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Release: Jun 08, 2014 - Author: -Der-Tribun - Translator: -Der-Tribun
- external link: IMDB - more from this series
Compared are the heavily censored US TV Version and the German TV 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
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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 69: Prediction of DoomMamoru is still tortured by nightmare in which he is accused that being close to Bunny will cause her doom. This leads him to try a foolish plan; acting as if the girl Unazuki is his new girlfriend (which she isn't). Result is thatBunny is giving herself up and when the next Droid attacks, her mind is vulnerable and she sufferes mental poisoning. Mamoru is forced to come to the rescue, forcing him to force the fact that although he tries to avoid Bunny, rescuing her causes him to wonder what he actually wants. So her just walks away. Bunny learns Unazuki is not his girlfriend, but she has no idea what to do now, Mamoru claiming the thread of fate between them has been cut. Length German TV-Version: 19:00 Length US-TV Version: 17:44 The US TV Version lacks 1 Minute and 16 Seconds of footage. [03:48]-[03:57] [-9 Sec.] Shortened Scene A guy in the background is eating soup, until a woman comes and suddenly hits him. There's no explanation, and DiC's reasons for removing senseless violence is obvious.
[04:08]-[04:10] [-2 Sec.] Shortened Scene Due to the digital scene transition, the original transition (a fade-over) got lost.
[05:36]-[05:39] [-3 Sec.] Shortened Scene Bunny is looking shocked a little longer (the bus starts moving as well), before she starts crying and tears hit the ground.
[05:49]-[05:55] Altered Scene For unknown reasons, a blue CGI frame was put around Mamoru's thoughts.
[06:05]-[06:07] Shortened Scene + Altered Scene Another scene transition got lost, this time due to a fade-out, which signals the ad break in american TV.
[-2 Sec.] are lost due to this as well. [06:21]-[06:22] [-1 Sec.] Shortened Scene A quick scene of Bunny eating from the fridge is missing.
[07:41]-[07:43] [-2 Sec.] Shortened Scene Kavalerite and Petzite chase Chibi-Usa. The Katakana on the trash box in the background are the obvious reason why this scene got cut.
[11:36]-[11:48] [-12 Sec.] Shortened Scene A really bizarre scene is missing, which takes place inside Bunny's head (the pictures alone should speak volumes).
[12:06]-[12:25] [-19 Sec.] Shortened Scene Another LSD-sequence taking place inside Bunny's head got cut. Afterwards Sailor mars loses nerves and slaps Sailor Moon, to no avail. Then, Luna remembers something that could help.
[12:38]-[12:41] [-3 Sec.] Shortened Scene Artemis demands from Luna where she is going.
[12:46]-[13:27] [-10 Sek.] Shortened Scene The scene of Luna speaking with Mamoru got cut in many small places. It all adds up to 10 seconds of missing material strewn over the entire scene.
[13:46]-[13:56] [-10 Sec.] Shortened Scene Another very bizarre LSD_sequence got removed. Considering how bizarre these scenes are, ist's easy to understand why DiC cut them. The end of the scene is a scene transition, which got removed as well. In the US, there is a fade-up.
[14:15] [+12 Sec.] Added Scene The scene of Tuxedo Mask on his motorcycle got repeated, as well as the scene wit Mars and Mercury (just differently dubbed).
[15:01]-[15:05] [-5 Sec.] Shortened Scene A look on Sailor Moon's skirt and legs is missing.
Trivia If you think DiC is the king of censors ir respect to Sailor Moon, you are wrong. The Koreans are the kings of censors here in 1997. It starts with them cutting out a stunning 44 episodes. Koreans have a poisoned realtionship to Japan, rising the question why they bought the series in the first place. Most of the removed episodes and scenes are because of the Hikawa Shrine and Shinto in general. Koreans also dislike japanese writing, as seen below. If not erased outright, it was turned into nonsense.
Of course, classical body-censorship happens as well.
However, there are good news as well, a few years ago a version without censorship was made, proving that attitudes can change. |