Ask John: Has Gundam Wing “Spoiled” Fans?

Question:
Ever since the Cartoon Network started airing an uncensored version of (Shin Kidou Senki) Gundam Wing, anime fans have been repeatedly asking them to air more uncensored anime. Do you think that the Cartoon Network “spoiled” the fans by doing this? After all, just because they did it just this one time doesn’t necessarily mean they will ever do it again.

Answer:
This is sort of a difficult question to answer. I’m not so sure that Gundam W “spoiled” fans as it made fans conscious of the censorship commonly imposed on anime broadcast on American television. As you’ve stated, and as time has proven, the uncut Gundam Wing has not led to more uncut anime being broadcast on even the Cartoon Network. Since Gundam W premiered nearly a year ago, Card Captor Sakura and Escaflowne have premiered on American television in terribly mangled fashion, and the Cartoon Network has broadcast censored versions of the Tenchi Muyo OAV series and Blue Sub No. 6. Unfortunately, Gundam W was not a harbinger of things to come, nor do I believe that it was ever intended to be. I, for one, did say that I hoped the broadcast of Gundam W would open the door for more Japanese (emphasis on Japanese) anime to come to America, but such has not happened. I think that Gundam W was an exception because it is Bandai’s flagship anime series, and Bandai would not have allowed any American company the rights to their crown jewel without an agreement that Gundam would be treated with unusual care. When Ronin Warriors (Yoriden Samurai Troopers), Dragonball and Dragonball Z, Teknoman (Tekkaman Blade) and Sailormoon were on American television, edits and censorship were the norm, so the average fan had nothing to compare these shows to and no reason to notice anything odd. When Gundam Wing premiered uncut, everyone suddenly realized that what had come before had not been uncut. Gundam W, I think, did not “spoil” fans into being used to uncut anime on television. It succeeded in raising viewers expectations for anime broadcast on television. That is what has led to the demand for more uncut anime on TV. In effect, Gundam W didn’t immediately begin a revolution of uncut anime on American television, but hopefully, it will one day be recognized as the first step in a slow revolution of unedited anime coming to American television.

What do you think? Will we see more uncut anime on American TV or was Gundam W just an exception? Share your thoughts on the AnimeNation Forum.