For older news: No Editing Zone News Archives

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Tuesday, December 17th, 2002

NEW EDITING REPORT: VIRUS BUSTER SERGE Manga does it again. Reports from the Anime on DVD Forum and news page is that Manga has edited the opening and completely changed the ending for their release of Virus Buster Serge. In addition, there have been concerns about the accuracy of the translation used for the subtitles and English dub. Read the editing report HERE or find it in the 'Full List' link.

Thursday, December 5th, 2002

UPDATED EDITING REPORT: VANDREAD I've added some information to the Vandread editing report concerning some changes to an opening used in Vandread: Second Stage. Looks like the changing logos made Pioneer get lazy when adding their English credits. Read the updated editing report HERE or find it in the 'Full List' link.

NEW EDITING REPORT: Lupin III Following up on the news that Pioneer will be editing the Lupin III TV series (see the November 27th news), I've put what information into an Editing reports with some views and opinion on the changes. Read the editing report HERE or find it in the 'Full List' link.

Wednesday, November 27th, 2002

IT'S OFFICIAL: PIONEER'S LUPIN III TO BE EDITED:

A representative of Pioneer has posted the following in the Anime on DVD Forum:

Posted by: Stang

Dear fans of Lupin The 3rd TV series and Anime on DVD readers:
Thank you for your enthusiasm for the long-awaited Lupin The 3rd TV series. Unfortunately, as noted here, the third episode of the original broadcast, “Hitler’s Legacy,” will not be included in this first volume. While Anime fans certainly understand Lupin, the uninformed public remains extremely sensitive to any references to Hitler and the subject matter will certainly offend the audience that does not care to consider the topic within the context of the show. The launch of Lupin would not survive any negative press or stereotypes from this type of publicity.
In the end, the decision was made to delay the release of this episode until the franchise has been established and any negative aura would be countered by the established, true nature of Lupin: Charming characters and outrageous fun for people of all ages. Other than this reordering of the episodes, Pioneer Entertainment has not made any edits and we have left the original Japanese dialog intact. While the English dialog has been updated to give Lupin a more current feel, a faithful translation of the original dialog is present in the subtitle track. Also, you will find the original Japanese episode titles translated in the previews, and, beginning with volume 2, we incorporated your feedback and added the episode titles as soft subtitles in the title slate.
However, there will remain discrepancies between the Japanese releases and the region 1 releases due to copyright infringement issues. Our licensor was forced to remove certain trademarked images and logos from the footage and swap out a few musical elements before they could release the masters to territories outside of Japan. Since we were denied access to the original masters, we cannot provide a full list of these changes (although we’re sure that a list will be generated by fans shortly), but there are not very many and they are minor nuances. The original storylines and contents remain unedited and unaffected.
Obviously the most dedicated fans who are the most aware of Lupin The 3rd will be the most concerned about these changes, so we ask for your understanding and your patience as we introduce everyone else in North America to this wonderful show. We found that despite some issues that may cause us trouble, Lupin The 3rd was just too much fun to pass up and we are doing our best, given the conditions forced upon us, to make everyone feel the same way. Please support Lupin The 3rd in its launch so that we may have the opportunity to release the title in its entirety for everyone to enjoy!

I had really hoped the previous speculation was a mistake, but this confirms that Pioneer will be releasing some Lupin III episodes out of order.

To add insult to injury, there will also be additional edits to the audio and animation. It doesn't matter if Pioneer does the editing themselves or if the original Japanese licesor does it for them. It's still editing. I also find it a bit laughable that they claim "The original storylines and contents remain unedited and unaffected" when they also state "Since we were denied access to the original masters, we cannot provide a full list of these changes". How on earth can they assure us the storyline and contents remain unaffected when they have no idea what is being changed?

At least they are being honest about it (after their hand has been caught in the editing jar, of course), but I encourage all Lupin III fans to write to Pioneer and express your feelings about this editing. Remember to be polite and indicate this editing will affect your purchasing decisions.

The ironic thing is, Funimation is releasing UNCUT version of the Lupin III movies and specials that has similar content in them (concerning the Nazis). Granted, they are also releasing edited versions as well, but those edits reportedly have more to do with language and nudity than the dreaded 'Nazis'.

"Those who forget (or try to hide) history are doomed to repeat it..."

Hopefully, this is just a mistake and I'll try to find out more info, but concerned Lupin III fans should be aware of this possible edit of omission.

Sunday, November 19th, 2002

NEW EDITING REPORT: Twin Angels Site visitor Saymark has submitted a editing report for Twin Angels detailing the edits CPM/Anime 18 made to remove scenes with a young looking character in the nude or engaged in sexual situations. Read the editing report HERE or find it in the 'Full List' link.

Saturday, October 19th, 2002

NEW EDITING REPORT: Trouble Chocolate Viz used overlays over the computer screens in their release of Trouble Chocolate as well as hard subs for sign translations (even while having dual subtitle tracks for the sub and dub). Read the editing report HERE or find it in the 'Full List' link.

NEW EDITING REPORT LIST: Text-only links! Based on user feedback requesting a simple list of editing reports on the site, I've added a new editing report list that only has text links to the various reports. It also has non-linked mentions of any edited dub-only releases or other items without full editing reports.

Find it HERE.

Tuesday, October 15th, 2002

New edited dub-only entries added I've added some new entries for Hello Kitty (ADV), Doomed Megalopolis (ADV), and Gigantor (Right Stuf) and just wanted to remind potential buyer that the upcoming Kimba DVD release from Right Stuf only contains the edited dub done by NBC in the 60s.

Pokemon 4Ever movie news According tio site reader Kevin Rodriguez, the Pokemon 4Ever movie isn't as edited as the movies and TV series that preceded it,. He writes:

The original music is intact, there are actually more scene's in the dub then in the sub, and the only thing that has changed is the opening and ending songs.

Since this movie is being handled by Miramax instead of WB/4Kids/Viz, it's nice to see they haven't fallen back on the old 'to maintain continuity with the old edited material, we have to continue hacking up this title' refrain that I hear from other people working on anime translations. Although this movie isn't completely unedited, it's a welcome step away from the heavily edited movies that preceded it.

COWBOY BEBOP MOVIE Update Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to get any concrete news on this issue, but there seems to be enough people who've seen the original and Columbia/Tristar's dubbed release who haven't noticed any changes to suggest that it hasn't been edited after all. Unfortunately, without doing a side-by-side comparison it's hard to be sure who's memory is playing tricks on who. File this one in the unconfirmed pile until more info comes to life.

Tuesday, September 10th, 2002

COWBOY BEBOP MOVIE EDITED?

We've known about Columbia/Tristar dropping the 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' subtitle from the Cowboy Bebop movie's title for a while now, but I've received two different reports from people who've seen the movie premier at BAAF/AXNY that the movie appears to have been edited to obtain a PG-13 rating. Without being able to do a side by side comparison, they weren't able to give details, but it appears at least one on-screen death was switched to a off-screen death.

If anyone has more details please let me know. I'll be looking into this more to see if I can dig up any additional info.

Monday, September 2nd, 2002

NEW EDITING REPORT: Haitoku no Shoujyo: Family of Debauchery

A site reader has reported that Nutech's Haitoku no Shoujyo: Family of Debauchery is actually episode two of a two episode story. Apparently, Nutech has no plans to release episode 1: Haitoku no Shoujyo: Girl of Debauchery which deals with bestiality. I've added an informational entry in the 'Full List'.

UPDATED EDITING REPORT: Samurai Troopers/Ronin Warriors Thanks to information given to me by Shawn, I've added some additional information concerning the changes made to the Ronin Warriors dub. Read the updated editing report HERE.

For older news: No Editing Zone News Archives

For current news: No Editing Zone Current News