Why are guns edited out of the American versions of anime and other entertainment?

[Not G. Ivingname]

There are so many cases it is hard to count. Guns being changed into lasers, or scenes featuring them removed entirely when they come to the US. Often (mostly by 4Kids) makes these edits make no sense, such as one time when a character was able to catch a "laser" in Dragon Ball Z, then THROW IT BACK, or having the tommy guns in All Dogs Go to Heaven shoot lasers, in the 1930's. One Scrooge McDuck comic from Europe had a gun changed to a GUY HOLDING A FINGER IN A GUN SHAPE, yet that somehow was able to be threatening pointed at Scrooge's throat. While it mostly appears in things like cartoons and anime, it has appeared in a few other things as well, I have heard that guns were edited into lasers for Power Ranger from the original Japanese show.

I know things such as censorship and the like, but why is this such a big issue in the United States. We have the largest percentage of civilian firearm ownership by just about any metric you can think of. Japan has one of the LOWEST of the developed, being the nation with the longest history of gun control, going back to at least the Tokugawa period. The current law starts with "No-one shall possess a fire-arm or fire-arms or a sword or swords." Yet, why is it okay to show children guns in a culture that almost completely outlaws them, yet isn't in a nation with the largest gun culture in the world?

This ISN'T a debate on if firearms should or shouldn't be legal, there are many other threads in the R&P section for that, I am asking why it is more acceptable to show guns in cultures that guns aren't easily obtained in, while not acceptable in one that made it is?

 

[DarkRyter]

Yeah. America fucking hates guns. That's why they're illegal here.

 

[Dags90]

It has more to do with comic books than anything. One of the moral crusades against them was "ZOMG, comic books are going to turn the children into violent killers! Won't someone please think of the children!?"

I think Batman: The Animated Series was the first iteration of Batman to have guns fired at Batman in decades because of the stigma associated with anything approaching lifelike violence.

 

[JaceArveduin]

Because people think these "cartoons" are for kids. And we don't need to be showing the kiddies shows that have shooting in it!


I've no idea, I just know 4Kids is kind of... For kids?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Isn't it obvious?

Americans can't stand firearms, being the first country to outlaw their use completely and opting instead to use the spud gun.

So many potato related fatalities.

The horror.

[sub]The horror.[/sub]

OT: Kids. Parents think they need protecting from teh cartoon violenz!

 

[Zeckt]

This reminds me of them taking off all gun items avatars hold off xbox live. As if people are playing games with candy canes that shoot confetti or something. Seriously what the hell?

 

[sextus the crazy]

Ironic firearms double standard joke!

OT: because the only thing America likes more than their guns is "protecting the children".

 

[Lilani]

(mostly by 4Kids)

Well, there's your problem. 4Kids is notorious for taking political correctness and localization to the most ridiculous extremes in their dubs. To the point of editing out guns for strange items (I think they once changed a gun into a boxing glove on a spring), to editing out Japanese text on background items (because you know how much viewership would go down if the audience knew the show came from Japan!). And they've gotten a lot of criticism for the things they've done. But from what I've heard, they've been doing a bit better lately.

But I really don't get what you're talking about with All Dogs Go to Heaven and the Scrooge McDuck cartoons. Both of those are American-made franchises. All Dogs Go to Heaven was originally made for US theater release. If the original version had tommy guns that shoot bullets and the edit had lasers, then the edit was either not for the American release or was done for a later DVD release long after the film was made. Or, the original itself had lasers. And Scrooge McDuck doesn't make much sense either, because as far as I know most of the Scrooge comics were released in the US to start with. So again, the edits must have been made for other releases, whether for other countries or for later releases in the US.

But yes, I'll give you that for such a gun lovin' country there seems to be a huge phobia of showing gun violence to younger audiences. There's a popular song right now called Pumped Up Kicks [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDTZ7iX4vTQ], and the chorus goes "All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you better run better run, faster than my gun. All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you better run better run, faster than my bullet." There is a radio edit of the song in which the words "gun" and "bullet" are taken out, and are just a blank space. Because apparently that would just inspire too much violence in the young'uns. Granted, the song is about school shootings, but it seems to be if it's that objectionable, drawing more attention to the words by erasing them is going to be a lot less effective than just not playing it at all. Not all stations play the edited version, but it's still out there and it's just silly.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

I don't think they do that anymore, at least I haven't seen that happen in a long time since the early 2000s.

I'm guessing Americans are just super paranoid about stuff like that and how it would affect their children. The media, and adults in general, tend to underestimate kids. I think kids are smarter than that. My brother is 8 years old and watches a lot of anime with me, and he's fine. He's smart enough to know that violence is bad, you just gotta teach them early on.

 

[Andy Shandy]

I think Maude Flanders summed it up best

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

(mostly by 4Kids)

But I really don't get what you're talking about with All Dogs Go to Heaven and the Scrooge McDuck cartoons. Both of those are American-made franchises. All Dogs Go to Heaven was originally made for US theater release. If the original version had tommy guns that shoot bullets and the edit had lasers, then the edit was either not for the American release or was done for a later DVD release long after the film was made. Or, the original itself had lasers. And Scrooge McDuck doesn't make much sense either, because as far as I know most of the Scrooge comics were released in the US to start with. So again, the edits must have been made for other releases, whether for other countries or for later releases in the US.

Ok, the All Dogs is true, but the Scrooge McDuck comic I was talking about was originally from Europe.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

This is a rather old subject, isn't it? The DC Animated Universe got away with having guns all the time, as did Roughneck Chronicles and plenty of other shows. The censorship you seem to be referring to I stopped noticing around 2002 at the latest.

 

[The Grim Ace]

Well, 4Kids is a bad example since they seem to consider Japanese food and culture as amoral as guns so they must be censored at all cost. So, that being said, I think it's just the fact that censorship is as arbitrary and nonsensical as it wants to be.



[small]Thus my Pokemon has neither gun nor riceball...[/small]

 

[DudeistBelieve]

There are so many cases it is hard to count. Guns being changed into lasers, or scenes featuring them removed entirely when they come to the US. Often (mostly by 4Kids) makes these edits make no sense, such as one time when a character was able to catch a "laser" in Dragon Ball Z, then THROW IT BACK, or having the tommy guns in All Dogs Go to Heaven shoot lasers, in the 1930's. One Scrooge McDuck comic from Europe had a gun changed to a GUY HOLDING A FINGER IN A GUN SHAPE, yet that somehow was able to be threatening pointed at Scrooge's throat. While it mostly appears in things like cartoons and anime, it has appeared in a few other things as well, I have heard that guns were edited into lasers for Power Ranger from the original Japanese show.

I know things such as censorship and the like, but why is this such a big issue in the United States. We have the largest percentage of civilian firearm ownership by just about any metric you can think of. Japan has one of the LOWEST of the developed, being the nation with the longest history of gun control, going back to at least the Tokugawa period. The current law starts with "No-one shall possess a fire-arm or fire-arms or a sword or swords." Yet, why is it okay to show children guns in a culture that almost completely outlaws them, yet isn't in a nation with the largest gun culture in the world?

This ISN'T a debate on if firearms should or shouldn't be legal, there are many other threads in the R&P section for that, I am asking why it is more acceptable to show guns in cultures that guns aren't easily obtained in, while not acceptable in one that made it is?

So the guy can turn into a giant monkey if he's exposed to a full moon but him catching and throwing a laser doesn't fit in with that universe?

 

[BeeGeenie]

Yep... pretty much what everyone else said.
American companies are stupid and terrified of offending American parents, who are also stupid and terrified that their children might be too stupid and impressionable to figure out that guns are dangerous.

I miss Looney Tunes.

 

[EHKOS]

I think Maude Flanders summed it up best

Hehehehe. That made me chuckle. That's Helen Lovejoy.

OT: Not Trigun! That would have been a disaster. And Fullmetal Alchemist didn't edit out the blood. Unless that's just the DVD version, and they edited the aired version.

 

[Andy Shandy]

I think Maude Flanders summed it up best

Hehehehe. That made me chuckle. That's Helen Lovejoy.

OT: Not Trigun! That would have been a disaster. And Fullmetal Alchemist didn't edit out the blood. Unless that's just the DVD version, and they edited the aired version.

And now I just feel silly

But I suppose the point remains the same.