Cigarettes into lollipops, guns into water guns, wine into water. These aren’t religious miracles, but rather, something else entirely. Hooray!
Japanese anime One Piece has been localised for the US market, and that localisation isn’t limited linguistic translation, but a cultural localisation with things like cigars and cleavage erased.
Bathing, which in Japan is done totally naked and with strangers at hot springs and public baths, is turned into swimming with characters dressed in bathing suits.
In the above clip, the Japanese original anime is on the left and the American version is on the right.
Originally a manga, One Piece has also been spun off into nearly 30 video games for systems ranging from the WonderSwan and the PS2 to the Nintendo DS and the Wii.
アニメ『ワンピース』、日本版とアメリカ版ではこんなに違う [へちま]
Update: As those who who watch One Piece in English are well aware, the series is currently available in North America in an unedited and uncut version. The previous version was heavily censored.
Doug Sherry
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 7:41 AMThe above clip doesn’t make sense – how could he have defeated Crocodile if he wasn’t bleeding?
legless joe
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 7:51 AMI knew that editing was bad, but since i never really watched one piece and most of the anime i wach is fan subs in their original language i never really realised untill now, how bad and extream some of the censorship actually was.
Scott Gardner
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 9:08 AMI Agree, I already knew about the pokemon controversy, but I didn’t know just how bad it was until I started to watch stuff like Bleach and Death Note in Both Original Japanese and then English. Although I can understand some changes (Changing various japanese foods westerners are unlikely to know to western foods) But Sometimes you just have to wonder if they even know what they’re doing.
James Mac
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 10:43 AMPokemon controversy?
JJ
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 8:28 AMAnd they wonder why downloading of subbed anime is so widespread.
harli
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 9:03 AMthat was really fail.
Stephen Alexander
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 9:21 AMWow that is positively AWFUL. I’ve been patiently waiting for them to release One Piece DVD collections here in Australia (with the japanese audio fully intact of course), but I would think twice about buying them if they were modified like this. :/
warcroft
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 9:23 AMThank god they changed those rice balls to cookies!
Kyle_Katarn
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 2:06 PMOh I agree, and thank god they changed Luffy’s(?) big ass grin to a stupid smile… I could have been offended there.
Sughly
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 9:32 AMhaha they can breathe smoke! reminds me of this – http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=145
Ross Moir
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 10:13 AMOne Piece is actually oone of the worst examples of editing, partly because 4kids decided to adapt it for a younger western audience.
Naruto also suffered when it was adapted, with the removal of blood and certain scenes, but also cursed with bad translation and a horrible theme song
Asuron
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 12:33 PMNo it did not
Naruto did not suffer in any way shape or form
It didnt have a bad translation at all,certain scenes were removed but they had little to no impact
I dont know what show you were watching but the blood edits were minor at most, almost non existant
God I hate when naruto fans say that, you have no idea what bad editing is and yet you think it got bad edits
But maybe you didnt see the version on cartoon network and saw the other version made by jetix that was on put in the mornings
Then that would be a reasonable excuse to say so
Otherwise no, just no
Craig Oats
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 11:00 AMThat really is terrible, and sad. Thus the reason I stick to fansubs and the manga. Hell, even the western release of the manga from VIZ isn’t given that treatment…
Mannon
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 11:15 AMSo tattoos are unacceptable for children to see now? And the guy that smokes all the cigars.. what, he just exhales smoke all the time for no reason? Classy.
Dire Wolf
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 12:31 PMI loled at some of those. I’ve only seens the censored version of it and it looks ok but seeing what the uncut version looks like is making me want to watch the whole series.
Christopher Colless
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 12:46 PMAny idea on that last one? Are big mouths (no pun intended) really that offensive?
Courtney Cullen
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 4:44 PMMy god. For the amount of effort they must go to, to redraw every single scene like that, why don’t they just make a whole new bloody anime?
Joshy206
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 5:23 PMxD
4Kids are so cute :P
‘sides, I originally found it wierd, but now I watch all anime in japanese with subtitles. The voices are just better (usually) :P
Matt
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 9:29 PMany news on when the next season is coming, already like 6 years behind, and i dont remember seeing any mention of it being on telly after the Alabastor Arc i think.
Nick
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 10:03 PMFail America is fail.
RocK_M
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 10:19 PMUmm… this is rather insanely old news >.>;;
Most of the One Piece fandom have pretty much ripped this censorship topic to itty bitty pieces of tissue paper a while back when the 4Kids version of the anime aired =P
Actually these editing shinanigans have been around since the days of Nausicaa and Sailormoon xD
Cheezel
Saturday, April 17, 2010 at 5:02 PMWhat DOES Luffy do when he fights Crocodile? He suddenly starts oozing water or something? :S
WiseHacker
Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 5:50 PMI do not think the original localisation was censor ship.
I actually think it was a crazy attempt to take a mature anime and make it appropriate for children.