One Piece anime (English adaptation)
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[edit] 4Kids English version
The One Piece anime series has been adapted into English-dubbed episodes by 4Kids Entertainment, as seen on 4Kids TV and Toonami in the United States and on networks in many other English-speaking countries around the world. This version of the show varies considerably from the original Japanese series[1]; 4Kids has taken a number of liberties in adapting the series in order to make the show more appealing to a young American audience. As of September 2006, 104 English-dubbed episodes have been produced from the first 143 Japanese episodes of One Piece; based on an email purportedly from a 4Kids employee [2], 4Kids does not plan on taking the series any further. Recently, The American dub for One Piece was dropped by 4kids and cannot be bought due to the agreement made by 4kids to uphold One Piece till 2009.
[edit] Cuts and Removals
As of September 2006, the equivalent of 39 episodes of material had been cut from what were originally 143 episodes. Among the removed was the Warship Island arc, the Laboon arc, the entire Little Garden arc, the majority of the Post-Alabasta Arc (all save Zoro's episode were removed), and the Goat Island Arc. All removed episodes and arcs were written around, sometimes contradicting the continuity established by the dub. For example, in order to explain Mr. 3's presence after the Little Garden arc, it was told that he followed the Straw Hats since "Roguetown", when Baroque Works didn't even know about them at that point.
During the series, another recurring removal was erasure of all Japanese text. It should also be noted, however that Japanese was not the only writing removed - English text in the background were also often painted over. In some cases, such edits were due to censorship issues, as in the case of "Rum" and "Casino". However, this was not limited to censorship alone: other background text, such as the word "Milk" on a cup, would also usually be removed with no apparent reason at all. In later episodes produced by 4Kids, this trend ceased.
[edit] Sound
Removing the original soundtrack, and replacing it with a soundtrack produced in-house at 4Kids Entertainment, was a common practice among their dubs. Although, even though a English version of the first theme song, "We Are," was produced and previewed at a licensing convention, however, upon the dub's premiere, it was replaced by a rap song. The reason for this is unclear, although it was stated by Alfred R. Kahn that the producers at 4Kids preferred the rap theme. Throughout the 4Kids dub, the rap was revised twice - once to add mention of Usopp and Sanji to the second verse (which begun in the Arlong arc), and another time to add Chopper to the second verse as well (during the Drum Island arc).
Several characters received accents, often matched to common stereotypes based on their outfits. Nico Robin/Ms. Sunday was given a southern/cowgirl accent due to her cowgirl style outfit when she is first introduced and Miss Father's Day was given a French accent, possibly due to her frog outfit. Other characters received accents include Red-Haired Shanks, who received a Cockney/Irish accent, Dracule "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk, who was given a French accent, and Sanji who was given a Brooklyn accent.
[edit] Alterations
There were large numbers of alterations made to the series throughout. The alterations included altering some dialogue to utilize different types of humor aimed. Usually, this is aimed only at the 6 - 11 age range, often using toilet humor. In the original Japanese version humour suitable for even older audiences, such as adults, was present throughout most of the series. Sometimes humour is added even during scenes meant to be entirely serious even though there was no humour present in the original version of such scenes. An example includes Luffy describing one of Sir Crocodile's attacks as "It looks like a giant toilet!" during the first match between Luffy and Crocodile (to which Crocodile responds, "I guess that makes you desert doodoo!").
Another alteration was the changing of Japanese references to something more "American". One example was the edit of two onigiri, which were then replaced with cookies. However, more Japanese references had started to slip in as the series has progressed, such as an onigiri being kept.
Like other former 4Kids productions such as Pokémon and Shaman King, changing the skin colors of characters to avoid potential racial insensitivity also occurs. This includes changing at least one apparent "blackface" within the storyline.
[edit] Renaming
Renaming many locations and attack names. Many attack names in other non-English languages (i.e. French, Italian, etc.) are given English names. These are often not proper translations of the name, and are sometimes different names completely (for example, most of Sanji's attacks, which were originally French cooking terms, are changed to food-based puns).
Altering many character names. Some names that were originally English were changed to apparently make them sound more exotic. Examples include Portgas D. Ace (Portgaz D. Trace) and Edward Newgate (Ward Newgate). In addition to this, several other names were changed for content, like Captain Smoker (Captain Chaser) and possibly Cobra (Nebra), while others use uncommon romanizations of names, like Zoro (Zolo), Nefertari Vivi/Cobra (Nefeltari), and others.
[edit] Censorship
The censorship of the show had seen the toning down of violence and other extreme situations.
Removal of all religious references, for example (Mihawk's cross dagger was changed to something else, and Mrs. Merrychristmas's Christmas tree was colored purple, and her name changed to Mrs. Groundhog's Day). Other religious censorship included the alteration of every nun during the Whisky Peak arc to either a completely black (often changing the uniform into a full cloak) outfit or was edited to look like a normal person.
Virtually no death scenes are shown, regardless of their importance to the plot. Scenes such as Belle-Mere's death in front of Nami and Nojiko were completely removed. However, death had been referred to more often in the more recent episodes. The series also saw the removal of all blood, even when significant to the plot, such as in the third Luffy vs. Crocodile fight. In this fight it was changed to Luffy using his own sweat, as opposed to blood. Dried blood was later kept in the Alabasta arc, perhaps due to the fact that it looked like dirt.
[edit] Criticism
A sticking point for criticism from fans was 4Kids' marketing strategy for the franchise; although the show is enjoyed by a fairly broad audience in Japan and consistently scored high ratings from teens, children, and even adults, 4Kids decided to initially air the show on Saturday mornings and focus solely on the lucrative 6–11 demographic (which the show was only partially intended for originally). It now airs at night on Cartoon Network and has been receiving much higher ratings from the 9-14 demographic, but the new timeslot has brought question to the necessity of the excessive editing the series continues to receive. Also, the broader potential audience that could be reached through an uncut DVD release is still being ignored completely. Over time, the editing had decreased, perhaps due to the fact that the show was airing on a later time slot, although the production still resembled that of a typical 4Kids localization.
Despite the numerous edits, One Piece was one of 4Kids' more violent properties. The producers had left in certain unavoidable excesses; blood, appendages being ripped off (such as Shanks' arm and Zeff's leg), and a character being killed by gunfire. Errors were occasionally made in scene edits. Since the dubbed version of the Drum Island arc began, more violence and references to death were included, and no new arcs had being skipped or episodes joined together, save for a few filler episodes. Recently, 4Kids have ended production on the English dub, and it is undetermined if the show will picked up by another company.
[edit] Other Information
Madman Entertainment, holder of the distribution sublicense in Australia, had stated that it would be releasing uncut One Piece DVDs, but as of January 23, 2006, "for the time being, Madman will be releasing the TV edited version only." It is unclear when, or if Madman Entertainment will release uncut episodes of One Piece. This might have stemmed from 4Kids' plans to release uncut versions of their anime series, which 4Kids did with the second Yu-Gi-Oh! series (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters) and Shaman King; however, they discontinued these versions in 2005.
When asked at an Australia convention why the uncut version of One Piece was not released, Madman repersentatives stated that they were not supplied with an English uncut version, and they could not only release the Japanese and cut English as it would not sell.
On December 5 2006, 4Kids announced that it canceled its English dub production of One Piece.
The anime's naming conventions are used in One Piece-related media in North America, such as the English version of the fighting game One Piece Grand Battle for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Gamecube.
[edit] Odex English Version
In Singapore, the anime is licensed by Odex, which produces their own English dub. This dub is lesser known outside of the internet fanbase and equally less referred to in general both fanbase and media based. It contains fewer edits to names and animation with most if not all reference to blood, violence and death being left unedited.
[edit] Criticism
The main criticism towards the Singapore version is that many of the voice acting seems monotone or unenthusiastic, mostly put down to its low-budget dubbing. This version of the series, while is generally closer translated to the original Japanese version then the North American version by 4Kids, it also has many mistranlations.
- Example: In the incident with Higuma the Bear, Shanks was listing the reason for him to to start a fight with Higuma and that hurting Luffy was the final straw. In the original Japanese version Shanks was stating no matter what Higuma to him personally, he would not fight Higuma at all, however Shanks could never allow Higuma to hurt his friends.
Unlike the North American version, the original Japanese background score is left untouched by the producers of the series and many of the story arcs cut by 4Kids such as Little Garden remain unedited.
Its low popularity can be put down to the lack of means in which fans of the series may purchase this version of the anime and the main release of the episodes being onto VCD rather than DVD. Other factors in its lack of popularity include it being released only into the Singapore market and not to the general North American Market, resulting in few fans outside of Singapore knowing of its existence at all. Generally, being the lesser known of the dubs, it is met with fewer opinions and criticism altogether by fans of the series.
[edit] Anime air times
- In North America, the anime is currently licensed by 4Kids Entertainment until 2009. It was shown on Cartoon Network's Toonami block at 10:30pm Eastern Time in the United States until December 23, 2006 when it was replaced by Prince of Tennis, and Friday Nights at 7:30pm ET on YTV in Canada.
- The show began on the UK's version of Toonami during April 2005. It is currently shown 1:00pm on weekdays for one hour.
- In Australia, the anime has been seen on Cartoon Network, as well as on Network Ten, during the Toasted TV block.
[edit] Commentary
[edit] References
↑ "Australia Loses Uncut One Piece (2006-01-23 14:02:45)." Madman Entertainment press release reported on ANN 23 January 2006. Accessed 24 January 2006.
