Ask John: Would Anime be More Popular in America if it Wasn’t Edited?

Question:
Would anime be as popular [in America] if it wasn’t edited? I would to know if you believe that anime (specifically tv series) would be more or less popular today if it was not Americanized and edited for consumption by mainstream viewers. Obviously hardcore and longtime fans are happy with uncut anime, but those less familiar and who have been weaned on edited anime probably cannot relate.

Answer:
In terms of practical impact, anime definitely wouldn’t be as popular in America as it is now had it not been edited. The anime that introduced Japanese animation to America, from Astro Boy, Speed Racer, and Battle of the Planets to Robotech, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball, were all censored for their American debuts. These series introduced anime to America and were instrumental in creating America’s first anime fans. If these influential early imports had not been censored, they would never have gotten mainstream American broadcast and exposure, and America’s anime fan community would have never formed or developed. Early introductory anime was essential for the birth of America’s fan community, and editing was essential for the introduction of anime in America.

So in a practical, physical sense, editing was absolutely necessary for anime to break into America. And sadly, editing remains a necessity for much of the anime brought to American mainstream exposure. Even FUNimation has confirmed that its upcoming DVD release of One Piece will be unedited, but the TV broadcast will still be forced to contain edits. Simply due to American television broadcast standards and network policies, typical anime cannot be broadcast uncut on American television. Characteristics that seems innocuous for Japanese viewers, like cigarette smoking or mild violence, can be deemed totally unacceptable for American television broadcast. And simple cultural characteristics like cooking rice may be considered too foreign to be commercially viable for mainstream American distribution.

Commercial editing is one unavoidable matter, but the psychological need for editing is less clear and decisive. It is clearly impossible to say that anime would be more successful today had it reached America totally unaltered. But I think that anime would probably be more respected in America today if it had been introduced to Americans in its unadulterated form. Anime for mainstream American consumption is frequently censored because it’s treated as a commercial product that can and should be modified for maximum efficiency. Unlike “art films” and “foreign films” which are brought to America uncut and unaltered, and are respected and honored for their artistic and cultural significance, anime gets its original language replaced, and cultural nuances removed for mainstream American distribution. Had anime always come to America in its authentic Japanese form, contemporary Americans would have 40 years of familiarity with anime as a Japanese art form that’s culturally unique and strikingly different from traditional American film. But instead, today’s Americans have 40 years of familiarity with anime as a children’s entertainment medium and an art form evolved to sell toys.

The regrettable compromise is that editing anime to American standards has led to the contemporary popularity of anime in America. If anime had never been edited in America, it probably wouldn’t be as popular or successful as it is now, but it would be more respected. I think that literate, artistically disposed Americans of any modern time would approach unaltered Japanese animation as a surprising and intelligent art form. Young American children would probably appreciate the sometimes graphic content of unadulterated anime, but it’s not difficult to imagine parental outrage, and objection from religious and moral organizations and self-appointed arbiters that would chastise and persecute uncut anime exposed to impressionable American children. I tend to believe that American children are resilient and intelligent enough to comprehend and enjoy unedited anime the same way that Japanese viewers do. But evidence like American television broadcast standards reveals that my evaluation of American children isn’t widely shared. I do think that average, mainstream American viewers can relate to and appreciate unedited Japanese animation. And exposure to uncut anime could possibly generate more respect and more interest in anime among American viewers. But unfortunately, mainstream American viewers will probably never have that opportunity. The American moral, religious, and commercial interests in sanitizing and localizing anime are far too influential to ever allow uncensored anime to get mainstream American exposure.