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Censorship upsets anime,
manga fans

Anime and manga fans can be quite vocal when it comes to changes in Japanese productions for an American market.

Perhaps the biggest example of this in recent months is the case of CMX, the manga imprint of DC Comics, and its treatment of "Tenjho Tenge." Many fans cried foul when their beloved "TenTen," as they call it, was released with censored artwork and missing scenes, and the decidedly adult work was watered down to a "teen" rating.

The company's response in a nutshell: We're going to keep doing it. Deal with it.

Which brings us to the CMX panel at San Diego Comic Con a few weekends ago. As reported by newsarama.com and picked up by several other online anime news outlets, representatives who showed up to tout their newest licensing agreements ("Kikaider (Kikaida) Code 02" among them) were instead grilled by angry fans about "TenTen."

Their response? Future titles aimed at mature readers will be shrink-wrapped, and solicitations to retailers will note whether a particular title has been edited for U.S. audiences.

Reading between the lines a bit, one gets the following impressions:

» The casual shopper still won't have any clue about whether a CMX book has been edited, because the notice won't appear on the book itself.

» They're going to keep editing "TenTen." Deal with it.

So for all of you out there hoping for an uncensored release, better start learning Japanese ...

DVD pick of the week

"Steamboy: Director's Cut," from Columbia TriStar: Speaking of jarring edits, the version of this film released to U.S. theaters a few months ago suffered when some of the Japanese footage was trimmed. It's been restored here, along with the original Japanese soundtrack for purists who prefer their anime subtitled, not dubbed.