Ask John: Why is Anime Edited in America?

Question:
Why does every single anime that comes here to America have to be edited? Why does every single anime that is supposed to be suited for teenagers and up instead, when it is in America, get edited to the point where it is for children?

Case in point. Dragonball, Dragonball Z. Dragonball was for children but here it was edited even more. Dragonball Z is really edited, but in Japan it was for an older audience, but here it is edited so that children can watch it when it was originally for an older audience.

Answer:
I can understand your concern, and I certainly sympathize, but before I address your question, allow me to explain that Dragonball Z wasn’t exactly intended for the older audience you may believe that it was made for. At its peak of popularity in Japan, Dragonball Z earned ratings even with children’s and family series like Crayon Shin-chan, Detective Conan, Kindachi Shonen no Jikenbo and Doraemon; ratings much higher than typical for shows like Ghost in the Shell and Samurai Champloo, which are targeted at young adult anime fans. Americans may think that Dragonball Z is a mature show, but in Japan it was primarily a children’s program. This difference in perspective accounts for why so much anime gets so heavily edited during its American TV broadcast. Here in America, we assume that any animation featuring blood or vaguely realistic violence is intended for teen or adult viewers. That’s not the case in Japan. Hundreds of thousands of young Japanese children that watch Detective Conan every week, even though the series commonly features realistic graphic and sometimes bloody murders.

You see, the acceptance of anime in the US is constrained by Western morality and tradition. Japanese parents assume that their children are intelligent enough to watch violent animation and comprehend that they’re watching fiction. Typical American parents assume that children have to be “protected” from any violent, disturbing or mature subject matter. You can see this in the censoring of anime, parental advisory labels on CDs, ratings on video games and the recent move to ban children from video game arcades. America has grown up with the Disney standard. Traditional American animation from producers including Disney and Warner Bros. has conditioned Americans to assume that all animation is intended for, and should be suitable for children. There are exceptions- Heavy Metal, The Simpsons, King of the Hill, South Park- but all of these programs are distinctly American with an immediately recognizable American look and style. These exceptions are also specifically marketed to American adults, unlike anime which is primarily marketed to children and teens.

As long as the general American public continues to think of anime as children’s animation, we’ll continue to see anime on television edited and censored. Furthermore, there’s very little motivation for American TV networks and distributors not to edit and censor anime because in many cases edited anime is more marketable and more profitable than unaltered anime. It’s the principle of giving people what they want. Since average Americans expect cartoons to be suitable for children, they’re willing to support and purchase animation that’s suitable for children, but shocked by animation that contains adult content like realistic violence, nudity, and sexuality. Recently the Cartoon Network quietly abandoned its broadcast of “uncut” Dragonball Z episodes, returning to airing censored episodes instead. The relatively tame One Piece anime has been censored for its current American television broadcast. Likewise Detective Conan, a Japanese children’s show, is edited for content during its American TV broadcast. The gruesome Gantz anime series was censored on American television even though it was offered only as a video on demand selection through the Anime Network. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations undoubtedly have some impact on why anime is censored on American TV, but the decisions of individual networks are even more influential. Making anime adhere to the expectations of average American viewers results in more viewers and more profit.

Anime is a Japanese art form and should be promoted as such. If America’s anime fans insist on accepting only anime with accurate translations, original language and music, and unadulterated footage, and do all that we can to spread the word about Japanese (emphasis on Japanese) anime, we may begin to see the market and the industry respond. As long as censored, edited and “kiddified” anime remains profitable, we’ll continue to see it flourish. Remember that the importation of anime into the US began with individual fans, and the popularity of anime in the US right now is a direct result of anime fans like you and me. If we want to see uncut anime on TV, we need to make it happen ourselves.

Article revised February 2, 2006