Ask John: Are DVDs Edited?

Question:
Concerning anime DVDs, since they have only one video track, is that video track the original Japanese track or the English (aka edited) track, or is it variable depending on the producer of the DVD?

Answer:
Since I assume that you’re asking about American, rather than Japanese, DVDs, most of the ones on the market right now contain the original Japanese footage. Some American DVDs, including the edited Street Fighter movie, the edited Dragonball and Pokemon TV series discs, and the compiled Tekken with altered music are only available on DVD in the US in their American footage versions. Unfortunately, with the progress of digital video, even this distinction isn’t a simple and clear-cut as it seems. Recently, several domestic release DVDs, including AD Vision’s Evangelion DVD 1, Manga Entertainment’s DVD presentation of Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro, and Pioneer’s Trigun release contain the original Japanese video footage, but instances of Japanese writing in the original animation have been digitally altered to replace or mask the original kana and kanji with English language text rather than either subtitling the original footage or leaving it intact. The degree to which this editing makes these shows the original Japanese versions or “edited” American versions, then, depends largely on the viewer’s tollerance for relatively minor alterations to the original animation footage. As you can guess, the content of American anime DVDs largely depends upon the company issuing the disc and their plans for particular shows.

Fans particularly interested in knowing which anime releases are edited or altered for their American release will find an extensive database of known American anime release alterations at the Anime Prime Anime No Editing Zone.