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Censorship is a touchy subject for all involved. Many people don't like it and get offensive around people who do. And, of course, it goes vice versa. I personally don't like censorship. One of the biggest reasons for this is because of what they censor and how they censor it. Classic example of how they censor things: Episode of Tenshi Muyo! (Universe?) where Ryouko and Ayeka are in the hotsprings. Ryouko dragged Tenchi to the girls' side and proceeded to yank off Ayeka's towel. And what do we see? A BRIGHT RED bathing suit! Drawn in, of course, by people who think that children don't see themselves in the shower/bath. What is Ayeka's reaction? She turns bright red, embarrassed to be seen in her... bathing suit? Oh, so realistic. It makes no sense at all. Bad censorship there. Other instances similar to that rear their ugly heads repeatedly in FUNimation's version of Dragonball/Z. Now, I know that we don't really want to expose our children to violence because that will turn them all into mass murderers, *cuts her sarcasm with a knife and serves it with butter and jam* however even a first grader knows that if someone hits you in the nose with great force, your nose will bleed. And the cut-and-paste fight scenes are just tacky, ya know? The type of censorship that I hate the most in anime is the type that pulls away from the Japanese cultural aspect of the particular show. Prime example: Sailor Moon! They changed the names of the girls to make them appeal to American children. What impression does this give to the little six year old girl sitting in front of the TV after school? All people in Japan have English names. Including Amy, since even French is apparently too foreign. The only clue that would tell you that they aren't in New York City or Los Angeles are the fact that Rei lives at her grandfather's shrine and the presence of the Tokyo Tower. They did something similar with the names in Digimon. They didn't change them much, really, they just shortened them. (Well, they did until "Davis", "Cody", and "Yolie" showed up...) However, it was still tailored to appeal to American children. This gives these children the wrong impression of the world. This type of censorship just screams "The world is American!" Instead of educating our children in the ways of life, the media inflicts censorship to hide the world from them. And it also affects the older people who are interested in the genre. Censorship spreads falcities that young minds are manipulative enough to believe. Another point I want to make before I make myself stop blabbing is this: Anime would be an excellent way of teaching our children, and even the teens and adults, about a culture that is different from our own. America has such an ego, no one likes her. Our culture isn't the only one out there, but we act like it is. Resentment is held towards us from all corners of the globe (Ah, majour reason we don't have the World Trade Center anymore...). But if we were exposed to these cultures, then we would learn and accept instead of holding false sterotypes and trying to convert them to civilized ways.
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