Compared are the heavily censored US TV Version and the German TV Version.

German Version:	US Version:

The anime series Sailor Moon should ring a bell. The 200 episodes-series about a group of girls, who can perform magic tricks, fighting Evil is a classic which left a mark in the awareness of Japanese Productions (in both directions). No doubt about that. The series was a major success worldwide. But the German Version is quitr a surprise. In comparison to Saber Rider for instance, the German Version are based on the original Japanese master and the effort to keep it as close as possible to the Original was being made. Besides a few modification (please see below), the German Version is equal to the uncensored original Japanese Version.

Unlike the US North American Version.

The company DiC was calling the shots for the adaption of the first two seasons and Cloverway for the following two seasons. The final season 5 has never been released in the US, probably because of the controversial "Sailor Starlights", which also change the gender during their transformations. The realization is legen.... wait for it.... [sorry, wrong franchise -:)] The realization is legendary but it's also a perfect example for heavy censorship in animes these days. Especially season 1, produced by DiC, has a very dreadful rep and is the one with the most censorships being made. "Highlights" are the last two episodes of the first season. The remains of these episodes were put together to one single episode. Really preposterous.

The modifications / censorship

The

removal of scenes is the most common censorship. The length of the removed scenes is purely and simply impressive. Looks like the episodes were censored randomly. Besides the violence cuts, which could be expected, plot scenes, some gags and anything that could cause trouble with the FCC, was precautionally removed.

The meaning of scenes was changed very often, too. In most cases, the lines in the dub are softer but modifications of the footage were also being made. As a result of that, a scene might have an entirely different meaning than the exact same scene in the Original.

Americanization describes the pathetic attempt to make the series less Japanese. Not only the character names are different (please see below for details) but the Japanese ideographs (Kanji, Katakana, Hiragana) are wiped out as well. Further differences are renamed foot (but it still looks the same which is quite hilarious). But the best thing is: anything takes place in the US, Tokyo isn't being mentioned for once. These modifications aren't going to be mentioned anymore because it happens too often. Exeptions are extraordinary examples for that.
Examples:

German Version:	US Version:

Images were censored, especially when it became to revealing. This also and particularly concerns the transitions (except Sailor Moon's) where curves were removed like there were no tomorrow.
Examples:

German Version:	US Version:

CGI was added to a lot of scenes which doesn't contain any CGI in the Original Version. Listing all the CGI of any episode would break the mold but I can assure you: if there's a conspicuous CG shot, it wasn't in the Original Version.
Examples:

German Version:	US Version:

Transitions were added digitally as well. Recognizing them is a piece of cake because they're obviously a break of style and they're supposed to cover up the cuts. And here also counts: listing any transition would break the mold, so I'm not going to do that.
Examples:

Unfortunately there are some

removed episodes, too. From 46 Original episodes of season 1, only 40 were left over. The removed episodes Nr. 2, 5, 6, 20, 42 and the episodes 44 and 45 were so heavily cut that it was one single episode in the end.
In the second season, episode 67 was being removed. (Note: The German Vesion lacks episode 89 but it only consists of stock footage and is hated by the fanbase, so it's not a big loss at all.)

Gender change is a popular method to hide homosexuality. In this case, two characters are being affected: Zoicite (in Germany Zoisite) in season 1 is actually a man. But to avoid his homosexual relationship with Kunzite, he's a woman now. The second character is Fish Eye in season 4. Though he acts very feminine, he's actually a male (and he's also gay). A further victim of a gender change is Zirconia in season 4 for instance. And if such a censorship wasn't possible, the status of their relationship was being changed. The lovers Uranus and Neptun e.g. are cousins now.
The

modification of the audio track is no censorship in the proper sense but a lot of atmosphere gets lost. The reason for that is pretty simple: the US Version takes a pass on the original music and noises - a new audio track was being made. It works for the noises but it doesn't for the music. The original music is way better.

"Sailor Says" is a segment which exists exclusively in the US Version. If you know Filmation's "Masters Of The Universe" (good old times), the last scene should be look very familiar because it also with a scene where the kids were supposed to learn a lesson. This could be realized with stock footage.

Different names for the attacks and transformations were used, despite the fact that the names in the Original Version are English as well. But I must say that someof the German names were just made up, too. Here some examples of attacks, an entire list would be too long.

Original Version:	US Version:	German Version:
Moon Tiara Action	Moon Tiara Magic	Mondstein, flieg und sieg
Shabon Spray	Mercury Bubbles Blast	Seifenblasen, fliegt
Fire Soul	Mars Fire Ignite	Feuerball, flieg
Supreme Thunder	Supreme Thunder Crash	Donnerschlag, flieg
Cresent Beam	Venus Cresent Beam Smash	Halbmondstrahl, flieg

Change of names affects all characters. Here's a list of characters with more than one appearance in season 1. Find the original name in brackets if the German name is different.

German Version:	US Version:
Bunny(Usagi) Tsukino	Serena Tsukino
Mamoru Chiba/Tuxedo Mask	Darien Shields/Tuxedo Mask
Ami Mizuno	Amy Anderson
Rei Hino	Reye Hino
Makoto Kino	Lita Kino
Minako Aino	Mina Aino
Luna	Luna
Artemis	Artemis
Königin Perillia(Beryl)	Queen Beryl
Königin Metallia	Negaforce
Jedite (Jadeite)	Jadeite
Neflite(Nephrite)	Neflyte
Zoisite(Zoicite)	Zoycite
Kunzite	Malachite
Naru Osaka	Molly Baker
Motoki Furuhata	Andrew
Umino Gurio	Melvin
Shingo Tsukino	Sammy Tsukino
Ikkuko Tsukino	Mom
Kenji Tsukino	Dad
Mika Kayama	Mika Cassidy
Haruna Sakurada	Patricia Haruna
Reika	Rita
Yuuichirou Kumada	Chad

It's also worth being mentioned that the German was being modified here and there, too. Zoisite e.g. is a woman as well (I guess the channel changed that) and attempts to avoid words like "kill", "die" etc. were being made, which causes an odd result in some scenes. But still: these modifications are pretty harmless in comparison to the DiC Version. Comparisons of the dialogs with subtitled Japanese episodes proof how close to the Original the German dialogs are.

Only the comparison of the first episode mentions the differences of the opening and final credits, the title of the episodes, the preview of the next episode and the "Sailor Says". All these elements are being ignored in the calculation of the different lengths. Basically, cuts and modifications are the two issues that might have happened. Sometimes it's only of them, sometimes both at the same time. The time index is based on the German Version.

Episode 13: Wedding Day Blues

Bunny and Naru notive that her needlework teacher Ms. Akiyama is not completely paying attentiont and Umino tells them that she would marry soon, even in a wedding dress of her own making. When Ms. Akiyama is looking for the right cloth, she is watched by Neprite. After he has consulted the stars, he chooses her as his next victim. In the meantime Bunny has discovered a wedding dress contest. Rei and she are trying everything in order to make her own one, but both fail. Ms. Akiyama is sewing her new dress fanatically because Neprite has cursed the cloth and the dark power has possessed her. Luna notices her weird behavior towards her fiance and that she also wants to participate in the contest. On the day of the contest, Bunny sneaks into the contest and just when Ms. Akiyama reaches her energy maximum a Youma appears. However, against the combined powers of the three Sailor Warriors it does not stand a chance. At the end, Ms. Akiyama can celebrate a wonderful wedding after her fiance has forgiven her harsh behavior.

Running time of the German episode: 18:24
Running time of the US episode: 17:34

Disregarding newly added scenes, 50 seconds are missing.

[00:02]-[00:04]
Alteration
Instead of the sign at the room of Bunny's class an exterior view of the school ca be seen in order to hide the Kanjis. This will happen more frequently in future but will not be mentioned anymore.

German Version	US Version

[00:34]-[00:42]
[-8 sec.]
Cut
Bunny and Naru talk longer before Umino appears, two children pass them in a blue toy hippo.

[00:46]-[00:53]
[-7 sec.]
Cut
Umino longer reads out of his book about Ms. Akiyamas wedding. The two girls cannot believe it.

[00:54]-[01:36]
[-17 sec.]
Cut
The dream sequence about Ms. Akiyama's wedding was shortened in many parts, especially when her fiance Herbert proposes. It is very hard to sum up all the cuts, especially because they are very short and sometimes follow in a rapid succession. All in all, 17 seconds were removed from this scene.

[01:51]-[01:55]
[-4 sec.]
Cut
After Bunny's ice cream fell down, Naru looks embarassed away and eats her ice cream while Umino starts to cry.

[03:30]-[03:34]
[-4 sec.]
Cut
A close-up of the sign announcing the competition was cut due to the Kanjis and Katakanas visible. However, before and after this cut it can be seen several times, including those signs.

[03:34]-[04:27]
Alteration
In the German Version, the first prize is an expensive wedding celebration. After Bunny's daydream she remembers that she is unable to sew and is sad. She then sees Rei asking the host of the competition what would happen if the winner was not going to marry soon. The host tells her that the prize can of course be held back until the actual wedding. Rei thinks that she should probably hurry up and have a date with Mamoru soon.

In the US Version, the first prize is a holiday in Hawaii. Bunny is sad because she does not even have a boyfriend she could marry later. When Rei asks the host he says that everybody who would marry in his chapel eventually was allowed to participate. Rei thinks it i rather funny because she does not even have a boyfriend yet.

[05:30]-[05:34]
[-4 sec.]
Cut
After Bunny embarassed her mother in front of Rei (by saying she had bought the cake), Ikkuko hits her with the tray. Bunny wails while holding her head.

[06:22]-[06:59]
Alteration
The content of the chat between Ami and Bunny was changed. Ami tells Bunny in the original that she did not have any marriage thoughts yet and therefore was not interested in the competition. In the US Version, however, she says Bunny would miss two weeks of school, making her look a lot more like an overachiever.

[07:58]-[08:36]
Alteration
The meaning of the talk between Bunny and Naru was changed significatnly, making Naru look bad.

In the German Version, Bunny tells Naru about the competition and that they should participate. Naru knows now why Bunny is looking for Ms. Akiyama and reminds her of the fact that she cannot sew because she was always sleeping in needlework class. Naru also says that Bunny will not be able to learn sewing fast enough and has doubts about her motivation. However, the criticism only makes Bunny more determined.

In the US Version, Naru just says Bunny was crazy to take part in that. She notes that Ms. Akiyama would be the only help for her but she was busy with her own wedding. Bunny asks Naru to help her, but she declines. Naru says that Bunny was letting her doa ll the work while she was only reading stupid comics. Bunny offers to do all the homework of the week for Naru, but Naru says horseplay.

[08:46]-[08:49]
[-3 sec.]
Cut
Herbert can be seen standing in front of the door longer.

[08:51]-[09:36]
Alteration
The possessed Akiyama tells Herbert in the German Version that he should not come back before the wedding. In the US Version, however, she says that they would not marry at all. This is actually rather stupid because this was her only motivation to sew the dress in the first place.

[10:17]-[10:51]
Alteration
The whole scene of Rei and her grandad was twisted, showing a lot of cultural ignorance on the editor's side. This is one of the worst alterations and totally removes the Japanese spirit.

In the original he pursues her because she stole the sacred Shinto wedding dress. After he tokk it from her he suspects her to want to steal away with a man. Rei says that she wanted to participate in a wedding dress competition. The priest then tells her that she should not do such shenanigans with a sacred dress.

In the US Version he complains that she could not take his BED SHEETS in order to make a dress. After he took it from her he says that she should not cut his bed sheets. Rei answers that she wants to win a trip to Hawaii. The priest says no again and also doubts her sewing abilities.

[11:00]-[11:05]
Alteration
In the German Version, Rei can make her grandad shut up when she hits him with her broom. In the US Version, a close-up of Ami can be seen and the Grandad just continues to talk.

German Version	US Version

[11:23]-[11:56]
Alteration
Ikkuko stays rather cool in the German Version and just tells Bunny not to take her curtains. When Bunny complains that she could not afford the cloth and asks for help, Ikkuko says that she should buy it using her allowance. She also says that Bunny would never succeed to sew a wedding dress in such short notice. Bunny starts to cry upon hearing this sad truth.

In the US Version, Ikkuko is pretty angry about Bunny storming her bedroom. Bunny tries to lie to her, but Ikkuko knows about the competition. She tells Bunny that she should ground her for the idea to cut the curtains. Bunny cries and Ikkuko tells her to tidy up her room.

[11:57]-[12:00]
[-3 sec.]
Cut
Another sugh of Bunny is missing.

[14:38]-[14:44]
Alteration
A very funny scene was changed. When Luna appears under Bunny's skirt, Bunny complains that she had looked under it. Luna just answers that they had no time for such complaints. In the US Version, Bunny complains that Luna was always waking her up and Luna answers that she always slept at the wrong time.


Trivia
Western weddings are very popular in Japan (as many other western things) and it is therefore not an unusual thought that there might be a wedding dress competition.

Of course, there are also the traditional Shinto weddings. Rei's grandad is rightfully angry when she tries to rob the dress because those dresses are not only very expensive but also very presitigious. It is really a bad thing to do stupid stuff with it.

Rei also has not put it on right. The real life picture shows how it is done correctly.