Edited Manga List

[chloes_fork]

Originally Posted by DocWatson

Reported and confirmed: Reiko the Zombie Shop has at least one minor edit. Source: "Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Reiko the Zombie Shop".

Ugh. Disappointing as always when this kind of thing is revealed. Good thing I didn't particularly care for the first volume of Reiko and so never continued with the series. Were I ever inclined to revisit it, though, this would definitely dissuade me.

[Junker Woland]

Sad to hear about Reiko, though I guess it doesn't matter so much, since the series is unfinished in the U.S.

The previous links weren't working for me, so here's the relevant post from the AN forums. Just to setup: a poster mentioned the book was edited, then Michael Gombos, who worked on the book for Dark Horse, responded as such:

Hello there, folks! I am glad so many people like this manga; I not only did the acquisitions for this, but translated the book as well!

It is, indeed, censored. As you know, at Dark Horse, we have policy of "Not Censoring Shit, unless..." We generally try to stray away from the "Unless," part, too!

The scene in question (I don't have my copies nearby) I tend to remember fairly well. A young woman is topless, being eviscerated and then force-fed her entrails. Talking to the creator, I got an e-mail stating, "I know that American manga sells better if there isn't shrink-wrap on it, so please do what you need to do to not necessitate shrink-wrap." Naturally, being America, it wasn't the fact that a person was being fed their own small intestine, but rather, the fact that there were nipples showing. That's right: The artist told our FX/Retouch person here to make sure that the blood that spurted forth from her massive disembowelment should cover her nipples. We did this begrudgingly, but at the artist's behest, and putting the artist first is tantamount to our operations here at Dark Horse.

I am glad so many people enjoy this manga. I hope at some point we start this thing up again, but for the meantime, we'll just to have to wait.

Edited for TL;DR: You are seeing the manga as the manga-ka intended, and no, GANTZ and BERSERK haven't been touched. I can look through the volumes and find the exact instances in REIKO later, but it makes me too sad to know that my Reiko sits in a state of torpor.

Again, can't be too upset given the book's cancellation, but even with it being author initiated, I still don't agree with censorship, regardless of reasoning.

[touma]

Originally Posted by Junker Woland

... but even with it being author initiated, I still don't can't agree with censorship, regardless of reasoning.

Do you really consider it to be "censorship" when an artist changes his own work?

[chloes_fork]

Originally Posted by touma

Do you really consider it to be "censorship" when an artist changes his own work?

I'm not Junker Woland, but ... to me, censorship is largely about intent. If something is changed to avoid giving offense to bluenoses, to avoid getting in trouble, or to market a title to a younger or broader audience -- all those reasons amount to unacceptable censorship IMO.

In this case, the artist was essentially self-censoring for commercial purposes. It wasn't an artistic choice, it was sales-driven. It's not terribly different from those situations where American manga publishers try to excuse their censorship by saying the artist authorized it, which doesn't impress me one whit.

Dark Horse had another option that isn't mentioned here: to tell the artist that if shrinkwrap was that much of an issue for him, they would simply have to gird their loins and publish the thing uncensored and without shrink-wrapping. No law that says you have to shrinkwrap, after all. As far as I'm concerned, that would have been the principled decision in this situation.

[Junker Woland]

Originally Posted by touma

Do you really consider it to be "censorship" when an artist changes his own work?

Absolutely, I do. I appreciate that in this case the alteration was done at the author's behest, but it's still a change from how the work was originally intended, one made to avoid potentially offending some portion of our society (with the added purpose of hopefully maintaining sales)--I simply do not believe in catering to the masses by whitewashing entertainment and media.

Now, to be clear, I don't necessarily fault Dark Horse on their decision, though I'd maybe question what exactly precipitated the shrink-wrap conversation in the first place. Regardless, Dark Horse obviously felt it was important to adhere to the author's wishes, which is understandable, even if I personally disagree on the matter.

[DocWatson]

A bit more detail has been posted on page two of the ANN thread.

[chloes_fork]

Hi, all. I've always considered the consolidated list of edited manga beginning this topic to be an invaluable resource, but jlazar is apparently no longer updating it. I'm going to list below the manga edits I'm aware of that have recently occurred (or been discovered) but not added to the top post. I would propose to update as needed -- though publishers are encouraged to never make any additions necessary.

Dark Horse:

Reiko the Zombie Shop, Vol. 4 -- Belated discovery of multiple edits to cover nudity in this older title.

Eros Comix:

Love Selection -- One entire story omitted, evidently due to concerns about the characters' apparent ages.

Kodansha Comics:

Ghost in the Shell, Vol. 1 -- Lesbian sex scene removed (as in first Dark Horse edition).

Tokyopop:

The Qwaser of Stigmata, Vol. 2 -- Vaginal crease in shot where Katja lifts her skirt erased.

Viz:

Bokurano: Ours, Vol. 2 -- Panels cropped to remove/obscure sexual content.

Rosario + Vampire Season 2, Vol. 2 -- Bra added to cover exposed nipples.

Skip Beat! -- Older title, but not noted in topic post: middle finger censorship in at least one or two volumes.

[MataCarl]

Can anyone confirm if Vagabond and 20th Century Boys have any edits? I know the 2 are from the signature edition but I don´t trust Viz. Thanks in advance.

[chloes_fork]

Originally Posted by MataCarl

Can anyone confirm if Vagabond and 20th Century Boys have any edits? I know the 2 are from the signature edition but I don´t trust Viz. Thanks in advance.

Haven't heard of any edits to either of those titles. But you're certainly right not to trust Viz, and the "Signature" brand is no guarantee of anything, as Bokurano: Ours Vol. 2 unfortunately proved.

[Damius]

Originally Posted by chloes_fork

Haven't heard of any edits to either of those titles. But you're certainly right not to trust Viz, and the "Signature" brand is no guarantee of anything, as Bokurano: Ours Vol. 2 unfortunately proved.

Well, the only guarantee with the "Signature" brand is that it will be more expensive!