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 Manga Entertainment's PERFECT BLUE is still being screened throughout the country, and it was likely to have been overshadowed by another anime-turned-American feature film release. Many of you may think that it's PRINCESS MONONOKE, but in all actuality, it's the POKÉMON movie, which Warner Brothers has cleverly titled POKÉMON: THE FIRST MOVIE. However, all these anime films in
U.S. release bring up some interesting
conundrums of what happens when cultures clash. For example, fans
recently criticized Manga Entertainment for cutting PERFECT BLUE to receive an R rating. The MPAA believed the film to be too violent to
receive an R rating. However, whether or not there was bias
because the film was animated is another story.It's always a tough choice when
it comes to editing films in the first place, let alone when they
are being edited for another country than the one where the film
was originally released. Sometimes things just won't make it past
the censors. Such was the case with PERFECT
BLUE, and since a rating of NC-17
is the kiss of death for a film—let alone a foreign animated
film in limited release, Manga chose to make the required cuts.
(And they are releasing both the R rated version and the uncut
"Director's Cut" at the end of November on video.)And of course, fandom being what
it is, soon rumor and speculation were gearing up about what
would happen to the EVANGELION movies in
Manga's hands. (Never mind the fact that making some cuts might
actually render portions of the film intelligible!)But such editing is not limited to
the anime that appears in movie theaters. Television is even more
carefully scrutinized then films. Not even the seemingly
unstoppable Pikachu can't always get away unscathed. The
now-infamous seizure-inducing episode, even though it has been
reanimated, is not going to be released in the United States.
Neither are several other episodes, whose content is believed to
be "too Japanese" (from a cultural standpoint) for American
audiences.And of course, there's the SAILOR MOON debate that still rages over why the
implied relationship of Sailor Uranus and Neptune was stricken from
the English version of the series, even though Sailor Moon creator
Takeuchi Naoko has admitted that this relationship is intentional.
And DRAGONBALL Z was edited and cleaned up
because it was too violent. Such things will surely continue to
happen as anime moves more into the mainstream.But what choice do the companies
have? If it means getting the product on television or in
widespread theatrical release, most companies would make the cut
and take the money; it's a foolish business decision to do
otherwise. After all, anime companies are just like regular
companies, their goal is to make money, not be philanthropic
organizations or the last bastion of defense for the first
amendment. And who can blame them? It's not cheap to make
this stuff available, and expectations are high. Besides, they
know the truth: the purists who scream the loudest will most
likely already have bought the imports anyway, so what does it
matter?Still, the fact that companies
are willing to release uncut versions of their edited titles
means that they actually do care about other things besides the
bottom line. After all, is the Director's Cut of the subbed PERFECT BLUE going to make more than the general
release dub? Most likely not. Or how about the subtitled, unedited
DOG OF FLANDERS from Pioneer? Will that
outsell the edited, dubbed version which is more likely to appeal
to parents and children? I don't think so, since it is not going to
appeal to the average anime fan. But they did it. Just remember
that the next time you think you have an axe to grind with the
companies who "don't care" about what they put out.
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The EX Men Publisher Editor in Chief Charles McCarter
Assistant Publisher
Associate Editor
Production Manager
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