For older news: No Editing Zone News Archives

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Saturday, July 27th, 2002

ADV to release uncut SAILOR MOON Seasons 1 and 2

Reported at Otakon and confirmed on ADV's website, ADV now has the rights to release the first two seasons of Sailor Moon *UNCUT*. It looks like they are planning DVD boxsets with the original Japanese audio and English subtitles. Although it looks like Sailor Moon fans will never get an accurate dub for any of Sailor Moon, this announcement means the first four seasons will be available uncut in Japanese with English subtitles. Only the specials and Sailor Stars remain to be released uncut now.

Saturday, July 20th, 2002

MANGA AND EVANGELION: DEATH AND REBIRTH

According to a review on Anime Jump, which can be read HERE, Manga has taken a shortcut in their release of Evangelion: Death and Rebirth. Apparently they have copied the first 30 minutes of the End of Evangelion movie and placed it between the Rebirth beginning and ending credits. Since Rebirth is mostly the first third of End of Evangelion, this wouldn't be much of an issue EXCEPT Rebirth had several small differences in the animation used, the Japanese dialog, and music used. So, in effect, Manga has NOT released Rebirth on DVD.

You have to wonder what Manga was thinking. They KNOW that Evangelion fans are very vocal and very particular about all things Eva. Based on prior screw-ups, I didn't chance a pre-order for this title and my caution was apparently justified.

You know the drill... if you disagree with this change made by Manga, write to them and don't buy this release.

INITIAL-D Boycott T-shirts Based on suggestions by several Anime on DVD forum members, I out together an Initial D Boycott T-shirt. If you want to show your displeasure about TOKYOPOP's changes at cons or want to look really weird at your local store, you can buy them from Cafepress HERE. Please note that the T-shirts are listed at cost, so I will not make any money on these T-shirts.

Thursday, July 11th, 2002

INITIAL-D PRESS RELEASE TOKYOPOP has released a carefully worded press release in response to the news of the edits they have made already and are planning on making to Initial-D (both the manga and the anime). My comments from Wednesday haven't changed.

Read the press release at Anime on DVD.

Thursday, July 11th, 2002

UPDATED EDITING REPORT: Ghost Sweeper Mikami Movie I added a little to the Ghost Sweeper Mikami Movie editing report. Apparently Manga has replaced the ending montage of pictures used for the credits.

Sunday, July 14th, 2002

NEW EDITING REPORT: Samurai Troopers Bandai's release of Samurai Troopers does not have the next episode previews on either the otherwise unedited subttiled episodes or tthe dubbed Ronin Warriors episodes (which are only available in an edited form on one side of the DVDs). Read the editing report HERE or find it in the 'Full List' link.

Wednesday, July 10th, 2002

NEW EDITING REPORT: Ghost Sweeper Mikami Movie It's been confirmed that MAGNA has completely replaced the music on the English dub of the Ghost Sweeper Mikami Movie. So far, no changes to the Japanese track have been reported. Read the editing report HERE or find it in the 'Full List' link.

Editorial:

This pretty much confirms that a statement made by Magna that the music changes were only due to the masters being lost was a lie. Even if the original musical masters were lost, you should still reconstruct the music as close to the orignal as possible. Using completely new music reveals the motivation clearly.

ANIME EXPO 20002 NEWS I'm back from AX 2002 and have some editing news to report on. I will probably write up a more general review of the con as a whole in the next few days, but for now there are three pieces of information that concerned fans need to know about:

VIZ and HAMUTARO

Hamutaro will only be released by Viz with the edited for TV dub as seen on Cartoon Network. I have put an edited dub only release entry into the editing report lists for Hamutaro.

Concerned fans of this show should write (either by e-mail or regular paper mail) to VIZ and express your opinions about their edited release. As with all edited releases, I don't recommend buying them since it only helps justify more editing in the future to the business people who care more for profit than the anime.

Click HERE for contact information for VIZ. Please remember to be polite, but state your opinions clearly and firmly.

CPM and LA BLUE GIRL and other adult titles

When asked about restoring the footage they edited out of La Blue Girl when they re-release it again on DVD, CPM indicated they have NOT restore the missing footage. This is in spite of the fact that the new La Blue Girl Returns has similar scenes in it.

Editorial:

Given this latest news and added to the fact that CPM continues to edit titles (such as Night Shift Nurses, Sprite, and Fencer of Minerva) as they see fit, I cannot continue to put any faith in CPM's products and will only buy their titles after I have assurances and/or proof that they are completely unedited.

I suggest anime fans concerned with this continued editing to write (either by e-mail or regular paper mail) to CPM about it and to make your future purchase decisions carefully. Basically, all Anime 18 titles should be considered suspect as should any U.S. Manga titles with heavy sexual content.

Click HERE for contact information for CPM. Please remember to be polite, but state your opinions clearly and firmly.

TOKYOPOP and INITIAL-D

Initial-D fans take note:

TOKYOPOP has confirmed that starting with volume 2 of the manga the character names have been changed and other unspecified 'editorial changes' have been made and will be made for future volumes. I have not been able to receive more than an 'no comment' from TOKYOPOP about what kind of changes have been/will be made, but you can bet that 'editorial changes' will involve removing any material, dialog, or character traits that they feel would be objectionable to a mainstream audience.

They also indicated that the 'opportunities' (read: they can make more money) that initiated these changes would extend to the anime as well. Whether this will only be for a TV broadcast dub or be on the eventual DVD release is unclear and I have not been able to get any additional information about how far these edits will go and where they will appear.

They talked about possibly releasing a 'collector's edition' of the manga with the real names and accurate dialog, but would not commit to it. The first volume of the obviously mis-advertised and mis-labeled "Initial-D 100% Authentic Manga" will be reprinted with the edited content to match the edited volume 2.

The eventual DVD release may or may not have the edited dub used for the TV broadcast version, but there has been no confirmation either way. They also would not discount the possibility that they would change the music for the show. Some comments on various sites indicates that the subtitles may be unedited, but I have not been able to confirm this, so all Initial-D products should be considered suspect at this point.

I have added an informational editing entry into the list of editing reports until such time as more details on these edits become available.

Editorial:

Initial-D (both the manga and anime) has just dropped off my 'to buy' list and I will be very careful when purchasing other TOKYOPOP merchandise. These changes are completely unacceptable and I feel TOKYOPOP is shooting themselves in the foot after regaining some trust of the anime community with their improved manga releases and some decent DVD releases.

Especially when you consider they are calling their new manga lines "100% Authentic", these edits are blatant false advertising and will probably do more long term harm to their company than money can make up for. They are fairly transparent as they try to sweet talk their way through the fact they are being greedy and trying to milk Initial-D for every last cent they can. They don't seem content to sell to the ever-expanding anime market and instead are going after a quick buck with the xenophobic mainstream market.

Some of their other minor (minor only in comparison to the Initial-D edits) edits to their titles (a swastika in the GTO manga, the GTO anime opening, the Saint Tail dub, some questionable translation changes, and a single name change in the Chobits manga) show that TOKYOPOP really hasn't changed that much from the old days where they released manga titles with heavy edits and with little care to the quality or accuracy of the dialog.

In other words, they don't understand the anime and manga markets. I know they're a business, but they can make money without editing their titles. Now, more than ever, the editing of titles to appeal to xenophobic parents and broadcasting executives has GOT TO STOP!

I suggest anime fans and especially fans of Initial-D write (either by e-mail or regular paper mail) to TOKYOPOP and express your feelings on this matter. Make sure to indicate that you won't be buying the edited releases.

Click HERE for contact information for TOKYOPOP. Please remember to be polite, but state your opinions clearly and firmly.

Wednesday, May 15th, 2002

NEW EDITING REPORT: Strange Dawn Urban Vision replaced the music used for the episode endings starting with volume 2 of Strange Dawn. Also, the eyecataches are apparently missing from all volumes. Read the editing report HERE or find it in the 'Full List' link.

DIFFERENT VERSIONS: Boogiepop Phantom Although not yet confirmed, it appears that Right Stuf's release of Boogiepop Phantom is using a different version (presumably a broadcast TV version) than was released on Japanese home video. The differences seem to be in bloody scenes, where the North American release is in black and white and the Japanese home video version is in full color.

POSSIBLE EDIT: Sins of the Flesh I've received some information that Kitty's Sins of the Flesh may have been edited to remove a scene in which Adolfo's (or Fernando's) nephew ends up having sex with a shemale.

Although I'm still trying to confirm this edit with various sources (including Media Blasters/KITTY directly), I wanted to warn potential buyers of the upcoming 'Best of Kitty Volume Four' (which contains this show) that it MIGHT be edited and they should make their buying decision accordingly.

As always, if you have any information on this or other edits, please let me know,.

I post more details once I receive any.

Friday, May 3rd, 2002

FANIME CON 20002 News A few tidbits I learned at Fanime Con 2002 last weekend:

• Pioneer's Hellsing will NOT have overlays. DVD soft subs will be used to translate all on screen text.
• They will also be using alternate angles to handle some student introduction extras on I My Me Strawberry Eggs.
• Manga will not be changing music or editing the episodes together for Read or Die.
• Manga HAS reportedly changed the music in Ghost Sweep Mikami in order to fill in silent moments. No word if this is for just the English dub or both audio tracks.

For older news: No Editing Zone News Archives

For current news: No Editing Zone Current News