The Strange Censorship Of Dragon Ball Z

but I have to go you don't understand Mike counting on me to make it back to earth in time for me you can't leave yet I got and it's my gun Oh have I told you that there were two versions of the early life of one of the most recognizable pieces of animation in the last century what if I also told you that there was a show that had been so dramatically censored and it actually altered the tone of entire pieces of the work but if I told you that the American version Dragonball Z was one of the most strange examples of censorship in modern animation this is the story of how one studio accidentally helped create the very stereotypes its industry was trying to avoid and how one shows pure quality overcame its own [Music] janab Ozzie wasn't just a great piece of entertainment it was crucial and bringing anime into the mainstream of Western culture but its journey wasn't easy see after attempting to localize the original Dragon Ball series and not finding the audience they were hoping for Funimation Entertainment decided their efforts were better spent on dubbing Dragon Ball Z from Japanese to English for english-speaking audiences and bringing it over to the West there was one problem they partnered with a company called Saban entertainment to make that happen and Saban well they had some rules in place and those rules were not going to be changed just for Goku in his friends why Saban well there wasn't works for starters music was a big part of anime at the time and still is Saban composed an entirely new score for the American Dragon Ball Z dub brand new music under the name a Shuki Levi's an alias for the founder of Sabin I'm safe with him composing the score Funimation would maintain control of all music and not have to pay royalty fees to any other composers or artist when the music was used so save and save them some money Sabin also worked with the English actors and actresses for the Dragon Ball dub and would be able to cast them again for the Z dub saving even more time and energy even though they'd eventually be replaced early on in the dubs run on CP but it's hard to imagine that those small pros outweigh the cons that would follow [Music] I can see their parachutes they're okay did you catch that look I can see their parachutes they're okay yeah that line is not in the original version of Dragon Ball Z it was placed to the American version because apparently American audiences couldn't handle the thought that they might be dead that is the tiniest tip of the Saban iceberg Saban censorship rules were strict and they were vast Dragon Ball Z's a show that's about clips who witnessed violence growth action and more violence it's a big part of what makes the show special Americans however didn't get that version of the show savings first rule no death if a character was to be killed in the original version of the show in the American version they had to be sent to the next dimension or another dimension they weren't dead they were elsewhere this became such a foundational rule to saving that they began removing literal references to death earlier in the show when Goku is still quote-unquote dead lions were moved or changed from the Japanese version to ensure references to his death weren't actually references to death at all and instead references to his journey to another place in the original Saban dub but it didn't stop there there was also the references to more mature matters Bulma seen fishing with underwear as bait here eventually gets replaced in one version of the Western release with this wad over - underwear any references of the human body in any way were deemed too mature Sabre would remove or alter any and all references to drinking or smoking in their dub and this is all-important smoking for example was and in some places in Japan still is a massive influence on media and art altering things as simple as those references does indeed change the tone of the show and its messaging but we'll come back to that I think the best example of Saban's overreaching changes to Dragon Ball Z are in Goku strip that lands him [Music] hey where am i this is supposed to be held in the original Japanese version it is that's what these shirts say and that's where Goku finds himself the original saving version deemed almost all of this episode to be unacceptable for Americans these hilarious shirts are edited to say hi fur which turns Hell into the acronym for home for infinite losers that's right Goku has fallen off of snake way and into the home for infinite losers if that wasn't enough they quite literally changed Goku's appearance in the original Japanese version Goggan be seen wearing a halo indicating his presence in the afterlife in the dub he's wearing a ball of white over his head to make sure that no one in the audience thinks of him as passed on this is in combination with things like not allowing certain characters to actually bleed red blood and instead giving them coloured goo or moments like these where the impact and shock value of a violent moment is quickly altered to be much less impactful because it would be too much for the American youth apparently now you might be thinking well why does any of this matter it's censorship really that big of a deal when it comes to this stuff yes yes it is why did the chicken see the unedited versions of Dragon Ball Z would eventually make their way west and they are phenomenal and they may even be the versions you saw growing up or for the first time but this kind of mass censorship has an impact on the quality and human response to shows like Dragon Ball Z character moments changed like this one where Master Roshi goes from reading a risque magazine to literally nothing this moment now goes from a humorous moments that cues you in on who he is as a character as maybe a first-time viewer to strange out of place moments that seems like a joke but makes little to no sense save his removal of blood and references to death substantially change it alter the tone of the show the Japanese version can be and is gritty it's at times raw and that attempts to imbue the stakes of death into its viewers the savin version plays out more like a strange comedy or even at times a children's show when piccolo can't even bleed the same color blood is a ninja turtle and characters are pointing out that the man in the helicopter is okay sweetie he's fine you have qualitatively changed something but I think the worst part is the attempt is seemingly Americanize something that doesn't need to be Believe It or Not Western culture specifically anime watchers are both smart and mature enough to understand that other cultures do exist part of the charm of art is that it offers a lens in the cultures that may not be our own Dragonball Z may be just a pawn action show but its depiction of sex smoking and violence and the way it's animated are all reflections of the culture within which it was made when you alter that version especially the nuances of it like the Sabin version did you lose almost all of that Dragonball Z was and in some ways still is one of the most important pieces of animation to ever hit the West from top to bottom the show is fun brutal hilarious and full of heart and yet to this day anime is still treated like a niche product of another culture that can't stack up to American and Western animation it's treated by some in the West as vapid MD action-oriented animation is geared towards teens who simply want to shut their brains off and yet when you pander to an audience when you change the vision of artists because you believe your audience isn't mature enough to handle the content you are essentially feeding those very generalizations and we see it in localization and dubbing all the time and not just anime but gaming and film this is a constant struggle in media and Dragon Ball Z ended up making it out okay that original saving version is still the phenomenal show that brought the show its Western popularity but I think it's a good jumping-off point for a simple message leave arts alone games television film don't touch it trust your audience trust the maturity and intellect of that audience don't wash out the nuance of works just because you can we're always talks growing up to be who we are unabashedly and proudly so why don't we treat animation in art the same way thank you for watching today's episode of Nerdist alter when I give a quick shout-out to dorkly who four years ago put this idea to my mind well before I started YouTube and it just kind of never went away if you enjoyed this video press the like button if you want to see more stuff like Dragon Ball Z on this channel definitely hit that like button so that I know and if you want to see more content on this channel press subscribe that way you won't miss any uploads and press the little bell next to it that way you're actually notified when I upload content onto this channel it's a big help for both me and you so let's subscribe in that little bell and on your screen right now as always our two more episodes of nostalgia you can click on either of those to see more from me in this channel and I will see you guys in the next video

Channel: Nerdstalgic

Views: 677,855

Keywords: dragon ball z, dbz, dragon ball, dragon ball z episodes, dragon ball z abridged, dragon ball z kakarot, dragon ball heroes, nerdtalgic, dbz episodes, goku

Id: gj6pkbTq1Ro

Length: 10min 17sec (617 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 30 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/ClusterJones]

I think it really speaks to America's insecurity that we have to try to strip all aspects of other cultures out of things brought into America from countries with those other cultures. If we're so great, and our way is best, why do we feel the need to oppress, hide, and vilify everyone else's way of thinking?