4Kids not releasing uncut anime

[THE ANIME MAN]

Some one posted some news somewhere that 4kids was gonig to be doing uncut anime releases with subtitles only. I can't remember which of the dozen or so forums I visit that was posted on but I thought I'd do some explaining on that.

After doing a lot of digging the reason this person did the post was because the release of One Piece by 4kids has the words "American TV Version" printed on it. Well because this would also assume that the release will eventuallly be uncut that made some think that 4kids is the company doing it.

Which is incorrect. Turns out TOEI the producers of the original One Piece anime are going to be releasing the uncut/uneditted version of One Piece here in the states. HOWEVER, there has not been any word on whether or not the show will be dubbed on their DVD's or not. And if so will TOEI stick with the same cast for the dubs or will they do a completely different cast with a whole new dub.

[starwarsboy90]

Ok, so 4Kids is not releasing uncut anime . Then, they shouldn't get everyone excited, those liars! 4kids, I am Inngo Montouya, Prepare to die!,lol.

[Azier the Swordsman]

The 4Kids news still isn't fake. It was from a real interview on a very reputible anime site. Whether or not 4Kids is being truthful or not, is a completely different story.

[starwarsboy90]

well, " The truths we cling to, depend greatly on our own point of view" so maybe they are being truthful, maybe they are not being truthful at all...

[mitsuki lover]

And maybe Yugi will wise up and realize that Tea likes him and Ash will give up
on Pokemon and start playing Beyblades and challenge Tyson and perhaps
all those spiky haired boys will all shave their heads or get crewcuts...

[ShiroiHikari]

I figured it was too good to be true. But we'll see, I guess.

[Kisa]

*ish confused*
OK now hey are ticking me off, lol.... I still hope they release it.... its just cruel if they don't after all that....
*cries*

[creed4]

I'm tired of them filpfloping I bought the frist three volumes of yugioh uncut and now I can't get the rest why can't they follow throught...

[Shao Feng-Li]

Hahaha...

[true_noir_chloe]

Which is incorrect. Turns out TOEI the producers of the original One Piece anime are going to be releasing the uncut/uneditted version of One Piece here in the states. HOWEVER, there has not been any word on whether or not the show will be dubbed on their DVD's or not. And if so will TOEI stick with the same cast for the dubs or will they do a completely different cast with a whole new dub.

I don't see why they can't just do what Geneon did with Cardcaptor Sakura and just leave it original, uncut, and with the fantastic Japanese voice talents that gave the "One Piece" character's their personality? We don't need a dub - we just need decent subtitles. We just need One Piece kept in "one piece." Man, 4Kids is irritating. >.<

[starwarsboy90]

Talk about it, True Noir Chloe

[Jeikobu]

I don't see why they can't just do what Geneon did with Cardcaptor Sakura and just leave it original, uncut, and with the fantastic Japanese voice talents that gave the "One Piece" character's their personality? We don't need a dub - we just need decent subtitles. We just need One Piece kept in "one piece." Man, 4Kids is irritating. >.<

My thought exactly. I'm not sure I even believe 4Kids will release their shows uncut (especially Pokemon, sadly >_<). I'm not holding my breath. But I swear, the shows 4Kids grabbed and butchered need the appropriate DVDs released here. I would pay real money for uncut Pocket Monsters, Tokyo Mew Mew and One Piece.

[rocklobster]

My thought exactly. I'm not sure I even believe 4Kids will release their shows uncut (especially Pokemon, sadly >_<). I'm not holding my breath. But I swear, the shows 4Kids grabbed and butchered need the appropriate DVDs released here. I would pay real money for uncut Pocket Monsters, Tokyo Mew Mew and One Piece.

If I'm not mistaken, Viz has the license for Pokemon.

[Jeikobu]

Viz releases the DVDs, but it's licensed and dubbed by 4Kids, so I hold them accountable.

Interesting, it looks like the hold on uncut Shaman King DVDs is released. I was scrolling down the list of upcoming DVD releases on AnimeOnDVD.com and came across pages like this one. Scroll down a little. It mentions a Japanese language track. So while I couldn't care less about Shaman King, at least this raises a bit of hope for other uncut shows, though, again, with 4Kids, don't bet on it.

[MasterDias]

But Nintendo has the master say over all Pokemon related merchandise.
So, the lack of a Japanese language track on the Pokemon DVDs is not totally 4kids's fault....although I seriously doubt that they would include one even if they could.

About Shaman King, I'm hoping that they will fix the problems that were present with the first several releases when the new volumes finally do come out.

[Rocketshipper]

I would be quicker to blaim any delays in Shaman king and Yugioh uncut on Funimation, not 4kids. That distribution company is evil!

[kazekami]

Funimation only did one thing right. Fruit Baskets. Though the DUb was horrific, the subtitle was awsome. And I liked how you had the option for the honorifics in the subs. heh.

I was angry at what they did to detective Conan. Shinichi is a cool name!!! WHY TO JIMMY!!!!!

[Kkun]

Well, that tears it: 4Kids is back to sucking. They didn't suck when there was that wee glimmer of hope for uncut Pokemon, but now they suck again. Ah well.

[Jeikobu]

Funimation only did one thing right. Fruit Baskets.

Don't forget Fullmetal Alchemist.

How does Funimation have a say in the 4Kids stuff? And at least Funimation, even if they do suck, has done some stuff right, like FMA and Fruits Basket (according to the above quote). 4Kids sucks all around.

[MasterDias]

Why don't we keep the Funimation bashing out of the 4kids topic?

Frankly speaking, the only series that can truly be considered "bad jobs" from them are DBZ and DBGT. The Detective Conan name changes were forced upon them by the Japanese company. That wasn't Funimation's fault.
Unlike 4kids, they do listen to anime fans...

At any rate, Funimation has no say in what 4kids does aside from perhaps encouraging them to release uncut discs.

[Rocketshipper]

How does Funimation have a say in the 4Kids stuff? And at least Funimation, even if they do suck, has done some stuff right, like FMA and Fruits Basket (according to the above quote). 4Kids sucks all around.

Because funimation is the distributor of Shaman King and Yugioh. 4kids dubs them, but funimation makes the DVDs, and probably is the one who controls the episode counts per DVD and the release schedule.

True, funi did tell 4kids to release Shaman King and Yugioh uncut, but any company that tries to release a series with over 200+ episodes on a 3 episode per disc release schedule is evil in my book ^_^ (same for FMA. any shows with more than 26 episodes should at least have 6 episodes per DVD!). And they stole the Tenchi Muyo license away from Pioneer/Geneon, and used GXP to ressurrect the hated 26 episodes on 8 DVDs release schedule!!

[MasterDias]

True, funi did tell 4kids to release Shaman King and Yugioh uncut, but any company that tries to release a series with over 200+ episodes on a 3 episode per disc release schedule is evil in my book ^_^ (same for FMA. any shows with more than 26 episodes should at least have 6 episodes per DVD!).

You do realize how expensive shows like Yugioh and FMA are, right? People can complain about 3-episode releases all they want but that doesn't change the fact that:

a. Such shows are long, hugely popular, shonen properties that cost a fortune to license.

b. Companies like Funimation are a business whose primary goal is to make money.

C. Releasing these shows on 6-episodes per DVD is not only a good way to not make a profit, it's a very good way to lose lots of money.

You don't want these companies to go bankrupt, do you? That would equal no more licensed anime.

[Rocketshipper]

I don't really know much about how much the licenses cost, but I do realize that these people are a buisness, and as a buisness I'm quit sure that they've thought to themselves something along the line of "why release this series with a 6, 7, 6, 7 DVD release schedule when we could do an 8 DVD release and make an extra 119 dollars off of everyone who buys all the DVDs?". I said it in another topic before; I think episode counts might often have more to do with popularity than how much the license costs. Why did DBZ get a sucky release schedule while Dragon Ball got like 13 episodes per disc? Because DBZ is way more popular and Funi knows it can get away with it. Pokemon shifted from a 3 episode per DVD release schedule to an average of 5 episodes per DVD, most likely because of a drop in popularity. Can Funi afford to release Yugioh, Shaman King, and FMA with greater than 3 to 4 episodes per DVD? Maybe, but will they if they know the fans will buy the low episode count DVDs anyway?? No. It's all about money, and that's still evil .


Most of the Pokemon fans I've heard theorize that 4kids won't release uncut Pokemon or uncut versions of other shows they own because they (perhaps rightly?) believe that there isn't a large enough fan-base that wants them. Sailor Moon and DBZ both had big fanbases and organizations like Save Our Sailors to convince the companies to release them uncut, but does pokemon really have that? The impression I get from most anime forums is that lots of "serious" fans don't even consider Pokemon real anime, which is really sad .

[Jeikobu]

That is very sad, since the Japanese version of Pokemon is really a great anime. It's just that most people have the wrong impression since 4Kids destroyed it.
I'm not upset with 4 eps per disc with FMA. I never expect 6 eps per disc for just about any anime. That's how these people make money. If there were uncut Pocket Monsters DVDs with only 3 eps per disc, I know I'd buy them right up.

[creed4]

What get me is that the uncut were doing well and they postpone it

[Hitokiri]

Truthfully, despite all that has been said, I have no grudges against either 4Kids or Funi. Both are businesses to specialize in anime. On the subject of 4Kids, I do understand why they switch around stuff, edit stuff, and what have you. The reason they do is the anime they liscence is meant (in thier eyes) for kids. That is thier main target group. Is the sugar cerial hyper kids on a Saturday morning in thier PJ's with thier merchandise that they sell. Not older teenagers or early adults. If they were aware or took notice that thier was a growing intrest amoung that age group wanting uncut DVD's, they might just comply but since they are just focused on the younger age group, you are going to get names such as John and Wendy when their orginal names are Sasaki or Himoru.

The entire dubbed vs subbed battle is annoying. You have choices, dubbed vs subbed. If you like dubbed, watch it on t.v. or buy DVD's with a dubbed option. If subbed, downloaded them or buy DVD's with a subbed option. The idea of a studio airing anime in Japanese on English-language t.v. is just silly. They of course going to dub it due to the fact that Americans and other English-speaking people's want to watch t.v. in English. Plus you have some nuts people who think Japan is of the devil...

So they are a business, businesses tend to be shrewed and tactical. They wan tto make money. They may listen to the fans or consumers but only when it benefits them. That is why they sometimes just put 3 episodes per DVD which use to annoy me but I got over it. I realized that I will only buy this DVD is I really want it and they realize it to. You will buy this DVD even if it has just 3 episodes if you REALLY want it so that's why they do it. Also 4 episodes per DVD for a usual 26 episode series does s they are going to have to do a DVD with 3 episodes.

So in th elong run, it all has to do with money and gettign th ebest series. They know this and exploit it. I am perfectly fine with it as long as I can buy the DVD's, they have a both subbed and dubbed option since I like both, and that they in return get my money that I got from working hard to produce for DVD's and get newer series.

[Yokuo]

I have a question: How did 4kids butcher Pokemon/Pocket Monsters? All I've had is english exposure, so I wanna know just how better it is.

[Myoti]

If 4Kids had simply removed the language and blood, gotten decent voice acting, and left everything else the way it is, One Piece would have been amazing. I mean, it's not like kids haven't seen guns before. Alot of the editing they did was absolutely pointless. Personally, I don't think it's opener was as bad as most people say, but yes, compared to the original ones they could have tried something a little better (if they plan on doing all 230+ eps., they may need to be making a few more opening like the original).

Along as I get a hold of uncut One Piece and Shaman King, I'll be happy. I don't care how much it costs.

I have a question: How did 4kids butcher Pokemon/Pocket Monsters? All I've had is english exposure, so I wanna know just how better it is.

Ditto.

[Rocketshipper]

whether or not pokemon was butchered is somewhat a matter of opinion. Some people hate the dub, while others have no problem with it, but in terms of edits and content it is actully one of the LEAST edited anime dubs shown on TV. There isnt much objectionable content to edit in the first place. Most of the edits are the standard stuff they do with most dubs, japanese names were changed, japanese puns that wouldn't make sense in english or wouldn't be understood due to culture are re-written. Background music is sometimes changed (4kids does leave in some of the original music) and the japanese opening and ending theme songs are replaced by english songs. 4kids shouldn't get the blaim for all the edits though, for example, the english names for all the Pokemon and all the main characters and gym leaders were done by Nintendo of America, and had nothing to do with 4kids.

If you want more specific information on edits in pokemon you should check out this site. http://www.bulbagarden.net/~dogasu/ It's very good and updates with each new dub episode that airs in America.