I just noticed something

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

VIZ didn't censor Popo's lips back in the day!

[SaiyaJedi]

VIZ didn't censor Popo's lips back in the day!

Hmm... it would seem that you're right.

But remember: licensed, commercially-released manga scanned en masse for free consumption = bad.

[tarsonis]

I have no idea why Popo's lips would need to be censored of all things.

On a related note, are there two versions that Viz releases, an uncut one and edited one, or only edited?

[Jerseymilk]

I have no idea why Popo's lips would need to be censored of all things.

Because it's a classic racist stereotype?

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

But remember: licensed, commercially-released manga scanned en masse for free consumption = bad.

Tell that to Naruto scanslators!

On a related note, are there two versions that Viz releases, an uncut one and edited one, or only edited?

No, those scans are from when VIZ did DBZ in comic book-format.

[Caracal]

Hmm. Interesting. I wish they didn't censor the manga they licenced. The whole point of the manga (in my eyes) was to provide un-cut versions of series I could only see cut.

[ruffriles19]

I don't know why they would even bother to censor them in the first place. I mean, every single other black character in the series is drawn the same way, from Advisor Black to "Kiira" (end of Z Budokai) and all sorts of minor background characters.
You'd think that drawing characters who are clearly human in that fashion would be considered more possibly offensive than Mr. Popo, who doesn't look quite human and is more of a "mythical" character.
Japan has been accused of being a racist country for years...I don't personally agree with that, but their society is so overwhelmingly homogenous that caricatures in popular media are inevitable.

[Blastero]

[Domon]

I dont see why VIZ censors this and neither Saban, nor Funimation, have ever done this.

Because it would be impossible to censor it frame-by-frame for dozens upon dozens of episodes.

[*PINHEAD*]

Yeah, that's why I thought their censorship was ridiculous...I mean, they left him normal before, than all of a sudden I noticed he had no lips.

[Blastero]

[Domon]

Because it would be impossible to censor it frame-by-frame for dozens upon dozens of episodes.

If they cleaned up the entire Goku vs. Vegeta fight, they can erase Mr. Popo's lips.

There's a difference between censoring a fight that last a few episodes, and censoring someone's body part each and every single time he appears.


And since some appears to be unaware of the stereotype that Popo represents, I thought this link might be interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface

[Sho™]

I don't know why they would even bother to censor them in the first place. I mean, every single other black character in the series is drawn the same way, from Advisor Black to "Kiira" (end of Z Budokai) and all sorts of minor background characters.
You'd think that drawing characters who are clearly human in that fashion would be considered more possibly offensive than Mr. Popo, who doesn't look quite human and is more of a "mythical" character.
Japan has been accused of being a racist country for years...I don't personally agree with that, but their society is so overwhelmingly homogenous that caricatures in popular media are inevitable.

Unfortunately, it's true that the Japanese are very racist. One of my friends, took a trip over there, stayed with a few penfriends he had been in contact with a few years, and he copped a lot of crap over there.
An example of this is a conversation in Japanese, between a stewardess and the guy next to him on the plane over there. The stewardess asked the guy if being seated next to a 'gaijin' offended him, and would he like to move seats. Of course, my friend being fluent in Japanese, understood every word.
This happened almost everywhere he went in Japan, when he was not staying with his friends. They did not treat him well at all. I think it's a great shame that Japan is like this, and something needs to be done about it.

[SpaceKappa]

I don't think they're racist with malicious intent, Sho™. Rather it's due to the fact that their society is VERY homogenous, and they aren't used to seeing different races very often. Not to mention they take people's feelings very seriously, and the stewardess probably was just trying to make sure everyone was as comfortable as possible.

As far as "something needs to be done about it," it is NOT our place to impose things on their society. Let Japan be Japan, it's not our right to tell them what to do.

[Sho™]

I didn't say WE had to do it, I'm just saying that, people aren't going to want to visit and cop that kind of treatment. The kids spat on him in the street, in one town. That's just wrong. It's the way their parent's bring them up.

[Aurek]

As far as "something needs to be done about it," it is NOT our place to impose things on their society. Let Japan be Japan, it's not our right to tell them what to do.

With regard to things like this. In my opinion yes we do. His basic human rights were being violated. Racism is one trait that needs to be purged from humanity permenanty, you cant pass it off like that. Do you think America should have retained slavery or double standards and say "well thats just the way America is".

[The S]

Interesting enough... Black Hosa's "stereotype lips" were removed in the 10th Anniversary special... but I guess he gave them to Metallic Gunsou.

And if anyone in Japan calls me "gai-jin", I'll just say I'm Ainu :p

[lost in thought]

And if anyone in Japan calls me "gai-jin", I'll just say I'm Ainu :p

Ainu...?

[The S]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainu_people

What's weird, is every Ainu I've seen has been paler than the pics shown here...

[SaiyaJedi]

But remember: licensed, commercially-released manga scanned en masse for free consumption = bad.

Tell that to Naruto scanslators!

I was specifically referring to scanning the English version released by Viz and offering it up for download. Regardless of what your opinion is on scanslations, you'll have to agree that taking the commercially-released English version and putting it on the internet is not the same thing as scanning and translating the Japanese version yourself, and is in fact (regardless of the law) quite a bit more unethical.