By the Sword/Yo-u edits for volume 2

[hobie]

I was going to see about possibly adding to the previous thread about volume 1, but it kind of looks like the 'search in subject/search in subject and body' radio buttons does nothing on the search page. Searching for 'by the sword' wasn't exactly helpful either. /images/graemlins/sweat200.gif

Anyway, ADV decided that nipples and areola are evil, and have edited them out of volume 2 of BTS, even when they were fairly unobtrusive. Here are comparisons between the Japanese tank and the US graphic novel. Thanks to my partner in crime Noodle for the tank scans.

Obviously these are NWS.

Page 14 (http://www.kurotsubasa.com/Edits/yo-u2/page14.jpg)

page 46 (http://www.kurotsubasa.com/Edits/yo-u2/page46.jpg) Even nipple outlines in shadow aren't safe.

Page 102 (http://www.kurotsubasa.com/Edits/yo-u2/page102.jpg)

Page 103a (http://www.kurotsubasa.com/Edits/yo-u2/page103a.jpg) This one is barely visible, but damnit, it have to be fixed.

Page 13b (http://www.kurotsubasa.com/Edits/yo-u2/page103b.jpg) Another minor one, but still changed.

Page 105 (http://www.kurotsubasa.com/Edits/yo-u2/page105.jpg) Ditto.

Page 111 (http://www.kurotsubasa.com/Edits/yo-u2/page111.jpg) This one is extra special as she magically has fronds of hair appear and disappear between the bust and torso shots. Another thing is that the book has issues with artwork being either moved or too small for the pages. In the Tank, the artwork goes to the edge of the page, the hazard stripe isn't there. In the US book there's a blank space above the artwork. It happens a lot in the book, and isn't consistant.

Page 112 (http://www.kurotsubasa.com/Edits/yo-u2/page112.jpg) More hair that appears and disappears between panels. The hair added in the bottom panel has thicker outlines than the rest of her hair, and it really stood out to me.

Page 156-7 (http://www.kurotsubasa.com/Edits/yo-u2/page156-7.jpg) Another example of artwork not filling the page. The art in the tank at the top goes all the way off the page. In the US version, there's a 1/4 inch white space across both pages. Also, you can see where I pointed out a faint gray line that looks like a shadow from scanning the artwork in a scanner that goes halfway across the gap. If the artwork went off the page like it was supposed to, we'd never see that.

One other thing is that the tank had the first few pages of the book in color. I posted the color mermaid picture Noodle gave me in the Volume thread (I think). In the US book, those pages are just B&W.

[Vertical_Ed]

[ QUOTE ]
Hobie-wan said:

Page 156-7 (http://www.kurotsubasa.com/Edits/yo-u2/page156-7.jpg) Another example of artwork not filling the page. The art in the tank at the top goes all the way off the page. In the US version, there's a 1/4 inch white space across both pages. Also, you can see where I pointed out a faint gray line that looks like a shadow from scanning the artwork in a scanner that goes halfway across the gap. If the artwork went off the page like it was supposed to, we'd never see that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Heh. Yeah this is because of ADV's change to digest size which is a Tall B6 after starting off their manga line orginally releasing them in japanese sizes (which is why FMP and AzuDai are A5, Gunslinger is a B6 and 7of7 is a shinsho). This title was in B6 format I believe which is a few millimeters smaller than ADVs manga. Why don't they just go back? I don't know but it looks stupid and ugly if you ask me.

Oh and thanks for the images. They are really appreciated, as frustrating as they are.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Bad bleed isn't exactly an edit. /images/graemlins/sweat200.gif

Is that moire on the English versions just from your scanner?

[BlazinTy]

Just really glad I never bothered to pick this title up because of the edits in vol. 1. I hope adv maid tons of money on this one because by censoring it they really didnt care about the fans money. BTW all these editors and VPs who think nudity is bad to be locked in a room and made to watch porn all day. Maybe this will cure them of there overly prudish american puritanical ideals.

[akcoll99]

Those edits are just bizarre, and in some ways even stranger than the Ten Ten edits. From the scans you posted, the majority of the nipples could barely even be seen in the first place, so why even bother on ADV's part? Is there some reason they would feel the need to edit this title for some younger audience that needs to be saved from the evil that is a woman's nipple? Sorry, venting a little there, but I just don't get where ADV is coming from with this one... /images/graemlins/anger100.gif

[MrDisco]

wow...i mean just wow. has the United States completely lost thier minds?

[Vertical_Ed]

i like your sig but I find it ironic that the company that brought readers the jiggle counter is now censoring nipples.

love the jiggle not what is jiggling? what kind of philosophy is that!

[GodaiStudios]

I'm just fed up with it all. I can accept censorship if the purpose is merely to censor a one-time instance of nudity in an otherwise non-explicit situation.

But when a manga is filled over and over with scenes of nudity, and it's clear that there would be nudity involved, there really is no point. If it's sexual, and if the nudity is there, it makes more sense to leave it in.

The I''s manga has all sorts of shots that are adult in nature. For this reason alone, it lacks common sense to censor them (in addition to all the reasons posted)

It's the same with Ten Ten and By the Sword. Given the rest of the content, it just doesn't make sense. Decisions like these make it so much more difficult to defend and support the US industry.

[covnam]

Is the release of this series the only one that has been edited for nudity by ADV? If it is,... what happened?
Was there any response from ADV about the first volume? Or were they tight-lipped like DC?

[Kyte]

Everyday I lose more faith in the US manga industry. I think it's time to seriously start learning Japanese so I don't have to worry about this nonsense anymore.

[MrDisco]

[ QUOTE ]
osaka said:
love the jiggle not what is jiggling? what kind of philosophy is that!

[/ QUOTE ]

guess americans are ok with nipple-less breasts that jiggle about but if there is any type of protrusion well NO we can't see that! maybe the Nipple is the missing WMD.

[Vertical_Ed]

[ QUOTE ]
MrDisco said:
[ QUOTE ]
osaka said:
love the jiggle not what is jiggling? what kind of philosophy is that!

[/ QUOTE ]

guess americans are ok with nipple-less breasts that jiggle about but if there is any type of protrusion well NO we can't see that! maybe the Nipple is the missing WMD.

[/ QUOTE ]

Someone check Saddam's chest maybe he has a WMD on him!!! /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

I think he might have two

[jlazar]

I guess they didn't lay off the person (people)who made th decision to censor this title.


ADV... if the shelves are too full to sell all your licensed titles, maybe it's a good idea not to kill sales of this title by censoring it?

[Mr. Nail Bat]

[ QUOTE ]
Jim Lazar said:
I guess they didn't lay off the person (people)who made th decision to censor this title.


ADV... if the shelves are too full to sell all your licensed titles, maybe it's a good idea not to kill sales of this title by censoring it?

[/ QUOTE ]

Begging the question.

Well the question that comes to me is, ok, I can understand five years ago people being really leery of having uncensored titles because they defied the public's expectations and would have brought a social backlash. Five years later manga is not abnormal. Anime has had a mainstream period though I'm not sure how healthy things are now. But, in either case, society has changed gradually but expectations of the damage not censoring certain things in manga have not really changed very much. Censorship will happen because someone in a management position THINKS it will help rather than hurt. That's something that needs empirical evidence rather than just assuming based on the past. I mean, I can sort of understand edits for economic reasons because this is a business (and I'm a small part of it). If it's actually hurting business then it's just senseless.

Not that I can really tell from reading on a web board (nothing specific to this one, just how the Net works as a fish bowl) but, someone needs to like, go hit the pavement and take a look for himself or herself. Shelf competition happens in the real world, after all.

Not looking to criticize anyone specific since I don't even personally know the people involved here...

[Mrdini]

Hmmm...
From the fact that these edits seems very minor, isn't it possible that there's 2 version of this manga, & ADV got the other version? A bit like VGAi, where apart from the original manga, the reprints & most international editions had different artwork...

[RaeS]

I'm actually really insulted by the new edits. So censoring nipples wasn't enough to upset me as a manga fan but now they have to continue the curve on side shots from a distance? These people have never seen some teenagers and women on the street.

Oh and I found the old thread By the Sword Volume 1 Thread (http://forums.animeondvd.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=936118&page=&view=&sb=5&o =&fpart=1&vc=1)

[Kris Z]

Granted I am not a fan of rampant fanservice, but removing areolas is kind of strange. After all, it is a natural part of our bodies.

I have a hard time as it is with Negima, but that is only because Ken Akamastu draws that way.

[Tempest]

[ QUOTE ]
I was going to see about possibly adding to the previous thread about volume 1, but it kind of looks like the 'search in subject/search in subject and body' radio buttons does nothing on the search page. Searching for 'by the sword' wasn't exactly helpful either.

[/ QUOTE ]

http://forums.animeondvd.com/showflat.ph...part=1&vc=1 (http://forums.animeondvd.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=936118&page=0&view=collap sed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1)

[hobie]

[ QUOTE ]
Peter Ahlstrom said:
Bad bleed isn't exactly an edit. /images/graemlins/sweat200.gif

Is that moire on the English versions just from your scanner?

[/ QUOTE ]

*staggers back in from AMA*

Yeah, the moire is pretty much from the scanner. I was in a hurry before I left for the con this past weekend. I wasn't worried about the screentones, just the edited bits. The bleed thing is noticable on some pages, but looks ok. It just looked really bad on that splash page, especially with the scanning artifact.

And thanks for those who found the old thread. Again, I did look, but was in a hurry.

[Noodle]

Just wanted to update, for those who want to keep track of these sorts of things...that there are additional image (nipple) edits besides what Hobie-wan's first post lists. I'd been hesitating to read the English version myself but I steeled myself for the disappointment and came up with these few additions:

- Page 2: The color mermaid page (http://forums.animeondvd.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=937859&page=0&view=co llapsed&sb=5&o=&vc=1) we posted in the volume 1 thread (http://forums.animeondvd.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=936118&page=0&view=collap sed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1) was tampered with. It's in B&W in ADV's version so it is really hard to tell, but given the (color) detail on the corresponding Japanese page, ADV at least darkened the colors (many panels suffer from the darker printing anyway) so as to obcsure it, if not flat out erased it.

- Page 17: Another minimal outline shot (Kaede humorously throws off her clothes) that probably would have gone mostly unnoticed by everyone, but no, they still had to erase a completely natural part of Kaede's body....

- Page 45: Mermaid side view (http://forums.animeondvd.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=937859&page=0&view=co llapsed&sb=5&o=&vc=1) from the volume 1 thread. It's hard to see in the original scan we used, but it is very clear in the original version (it's a big panel) and I could rescan if anyone wants.