Many subscribers were shocked and appalled by Viz's announcement in Dragonball, part three number three, that they were censoring the comic in order to meet the complaints of a few parents, who felt some of the material in the monthly manga was objectionable. I for one wrote a letter to Viz immediately. As an adult subscriber I was MAD, because I paid a lot of money to subscribe to the series, ONLY because it was uncensored. I never received a reply back from Viz, which made me even more IRATE. I even found myself on the brink of selling my entire collection and not renewing my subscriptions for Dragonball or Dragonball Z.
Then a couple of weeks ago I was surfing and found an interesting story at Anime News Network from Planet Namek, about a petition started by a young man to Viz insisting that an uncensored version be made available for mature readers. I wanted to sign this petition myself, but found it already had been submitted. So I decided to the next best thing, interview the author of the petition and give him the props he deserves.
I now would like to present the first and only interview featuring Julian (his last name was omitted because of his age-Editor) the young man who gave thousands of fans of the Dragonball manga a voice!
YBFREE.com: Did you start this petition from your own website?Julian: I don't have a website per se, though I got a lot of support through Planetnamek.com, and they usually post anything of interest that I dig up. I was mentioned on the Anime News Network the other day, because I had a note posted that Viz would likely do the uncensored graphic novels, pending approval from Shueisha. Apparently, someone at Viz read the article and said that though they wanted to, they needed approval from Japan first, which is exactly what I said! People are strange sometimes.
YBFREE.com: When did you decide that you should start this petition?Julian: I started kicking the idea around in early August. I was reading Dragonball part three number three, and discovered a note that said Viz had begun censoring the series because of parental complaints, and that the upcoming graphic novels were going to be censored as well. I am a firm believer that parents are responsible for what their children read, and it is their fault, and not the company's fault, that they (parents) find something they gave to their child inappropriate.
I was outraged at first, and started sending out letters to various site webmasters, VegettoEX at Vegex.Seranime.net, Mr. E at Planet Namek, etc.; until I had gotten a response from Eric Pham, head of the manga section at Planetnamek.com. He agreed that though success might not be likely, it would be best to try it.
I did most of the petition in one night, fueled by insomnia and a burning desire to get results, and we basically just tweaked it for about a week before posting it online. Before we did so, I e-mailed the editor of both Dragonball and Dragonball Z at Viz, Jason Thompson, to say that I had this petition and was going to post it up. I was somewhat surprised that he said it was a good idea, and though he's responsible for what is and isn't in the comic right now, he is for an uncensored version. He wished me luck, and even said he would show it to some of his co-workers. He was a big help, and though I'm not sure, I bet he was pretty instrumental in exposing the company to the petition and the idea of having uncensored graphic novels.
YBFREE.com: Did you have any idea that it would get this big?Julian: I knew that there was a fairly large fan base out there, many of them like me, who would balk at the idea of censorship. Still, I was surprised at how quickly it garnered signatures, especially considering it got about one thousand (signatures) in the first few days. I'm glad that it has made an impression on the people at Viz. If they receive approval from Shueisha, they may have at least one uncensored DB volume out before summer. Still, it's not certain, and Bird Studio may say no to the idea.
YBFREE.com: How long have you been a fan of DB/DBZ?Julian: I have been a fan for about three and a half years, back when I was about to get out of sixth grade. One of my friends showed me this cartoon which had a unique style to it, an innovative idea of stringing episodes together, and far more violence than I have ever seen. Though I started out watching the dub, I quickly found myself puzzling over the information on the Internet that didn't make any sense, but soon learned the basics of the series, and the doctrine of the original being better than the dub, etc. I began reading the manga about a year after it came out in the US. Though I now own several Japanese volumes of DB and DBZ, I continue to watch the dub, perhaps because it is how I got my start with this whole epic.
YBFREE.com: What message do you hope this petition will relay to other companies that bring manga and anime to the US?Julian: First of all, I believe that if you know you have an older audience out there, it's best to provide them with an uncensored version, because they're probably big fans of the original and are going to complain if you alter anything. Second, of all, complaints of a select few adults should not be enough to change the ways of a company. They must reemphasize the fact that the parents are responsible for what their children see, and not the companies. They should avoid censorship if possible, but if it must be censored for television, make an uncut version available commercially.
YBFREE.com: Do you think this petition might influence FUNimation to provide fans with unedited/subtitled versions of DBZ?Julian: Well, they already release "uncut" tapes for everything after season two, and the new DVDs are both uncut and have a subtitled Japanese track. Everything before that gets into complicated issues with Pioneer's rights to that part of the series because they released it, and some other stuff. I don't believe that it will have much of an impact on dialogue decisions or more music, because this petition wasn't aimed at them and because FUNimation is just the kind of company that doesn't listen to very many people. They could have people kicking in the back door; with voice actors pleading for some sanity, while the management is calmly unaware of it all-no offense to any of the voice actors, who all seem to be cool people, but they seem to be the only ones listening to the fans.
YBFREE.com: Any words you would like to share with those who participated in the survey?Julian: Thanks for all your help. Even if your comments were unnecessarily rude or stupid, I guess you helped the cause, if only slightly. Forgers and spammers on the other hand, are a different matter.
YBFREE.com: Do you have any advice for fans of other manga and or anime series that are interested in protesting and getting their anime favorite series in its purest form into the US?Julian: Don't be afraid to contact the company, get a campaign going, and spread the word around. Who knows? You might succeed!
I would like to thank Julian for his effort and work. I would also like to comment on his ability to express himself in such a mature manner. In an age where so many youth are seen negatively, young people like Julian dispel such stereotypes.
As a fan of DB and DBZ I wholeheartedly agree with his viewpoints. I feel and have said many of the same things to those around me. I hope Viz, FUNimation, and the other manga and other anime licensees pay more attention to the fans. That will be the only way they will ever maximize their profits.