Ask John: What’s John’s Opinion on Viz Editing the I

Question:
In a move that should perhaps shock no one, Viz “bastardized” the first volume of I’s by placing stars over the topless female lead. Do you have any thoughts on this issue? Should Viz “get away” with this kind of crap, especially when it literally marks the book with a rating of 16+ years of age? And on a side note, is it just me or does I’s essentially rip off stories like Kimagure Orange Road’s “love triangle” dynamic?

Answer:
Although I am a professional in the American anime industry, I have to discuss this question from the perspective of an average consumer level fan. I don’t know anything more about the rationale behind Viz’s decisions than any other average fan does, so I can only express my impressions. Considering that the censoring of the I”s manga isn’t remotely as remotely as extensive as the bastardization of the Tenjho Tenge manga by CMX, I’m hesitant to use strong adjectives in reference to Viz’s localization of the I”s magna. On a relative scale, obscuring nude breasts with black stars is a minor edit. However, the inclusion of any editing at all seems disrespectful to the work of the original artist. And especially in a book that headlines Viz’s “Shonen Jump Advanced” line of manga intended for older teen readers, censoring brief, mild nudity seems contrary to the very principle of manga intended for older teens. Censoring nudity in domestic manga releases is nothing new to Viz. Going as far back as Xenon, one of Viz’s earliest English translated manga releases, the American release painted in extra blood on a nude female to obscure her exposed breasts. (Once again, an example of the irony of excess bloody violence being preferable in America over the depiction of natural nudity.) In fact, the censoring of minor nudity in the Dragonball manga caused enough vocal outrage among fans to convince Viz to reprint the Dragonball manga uncensored.

Viz has officially stated that the censoring of the I”s magna was performed with the consent of creator Masakazu Katsura, and furthermore shouldn’t be considered out of character for the series because Katsura himself employed a similar censoring in the third Japanese volume of the I”s manga. I must admit that I’m not familiar with the I”s manga, but I’ve been informed by a knowledgeable source that, in fact, the stars over breasts in the third volume are not censoring, but rather an integral part of the story. Furthermore, the official Mexican publication of the I”s manga is not censored the way the American edition is, which suggests that although Katsura agreed to a censored American release, that may not have been his first choice.

Any time manga and anime is edited for release outside of Japan two considerations come into play. First, although anime and manga are undeniably commercial art, it’s up to individuals to decide whether they emphasize the commercial or artistic component. Second, official distributors frequently have to treat Japanese art as a pure material product which should be altered in order to maximize its commercial potential. So I can’t blame Viz for making decisions expected to most benefit the company. However, I can criticize Viz for related decisions and seeming lack of awareness of its industry and market. Del Rey announced plans to censor the American version of Ken Akamatsu’s Mahou Sensei Negima manga- a title apparently targeted at the same 16+ year old readers that I”s is marketed to. In response to consumer demand Del Rey Manga kept Negima unedited and released it shrinkwrapped and clearly labeled. The Negima manga has become one of the best selling manga titles available in America. Viz has apparently totally disregarded its own history with the Dragonball manga and Del Rey’s well publicized decisions regarding the Negima manga. I sympathize with Viz’s goal of doing whatever is considered necessary to be profitable. But releasing a censored version of the I”s manga under the guise of it being a title for older readers, and releasing censored manga (even if the censoring is minor) in the current market atmosphere which seems to be vehemently opposed to manga editing, seems to be misguided and irresponsible to consumers and Viz’s own goals.

And on a side note, I’m only slightly familiar with I”s. I own the first manga volume in untranslated Japanese, and I’ve watched the two episode anime series. I don’t think it’s really fair to call I”s a rip-off because there are so many anime and manga titles that use a love triangle literary conceit. Rather than call I”s a rip-off, I think of it as merely one title among many which use this theme.