DBZ Manga censorship

[GS7X7]

I remember years ago the DBZ community had a huge petition to oppose Viz's censorship of the DB manga.

It was successful, but then around 03-04 apparently they censored #16's attack from "Hell's Flash" to "Giant Cannon." (or something.)

If someone wanted to buy all the current DBZ mangas from Viz, how much censorship would they encounter inside them?

[jda95]

I think there is much less than there was a while ago, but there is still some considerable changes. The most major thing I can recall off the top of my head without owning any of the volumes is the removal of Mr. Popo's lips to lessen the blackface imagery.

[GS7X7]

I think there is much less than there was a while ago, but there is still some considerable changes. The most major thing I can recall off the top of my head without owning any of the volumes is the removal of Mr. Popo's lips to lessen the blackface imagery.

I'm sure Carol Boston Weatherby must be dancing with joy over that change.

[GS7X7]

I know some of the things in the DB manga may offend people, but....

If they don't like it, they just shouldn't buy it. Viz shouldn't censor crap (ie, turn a crucifux-style rock into a giant rock in FMA) just to avoid offending the kind of people who probably wouldn't be caught dead reading manga to begin with!

[Akumaito Beam]

Any giant lips on black people where whited out with the odd exception of General Black. Middle fingers were earased with the exception of Lunch in a single panel. Breasts and Gohan's wang were covered in some form or another. Later in Z guns were changed to lasers or in one instance removed entirely. Some of the more sexual dialouge in volumes 1&2 were toned down and cursing stopped being a thing around the Cell stuff. Satan was changed to the H word in all instances. That's more or less all of it in the current release.

[Attitudefan]

Daizex has a bit of stuff on Mr Popo.

[GS7X7]

Popo kinda looks scary with his lips now gone.

[Herms]

Any giant lips on black people where whited out with the odd exception of General Black.

Black's lips were filled in with screen tone. Originally they were white. The same thing was done for many random background characters. Generally Viz only flat-out removed the lips from black characters whose skin was actually blacked in; characters who skin was filled in with screen tone just had their lips filled in with screen tone too.

[GS7X7]

Did Viz start acting chickenshit once American Shonen Jump hit shores? For a while they kept their word and abided by the old petition Julian made.

[Herms]

Did Viz start acting chickenshit once American Shonen Jump hit shores? For a while they kept their word and abided by the old petition Julian made.

Censorship starting to increase after Jason Thompson left as editor, which was shortly after the launch of US Shonen Jump.

[dbboxkaifan]

Censoring the DBZ Manga? But then, not even the fans will actually know how the real manga was meant to be.

Internet to the rescue.

[GS7X7]

Scumbag Viz.

Complains about scanslations. Makes it so that fans who want 100% uncut DBZ manga can't support the U.S. release.

Maybe it's time for another petition by Julian.... At the very least, it would raise awareness about this issue.

[AgitoZ]

Scumbag Viz.

Complains about scanslations. Makes it so that fans who want 100% uncut DBZ manga can't support the U.S. release.

As bad as it may be, it's still no excuse for scanlations. Besides, it could be much worse.

[GS7X7]

Did Viz start acting chickenshit once American Shonen Jump hit shores? For a while they kept their word and abided by the old petition Julian made.

Censorship starting to increase after Jason Thompson left as editor, which was shortly after the launch of US Shonen Jump.

-Maybe- Jason Thompson was insistent that censoring was a bad idea, and he just got replaced with some cheap hack that would serve as a blind lackey to Viz's wishes. It would explain why it all began right after he left.

[Choujin Daizenshuu]

Here's the cold, hard reality of the matter.

Companies will censor goods if it means it can help them reach the widest demographic audience and help them make money with as little to no backlash possible. It is no different in Viz's case.

Viz would rather be safe than sorry and if it means that censoring Mr. Popo's lips can lessen the chances of being branded potential racists in the media as well as retain ad sponsorship, they'll go that route.

Sad but true.

[AgitoZ]

Viz would rather be safe than sorry and if it means that censoring Mr. Popo's lips can lessen the chances of being branded potential racists in the media as well as retain ad sponsorship, they'll go that route.

Sad but true.

Didn't the incident at Toys R Us happen because of Goku penis and not Popo lips? I think most backlash would and came from that.

You'd think parents would be more concerned with the massive amounts of violence.

[Choujin Daizenshuu]

I used Mr. Popo as an example of just one of the things that Viz is doing nowadays to help lessen any potential backlash against them. Censoring Goku's penis is also part of the routine.

You'd think parents would be more concerned with the massive amounts of violence.

Violence is a gray area. If Viz censors the violence, the manga won't make a lick of sense to readers. If they don't censor the violence, parents and ad sponsors will raise hell. In Viz's best interest, they felt that they needed to tone down some of the more graphic parts of the violence in order to get the main point of the conflict across while "hopefully" not upsetting parents and ad sponsors.

[SJR]

Viz doesn't care about the petitions of Internet geeks. Their stuff keeps selling, so why change it?

[Choujin Daizenshuu]

Exactly. It's all about what sells, not what's "right" in the eyes of geeks.

[GS7X7]

Here's the cold, hard reality of the matter.

Companies will censor goods if it means it can help them reach the widest demographic audience and help them make money with as little to no backlash possible. It is no different in Viz's case.

Viz would rather be safe than sorry and if it means that censoring Mr. Popo's lips can lessen the chances of being branded potential racists in the media as well as retain ad sponsorship, they'll go that route.

Sad but true.

Fans won't get anywhere if they don't try to stand up and do something.

I mean, the DBZ dvd's petition from toriyama.org worked. Just giving up and saying, "it's impossible" against Viz is the worst bad approach. The first thing people need to do is to try to catalog all the changes in the manga to get people talking about the changes and what's wrong with Viz's manga. That could help build up demand and start discussions again in the fan community.

The most important needed to enact any changes is a central location (DBZ Manga Uncensored? Or a site for all edited Viz mangas?) informing people about all the changes Viz is enacting.

Once people know what's going on they try to do something, or least build up negative buzz against Viz like Funimation endured in it's old days before it changed.