Ask John: Has Any Other Manga Been as Heavily Censored as Tenjho Tenge?

Question:
Is there any other manga or anime that has been as heavily censored in that way that CMX’s version of the Tenjho Tenge manga has been? Is this the first time such an extreme amount of censorship has been put upon a particular title or titles?

Answer:
The censoring imposed on the Tenjho Tenge manga has created outrage in the American fan community because it’s egregious, seemingly unnecessary, and because Tenjho Tenge is such a popular title in the American fan community. Editing manga and anime for American release, though, is not unusual. American anime industry staple companies AD Vision, 4Kids Entertainment, FUNimation, Central Park Media, CMX, Gutsoon, Geneon, Manga Entertainment, Right Stuf International, TOKYOPOP, Viz, and Hirameki International, just to name a few, are all publishers that have released titles into the American market in edited only editions. In fact, there are only a small handful of American anime/manga distributors that have released unaltered versions of all of their titles (disregarding minor changes like translated credits and logos).

Censoring in anime and manga must be compared with relative circumstances in mind because different circumstances apply to each. For example, anime broadcast on mainstream American television must meet FCC standards, but English translated manga is much less subject to governmental regulation. In terms of percentage of alteration relative to the total body of work, my guess would be that no import has ever been as heavily censored and altered as the Gatchaman television series was when it was turned into Battle of the Planets. Not only was Gatchaman sanitized for American television, it was “enhanced” with extensive original American created animation footage. (I originally wanted to say that no import has ever been or ever will be as heavily altered as Gatchaman was, but AD Vision’s recent announcement about their re-write of the Gakkou no Kaiden English dub- turning a drama from a respected Japanese ghost story film franchise into a reportedly lowbrow comedy- introduces a disturbing possibility of forthcoming anime releases that are likewise Americanized virtually beyond any similarity to their original tone or style.) On a percentage scale, the Tenjho Tenge manga wasn’t remotely as heavily altered as the Gatchaman television series was. But fans are still highly offended by the edits in the “TenTen” manga because they seem to be unnecessary. The Tenjho Tenge manga is obviously targeted at older teen and young adult readers, and other American manga distributors including Del Rey, TOKYOPOP, and Dark Horse Comics have released manga volumes shrink wrapped to prevent undesired readers from seeing them.

But Viz originally released the Maison Ikkoku manga series with entire chapters missing because certain chapters of the series were deemed “too Japanese” for American readers. Is removing entire chapters of a manga series a more serious offense than re-drawing and otherwise extensively censoring the TenTen manga? I think that’s a question which individual consumers must answer individually. There have been many other manga released in America with mild censoring, not quite as extensive as what was performed on Tenjho Tenge. Panels that were considered “too sexy” in the Xenon, Pokemon and I”s manga are re-drawn or censored in their American releases from Viz. AD Vision has censored provocative art in its domestic release of the By The Sword manga. Gutsoon censored exposed panties in its American release of the Bomber Girl manga. This sampling of examples proves that censoring is sadly not unusual within American releases, but the censoring imposed on the American release of the Tenjho Tenge manga may be the most extensive ever inflicted upon an American manga translation.