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Release: May 04, 2016 - Author: -Der-Tribun - Translator: -Der-Tribun
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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 88: Final BattleBlack Lady gloats that the end of the world is now imminent and the first attempts to reach Chibiusa are a failure, causing Black Lady to become even more angry. Despite all the attacks, Bunny and Mamoru find the strength to stand their ground and together they do manage with the power of the Silver Crystal to remove the false memories, causing Chibiusa to return to her true self. However, Wiseman - better known as the Death Phantom - is not concerned, because nothing can now stop the end of the world. Desperate, Bunny usues the Silver Crystal, even though it will kill her. Wiseman however gloats that one Silver Crytsal is no threat to him. Then it is revealed that when Chibiusa touched the future Silver Crystal, she absorbed it into herself. The crystal reappears and Wiseman is horrified, since two Silver Crystals are too much for him and he is destroyed together with the Black Crystal. Bunny and Chibiusa survive due to protecting each other with their respective crystal. Little later Chibiusa returns to the future where Crystal Tokyo is already rebuilding and parents and friends greet her... End of second Season... Length German TV-Version: 19:00 Length US-TV Version: 17:47 The US TV Version lacks 1 Minute and 25 Seconds of footage. Finally here it is, the second part of the final of the second season. Compared to the total disaster which DiC caused with the final of the first season, this one is downright humane. Still, quite a lot of stuff got screwed up here, especially considering that these episodes got done after the time gap, where normally alterations were not as legion as before. Maybe DiC simply has a thing for ruining season finals. [00:00]-[00:19] [-19 Sec.] Shortened Scene Right at the start something is missing. First we do see the Black Crystal surrounded by massive energies. Then we see the naked Chibiusa. The second shot probably is why this got cut, most likely because DiC found child nudity too risky, despite nothing actually being visible.
[00:29]-[01:10] [-41 Sec.] Shortened Scene A whole scene is missing. The energies from the Black Crystal are about to discharge. From a rooftop Luna and Artemis watch this in great concern. Luna wonders if the Senshi managed to reach Chibiusa, while Artemis ads pessimistically, that if Nemesis' energies are unleashed, Earth will be history. Luna prays that nothing happens to the girls while they have to helpless watch everything from afar.
[02:19]-[02:24] [-5 Sec.] Shortened Scene Black Lady attacks with an energy blast, throwing everyone off their feet. Sailor Moon then tries to get up.
[02:25]-[02:54] Altered Scene Here the dialogue was twisted into the opposite. In the Original and German Version, Black Lady wants to kill Sailor Moon, since due to the false memories she hates her the most (long story...). She wants to strike her down, but Mamoru jumps before Moon and takes the attack. Black lady is confused about this act, wondering why Mamoru is willing to sacrifice himself for someone. In the US Version however, she wants to attack Mamoru right from the start, including hurling some insults, without much of a reason, and also hits her mark. She then wonders why Sailor Moon would want to endanger herself for someone like him. Apart from the fact that the altered dialogue is painful to listen to and robs the sene of its meaning, the sene now also no longer makes any sense. After all, Sailor Moon did nothing at all - the animation still shows Mamoru protecting Sailor Moon. [10:49]-[10:55] [-6 Sec.] Shortened Scene Wiseman is unhappy about the interference and attacks with powerful energy bolts.
[11:12]-[11:16] [-4 Sec.] Shortened Scene The same scene, only in reverse.
[15:00] [+12 Sec.] Added Scene In the US Version there is a ad-break, thus an added fade to black and then a repeat of the destruction of the Black Crystal.
[15:02]-[15:30] Altered Scene Several important story facts got destroyed here. Normally, using the Silver Crystal at full power means the death of the user (as happened to Bunny at the end of season one). Bunny and Chibiusa know this and wonder if they are dead now, but conclude if yes, then it was worth it. However, they then hear Neo-Queen Serenity who tells them du to using two Silver Crystals, they protected each other and thus are alive. She then sends them back. In the US Version meanwhile they only congratulate each other with stupid words. Serenity only says that two crystals were enough to destroy Wiseman, before sending them back. No actual explanation is given at all.
[17:56]-[17:59] [-3 Sec.] Shortened Scene Due to a digital scene transition, the original fade from Mamoru and Bunny to Crystal Tokyo is missing.
[18:53]-[19:00] [-7 Sec.] Shortened Scene The final part of the episode is missing as well: there is a zoom-out and Crystal Tokyo is seen in its full glory. Bad decision, since this background was especially bautifully drawn.
END OF THE SECOND SEASON The Final Verdict After both seasons from DiC, it has to be said that Cloverway's next to seasons won't be looked at, since they were released uncut - unlike the first two seasons - and thus can't be compared. Thus the reports end with this episode. In retrospect, it was a total disaster what iC did with Sailor Moon, only the 4Kids-treatment of One Piece can keep up in terms of censorship. DiC clearly didn't care about the series at all, otherwise this purgatory of censorship, meaningless additions and horrible dub can't be explained. The series practically got ruined in the US. It can be observed that the censorship became less over time. The first half of season one was censored horribly. Censorship then became less, though the finale of the first season became the worst disaster of this dub. The second season was less butchered, but the results are still bad enough. Curiously, the DiC-version will become unavailable shortly, due to Viz Media re-dubbing the entire series, this time without any kind of censorship. While they did screw up their blu-ray versions, it will still replace the old dub very quickly. Considering all the censorship in the old dub, that's a good thing.
Also, the new series "Sailor Moon Crystal" is fully uncensored. However, the series is suffering from the curious problam that it imitates the manga too strongly. All the weaknesses of the manga (and there are lots of them) thus get spotlighted. Also, it is far too hectical and the characters have no time to develop personalities. Many thus still prefer the classic series. |