Ask John: Why is Anime Editing Criticized so Selectively?

Question:
I have been thinking about Robotech lately and have become rather curious as to why Robotech is considered such a great series when it spliced three different series together to create what we know as Robotech. The point is, why is there a huge uproar about the censoring of anime such as DragonBall Z, when Robotech is in my opinion the single most censored anime series in existence?

Answer:
A great deal of the controversy that surrounds edited anime in America and the acceptance, or lack thereof, for shows like Robotech and Dragonball has as much or probably more to do with circumstances and time than it does with actual editing. Robotech is simultaneously loved and hated vehemently by “old-school” anime fans. On one hand Robotech is appreciated because it, more so than any other program, directly paved the way for the popularity of anime that exists in American now. Anime series from Astroboy and Speed Racer to Battle of the Planets and Star Blazers came to America before Robotech, but it was Robotech that aired at a time when young people were getting sophisticated enough to appreciate Robotech for its revolutionary story and animation quality and its distinctive difference from all other cartoons broadcast in America at the time. In simple terms, Robotech was the show that introduced an entire generation to anime. And, of course, it should also be noted that Macross alone is actually an impressive series for its time.

As the new anime fans indoctrinated by Robotech delved further into anime to educate themselves about this “new” art form, they discovered how heavily edited and altered Robotech was from its original Japanese source material, and the hatred of Robotech arose. Fans didn’t hate the original animation at all. Fans hated the fact that what America got was not the animation as its Japanese creators had intended it to be seen, but a modified mish-mash of totally unrelated shows heavily re-written and altered for American consumption. Because Robotech was mainly credited to the writing of Carl Macek, who started Streamline Pictures and continued to release heavily altered anime to America, dislike of Mr. Macek’s policies expanded into a general dislike of Robotech and all Streamline productions together. As Streamline began to loose its financial stability in the early 1990s, a new batch of translating companies including Viz, US Renditions, AnimEigo, AD Vision and Central Park Media began to enter the industry with the promise of releasing anime for Americans presented in authentic, uncompromised Japanese format. As this promise began to become reality, and anime began to make serious inroads into American mainstream awareness, American anime fans began to forget the epidemic of edited and altered anime that characterized the late 1980s and early 1990s, simply assuming that anime releases from companies like AD Vision, CPM and Viz were unaltered versions presented with their Japanese artistic integrity intact. Furthermore, because these companies were small and struggling to survive and expand, fans overlooked occasional concessions to editing or “Americanization” as a necessary evil to increase marketability and recognition of Japanese animation in America.

Over time, however, as new fans came in to the hobby without having experienced a history of edited anime, and assuming that what was available in America was a genuine attempt to present Japanese animation to Americans, anime fandom began to blindly accept increasingly “Americanized” anime without question, based on pure faith that anime coming from the now traditional translating companies would be purely Japanese. Over the years Viz has released Ranma episodes out of their correct Japanese broadcast order, with incorrect opening and ending animation sequences on episodes. CPM has released Slayers DVD with missing footage and adult anime series missing extensive amounts of footage. AD Vision, with at least Nadesico and Gasaraki; Media Blasters with at least Slight Fever Syndrome; Manga with at least Castle Cagliostro; and Pioneer with at least NieA_7 have used varying amounts of digital editing to remove or “Americanize” on-screen Japanese text. Tokyopop has edited their dub of St. Tail and Bandai edited their dub of Love Hina to make them more mainstream friendly. AD Vision’s dubs of the Slayers movie, Sorcerer Hunters and Orphen don’t even attempt to present an accurate translation of the original dialogue. Urban Vision’s VHS version of Petshop of Horrors edited out the opening animation altogether. The DVD version included it as “bonus footage” in a supplemental menu. Pioneer’s release of Trigun did not use the correct episode specific opening animation sequences. Manga Entertainment’s version of Dangaio is missing a great deal of footage. And the list could go on and on. In fact, anime is being altered and edited for American release now more often and more heavily than ever before, but there’s little outcry from fans because many fans don’t either aren’t aware of the extent of editing that occurs in the contemporary anime industry, or blindly assume that releases from the “traditional” anime companies are beyond suspicion.

The uproar over edited Dragonball can be largely credited to circumstances. Given Dragonball’s immense international popularity, Dragonball has a much larger, devoted and more vocal fan base than the average single season long anime series. Furthermore, FUNimation’s decision to try to be fan-oriented and release edited and uncut versions of Dragonball Z has partially back-fired in the regard that it made clear the fact that editing was taking place. When Manga Entertainment or AD Vision, for example, release only one version of an anime release that happens to employ digital editing, many fans won’t notice because a single release isn’t as obviously the victim of editing as clearly labeled “edited” and “uncut” separate releases. Furthermore, harsh criticism has been levied at FUNimation in spite of their public announcements of a desire to present artistically uncorrupt versions of anime for Americans simply because FUNimation is not one of the “traditional” anime distributors in America. Because anime has always been and continues to be something of an underground, cult genre and hobby in America, some fans can’t help but be suspicious of a major, mainstream American corporation entering the field, regardless of actual circumstances.

Readers interested in learning more about edited anime releases are encouraged to visit the Anime No Editing Zone. Readers that would like to discuss this article are encouraged to visit the AnimeNation Forum.