genre soundtrack CDs to America. The general policy simply seems to be a case of, “You get what you pay for.”

Going back to the now out of print domestic release of the soundtrack for Katsuhiro Otomo’s Memories, published by JVC, the domestic CD was a single disc while the Japanese version was a double disc set including a normal CD and a bonus mini-CD. Several of TOKYOPOP’s video game soundtracks, including their Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy domestic soundtracks, are missing songs included in the original Japanese releases. In some cases, such as the domestic Chrono Trigger Playstation version soundtrack, the domestic version makes amends by including one or more bonus tracks not included on the Japanese CDs. But bonus tracks don’t make up for the fact that the Final Fantasy IX and X soundtracks were multiple disc sets in Japan but are only single disc “best of” collections in America.

Pioneer/Geneon’s relatively new line of domestic release soundtrack CDs have done an admirable job of re-creating the packaging of the original Japanese releases, but as you’ve noticed, the Haibane Renmei domestic soundtrack is missing one track, the domestic Serial Experiments Lain Cyberia Mix CD is actually missing two tracks from the Japanese release, and the domestic version of Yuki Kajiura’s solo album Fiction is missing 3 tracks from the Japanese release. (A Pioneer/Geneon spokeperson has confirmed that Pioneer could not secure the rights to distribute the Haibane Renmei closing theme song outside of Japan, so it could not be included on the American soundtrack CD.)

The only consolation I can offer is the fact that domestic version soundtrack CDs cost close to half what their imported Japanese versions cost. Domestic anime, game and J-pop CDs normally retail at around $15. The Japanese versions of these same CDs cost $25 or more in Japanese record stores, and the extra expense of international freight and customs taxes pushes their price up to around $30, on average, from American specialty stores. So while many, but not all of the anime CDs available in America are essentially identical to their Japanese counterparts, shortcomings in domestic soundtracks are offset by their significantly lower retail price.

If you’re concerned that in purchasing a particular domestic version anime CD you’re not getting the “whole” CD, the option of importing the original Japanese edition is always available. Unlike DVDs, audio CDs have no territorial exclusivity, no “region lock-out.” Any audio CD from anywhere will play in any CD player. (The only exception are the anti-piracy encoded soundtracks published in Japan by Avex Group. These “audio discs” are encoded to prevent digital copying. As a result, they usually will not play in Macintosh computers, car CD players, and some PC CD drives. But technically these anti-piracy encoded “audio discs” aren’t CDs. They don’t actually match the standards for CD media established by the international recording industry, and thus do not display the familiar “Compact Disc Digital Audio” logo.)

Finally, the only other advice I can suggest is to continue to do what you’ve already done. Educate yourself before making purchases. An internet connection and a few minutes on a search engine will often tell you whether the domestic CD you’re considering is identical to the original Japanese version. In some cases, research is vitally important to ensure that you’re getting exactly what you want. The best example of this is the domestic “Nadesico Original TV Soundtrack” which is actually not the TV series soundtrack. It’s the Japanese Nadesico Vocal Collection.

Thanks to writer Marc Hairston for additional information regarding the domestic Haibane Renmei OST.