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Jump Guru
Joined: 03 Apr 2008
Posts: 71
Location: United States
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 7:52 pm
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Is it just me, or has Viz Media completely destroyed the whole manga and anime industry. Its just my opinion and all, but seriously, I normally don't think about them but every time I go to their website it gives me this extremely gut wrenching feeling inside. Its like, every series I love has just completely been made into a joke! I think a tear might have even come out once! And now, I can never get away from it, the Japanese Weekly Shounen Jump website has an English translated version and has fun little mini games and wallpapers, and a section where you can read *edited* online manga for English audiences! Its horrific!
Please tell me I'm not alone. Someone!
(Note: If you're just going to insult me or post some smart-ass comment I would suggest you go away. Thank you. )
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doctordoom85
Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 2093
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 10:58 pm
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Mind telling us what they've edited? So far all I've heard is Greed's cross (FMA), Shikamaru smoking (Naruto, and that didn't even make the Japanese anime.....), and Lee being drunk (which was unedited in the DVDs, but not the manga volumes). Forgive me if I'm not grabbing my torch and pitchfork just yet.
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Key
Moderator
Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18341
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:08 pm
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Please clarify exactly why you dislike them so much and exactly what you think they're doing to ruin anime. Otherwise this is just groundless complaining, and a thread which does nothing more than that will get locked.
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newave999
Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Posts: 3
Location: the w.v.
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:56 pm
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really.....i love viz media.....especially there website.....i don't know i ,can't read Japanese so i love that they translate weekly shonen sunday.....plus a whole page on rumiko takahashi .....that rules....viz has been my favorite anime company since the days of ranma on vhs..
[Mod Edit: FYI, proper use of English is expected on the forums. At the very least, please use proper punctuation and sentence structure. - Keonyn]
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belindabird
![](/bbs/phpBB2/images/subscriber-gold.png) Subscriber
Joined: 23 Dec 2007
Posts: 134
Location: Minneapolis
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 11:48 am
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I actually appreciate Viz, if only because of their Viz Signature manga line which is full of a really cool variety of titles aimed at an older audience. Stuff like Monster, Oishinbo, Pluto, Ristorante Paradiso... I could go on but I don't see how bringing over really unique titles in addition to more mainstream money-makers is "ruining the industry." In my case, it's been getting me more interested in owning more manga, so at least they're making more money from me
As far as editing goes, many US companies have had to do it to some extent just due to how Americans react to certain things like smoking, drinking, sex and violence, so perhaps the real issue is cultural rather than company-specific. Most of the time edits are so minor that complaining about them amounts to nitpicking more than anything, so as long as the content and story of the original isn't altered I don't think it's a big deal.
I second the call for examples of specific edits that bother you, because I'm interested to see how severe the ones you're talking about are.
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retty
Joined: 11 May 2004
Posts: 118
Location: Cheshire, UK
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 2:39 pm
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What's wrong with mini games and wallpapers?
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Blackpeppir
Joined: 30 Apr 2009
Posts: 234
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:23 pm
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Well seeing as Shounen Jump and most of VIZ's titles are geared towards teens, I don't really see anything wrong with it given the demographic they're aiming at. My guess based off the OP's comments would be that he's read the scnaslations and once Jump caught up with it's japanese counter-part and he started reading the official versions he was put off by the absence of gratuitous swearing. That or he's one of the folks who thinks any alteration made in the change from Japanese to English is a horrible sin and will be punished by god (who must be censored so as not to offend certain members of the reader base). I mean, VIZ is good at marketing towards their periphery demographic. You can slap an "Older-teen" label on something but if you slap bright colors and put a pretty bow on it while offering free trading cards in it, there would be very few parents who would think it's more than just another comic book (at least that was my experience when I was twelve). But for the most part, VIZ is actually pretty good when it comes to leaving content intact. They just know how to sell the manga to the teens and sell the card games, action figures and to a lesser extent, the manga to the younger kids. They can loose a good chunk of their consumer base if they start making drastic changes to the content as the OP suggests and besides, it's usually the younger crowd (12-15) that actually use the VIZ homepage anyway. That's why it's geared towards them.
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Mushi-Man
Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 1537
Location: KCMO
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:36 pm
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I guess I can see what the OP was saying because I also really dislike any censorship, but I find it really hard to be upset about seeing as I don't read many of those series that have been victims of it. Plus it doesn't seem like the censoring that Viz has done are really all that big. I guess I just give Viz a pass on that stuff because of the good stuff they do like the signature line. I think Jump Guru is just over reacting to this situation, to say that they "destroyed the manga and anime industry" is more than a stretch.
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Ktimene's Lover
Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 2242
Location: Glendale, AZ (Proudly living in the desert)
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 8:09 pm
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I don't mind censorship as long it is done correctly.
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Zalis116
Moderator
Joined: 31 Mar 2005
Posts: 6893
Location: Kazune City
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 8:18 pm
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I've never had a problem with their manga releases, but that's because I mainly get shoujo manga from them. And those aren't as prone to editing.
However, Viz is among my least favorite anime companies. Why?
* Untranslated songs on many releases (Ceres, SaiKano, Great Dangaioh, etc.)
* Complete lack of insert song translations (except Full Moon, but even that wasn't handled with 100% competence)
* No Songs/Signs Subtitle track on many releases, rendering shows like Death Note and Full Moon nearly unwatchable in English
* On a related note, using hardsubs on shows like Bleach instead of getting with the softsub program, like most other companies have done since 2002
* Sometimes incomprehensible or plain bad subtitles (SaiKano, Project Arms)
* Bizarre mixes of subtitles and dubtitles (SaiKano: Another Love Song)
* Juxtaposition of outdated and modern localization, e.g. subbing "Mayama-senpai" as "Takumi-senpai" in Honey & Clover
* Randomly changing OP/ED because they feel like it (Prince of Tennis)
* Ridiculously destructive and content-changing text overlays (Trouble Chocolate)
* Stalwart refusal to listen to any feedback from the core anime fan community on any of these issues, leading to the belief of "Viz only cares about Naruto/Bleach/Death Note/Inuyasha and those shows' fans"
* Not finishing what they start, but I can't blame them for not wanting to become the next Geneon.
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Kruszer
Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 7991
Location: Minnesota, USA
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 8:38 pm
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Quote: | (Note: If you're just going to insult me or post some smart-ass comment I would suggest you go away. Thank you. Wink ) |
Translation: Do as I say but not as I do/just did.
Anyhow, looking at my shelf I have at least 8 anime from them (with two more that I plan to buy) and 6 manga series. Their company is not really a significant contributor to my anime watching habits or DVD collection at all, however, they are the second largest contributor to my manga collection. VIZ gets points in my book though for licensing Monster which is probabally my all time favorite series, but otherwise I don't really have any strong feelings about them one way or the other.
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Jump Guru
Joined: 03 Apr 2008
Posts: 71
Location: United States
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 9:23 pm
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Blackpeppir wrote: | Well seeing as Shounen Jump and most of VIZ's titles are geared towards teens, I don't really see anything wrong with it given the demographic they're aiming at. My guess based off the OP's comments would be that he's read the scnaslations and once Jump caught up with it's japanese counter-part and he started reading the official versions he was put off by the absence of gratuitous swearing. That or he's one of the folks who thinks any alteration made in the change from Japanese to English is a horrible sin and will be punished by god (who must be censored so as not to offend certain members of the reader base). I mean, VIZ is good at marketing towards their periphery demographic. You can slap an "Older-teen" label on something but if you slap bright colors and put a pretty bow on it while offering free trading cards in it, there would be very few parents who would think it's more than just another comic book (at least that was my experience when I was twelve). But for the most part, VIZ is actually pretty good when it comes to leaving content intact. They just know how to sell the manga to the teens and sell the card games, action figures and to a lesser extent, the manga to the younger kids. They can loose a good chunk of their consumer base if they start making drastic changes to the content as the OP suggests and besides, it's usually the younger crowd (12-15) that actually use the VIZ homepage anyway. That's why it's geared towards them. |
I do not read scans and I never will. I know Japanese and I support the original mangaka. Okay, maybe I was a bit overreactive about the whole thing. I wrote this thread right after I looked at their website.
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Ktimene's Lover
Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 2242
Location: Glendale, AZ (Proudly living in the desert)
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 9:35 pm
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Zalis, you have quite a bias against them but that's commendable. I am angry at them for releasing Shippuden as a single set and not going boxset from the start. Oh, and let's not forget the Disney hole they dug themselves into.
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BellosTheMighty
Joined: 27 Nov 2007
Posts: 767
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Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 12:07 am
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Zalis116 wrote: |
* Stalwart refusal to listen to any feedback from the core anime fan community on any of these issues |
You mean the community that libels them on the internet, throws flames at them for the most trifling things, bashes their latest dub as an irredeemable hackjob before a second of footage has even been released, makes death threats against their family pets, and whom every last spoonfull of porridge in every bowl on the table divides into multiple factions to yell over whether it's too hot, too cold, or poisoned? All the while buying their DVDs so as to let them know they're doing just fine after all? While screaming at them that their the anime antichrist?
Oh, I fully agree with you, Zalis, clearly Viz is a bunch of idiots for not listening to such an obviously reasonable, intelligent group of anime connoisseurs.
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ikillchicken
Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
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Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 1:38 am
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BellosTheMighty wrote: | Oh, I fully agree with you, Zalis, clearly Viz is a bunch of idiots for not listening to such an obviously reasonable, intelligent group of anime connoisseurs. |
It's sort of a vicious cycle though isn't it? Surely a lot of people on the internet are just complete idiots. However, there are certainly also reasonable people as well with reasonable complaints. Viz seems unwilling to listen to anything fans say reasonable or not though. This in turn causes the reasonable people to just give up on them and causes the idiots to act even more idiotic. It's because of this prolonged attitude on behalf of Viz that there is such a massive group of fans who complain about everything they do and very few reasonable complaints.
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