Ask John: Why Don’t Some Companies Release Uncut Anime?

Question:
What do you think are some of the main reasons that companies like 4-Kids, Cloverway, and Dic don’t release uncut anime?

Answer:
Probably only companies like 4Kids, Cloverway, and Dic know for certain why they chose to release titles the way they do, but there’s probably a pretty good chance that their motivation is based on money. Based on recent estimates from Video Store Magazine, only one out of every 100 DVDs sold in America in 2003 was an anime DVD. So for as big and as mainstream as fans may think anime has become in America, it’s still a niche market, albeit a potentially very profitable one. Distribution companies like 4Kids and Dic target the lucrative mainstream children’s and family home video markets. These companies aren’t particularly interested in the relatively small audience of hardcore anime fans. In the eyes of these home video distribution companies, the hardcore anime fan audience is insignificant in size and buying power next to the children’s home video market. If edited Kirby and Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh DVDs sell a hundred thousand copies, sales of perhaps less than ten thousand units to hardcore anime fans just aren’t a big enough percentage of sales to be worth special care.

The idea that major distributors simply don’t care about small percentage of hardcore anime fans implies that executives of these companies are aware that hardcore anime fans exist. There’s an equally good chance that the executive boards of companies like 4Kids and Dic aren’t even aware that there’s a small but staunch interest in uncut, Japanese language versions of imported Japanese children’s animation. It may be that the mainstream American decision makers behind companies like 4Kids and Dic just assume that no Americans would be interested in watching children’s cartoons in a foreign language. This is where the actions of fans can be influential. Letter writing campaigns and other ways of letting companies like 4Kids and Dic know that American fans want to buy uncut and uncensored anime may alert distributors to potential markets that they didn’t even know existed.

Finally, the third most likely reason why many children’s anime series aren’t released in America uncut may have to do with mainstream American perceptions of animation. Companies like 4Kids and Dic make their living off their reputation for producing and releasing family friendly, non-controversial children’s video. As the success of Disney animation can attest, wholesome, moral-majority children’s animation is highly profitable in America, and high-rollers in that industry are probably justifiably hesitant to jeopardize their position in that market. Anime fans are not typical mainstream American consumers. Since we’re used to anime, things we presume normal and innocuous, like Kasumi slapping Satoshi for being irresponsible in Pokemon, have to be edited out of the American release because such scenes may be considered offensive or violent to mainstream American viewers. So no matter how minor the differences between an uncut Japanese version and an edited American version, domestic distributors may be hesitant to release different versions of the same children’s programming because the very idea of releasing two different editions of the same title suggests that the title contains content not suitable for children. That mere suggestion may be enough to create controversy and undermine sales. The opportunity to sell a few thousand uncut, subtitled DVDs to hardcore anime fans may not be worth losing mainstream sales and risking controversy and accusations of distributing “cartoons” to children that contain violence and sexuality. For major distributors, the prudent distribution strategy may be safe rather than sorry.