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 episode series about a group of girls, who can perform magic and fight 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 quite a surprise. In comparison to Saber Rider for instance, the German Version is 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 modifications (please see below), the German Version is equal to the uncensored original Japanese Version.

The US North American Version however is a different matter.

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 - "Sailor Stars" - 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 legendary, but for all thw wrong reasons. It's a perfect example for heavy censorship in animes these days. After the horrors of the first season, everyone expected the worst... and it happened. DiC also created an absurd broadcast schedule. They first released 2/3 of the season (with the first 13 episodes for some reason put at the end of the broadcast) and then waited for almost three years before they bothered to do the remaining episodes (that's because they'd had the insane idea to just do 65 episodes for sydication, regardless if the story is done or not).

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 erased as well. Further differences are renamed food (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 too revealing. This also and particularly concerns the transformations (except Sailor Moon's) where body lines 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. In the second season, episode 67 was being removed. (Note: The German Version 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", 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 Princess Halation	Moon Sceptre Elimination	Macht des Mondes, verwandle ihn/sie zurück
Shine Aqua Illusion	Mercury Ice Storm Splash	Wasserstrahl, flieg
Burning Mandala	Mars Celestial Fire Surround	Feuerringe, fliegt
Sparkling Wide Pressure	Jupiter Thundercrash Zap	Donnerschlag, flieg
Venus Love Me Chain	Venus Love Chain Encircle	Feuerhertzenkette, flieg

• Change of names affects all characters. Here's a list of characters with more than one appearance in season 2. 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
Chibiusa	Rini
Der Erleuchtete	Wiseman
Prinz Diamond(Demand)	Prince Diamond
Saphir	Sapphire
Esmeraude	Emerald
Rubeus	Rubeus
Kermesite(Kōan)	Catzi
Bertherite(Berthier)	Bertie
Kavalerite(Calaveras)	Avery
Petzite(Petz)	Prizma
Ail(Eiru)	Ali
Anne(An)	En
Naru Osaka	Molly Baker
Motoki Furuhata	Andrew
Umino Gurio	Melvin
Shingo Tsukino	Sammy Tsukino
Ikuko Tsukino	Mom
Kenji Tsukino	Dad
Haruna Sakurada	Patricia Haruna
Yuuichirou Kumada	Chad
Königin Serenity	Queen Serena
König Endymion	King of Earth

It's also worth being mentioned that the German Version 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 dialog with subtitled Japanese episodes prove how close to the Original the German dialog is.

Only the comparison of the first episode of the second season (episode 47) 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 one of them, sometimes both at the same time. The time index is based on the German Version.

Episode 60: Serena Times Two

It seems to be a regular day in Tokyo... but all of a sudden there's an UFO floating over the town. Inside are the leader Rubeus and the sisters Kermesite, Bertherite, Kavalerite and Petzite. Looks like their assignment is to track down and kill a child to steal the Silver Crystal. Meanwhile, Bunny's and Mamoru's date is interrupted by a child named Chibiusa, who is looking for the silver crystal as well. After a first attempt that failed, she settles down at Bunny's and casts a spell on her family. As a result, she's suddenly their favorite. Chibiusa's really grinding Bunny's gears and when she puts sleeping pills in the warriors' tea, Bunny has it and spanks Chibiusa. Too bad that the strangers have already gotten the kill order for Chibiusa by their commander, Wiseman. Kermesite tracks her down and tries to eleminate her, but she fails because of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. Kermesite swears to make them pay for their interference.

Length German TV Version: 19:00
Length US TV Version: 17:52

The US TV Version lacks 1 minute and 38 seconds of footage.

[00:31]-[00:50]
Altered Scene
Now the audio track has been put "into a grinding machine".

In the German TV Version, Kermesite mentions that the Silver Crystal needs to be destroyed as soon as possible. Rebeus tells her to calm down. Bertherite objects that Chibiusa needs to eliminated first, just to be sure. Rubeus agrees that the child has to be taken out first.

In the US TV Version on the other hand, Kermesite thinks about nothing else but shopping and believes she could find new lipstick in town. Rubeus sarcastically says she already possesses 30 different kinds. Bertherite adds, a woman could never have enough makeup. Rebeus moans he is working with shopping sharks.

Not only becomes this scene ridiculous because of that alteration but also that important information gets lost.

[01:12]-[01:22]
[-10 sec]
Shortened Scene
The rowboat scene with Bunny and Mamoru is shorter. Bunny also says it is the best moment in her life. Mamoru says with a smile that she is exaggerating.

[01:27]-[01:47]
Altered Scene
Here, the US TV Version of DiC contains additional comments of Bunny and Mamoru before and after they kiss, while there's no comment in the German TV Version. The dialog is anything but kind because Mamoru calls Bunny clumsy. And when they kiss, he claims Bunny has had to much bubble gum. This destroys the entire scene.

[01:47]-[01:49]
[-2 sec]
Shortened Scene
After Mamoru got the Luna-P ball on his head, his astonishment about what just happened has been removed.

[02:03]-[02:05]
[-2 sec]
Shortened Scene
Bunny is lying on the pier, beaten.

[02:36]-[02:39]
[-3 sec]
Shortened Scene
Due to Chibiusa's question about the Silver Crystal, Bunny wonders how she knew about it in the first place.

[02:48]-[03:49]
[-1 min 1 sec]
Shortened Scene
Now, the ENTIRE confrontation at the pier has been removed (but as one can see below, something different has been made up). Apparently, DiC was bothered about Chibiusa carrying a gun (in the US!) although it's just a toy.

Suddenly, Chibiusa draws the weapon and threatens Bunny by pressing the barrel against her forehead. Chibiusa wants the Silver Crystal and threatens Mamoru that she is going to kill Bunny if she wouldn't cooperate. Bunny denies to know anything about the Silver Crystal and Chibiusa asks if she is prepared to die for it and pulls the trigger. A bang is audible. Mamoru runs over but it was just a toy indeed. Bunny got so scared that she loses consciousness and Chibiusa is in the wind when Mamoru turns around.

[02:48]
[+30 sec]
Additional Scene
Instead of the previous cut, something different has been made up with the shots where the weapon isn't actually visible. She's questioning Bunny but she doesn't get any results. Then, Chibiusa claims she has got other ways to get results. Then the scene of her arrvial is being played backwards to explain why she's gone.

[06:06]-[06:09]
[-3 sec]
Shortened Scene
Bunny is in the tub. She talks to Luna for an extended peroid.

[06:06]-[06:25]
Altered Scene
Now we have altered footage. Looks like the shot of Bunny in the tub was too sleazy for DiC, even though the very same footage was uncensored in a previous shot of the same scene. Anyway, the water is less transparent now. As a result, the water kind of looks like blood now!

German TV Version	US TV Version

[11:17]-[11:19]
[-2 sec]
Shortened Scene
Rei is longer upset about her grandpa's behavior.

[11:38]-[11:40]
[-2 sec]
Shortened Scene
Bunny realizes that her eating orgy was a little excessive.

[12:23]-[12:36]
[-13 sec]
Shortened Scene
Certainly, the best part of the episode is missing.

Bunny is really POed that Chibiusa put sleeping pills in the tea. She's really sick of her and while questioning Chibiusa, she starts spanking her; as an educutaional measure so to speak. Chibiusa complains about it Bunny doesn't have mercy. Not after what she did.

New in the Reports

It's obvious by now that the screenshots of this episode are much better than the ones used previously. While the original German TV master is still used for the comparisons, the picture quality had detoriated so much, that it became painful to look at. Thankfully, a new German master was found, with excellent quality and no station logo.

This master will be used for all future reports. Additionally, all previous reports have their screenshots updated to this standard for the German and American version.

You can see below how bad the quality otherwise would have been in this episode.

Old Master	New Master