Ask John: How Can Fans Watch Uncut Anime That’s Only Released Edited?

Question:
With the subpar dubs put out by companies like 4Kids on such awesome shows as One Piece, what is a fan to do? I used to download fansubs, but I have stopped out of respect for the series and the companies that put out the legitimate DVDs. But the product 4Kids puts out is so ridiculously awful that it’s barely One Piece. What kinds of legal alternatives are there?

Answer:
Although I wish circumstances were otherwise, unfortunately not every question has an encouraging answer. From a strictly legal and ethical stance, there are no methods for American fans to watch series like One Piece and Yu-Gi-Oh the way they were intended to be seen- uncut and with their original dialogue. The only recourse available is to voiciferously express your desire for uncut, unaltered anime and hope that American distributors hear and satisfy your demands. Importing official Japanese DVDs for personal use is legal, according to US copyright code Title 17, Chapter 6, Section 602, which allows private individuals to legally import one copy of an work for personal use. But, ironically, in most cases, actually watching an imported Japanese anime DVD in America is not legal. Virtually all official Japanese anime DVDs are encoded for DVD Region 2 only, making them incompatible with American Region 1 DVD players. US Copyright Code Title 17, Chapter 12, Section 1201.A.1.A makes it illegal for Americans to circumvent DVD Region encoding for the purpose of watching a legally imported DVD. Furthermore, watching imported Japanese DVDs in America may be an unethical violation of the rights and wishes of the original Japanese copyright holder. Unlike American anime DVDs, which often contain multiple language options and are often encoded for multiple DVD regions, Japanese anime DVDs usually have no English translation and are not compatible with American DVD players, implying that they’re not intended for American viewing. So even importing official Japanese DVDs is not an entirely moral or legal option. Regrettably, average Americans have no fully ethical and legal way to watch anime that’s officially only available in America in an edited format, or anime that’s not officially available in America at all. The only totally ethical and legal option that Americans have is to beg distributors to officially release unaltered DVDs and hope that they concede.

There are American and international fans who do ignore the letter of the law in order to import, watch, and understand unaltered anime that official distributors refuse to provide. I don’t wish to encourage video piracy. I’m only stating that some fans choose to do whatever is necessary to obtain anime that they have no officially sanctioned access to. Most of these fans don’t condone malicious video piracy, and don’t financially profit from their efforts. They resort to unethical or illegal means because there are no entirely legal or ethical alternatives.

Anime is normally made for Japanese speaking viewers, so in a sense, not having access to uncut, Japanese language One Piece isn’t a right due to Americans in the first place. But I do recognize that the availability of censored and “Americanized” One Piece anime seems like an egregious taunt to American anime fans who take anime seriously. The fact that there are countless alternative anime series available in America that a fan could watch instead is little consolation for a viewer specifically interested in watching One Piece. I wish I could offer more suggestions, but the only completely legal and moral option available to fans is to petition distributors including 4Kids, and their home video distributors FUNimation and Viz Media, in person at anime conventions, and through e-mail and online discussion on forums and websites. Creating a demand for uncut, unaltered anime is the only way to get uncut, unaltered anime released in America. In the immediate time, fans interested in watching uncompromised One Piece anime regrettably can’t because the American distributor has forsaken serious anime fans, and the Japanese distributors have done everything they reasonably can to prevent average Americans from watching legitimate Japanese DVDs.