The few times media thought "Dragon Ball went too far."

[Cure Dragon 255]

We all know the infamous that tore on Toonami for being so violent and sadistic, but I want other articles that REALLY tore Dragon Ball a new one. I remember there was a famous article in Catalan that commented on Van Zant killing innocent people and then going "Fuck, give me more bullets" to his butler.

[AliTheZombie13]

I don't remember exactly who did it, but they recolored Mr. Popo blue during Kai's initial release.

[Cure Dragon 255]

I don't remember exactly who did it, but they recolored Mr. Popo blue during Kai's initial release.

That's not it either, that's PRE EMPTIVE, not something that got called out on other Media as "Dragon Ball is Evil". If anyone did any fuss, it was the fans for censoring Mr Popo...


...But you DID remind me there might have been a controversy way before Kai! Let me look for it.

[AliTheZombie13]

Well, there was an entire controversy that led to political discussions in Argentina about Roshi's "training" during the airing of Super. Super was consequently pulled off the air temporarily.

[TechExpert2021]

I don't remember exactly who did it, but they recolored Mr. Popo blue during Kai's initial release.

The infamous Blue Mr. Popo only appears in CW4Kids/Toonzai and Vortexx airings of FUNimation's dub of DBZ Kai, as 4Kids/Saban Brands (not the original Saban Entertainment that was involved in the 1996-1998 DBZ Ocean/Saban dub as that dub did not censor Mr. Popo's appearance) doesn't allow the appearance of racist black characters like Pokémon's Jinx in their anime dubs and non-4Kids dubs of other anime that had been censored for broadcast on The CW4Kids/Toonzai and Vortexx.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

When the first four volumes of the manga were released in Finland in 2003 there were concerns that Dragon Ball promoted child pornography so it was discontinued for about a year but then resumed in a censored form.

In the interim Dragon Ball Z began to became really popular on TV, which probably helped bring the manga back. The controversy was heavily discussed in the media for the next few months.

Here's some articles about the controversy in Finland, which nearly led to the end of the manga industry for anyone interested, as published in Finnish with Google's translations.

All credit goes to Derek Padula for digging these up:

Spoiler:

Dragon Ball – peeking into the ball

May 25, 2003

The hummingbird publishing brought Dragon Ball to the Finnish market handsomely with four books. The series was launched in early April 2003. The publishing company Hummingbird is owned by Tammi, which in turn is owned by the Swedish publishing house Bonniers.

Shonen Jump from 1985. Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball had been appearing in the magazine for about six months at the time.

In mid-May, allegations of paedophilia references in the Comic Strip spread through the newspapers' audience sections. In week 21, it was written about in all the major newspapers and discussed on television. Comics enthusiasts are having their own discussions, for example, on the Speech Bubble list and in the audience sections of newspapers, commenting on newspaper articles has begun. Few of those who participated in the exchange have read the comic in question. When it comes to protecting children from evil, we find that emotions easily triumph over reason.

My attitude towards women's galleons

I, too, was inspired by the controversy, now re-read those couple of early books. I will analyze them in this article. The plot can also be considered to be revealed in terms of the development of human relationships.

On first reading, my reaction was, "Who are these aimed at!?" I didn't think it was clearly a children's cartoon either, although based on the age of the main characters (Son Goku 14 years, Chichi about 14 years, Oolong about 15-17 years, Bulma 16 years, Yamcha about 17 years) might have thought so.

The humour was strange, but partly functional. However, I felt that comedy might be quite incomprehensible to children under the age of 10. As a visitor to Japan, I was exposed to the panty collecting culture years ago. The same subject, the strange ways of making money for schoolgirls, is illustrated by the film "Ko kals", which has also been shown on television, the title of which is based on a variant of the English concept of call girls. That's another reason why I wasn't shocked by the content of Dragon Ball.

Manga in English

Unfortunately, very little Japanese comics, i.e. manga, have been published in Finnish. Jalava translated part of Hiroshima Genin the early 1980s and Like has produced Akira, which has also been seen in animated films. In Finland, there are several associations of amateurs of Japanese comics and animation, i.e. anime. About Toriyama's production In Sarjainfo 1/2002, Ari-Matti Saren writes about Toriyama's earlier work Dr. Slump: "The worldview of the series resembles the idyllic nature of a small town. Even though everyone has their own little human weaknesses (Slump himself is a pervert who tires at women, for example), no one is really mean." The illustration of the story shows a pair of panties. Accordingly, Is the perpetrator himself kinky?

Possibly, especially if cultivating understated humor is considered an aggravating branch of the issue. What is known for sure about this man is that he is one of Japan's most popular comic book artists – the only one whose work has been exhibited at the Tokyo Museum of Modern Art. The second part of Dragon Ball describes the series as follows: "The stories of Toriyama are not fairy tales for children, but fantastic stories about the battle between good and evil". This publication policy comment was not noticed in time by parents of children of the Pokemon generation. In the fourth book, it is revealed that immediately after its release (in 1984), the series became "the hottest topic among children around the country".

Starting points for interpretation

Dragon Ball's character gallery could be perfectly applied to the interpretation of symbols from a Jungian perspective. But since this is a Japanese product, partly based on an old East Asian story, I will refrain from doing so for now. The other symbolism of the series would also offer plenty of different interpretations, as it is a fantasy story. However, only the operating models, attitudes and relationships of the characters in the story are studied. In this way, it is possible to understand what ideas and values the work may convey to the reader and what kind of power structures it supports. And this is certainly not about "hidden communication", but about the same mechanisms that affect other interactions as well. In this way, we are perhaps one step closer to what thoughts and values can be imagined to be conveyed to the reader by the comic?

Starting position

The beginning of the story, "A long time ago, thousands of kilometers from the capital, hidden deep in the mountains...", refers to a fairy tale or fantasy. First, you are introduced to a strong, invulnerable, little boyish Son Goku with a tail. The story shows that the boy has never seen either a female person or a car before.

Son Goku lives alone and Bulma, who is two years older than him, becomes a classically ambivalent character in his relationship; A mother who takes care (advises and bathes) and a whore who offers herself as a sex object for a fee. There is a conversation between the main characters that describes this relationship well. Bulma wants the boy to own a dragon ball, so she lifts her skirt and says, "You can even touch a little bit...". Son Goku replies, "Oh, dirty butt? Whoa!" Together with the drawings, Son Goku's reactions convey an image of an innocent boy for whom erogenous zones only mean physical difference, on the basis of which he classifies people as either boys or girls. There is nothing erotic about the genitals in her experience. This is very evident from the fact that he tends to examine the legs of almost everyone he meets. Just to find out which gender these are. It is perhaps worth noting that Son Goku does not scramble at the front of the Turtlemaster Kamesenni when he meets him. This would have created a clear erotic charge in the comic!

Camesennan and turtle

At the end of the second book, a boy defines a sexy woman as saying, "The kind of lively one who doesn't have a gimmick." Son Goku's immaturity can also be attributed to the fact that he promises in another book that Kamesenni's grandpa will be allowed to touch Bulma's breasts.

Cloud pilots

Only the pure-hearted can fly to Kin-tu-u on the cloud that Kamesennin donates to the adventurous couple. Both Grandpa and Bulma try flying, but only Son Goku (and Chichi!) succeed. From the above, we can conclude that pure-heartedness refers specifically to the sexual immaturity of thought. Even falling in love doesn't remove "virginity" in this sense, as Chichi has a fiery crush on Son Goku and proposes to him to marry while flying on a cloud. Chichi is about Son Goku's age, as she has already grown breasts. On the other hand, a shy young man, Yamcha, still considers Chichi a little girl.

Humor

Son Goku's downright exaggerated ignorance of sex and-related issues clearly serves as one of the sources of comedy in the series. Exaggerating the characteristics of Bulma and the other characters (fickleness, shyness, sensitivity, kinky) is another cornerstone of Dragon Ball's comedy. The third is the whimsical metamorphoses common in Japanese comics. And fourth, surprising plot twists (including metalevels!).

Operating models and values of thinking

Enemies may join forces to achieve a common goal. Evil gets its reward. Violence on the side of the good is used by Son Goku, who may be incomprehensible in his actions, but by no means ill-intentioned. The villains in the series are more sympathetic than average. The long plot arc allows you to introduce different sides of the characters. Female image In my opinion, the image of women outlined by Toriyama does not differ much from the rest of popular culture of this time. In addition to a strong female hero, there is a little girl in the series. As supporting characters, at the beginning of the story, there is a sympathetic grandmother and maidens who have fallen captive to the sweet life who have ended up as prisoners of Oolong. In the remaining 40 books in the series, there are undoubtedly other types of women who will come forward.

Purr and Oolong

Both shapeshifters are somewhat sad characters. Puarr has ended up as a cat, and almost without a will of his own, acts as an aid to the evil Yamcha. Oolong Pig and Puarr are old acquaintances. Behaving and thinking like an adolescent boy, Oolong seems to be longing for a girlfriend (after all, he already has a big house!). The piggy's means of getting a girlfriend are quite questionable and doomed to failure. Bulma wants to use Oolong to search for moons, to which she succumbs, partly out of a desire for voyeurism. At the end of the second book, Oolong asks Bulma, "Are there any girls in the capital?" and gets the answer: "No matter what, but you're rancid and disgusting, they don't like them." However, Oolong realizes his rather miserable condition, which is revealed in his thoughts when hn observes Kamesenni's grandpa's trumpeting: "Old gubbe, but even more rancid than me." Perhaps this still gives hope for the character's spiritual development? Oolong is also horrified, not admired, by the violent behavior of the men of the Rabbit Gang in the second book of the series. So the boy is not evil through and through.

Yamcha

Yamcha's evil deeds seem to be motivated mainly by greed. The young man is so shy that he literally freaks out in the company of maidens his age. However, in order to create comical situations, the cartoonist often confronts him with the luscious Bulma. Bulma, on the other hand, seems to be weak on handsome men and she falls in love with Yamcha at first sight. At the end of the second book, love develops on both sides.

Bulma

According to Bulma, "boys are supposed to have adventures." Especially at the beginning of the story, the maiden is coldly calculating. Bulma feeds Oolong a pill of her own making, which allows her to hold Oolong in control. This kind of help is probably needed, so strong is Oolong's desire for Bulma's voyeurism and groping. Son Goku follows Bulma out of his goodness, helping her search for dragon balls. Bulma, on the other hand, makes the boy's place in the closet clear from the start: "I'm up to two years older than you! Henceforth you may call me Miss Bulma." Although Bulma's activity in the comic is exaggerated, I think she behaves like a teenager her age. After all, her ultimate goal is (surprise, surprise) to use dragon balls to find herself a handsome boyfriend. At times, Bulma plots and exploits her sexual attraction, as if she's ready for anything to hear (and get a boyfriend). Other times, Bulma is shy, making it clear to everyone that despite everything, she is a respectable girl. In the middle of the journey, on a deserted road, Bulma goes to do what she needs in the woods, sheltered from the gaze of Son Goku (and the reader). Thus, Bulma uses the means, even the dirty ones, that she has (a defecation pill, pistol, submachine gun, panties) to pursue her goal or defend herself. She carefully guards her sexual integrity, keeping control over every situation. There are several passages in the books where Bulma also warns against touching herself: "If you try something, I'll yell." "If you're still voyeurism, I'll call the cops." Bulma thinks Son Goku is a "weird guy." While washing this, she states, "I've never seen a naked man before." The reader will notice the strangeness of Son Goku's behavior, but it can also be interpreted as Bulma finding it strange that her charm doesn't work for this boy like it does for the other male creatures she meets.

Controversial scenes

On page 68 of the first book, as Bulma lifts her skirt, both Grandpa and the turtle react with their heads sparkling to the pantsless apparition. The turtle's eyes widen, but already in the next frame (and the few that follow) it is embarrassedly ashamed. Papa's reaction is mostly masked behind sunglasses. In fact, voyeuristic eyes are not shown in the second book either. He doesn't take off his glasses even to "improve visibility." The accusations of pedophilia started from the fact that the Tortoise Master Kamesennin wanted to photograph and touch Bulma in the story. Neither of his desires comes true. In the second book, Bulma blackmails shapeshifter Oolong into taking the girl's character and letting her go. At first, Oolong counters, "It's none of my business, I don't want the old man to be slapped! No, it won't!" Eventually, Oolong puts on a blood-stopping show for Papa (which is not shown to the reader). However, in Bulma's opinion, he went too far. "Idiot! That was too much! You made me a kinky woman!", Bulma shouts as she punches Oolong on the head with her fist.

Moral issues

And how do the other characters in the series react to Papa's lewd suggestions? Kamesen's "helper" talking turtle, repeatedly resents this. On page 67 of the first book, it says: What kind of behavior! Shame on you, master!! On pages 26,27 and 28 of the second book, the turtle moralizes and is ashamed of its master. In vain (p. 30) it still exhorts the priest to "be human." Along with Oolong, however, the turtle is the only male character who finds Papa's hobbies out of the ordinary.

Children and sexuality

Dragon Ball is admittedly a confusing work. It raised the question of whether sexuality can be portrayed in comics or other entertainment that end up in the hands of children or young people. We are not used to this. The characters in the children's cartoon don't seem to be aware of their sexuality. Sex is not practiced and everything that refers to it has been eliminated. Even a so-called normal relationship is hardly described, let alone the love life that goes with it. When there is no model, at least there is no wrong model, the type of thinking prevails.

Does this kind of "censorship" make sense? Should we consider how children could be given the opportunity to peek into the adult world in a safe way? Or should we just hope that he doesn't run into a pervert on the street or in the park? These questions don't really belong in this story. It is generally thought that how and what children are told about sexuality is the responsibility of parents. However, this development has led to children also being unintentionally subjected to the so-called 'black market'. erotic messages. Protecting children from witnessing violence is also a major challenge.

Censorship struck

In week 21, publishers and distributors nervous about pedophilia charges first promised to move books on shelves out of the reach of children, and after a few days they decided to withdraw them from the market altogether. A cartoon in which an old man with paedophilic ideas is denounced and considered pathetic and ridiculous was subjected to censorship. By following Bulma's model, girls could perhaps learn how to deal with doctors, namusets, flashers and gadgets.

Dragon Ball also teaches that both boys and old guys often like to peep at girls. Of the characters in the book, only the old uncle, teacher Kamesen, is so twisted that he wants to touch and clap. Thus, a respected and reputable adult can be a child molester. In Dragon Ball, however, no one approves of his actions and does not submit to being a victim of kinky. Is this the message and course of action that certain circles do not want children to know? Or is there some mysterious seed of evil built into the work? And is the time ripe once again to tighten the censorship clauses? "Tidying up entertainment" is at least included in the new Government Programme.

- Reima Mäkinen

Spoiler:

Dragon Ball as a cautionary example of Räsänen's bill

June 19, 2003

In her bill, Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen (Kd) mentions Dragon Ball comics as harmful child pornography. The bill would equate cartoon and reality-based child pornography.

Christian Democrat MP Päivi Räsänen has submitted a bill on the distribution of child pornography material that is presented in cartoon form and as audio recordings of sentencing. Dragon Ball comics are mentioned in the initiative as a 'comic book containing child pornography' and are used as an example of material for which the legislation needs to be clarified. According to Räsänen's presentation, "Reading such books is harmful to children and provides incentives for adults prone to pedophilia."

The amendment would apply to Chapter 17, Section 18 of the Criminal Code. The law would equate the distribution of cartoon child pornography with the distribution of reality-based child pornography. Violation of the law is punishable by fines or imprisonment of up to two years.

Green Party MP Jyrki Kasvi, also known as a game journalist, commented on Räsänen's initiative in the referral debate: "Ed. Räsänen has tackled an interesting and important question, but unfortunately this is a much more difficult issue than this bill suggests. […] Dragon Ball is a comic book, a medium that is quite alien to many, including most of those present, and foreign media are easily interpreted with details detached from the context and the culture of that media [...] It's more of a typical example of a Japanese teen humor comic."

Räsänen's bill and the subsequent debate are available on Parliament's website. The counterpart of the plant is included in the conversation.

Source: www.eduskunta.fi. Link was spotted by the pseudonym of the sfnet comic book group, Jei.

- Otto Sinisalo

Spoiler:

The rise and fall of Dragonball

June 20, 2003

For a while, it looked like the long-awaited landing of manga by comics enthusiasts would finally come true. The Uusi Ruutu magazine project promised to publish the best contemporary European comics and "first in Finland" (which is not strictly speaking) manga. The test marketing planned by Yhtyneet Kuvalehti was a complete failure, and not a single issue was ever published. Finland was allowed to do without Japanese comics, the world's funniest and most exciting.

Barely recovered from this setback when Kustannus Oy Kolibri unexpectedly launched four books of Asia's most successful comic strip, Dragonball, by the world-famous and respected Akira Toriyama. The series has been published freely and in large quantities in both Islamic Indonesia and Lutheran Sweden. In Finland, the publication was quickly labelled child pornography.
Japan = Porn! Porn! Porn!

This, on the other hand, should not come as much surprise. For example, you constantly read in travel guides to Japan that manga (which means comic and nothing else) is defined as soft if the author is in a good mood. Never mind that the same manga includes Hayao Miyazaki's mythical multidimensional world of Nausicaa, Rumiko Takahashi's bitterly funny relationship story Maison Ikkoku, or Leiji Matsumoto's epic space worlds. Not to mention Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix, which contains nothing more and nothing less than an entire worldview. what. That's all we ever need to know, and we always know everything. If nothing else, it is on the irrefutable grounds that "everyone says so". Nothing sits in such tenacity as good old prejudice. But we all know that.
What Marshall McLuhan said

The Ilta-Sanomat took up the topic and without hesitation reported the unbelievables along the lines of "millions of young schoolgirls engage in prostitution in Japan". That is, "millions". Let's repeat it one more time: millions. If journalist Heli Karhumäki writes "millions", it must be assumed that she is talking about millions. You have to believe that he knows his stuff, because he can name some "enjo kosai" that the average manga enthusiast hears about for the first time.

Of course, it goes without saying that the prostitution of schoolgirls is precisely the fault of the comics, as the Ilta-Sanomat implies. Such claims belong to the classic Western discourse tradition when talking about comics. In the 1960s, Canadian communications philosopher Marshall McLuhan, in his world-famous book "The Medium is the Message," noted the effects of the anti-comic book crusade in the United States in the 1950s: The stupid idiot criminal doctrine that comics are an acceptable excuse for antisocial activity. "Yup, I've been reading comics all my life, they just made black like this."

What Aristotle said

The statement by the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare makes the claim that Dragon Ball's subordinate jokes "normalize pedophilia and do it ... approved'. A far-reaching and significant assumption is made here. Thus, the description of the phenomenon makes the phenomenon acceptable. This, too, needs to be repeated. In other words, the description of the phenomenon makes the phenomenon – acceptable. Excellent. This must be based on some scientific research that has certainly not been sufficiently reported. What study was it? What was studied in it? Who is investigating? Who was investigated? Where was the study conducted? What were the results? None of these questions has been answered at all.

I can well understand why. According to that assumption, for the sake of consistency, all novels, dramas, films, short stories – and comics – that contain horrors should be banned. What Aristotle means by the term "catharsis" can be read in his Poetry, which has been the holy book of all storytellers, and which should be known at the latest when one begins to discuss the subject. Because catharsis means that by dramatizing or making fun of horrors in a story, a person is freed from his fears and cleansed. This Aristotelian view, which has been the canonized truth of cultural studies for 2500 years, is, of course, in stark contrast to the view of the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare.
Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen (Christian Democrats), who, inspired by Dragon Ball, although not by name, launched a parliamentary initiative to ban all drawn paedophilia literature, has naturally acted in accordance with her conscience and worldview. For its part, the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare has done what it should do. There is no reproach in that either. The lack of scrutinyness in the conclusions of both parties and the lack of information can certainly be criticised.

Hummingbird flapping

Kustannus Oy Kolibri, on the other hand, does not deserve any kind of head stroke. They had every opportunity to make a significant opening in Finnish comics history. They could have introduced them to the fantastic Fushigi Yuugi, the exhilarating Azumanga Daioh, the classic Astro Boy, or the world's most beautiful Comic Book of all time called Clover. What did they do instead? They picked up Dragonball, which is by no means a particularly meritorious cartoon. In Japan, so many works of art are published a hundred times better every year that you can't even keep track of them.

If Dragonball is no longer released in Finnish, it will not be a great loss. On the other hand, it is a great loss that due to Hummingbird's unique tumbling (putting the publication on the children's shelf), no other Japanese comic will be published for a long time. What publishing company in Finland wants to try the market anymore when so little can lead to parliamentary inquiries, boycott threats, and tons of negative publicity? Who wants to play with the reputation of a publishing house in a country where the level of knowledge of decision-making politicians is based on statements such as 'I have that impression'! If someone brave were to translate and publish, say, Nausica – a large-scale artistic graphic novel if anything – at least the vigilant parents frightened by the controversy will make sure that their child's hand does not touch the Japanese work, but the familiar and safe American cheekless violence represented by the old familiar X, Y, Hyper, Super and Fluffy Men.

The only outcome of the episode will therefore be that after this, the deserved and inevitable landing of a significant art and culture genre called manga in Finland will be delayed by ten years. Either we are allowed to live without being ashamed of having found brilliant literature in a banned country, or we will order it from abroad in future, supporting the work of foreign publishers and publishers. Thank you, Hummingbird Publishing Company! Doomo arigatoo gozaimasu. Shimatta!

What Heinrich Heine said

So it is possible that in the future – if the bill is passed in Parliament – every single shipment of books from Japan will come under special scrutiny, and the future law will in practice be applied by some blind customs officer who will find it quite easy to confiscate every single comic book that happens to contain a few jokes of sex humour for some reason, just in case. (After all, sex is deadly serious and must not be made fun of.) Not to mention if there were couples of girls or boys in the story. Also, a cartoon character cannot be required to provide an ID that would indicate the character's age. And best of all, the Finnish distributor of a comic legally published in Japan/USA/Germany/Sweden will be punished by law (according to the text of the initiative, a) fines and continued crime b) imprisonment). How well the customs officer understands Japanese is a trickier question. Obviously, our country must be able to afford to employ a large number of Japanese interpreters for the post office and customs to find out whether a work published on the free market by a Japanese/Western publishing house is incidentally contrary to Finnish criminal law.

Heinrich Heine once pointed out that where books are burned, people are burned next. There is no need for this in Finland. It is enough for a comic book reader to be thrown into prison in Finland. Given the age range of manga and anime lovers, young people who have spent their youth in prison will remember their own history with special warmth when writing about those politicians who, in their wisdom, have treated art and its friends in this way. Väinö Kirstinä, to whose name the famous quote has also often been placed, has also said other things, e.g. "Almost all the latest significant art in some way brings something new to the world from a traditional background. Therefore, it breaks conventions, conventions. In a way, it is perceived as an insult. It's not exactly pleasant to the touch at all times. On the other hand, there is a lot about something new and unusual and offensive that is not aesthetically significant at all. The work of a critic is certainly not simple. How do you tell the difference between a crude and a truly genuine, even apparently jagged work of art?"

The tradition of Finnish political cultural debate is alive. In the 1950s, the number of profanity words used by the Unknown Soldier was counted in Parliament. In the 60s, the edition of The Scarlet Ruby was burned in the oven, because in the novel women had orgasms (after all, good women don't have orgasms). After that, it became important to condemn Hannu Salama, in whose novel a drunken man gives a midsummer sermon that sounds as if it really should have been a drunken man. And even at the end of the 60s, a radio performance of a poem by gay poet Allen Ginsberg led to a parliamentary inquiry because it sounded as if it had been written by a homosexual poet.

There is one oddity in all this. How is it possible that all these literary publications (comics are also literary publications) have since become classics? I would like to assure you that there is no such danger with Dragon Ball, but... Suffice it to say the truth: the ability of political actors to distinguish between outrageous and genuine works of art has historically been very poor.
After that, all right?

There are real child and youth problems in Finnish society that should be addressed. If you ask me, I would bluntly deny TV chats where 13-year-olds are looking for "company". I would put drunken minors in jail and not let them out until their parents came to pick them up, and if those crazy parents are drunk too, they would share the same cell with their unworthy offspring as far as I am concerned. I would abolish quick fines for drug use and replace them with immediate forced withdrawal.
But the difficulty with these questions is that they are real problems, not humorous descriptions of a problematic world. After all, the authorities can order the filming to be banned, burned or destroyed. It is unfortunate that the problems themselves do not disappear so easily. At least not by performing magic tricks, such as drawing attention to a comic strip whose greatest sin is that it comes from Japan, and we all know very well and self-evidently that everything that comes from Japan, etc. etc.

Facts that no one cares about

Finally, a few trivial facts that have not been allowed to influence the debate on the subject in Finland in any way. (Which says a lot about the conversation.)

Dragon Ball is a comic strip about a wild boy, a child of nature who has never seen cars, cities, or girls in his life. The series chronicles his quests to become a world martial arts champion, battling strong opponents in tournaments, and adventures where he fights monsters. The series features schoolboyish dull panty humour aimed at a 16-year-old young woman, with no hint of child pornography. More than 20 volumes of Dragon Ball have been published in the wonderland of moralism in Sweden, and they can still be freely purchased from Finnish bookstores, even though the identical Finnish edition has been withdrawn from sale. I do not know why, then, this matter has not been addressed in the newspapers of Helsinki Media Oy. Is it because the Swedish publisher is not Hummingbird?

And child pornography – by which I mean the use of real living children in pornography – is strictly illegal in Japan, as it is everywhere else in the world, and that is how it should be.

- Jari Lehtinen

Great thread again Cure Dragon 255. Love hearing all these stories.

[Tian]

The original Hungarian broadcast of Dragon Ball Z had to be abruptly stopped due to the ORTT (Hungary's equivalent of the FCC).

Here's the story:

• In July 1998, after an investigation on both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, ORTT issued a sanction to RTL Klub. The psychological studies of the investigation concluded that Dragon Ball Z was "too violent" to air in the day, so it had to be moved to a later timeslot at night and with a mature audience warning.
• RTL Klub asked for a revision of this sanction and entered into a legal battle with the ORTT, which would last until 2004.
• As response of this legal battle, in April 1999, RTL Klub stopped the original broadcast in episode 121.
• Shortly after, there was an attempt from the channel to air the series at midnight due to the series' success but it failed since the midnight airing was reran from episode 1 and as a result, RTL Klub decided to remove the series.
• In May 2004, RTL Klub ended up losing the legal battle and the final verdict was that the TV station could only air Dragon Ball Z at night (21:00-5:00). But by that point, RTL Klub was no longer interested to air the series (understandable, after the long legal battle and the failed midnight rerun.)

Despite this downer ending, some later episodes (122-137) of the series were eventually released on VHS and more of them (243-247, 263-267, 278-282) were shared on internet after they were bought from some guy who had access to the dubbing studio's audio recordings of those episodes.

These two instances confirmed that despite the legal battle, the whole series had been dubbed back in 1999.

Dragon Ball Z wouldn't be fully aired in Hungary until 2012, when Viasat 6 picked up the rights to air. Viasat 6 initially aired the first 52 episodes to test the audiences and after good results, they aired the rest of the series.

[MasenkoHA]

I don't remember exactly who did it, but they recolored Mr. Popo blue during Kai's initial release.

That's not it either, that's PRE EMPTIVE, not something that got called out on other Media as "Dragon Ball is Evil". If anyone did any fuss, it was the fans for censoring Mr Popo...


...But you DID remind me there might have been a controversy way before Kai! Let me look for it.

https://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0504/p9s1.html

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Also, as I mentioned in the German dub thread, reportedly the first 52 episodes of original Dragon Ball aired in Austria in 2001 but the show was cancelled because parents complained.

I haven't seen any articles about it, but if any Austrians here are reading feel free to share. I'd love to read them.

For now here's some comments from that thread, as translated by Google:

Austrian fan wrote:

Well, if you are Austrian, you can watch the ORF1! And as everyone hopefully knows, it once played DB! But for ridiculous reasons they have canceled it, because it is not for children and parents have complained that it is too perverse for their children!

So now I want to know from the Austrians what they think of all this!

Austrian fan wrote:

Me and my boyfriend called them and asked why they don't play it anymore:
Well, and they said what I already mentioned......... that parents complained!

Well..... does anyone know the mail address?

Conversely, the German dub was saved by native broadcaster RTL II (which was available to Austrians with cable) as another poster points out:

Austrian fan wrote:

Once again a too nice example of how anime in europe "get" to the wrong target group.

In the RTL II trailer there was the well-known apt sentence "DBZ is not for children"

This also applies a little to DB, in the program booklet it says from 10, and I think that's right, and if so many little Zwugl are watching, that's their problem.
Well, ORF is a public broadcaster, RTL II is a channel and that's apparently the reason.

And bet that GoldenBoy will be canceled soon, because it comes at 17:00 and I don't think that's suitable for the time...

Well, "cartoon" is still used in the wrong way in Germany / Austria and in many other countries...

Gennerell applies "... Animation is for children, and the children should watch it", and then suddenly it is said that Japanimation is "violent", "vulgar" and also "horribly drawn" (I had to listen to everything long enough...) and the reason is only this: THAT THE SERIES ABOUT IT IS ABOUT ARE PUT IN THE WRONG TARGET GROUP... and that starts with the fact that they are shown in the children's program.
Fortunately, RTL II has learned from its mistakes...

[Tian]

I want to elaborate more in the Hungarian case:

Yesterday, after I wrote the post from above, I went to look for more info about the case and I found the newspapers from the time where RTL Klub stopped the original broadcast.

I wish I know more Hungarian but fortunately, a kind Hungarian redditor translated these:

WARNING: The following translations contain mentions of suicide.

Spoiler:

Page 1:
Children are protesting for SonGoku. Karcsi will commit suicide if he can't watch it.

Budapest - Children are collecting signatures nationwide, there are some who are threatening suicide if RTL Klub doesn't resume airing the show Dragon Ball again. The popular show was taken off the air thanks to the pressure of ORTT (National Institute of Radio and Television), the characters of which are collected by boys in the shape of playing cards and plastic figures. The neurologist confirms that the sudden changes in light and sound may cause epileptic seizures in some vulnerable people, however the two litigants' teacher-psychologist experts' opinions differ in whether SonGoku, the super starfighter actually damages the souls of children.

The text over Goku: Banned from the screens. Do you agree? Do you not? Call the phone number!

The text below Goku: (basically urges you to call them)

Spoiler:

Some notes: Blikk is basically the Hungarian equivalent of Daily Mail. Also, they translated the names of the characters poorly, I'll keep them the same way. Also, they spoiled some parts of it, so you may not want to read this if you're currently watching the show.


Page 2:

Phone lines on fire at RTL Klub - Boys collecting signatures - Aggressive cartoon, or innocent tale?

Children are demanding Dragon Ball.

Budapest - Children couldn't watch Dragon Ball since Friday due to the decision of RTL Klub's leadership: they've suspended airing the cartoon pending the legally binding decision of the courts in a civil court case between RTL Klub and ORTT. Children are sieging the TV-channel, demanding the return of their favourite show, collecting signatures and are threatening with suicide. According to RTL, the show builds upon thoughts based in ancient religions, however, proponents of violence-free television state this show is just another one which damages the personality of children.

The courts haven't decided in the case, but the next part of the show has already began airing titled Dragon Ball Z. Teenagers could enjoy the afternoon broadcasts for the last time last Thursday. Honoring the decision of ORTT, the channel suspended airing the show. Imre Szabó Stein, Chief of PR and Marketing at RTL Klub stated regarding the case:

"We've decided it's better to suspend airing the show until the decision of the courts in order to avoid needless conflicts, but of course we think this is only a temporary solution. We've received many phonecalls urging us to resume airing the show, children began collecting signatures in many schools. Despite all of this, we'll wait for the court's decision. If the decision is in our favour, we'll resume airing Dragon Ball."

Szabó Stein believes the cartoon doesn't convey negative values. "It builds upon thoughts in ancient religions. It's theoretical base is that in the fight between good and evil, good will always prevail. With this, I think we're not showing negative examples to children, because events always go in the direction intended by the good, and forward."

"The shows similar to Dragon Ball, which radiate violence cause psychological damage to children" - believes a children's neurologist of Pál Heim Children's Hospital who requested to remain anonymous - "The other danger of these shows is they may cause epileptic seizures in vulnerable people. The sudden changes of lights, the flashing, the loud sound effects are shocking to the vision and hearing centres of the brain. There are also provoking circumstances. If the child who is vulnerable to seizure is exhausted and tired, the chance of an epileptic seizure is greater."

Dragon Ball is a cartoon series created based on the tradition of Japanese manga drawings. Three series were made so far: Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT (which hasn't been aired by Hungarian television so far). These shows have been very popular shows in western television for years now, and the Dragon Ball-fever that followed has elevated the market of products - clothing, toy figures, and mainly playing cards - to high sales, which depict motives of Dragon Ball. The creation of the third series was mainly thanks to this demand.

The manga is a typical Japanese comic, and we know the cartoon version of this old genre as anime.

"The Japanese have been creating comics for a long time now, you can get a lot of comics which are released daily at your local newsstand, some of which have a decades-long history. Japanese manga hasn't just been written for children, there are some for all ages, they only differ in style" - says Martin who works at the newspaper 576 KBYTE, and is a big manga fan. - "We can follow the entire lives of manga heroes, the characters grow up and develop in front of our eyes. The heroes of popular manga series live ordinary lives, they have hopes, they cry and laugh. The world is realistic, but the world beyond realities is not foreign to them, and even the manga superhero themself can have a personal crisis over there."

Two manga series have been releasing on Hungarian television: Dragon Ball, which reflects the creative fantasies of Akira Toriyama and takes characters from the Chinese story of the Monkey king, and the girls' favourite, Sailor Moon.

The text in the boxes:

The psychologist's son has also watched it

"I can say the same as a private person and as a professional regarding Dragon Ball." - said Dr. Katalin Révai to Blikk, who was hired by RTL Klub to be an expert in the legal case - "Similarly to other children, my child also loves show and always watches it. Although I don't like violent cartoons - for example I specifically hate Tom and Jerry because it contains only pure aggression - Dragon Ball has the advantage of clearly separating good and evil. In Dragon Ball the child always knows who is the good one, and who to stand beside. This show also has the message that it's not important to triumph over the other, but it's important to overcome our own limits with lots and lots of endurance. Adults don't become aggressive thanks to action movies, but they watch action movies to get rid of their own aggression." - says the doctor.

SonGoku takes side of good

In the story, if someone owns the 7 crystal balls of the Almighty at the same time, the holy dragon will grant their wish. In the fight for the crystal balls Son Goku takes the side of good and supports them with might unattainable to human beings. Son Goku was sent by the universe's strongest living beings, the starfighters to Earth as a child, to conquer the planet of humans by the time he's grown up. He arrived as a baby, was raised by humans, and even though he got distinguished by his bad behaviour, later he forgot about his mission thanks to an accident in his childhood, and supported his excellent friends in everything, Bulma, the daughter of a scientist, Krillin, Yamcha and the Genious Turtle who was his master, and later on the enemy-turned-friend Tenshinhan, Young Satan and Chaos. Later he'll marry ChiChi and they'll have two children.

Karcsi prepares to commit suicide

Rábapáty - The students of the local primary school began collecting signatures urging the continued airing of the show. "We've collected 55 signatures in one day, and we'll continue the action." - says 7th grade student Krisztián Gömös László (15) - "We don't understand why they've stopped airing the show, it's not aggressive at all, it's cute."

Karcsi (14) states he'll commit suicide if the show's airing is not continued. "I'm sure the people at RTL Klub will take notice of my suicide and resume airing the show." - he pondered - "It's true that if I die I won't be able to see the continuation, but others may know how the story ended."

The most important characters of the show:

SonGoku: the main protagonist. Starfighter. Brother of Raditz. Original name: Kakarott. He was the first to reach the third, highest form of the starfighters. His wife: ChiChi. His children: SonGohan, SonGoten.

SonGohan: SonGoku's older son. Brother of SonGohan. Half man, half starfighter.

Vegéta, Vegita: Starfighter, prince of planet Vegita. She'll become the husband of Bulma.

Young Satan: Son of Heartless Satan. First the enemy of SonGoku, then he becomes one of his best friends. His soul is one with the Almighty.

Allmighty: Protector and God of Earth.

Freezer/Blisterer: SonGoku's enemy, who was injured by him so gravely, half of his body had to be replaced with robot parts.

Cell: Carries the genes of Freezer/Blisterer, SonGoku, SonGohan and Vegita. Enemy of SonGoku.

Picture descriptions:

Imre Szabó Stein, Chief of PR and Marketing at RTL Klub

On the left side Trunks, who appeared as a mighty starfighter when the show was cancelled.

The child SonGoku was taught by the Genious Turtle.

SonGoku, the protagonist of Dragon Ball who fights for the Dragon-orbs with wonderful magic power for more than a year now. During his fight with the Evil, he doesn't just perfect his technique in martial arts, but also strengthens his discipline and willpower. According to the story he can't just win with his strength, the purity of his soul is also at least as important.

The power of the starfighter is increased after every transformation and his appearance is also altered: here he is seen with blonde hair.

The child SonGoku, and adult versions.

Computer-game versions were also created.

Children like it for the excitement and nice graphics.

Best selling Dragon Ball products:

Cards

5 pcs package - 350Ft

7 pcs + 1 glittering - 300Ft

Base package (25 pcs) - 350-450Ft

2 huge cards + 1 glittering - 450Ft

4 chrome - 400-450Ft

Figures:

9 cm - 500-600Ft

26 cm - 1100-1500Ft

4 pcs, 12cm each - 1100-1500Ft

8 pcs, 6cm each - 1100-1200Ft

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Jesus children threatened suicide if RTL Klub didn't bring back Dragon Ball? That's scary assuming this wasn't some sensationalist exaggeration of facts. I heard the story that kids tried to do bukujutsu from the top of the buildings, but I believe that was just a legend. Would be scary if true though.

Here's another one, during Dragon Ball GT's second run on the air in Lithuania (apparently the first broadcast was on LNK), the Ethics Inspector of Journalists declared it harmful to children and applied to the Lithuanian Radio and Television Commission to penalize the broadcaster, which at the time was TV1.

The report can be found here, I also assume "Dragon Fight In GT" is a bad auto Google translation of the localized name Drakonų Kova GT:

Spoiler:

INSPECTOR OF JOURNALISTIC ETHICS

S P R E N D I M A S

ON THE CARTOON "DRAGON FIGHT IN GT" (TV1, 2006-12-12, 9.00-9.25 A.M.) PUBLISHED INFORMATION

22 January 2007 No SPR-2

Vilnius

A group of experts acting under the inspector of journalistic ethics, after evaluating the publicly available information in the cartoon "Dragon Fight in gt" (TV1, 12/12/2006, 9:00 a.m. to 9:25 a.m.), found that violence is positively evaluated in this film. Such information falls into the category of information that has a negative impact on the development of minors – it complies with the Law on the Protection of Minors from the Detrimental Effects of Public Information (applicable to the version in force at the time of the broadcast of the film dated 19.11.2003, Official Gazette, 2003, No. 108-4813) the criterion provided for in Article 4(1)(1).

The Inspector of Ethics for Journalists, on the basis of the opinion of the expert group, in accordance with Article 9(3)(4) of the Law on the Protection of Minors from the Detrimental Effects of Public Information, has decided:

1. Apply to the Lithuanian Radio and Television Commission for the application of liability measures within the scope of its competence.

2. Send a copy of the decision to the CEO of UAB "TV1".

3. To make the decision publicly available in the annex "Briefings" of the "State Gazette", on the website of the Office of the Inspector of Ethics of Journalists.

INSPECTOR ROMAS GUDAITIS

[Cure Dragon 255]

Not even Latin America would go as far as doing what the Hungarian Children did, and I thought they felt meh about the show. I stand corrected.

When Cartoon Network finally finished airing Dragon Ball all they did is air it on a General Audiences channel instead of childrens ones and then gave Adult Swim its own channel.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I think if any country is meh about Dragon Ball its 95% of Irish people, at least nowadays, I noticed it being talked about lots between 2000 and 2005 when it aired and a little bit from then until I graduated from school in 2011, since then its only my close friends in real life I talk to about the series and even then its on and off.

Hungarian fans seem to be very dedicated, even if they aren't as loud as other fans, like say French or Spanish fans. In fact there seems to be a lot of confusion about Hungary as a lot of the wikis say they aired the French dub, which I think is false as from what I've heard from credible sources everything aired in Hungary was in the native language (only exception may be GT on one of Sony's channels in the early 2010s but not sure). In any case the Hungarian dub of Z leaked sometime around the late 2000s or early 2010s when the fan Tian mentioned reached out to other fans on a forum, he could only get the audio tracks from the studio (which I believe was Echo Szinkron Kft) and no video but fans were happy to collect the money to hear them.

Suffice to say Dragon Ball Z finally aired in its entirety on Viasat 6 between 2012 and 2014 and was rerun for years until Super premiered on the same channel. I believe both series have done incredibly well so I'm guessing they will get Daima too. GT also aired for the first time in 2011/2012 on Hungary's local Animax as the dub was recorded a decade or so before then but never had a chance to air as RTL Klub was waiting on the ORTT's final verdict.

[Tian]

Hungarian fans seem to be very dedicated, even if they aren't as loud as other fans, like say French or Spanish fans. In fact there seems to be a lot of confusion about Hungary as a lot of the wikis say they aired the French dub, which I think is false as from what I've heard from credible sources everything aired in Hungary was in the native language (only exception may be GT on one of Sony's channels in the early 2010s but not sure). In any case the Hungarian dub of Z leaked sometime around the late 2000s or early 2010s when the fan Tian mentioned reached out to other fans on a forum, he could only get the audio tracks from the studio (which I believe was Echo Szinkron Kft) and no video but fans were happy to collect the money to hear them.

I dunno where the French dub airing in Hungary bit came from but I think it was a simple misinterpretation of the Hungarian dub using the French dub as its source.

About GT airing in another channel from the Sony family, that's true. It was aired on AXN Sci Fi as well and with the same Hungarian dub shown on Animax.

And yes, the Hungarian dubbing studio was indeed Echo Szinkron Kft, which went defunct in 2001.

It is not exactly known how the guy got those recordings but I've got two theories:

• The guy was maybe a former employee of Echo Szinkron. To be precise, an audio engineer who got the recordings by copying the master audio tapes.
• Given its incoming shut down, Echo Szinkron maybe had some sort of garage sale where they sold dubbed audio tapes that the networks didn't care to retrieve, and the guy was just a random passerby who bought the tapes.

One thing that should be noted is that the audio in those recordings differ from what ended up being heard on Viasat 6.

I've read that some lines are missing on them and the audio quality is bad, so it seems that the recordings from the guy were from before the final audio mix for TV broadcast.

I believe both series have done incredibly well so I'm guessing they will get Daima too.

As a fan of dubs, I hope so but unfortunately Goku has to be recast in case it happens, due to László Lippai not longer being among us.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

About GT airing in another channel from the Sony family, that's true. It was aired on AXN Sci Fi as well and with the same Hungarian dub shown on Animax.

I was referring to one of the Sony channels as being a possible exception to all Dragon Ball content in Hungary airing in the native language, but that's interesting nonetheless.

And yes, I was aware Animax aired the Hungarian dub, this post mentions it. We also have a promo in Hungarian to confirm it, and likely fan recordings too.

I know a lot of European countries were airing GT in Japanese around that point, but I guess Sony probably saw no reason to sub GT when a dub existed, which I can assume was dubbed around the same time as the later unreleased Z episodes in 1999-2001 before Echo Szinkron shut down and the series was suspended.

GT aired on both AXN Sci-Fi and AXN Spin but its possible different versions were used for each country, not just different subs. These Polish schedules from the time lists the show as airing with a "voiceover", for example. I'm not sure if this airing was French from episodes 1-36 and the Japanese version thereafter, as was the case with RTL 7 but apparently Poland did get a different lector in 2011/2012 to 2001/2002 (Andrzej Gajda instead of Marek Robaczewski), which doesn't bode well for the Slovene POP TV masters still existing unfortunately.

Great info about the Z episodes that audio engineer found too. Even if they were the pre-final masters its still somewhat of a miracle they turned up, moreso that Viasat 6 was able to acquire the updated mixes made by a decade long defunct studio, especially knowing how poor TOEI's track record of preserving audio is, although perhaps AB Groupe still had the Hungarian rights at this time and the tapes were sent back to them instead.

Sadly I haven't seen the Hungarian dub myself but its sad to hear about László Lippai. May he rest in peace with Kirby Morrow and the other Gokus we've lost.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Found another article about Dragon Ball being accused of promoting paedophilia on a fansite, this one is from Italy and predates the Finnish controversy by a few years, although I don't think it went as far.

In Italian:

Spoiler:

Dragon Ball Sotto Accusa !?!

Dragon ball è stato accusato di Pedofilia ed ora sembra sotto inchiesta !!!

Leggete questo articolo di qualche mese fa !



Qui di seguito, riportiamo il comunicato di "Cittadinanzattiva" così come appare sul sito dell'associazione stessa. Per inviare il vostro parere in merito all'associazione in questione, scrivete a: stampa@cittadinanzattiva.it



PEDOFILIA:
NON SOLO VIDEO PORNO: ATTENZIONE ANCHE AI FUMETTI


Cittadinanzattiva deposita una denuncia per un fumetto in libera vendita

E' stato depositato questa mattina, presso la Procura della Repubblica di Roma, un esposto denuncia nei confronti della Kappa srl di Bologna, la casa editrice che distribuisce il fumetto "Dragon Ball". Nel numero di settembre 2000 della rivista a fumetti, in libera vendita presso le edicole italiane a lire 8000, e quindi priva della dicitura "vietato ai minori", sono raffigurate delle scene con evidente contenuto a carattere pedofilo e altre con evidente contenuto erotico.

In particolare, in alcune di esse un anziano protagonista del fumetto invita una bambina a scoprirsi le parti intime e a mostrarle, cosa che puntualmente viene poi fatta nelle scene seguenti. "Ma questo è solo un esempio.

Stiamo infatti verificando che in molti altri fumetti di stile giapponese e in materiali multimediali, come CD-ROM e riviste in formato elettronico, e in vendita senza limitazioni di età, sono presenti scene fortemente erotiche e, nei casi peggiori, che istigano alla pedofilia, o che la rendono normale agli occhi del giovane lettore".

Queste le dichiarazioni di Giustino Trincia, vice segretario nazionale di Cittadinanzattiva, e firmatario della denuncia. "Ciò che più ci colpisce", continua Trincia, "è che queste riviste siano facilmente reperibili dai bambini, e che i genitori, fidandosi dell¹assenza di divieti della censura, non sospettino minimamente il contenuto osceno. Il problema principale, e più ripugnante, è la presenza diffusa che può far abituare i bambini a scene del genere, facendogli credere, per esempio, che mostrare le proprie parti intime ad un anziano per strada sia normale, esponendoli così, inconsciamente, a pericoli evidenti per la propria incolumità". "Invitiamo quindi la Magistratura", conclude Trincia, "a verificare gli estremi penali per una azione, per il sequestro del materiale dalle edicole, e per l'avvio di una inchiesta a tappeto su pubblicazioni del genere.

Occorre intervenire al più presto anche per avvertire i genitori di questi rischi, impedendo possibili danni ai bambini italiani. Ai genitori invece un invito, cioè quello di partecipare attivamente alla fase di crescita dei propri figli, non solo partecipando alle loro "navigazioni" sulla rete internet, ma anche controllando ciò che i propri figli leggono.

E' proprio grazie alla segnalazioni di una mamma umbra che abbiamo scoperto quanto segnalato. E' quindi importante ricordare la funzione fondamentale che i genitori devono esercitare direttamente, e non solo attraverso la delega alla Magistartura e alle organizzazioni di tutela. Questo vuol dire essere cittadini attivi e genitori coscienti".

Roma, 28 ottobre 2000


by Starcomics.com



E' iniziata la caccia alle streghe del nuovo millennio.

Questo succede per tre motivi fondamentali:

1) Le istituzioni faticano a mettere le mani addosso a chi si occupa veramente di pedofilia, per cui è necessario trovare qualche capro espiatorio a portata di mano per rassicurare le masse. In questo modo, il "popolo" è contento, vede che la giustizia "segue il suo corso", e si sente protetta dai mostri che si annidano nell'oscurità. Mentre, in realtà, non è cambiato assolutamente nulla.

2) I media hanno trovato nel termine "pedofilia" il più grande alleato per aumentare tirature, vendite e spettatori. Per questo motivo non si fa scrupolo a pubblicare notizie senza nemmeno verificarne la fonte o la veridicità.
Grazie alle agenzie che procurano tali notizie, le testate d'informazione possono tranquillamente limitare la propria responsabilità, "lanciando il sasso e ritirando la mano" subito dopo. In questo modo, chi viene diffamato non può rivalersi su nessuno, in quanto la notizia è "semplicemente riportata".

3) Come sempre accade in clima di "caccia alle streghe", la gente si lascia prendere dalla paura (generata dalla disinformazione dilagante operata dai mass media) e, in alcuni casi, dalla coscienza sporca. Nel primo caso, centinaia di genitori vengono terrorizzati da quotidiani e telegiornali, per cui il livello di paranoia sale tanto da costringerli vedere la pedofilia anche dove non c'è.
Nel secondo caso, il più grave, entra un azione il meccanismo di autodifesa, e cioè "giudicare per non essere giudicati". Molto spesso, infatti, la malizia è solo nella mente dell'accusatore, e non in quella di un accusato. Un celebre motto popolare dice che "la prima gallina che canta ha fatto l'uovo". Forse, una buona percentuale di coloro che accusano il prossimo di misfatti legati alla pedofilia, cerca semplicemente di distogliere l¹attenzione da sé per qualche motivo noto solo a lui.

Dragon Ball è ora accusato di essere un fumetto che può ispirare comportamenti pedofili. Questo per via delle scene in cui il Maestro Muten sbircia sotto le gonne di Bulma, o perché Goku appare con i suoi attributi scoperti.
Ognuna di queste scene è calata in un contesto umoristico, ed è davvero difficile credere che qualcuno possa sentirsi offeso (o stimolato sessualmente) da scene di questo genere, che sono semplicemente ridicole, e distante anni luce da qualsiasi forma di pornografia.

Dragon Ball è il fumetto più seguito al mondo dopo "Topolino", letto da un pubblico di tutte le età. Tacciare Dragon Ball di pedofilia significa semplicemente mettere in discussione l¹integrità morale e psichica di un quarto della popolazione mondiale. D'altra parte, si sa, quando una compagnia, un prodotto o ­ in questo caso ­ un personaggio hanno tanto successo, l'invidia e il sospetto giocano brutti scherzi, e si cerca in tutti i modi di affossarne la fama con stratagemmi squallidi come la diffamazione. E la situazione diventa ridicola quando si pensa che, per quanto riguarda Dragon Ball, le stesse immagini vanno in onda da anni tutti i giorni sugli schermi televisivi delle reti più popolari nel primo pomeriggio.

Ora, il problema che si pone è proprio l'inverso. Chi legge Dragon Ball deve dunque considerarsi pedofilo? Grazie alla logica, al buon senso, e alla cognizione di causa (chi legge Dragon Ball sa bene che si tratta di una storia d'avventura infarcita di umorismo e azione) sappiamo bene che non è così.
Grazie alla disinformazione operata in questi giorni dalla stampa, chi legge un albo di Dragon Ball (o di un qualsiasi altro manga, visto che ora si taccia tutto il fumetto giapponese di questo) rischia di attirare su di sé occhiate di disapprovazione e giudizi negativi di ogni genere.

Invitiamo pertanto chiunque si fosse ritenuto offeso in questo senso dagli articoli apparsi su giornali in questi giorni a far sentire la propria voce, spiegando in assoluta tranquillità la situazione alle associazioni che si sono fatte promotrici della campagna anti-manga. Il rischio non è tanto quello di perdere o non perdere Dragon Ball, quanto quello di permettere ancora una volta alla disinformazione e alla paura di vincere sulla ragione e sul buon senso.
Oggi potremmo perdere la possibilità di leggere un fumetto. Domani potremmo rischiare di essere condannati per aver fatto satira. E in futuro?

Ogni piccolo passo indietro è un enorme passo indietro, e ultimamente se ne stanno facendo tanti.

And English, as per my browsers auto-translate function:

Spoiler:

Dragon Ball under indictment ?!

Dragon Ball he has been accused of paedophilia and now seems to be under investigation !!!

Read this article from a few months ago !



Here Below, we report the press release of "Cittadinanzattiva" as follows as it appears on the association's website. To send your If you have any questions about the association in question, please write to A: stampa@cittadinanzattiva.it



PEDOPHILIA:
NOT ONLY PORN VIDEOS: BEWARE OF COMICS TOO


Cittadinanzattiva files a complaint for a comic book for free sale

It was deposited this morning, at the the Public Prosecutor's Office of Rome, a complaint against of Kappa srl of Bologna, the publishing house that distributes the comic "Dragon Ball". In the September 2000 issue of the comic magazine, on free sale at Italian newsstands to 8000 lire, and therefore without the wording "forbidden to minors", scenes with obvious character content are depicted pedophile and others with obvious erotic content.

In In particular, in some of them an elderly protagonist of the comic strip invites a little girl to uncover her private parts and show them, which is then punctually done in the following scenes. "But This is just one example.

'Re In fact, verifying that in many other Japanese-style comics and multimedia materials, such as CD-ROMs and magazines in and for sale without age restrictions, are present highly erotic scenes and, in the worst cases, instigating the pedophilia, or that make it normal in the eyes of the young reader."

These the statements of Giustino Trincia, Deputy National Secretary of Cittadinanzattiva, and signatory of the complaint. "What "What strikes us," Trincia continues, "is that these magazines are easily available to children, and that parents, trusting of the absence of prohibitions of censorship, do not in the least suspect obscene content. The main, and most repugnant, problem It is the widespread presence that can make children accustomed to scenes of the By making them believe, for example, that they are showing their private parts of an elderly person on the street is normal, exposing them thus, unconsciously, to obvious dangers to one's own safety." "We therefore invite the Judiciary", concludes Trincia, "to verify the criminal details for an action, for the seizure material from newsstands, and for the launch of an inquiry into carpet on such publications.

It is necessary to intervene as soon as possible also to warn parents of these risks, preventing possible harm to Italian children. To Parents instead an invitation, that is, to actively participate in the growth phase of their children, not only by participating in the their "browsing" on the Internet, but also by controlling what your children read.

E' Thanks to the reports of an Umbrian mother that we have discovered what was reported. It is therefore important to remember the function that parents must exercise directly, and not only through the delegation to the Magistartura and to the organizations protection. This is what it means to be active citizens and parents conscious."

Rome 28 October 2000



by Starcomics.com



E' The witch hunt of the new millennium has begun.

This This happens for three main reasons:

1) Institutions struggle to get their hands on those who work of paedophilia, so it is necessary to find some goats Scapegoat at hand to reassure the masses. At it way, the "people" are happy, they see that justice "It follows its course," and she feels protected from monsters that lurk in the darkness. While, in reality, it hasn't changed Absolutely nothing.

2) The media have found the term "pedophilia" to be the most A great ally to increase circulations, sales and viewers. For This reason has no qualms about publishing news without even verify its source or veracity.
Thanks to the agencies that provide such news, the news outlets can safely limit their own responsibility, "by launching the stone and withdrawing his hand" immediately after. Like this Those who are defamed cannot take recourse against anyone, as the news is "simply reported".

3) As always happens in a climate of "witch hunt", People are caught up in fear (generated by misinformation by the mass media) and, in some cases, by the conscience of the Dirty. In the first case, hundreds of parents are terrorized from newspapers and TV news, so the level of paranoia rises So much so that they are forced to see pedophilia even where there is none.
In the second case, the most serious, an action mechanism enters the of self-defense, that is, "judging in order not to be judged." Very often, in fact, malice is only in the mind of the accuser, and not in that of an accused. A famous popular motto says that "the first hen that crows has laid an egg". Maybe A good percentage of those who accuse others of misdeeds linked to paedophilia, simply seeks to divert attention by himself for some reason known only to him.

Dragon Ball is now accused of being a comic book that can inspire behavior pedophiles. This is because of the scenes in which Master Roshi peeks under Bulma's skirts, or because Goku appears with his attributes Discovered.
Each of these scenes is set in a humorous context, and It's really hard to believe that anyone would feel offended (or sexually stimulated) by scenes of this kind, which are simply ridiculous, and light years away from any form of pornography.

Dragon Ball is the most watched comic in the world after "Mickey Mouse", read by audiences of all ages. Label Dragon Ball by Pedophilia is simply questioning integrity of a quarter of the world's population. On the other hand, part, you know, when a company, a product or in this Chance a character is so successful, envy and suspicion They play tricks on them, and they try in every way to bury them fame by sleazy stratagems such as defamation. And the situation it becomes ridiculous when you think that, as far as Dragon is concerned, Ball, the same images have been airing every day for years on the television screens of the most popular networks in the early afternoon.

Now, the problem that arises is precisely the opposite. Who reads Dragon Should Ball be considered a pedophile? Thanks to logic, common sense, and knowledge of the facts (those who read Dragon Ball He knows that this is an adventure story full of humour and action) we know very well that this is not the case.
Thanks to the disinformation carried out in recent days by the press, who reads a Dragon Ball comic book (or any other manga, since now the whole Japanese comic is silent about this) It is likely to attract disapproving glances and judgments negatives of all kinds.

We therefore invite anyone who has been offended by this from the articles that have appeared in newspapers in recent days hear one's own voice, explaining in absolute tranquility the situation to the associations that have promoted the Anti-manga campaign. The risk is not so much that of losing or don't miss Dragon Ball, as much as to allow still a turn to misinformation and the fear of winning over reason and common sense.
Today we may lose the chance to read a comic book. Tomorrow We could risk being condemned for satirizing. And in the future?

Every little step backwards is a huge A step backwards, and lately there have been a lot of them.

[Tian]

And yes, I was aware Animax aired the Hungarian dub, this post mentions it. We also have a promo in Hungarian to confirm it, and likely fan recordings too.

Yeah, I was only stressing the fact that it was the same dub aired as Hungarian Animax because there have been some cases where separate dubs and subs were produced for channels, even if they belonged to the same company.

I know a lot of European countries were airing GT in Japanese around that point, but I guess Sony probably saw no reason to sub GT when a dub existed, which I can assume was dubbed around the same time as the later unreleased Z episodes in 1999-2001 before Echo Szinkron shut down and the series was suspended.

Actually, DBGT was dubbed 10 years after Z. Some of the names of the GT cast were either pretty young or haven't started dubbing when Z was dubbed.

Not to mention that GT was dubbed in Pannonia Sound System, which was Animax Hungary's main dubbing studio.

GT aired on both AXN Sci-Fi and AXN Spin but its possible different versions were used for each country, not just different subs. These Polish schedules from the time lists the show as airing with a "voiceover", for example. I'm not sure if this airing was French from episodes 1-36 and the Japanese version thereafter, as was the case with RTL 7 but apparently Poland did get a different lector in 2011/2012 to 2001/2002 (Andrzej Gajda instead of Marek Robaczewski), which doesn't bode well for the Slovene POP TV masters still existing unfortunately.

Ironically, there were plans for a Polish Animax around that time but they were ultimately scrapped.

So, had it been launched, both GT and Kai could've been aired there instead of AXN Spin.

Sadly I haven't seen the Hungarian dub myself but its sad to hear about László Lippai. May he rest in peace with Kirby Morrow and the other Gokus we've lost.

It's a pity what happened to him. His last years were tough: He had to sell his car to pay a ridiculous high fine, a friend screwed him on a business, lost his job in theatre due to the pandemic, his wife divorced and abandoned him on his birthday and he was going through a serious illness.

It's gonna be a challenge to find a successor for his Goku since his voice was so distinct and unique.

And he was one of the few voice actors who really enjoyed to work in Dragon Ball (most of the cast hated it due to the working conditions in Echo Szinkron) and even showed up in anime conventions.

[Cure Dragon 255]

And yes, I was aware Animax aired the Hungarian dub, this post mentions it. We also have a promo in Hungarian to confirm it, and likely fan recordings too.

Yeah, I was only stressing the fact that it was the same dub aired as Hungarian Animax because there have been some cases where separate dubs and subs were produced for channels, even if they belonged to the same company.

I know a lot of European countries were airing GT in Japanese around that point, but I guess Sony probably saw no reason to sub GT when a dub existed, which I can assume was dubbed around the same time as the later unreleased Z episodes in 1999-2001 before Echo Szinkron shut down and the series was suspended.

Actually, DBGT was dubbed 10 years after Z. Some of the names of the GT cast were either pretty young or haven't started dubbing when Z was dubbed.

Not to mention that GT was dubbed in Pannonia Sound System, which was Animax Hungary's main dubbing studio.

GT aired on both AXN Sci-Fi and AXN Spin but its possible different versions were used for each country, not just different subs. These Polish schedules from the time lists the show as airing with a "voiceover", for example. I'm not sure if this airing was French from episodes 1-36 and the Japanese version thereafter, as was the case with RTL 7 but apparently Poland did get a different lector in 2011/2012 to 2001/2002 (Andrzej Gajda instead of Marek Robaczewski), which doesn't bode well for the Slovene POP TV masters still existing unfortunately.

Ironically, there were plans for a Polish Animax around that time but they were ultimately scrapped.

So, had it been launched, both GT and Kai could've been aired there instead of AXN Spin.

Sadly I haven't seen the Hungarian dub myself but its sad to hear about László Lippai. May he rest in peace with Kirby Morrow and the other Gokus we've lost.

It's a pity what happened to him. His last years were tough: He had to sell his car to pay a ridiculous high fine, a friend screwed him on a business, lost his job in theatre due to the pandemic, his wife divorced and abandoned him on his birthday and he was going through a serious illness.

It's gonna be a challenge to find a successor for his Goku since his voice was so distinct and unique.

And he was one of the few voice actors who really enjoyed to work in Dragon Ball (most of the cast hated it due to the working conditions in Echo Szinkron) and even showed up in anime conventions.

Oh god its so painful to think about but losing YOUR LOCAL Goku must be so heartbreaking. People always mention Nozawa but I dont know how I will be when I hear Mario Castañeda or Laura Torres die.