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I have been to this page several times and read most of these opinions. I just now want to put my two cents in. So here goes.
First off, I am currently 21 years old and still a VERY avid fan of cartoons (just don't tell anyone I said that) ;). Anyways I can remember how all of this wonderful censoring started. I was a fanatic of the series Voltron many moons ago. If I do remember correctly, around the 5th episode, one of the main characters (Sven I believe) gets mortally wounded in battle. Ahhh but
we American children can't handle that so he is "rushed off to a hospital". And foreign cartoons start going downhill from there.
I strongly agree with everyone that it is sad when an electronic box is forced to teach our children the difference between right and wrong. But I was a child once, and we had that magic box in my day and I did watch cartoons as well. I can remember a many of times seeing Wily E. Coyote fall off a cliff numerous times and be in the next skit unscathed. Now I never attempted
to mimic the unfortunate Coyote's actions (for one since we don't have cliffs in Louisiana). I was taught from day one that TV is "make believe". WOW!! This must be a foreign concept to most parents today. I was also unfortunate to be a child of a single parent and my father had to work all the time to support us, so I was home by myself most of the time. BUT, the most
important thing is that my father and I had discussions about thing while I was growing up. So I'll sum it up, I was taught right and wrong from DAD not TV!
One thing that burns me up is when a child's action is blamed on something OTHER than their bringing up. For example, just the other day I heard that a mother is sueing Oliver Stone (I think) because her children went on a killing spree after watching the movie "Natural Born Killers". I'm sorry, but this instance and others like it are the biggest COP OUT I've ever heard of. These kids must have had something wrong with them in the first place to do something like that (or there wasn't enough discussion between family members in my opinion).
But on to DBZ. I have only been exposed to the American dub of the series, although I do have "uncut" movies (Tree of Might, etc.) that are English dubbed (I don't know how uncut these are). And I was instantly captivated by its action and storyline. But there seemed to be something missing and I couldn't quite put it together. There seemed to be jumps and skips in the flow of everything. Then I heard it. The dreaded phrase we all have come to love (sarcasm). Another Dimension. After this I KNEW what had happend. Some hyperactive parent caught a glimps of the first few episodes and went haywire. But I hate to say it, it only takes ONE parent to make a fuss and the ball starts rolling. And here is the sad thing about the edits, they are neccesary
for profit to FUNimation. The vendors LOVE to have commericials during childrens programming so they have to keep their shows "viewable" for children. I don't like it, but it is unfortunate for FUNimation. I must agree with some edits though. We all know nudity isn't allowed, so I'm
okay with coverups of that (although they are SOOO obviously fake). And of course swearing isn't allowed either, so I'm okay with these cover ups too. But the blood, death, and cigerette (never could spell that word) are just too much. In my area DBZ is show at 4:00PM on Cartoon Network. Since I sometimes watch my 5 year old niece, we watch "Toonami" together. First is Sailor Moon.
I've see blood and heard the words die, death, and kill uttered more than once in them, but I guess it's okay since only the evil guys lose and get "killed". Then comes Thundercats. Then DBZ and all the wonderful edits we've come to loath. Here's the really interesting thing. If you wait ONE hour, you will get to watch Batman. I've seen NUMEROUS cigarettes and plenty of
blood in this one. Batman has also faced the "death" issue head on. Now explain how Batman can have all the things DBZ can't? Is it because of the later time? Or maybe because Batman "can". Who knows. I do know that my niece don't buy the another dimension bit either. She knows that they are dead. She also knows that those shirts should say HELL not HFIL. This has just stunned me why this was edited. Numerous cartoons have said Hell, or even visited Hell, and even printed the work Jackass, but DBZ can't. Why is that? I may be totally wrong, but I believe it is because it is anime. I hate to say it, but there is a prejudice against anime in America. It's
way too much for us to handle. Sorry if this last statement offends anyone, it's just my opinion.
I love anime and always will. I wish there was some way we could get DBZ back to its original form but I hate to say it, if it happens it won't be in my lifetime. Problems in our society have constantly been blamed on everything that isn't the cause. Unfortunately until parents can actually talk with their kids and explain to them the TV is "make believe" things like this will
continue on and on and on. Thanks for reading this and remember this is entirely my opinion. Hope I didn't offend anyone. I would love feedback.
- Mervin Bazile |
   
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