Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why is the nudity removed from the Ranma 1/2 remake?
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CountZeroOR
 Subscriber Posts: 80 Location: Oregon |
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I understand why the decision was made, but I don't have to like it.
In this specific instance, as opposed to other shows, I think the nudity served an purpose. Even if Rumiko Takahashi isn't going to say it outright (she certainly hasn't said anything about the numerous trans reads that have been made regarding Ranma 1/2 - such as Susan J. Napier's analysis of the narrative in Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation), I think the use of nudity in Ranma 1/2 served to create a not only subtextual but textual discussion of how we look at bodies based on gender, and what is or is not considered acceptable based on societal norms, and the ways that they can be somewhat hypocritical (such as the scene with Female-Presenting-Ranma walking from the bath with his shirt off, Akane calling him out, and Female-Presenting-Ranma being indignant because he's a guy). Like, by comparison, 2.5D Seduction (which is also currently airing), also has some cheesecake elements in the source material, and (I haven't had the opportunity to read the manga yet - but I have seen some page-to-screen comparisons) has some incidental nudity. I don't have a problem with ommission of the nudity there, because there it is (generally) gratuitous, and doesn't serve a thematic purpose in quite the same way. Whereas here - I think it served a purpose, especially compared to Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku. Rumiko Takahashi was in a position at this point in her career where she didn't need to put nudity in a work to get published or keep it from being cancelled, and nor were her editors really in a position to pressure her to include nudity. This was a conscious artistic choice on her part at the time of publication. Now, is this an instance here where changes in societal mores in Japan to go in a more sexually repressive and conservative direction may have caused pressure to tone down the nudity? Possibly. Was there pressure to Kewpie-fy the characters to ensure they get those Saudi Investment Fund dollars (or other countries where there's more restrictive content? Possibly. I just wish there was still a place on the spectrum for "Narratively significant but non-sexual nudity" between "Generally Chaste nudity-free fanservice" (i.e. what I described in 2.5D Seduction) and "Literally Porn (i.e. the various Rance-influenced Isekai series)" |
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The WP
Posts: 5 |
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I just wish they were more creative about removing them rather than just having them not there when they should be. Camera angles, object placement - either would be better than still showing fully exposed breasts/buttocks, and there just being a void
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FinalVentCard
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 640 |
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Having grown up in Puerto Rico, we got the Latino Spanish dub of Ranma 1/2 broadcast on our local channels--and stunningly, those kept in the boob shots. Can't explain why, to this day.
The reasoning behind the removal of nipples and ass cracks in Ranma 1/2 all make sense and they're not really the fault of any one thing in particular. It's more or less the same reason why a lot of anime don't squeeze in tiny blink-and-you-miss-it cameos of Batman or known Hollywood actors into anime anymore; the industry is far bigger now and has to comply with a wider variety of norms. That genie isn't going back into the bottle anytime soon; there might be some folks who would rather the anime industry go back to its relatively-obscure status of the 90s and early 00s, but too many pieces are in place for that. Even a total industry collapse likely wouldn't do that. At the risk of making a Thermian argument, the blasé approach to Ranma's nudity is a good way to illustrate that Ranma themselves still has more of a man's mind than anything else; they weren't raised with the kind of socially-enforced shame that comes with covering up your boobs (and Ranma also knows that they can leverage their boobs against certain people). But on the other hand, there's also a lot more to Ranma 1/2 as a story that focusing on the nudity feels like missing the forest for the trees. |
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VORTIA
Subscriber Posts: 944 |
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The frank discussion of sexuality in a media environment that is almost clinically sanitized is what attracted many to anime in the first place. The motivation to censor is no mystery, but adopting it is destroying one of anime's many unique appeals. I don't know anyone watching this remake, & I suspect that is because the work was popular for its raw directness, whereas the remake appears embarassed about what it is. In the increasingly samey corporate media ecosystem, most people are hungry for a unique perspective. Decisions like this are definitely just more of the same.
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Smeagol_17
Posts: 61 |
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"not interested in drawing butt cracks and nipples"
"Intrested"? What an odd framing. Well, they already draw naked butts. Are we to assume they have an "interest" in deformed naked butts? |
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johnnysasaki
Posts: 947 |
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in short: times have changed and anime appealing to a mainstream audience can't get away with stuff like it used to.
That stuff is now reserved for anime that are very ecchi focused, or borderline hentai,and even those don't seem to be that common these days. Once in a while we still get something outrageously raunchy like Gushing Over Magical Girls and Interspecies Reviewers,but a lot more like those would come out a year in the 90's or 00's |
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PipimiOden
 Posts: 202 Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
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There's probably also the fact that it's airing on modern japanese TV, where programming on the terrestrial channels aren't allowed to have full nudity these days IIRC.
Most of the changes for the dokapon remake were CERO's fault since they've become stricter with ratings as of recent, so i wouldn't be surprised if this was a similar situation. |
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BalmungHHQ
Posts: 444 |
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Hmm... I feel like this article only really provides a part of the answer, and simplifies a lot of things. But I guess on a basic level it covers the gist of it, at least for something like this situation.
I think a much grander and in-depth analysis can be done on the evolution of fanservice depictions in anime over the past few decades, but such a thing would probably be beyond the scope of what this article was meant to be. I will say though, erotic fanservice in anime has indeed mostly transitioned to being a niche primarily now found only in a select variety of shows, and big franchises like Ranma from a production standpoint don't fall into that niche. So the way the fanservice was handled in the new adaptation is entirely expected. That said... personally, I really dislike the "global" moniker being used to push this mentality, and it's like... to an extent I get it, but I do believe this level of self-censorship shouldn't be necessary. Maybe I'm old, but I kind of miss the days where there could be some random fanservice in an anime that isn't necessarily built around the fanservice itself. It's something that of course could cause either a positive or negative impression depending on the preferences of the viewer, but I think that's why I view it as such an inherently core aesthetic to what "anime" is. Even if the majority of viewers find it distasteful, that's fine, because the show is still being the show it wants to be. (I say this, but yeah ideals like that apparently don't exactly bring in the money these days, huh...  )
Of course, not every anime needs fanservice, but it'd be nice if productions had more freedom to include fanservice if those involved wanted to do so. You basically don't see it in much anime anymore unless it's a key feature of the series, which of course is fine, but we're slowly losing the variety of the old days... (And heck, half of the series' where it is a key feature aren't even permitted to present full nudity anymore if a more prudish part of a production committee has their say.) It's interesting, because fanservice both light and heavy are still quite prevalent in the manga world... I think the regulations by Japanese TV stations have some level of influence in these discussions too. So there's pressure even beyond just the "global" front. At the very least, it's unwise to place the entire blame on foreign influence. In a sense, one could say this was all kind of a given once the industry at large decided to stop regularly adapting eroge to TV...  (Oh how I pray that Passione's upcoming Nukitashi adaptation serves as some kind of shock to the system...)
Anyway, yeah... For the record, I don't think the fanservice is that important to Ranma. It's primarily a comedy that can still work very well even without it, and even the original 80's series could go long stretches of episodes without any. Regardless, it's still a shame that the production isn't in a position to include any even if some involved may have wanted to, though... :/ |
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all-tsun-and-no-dere
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 652 |
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I don't think Ranma aired on US TV other than Puerto Rico, so this point doesn't apply for the vast majority of people. I'm going to go ahead and file strenuous disagreement with how Jerome wrote this response from the point of view that equates all nudity with fan service. I'd argue that Ranma 1/2 actually has very little fan service, as the nudity present is used primarily for comedy, and rarely if ever for titillation. Due to the nature of the Jusenkyo curse, a lot of the action takes place in or around bath. When a character is nude, they are usually framed neutrally, moving their bodies in natural ways without camera angels or poses to suggest that it's sexual. Treating all nudity as if it is inherently sexual, sexualizes bodies in a way that feminism has been fighting to combat for decades. It's imperative to recognize the difference between sexual fan service and the simple fact of human bodies existing without clothes on, and I feel like this column fails to recognize it. |
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ninjamitsuki
 Posts: 634 Location: Anywhere (Thanks, technology) |
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I really don't think it's about "broadening the audience", Ranma has always been popular with a very wide audience, I just think it's Japanese TV S&P getting stricter since the 80s. Even outright ecchi can't get away with "female presenting nipples" anymore.
We also saw this with gore in Shonen Jump for a while, outside of grandfathered series like Jojo, though it seems to be coming back. |
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tintor2
 Posts: 2116 |
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This type of comments made me realize why Miroku barely does a thing in Yashahime besides being a mentor. His original take was.... But I'm still wondering how far Mappa can go with Happosai.
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Traptrix Lover
Posts: 104 |
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I agree there is a difference between the two, but I personally have to disagree with the notion that Ranma isn't meant to be a fanservice series. I feel it most certainly is meant to be titillating. The various pin-ups Takahashi herself have drawn of the girls both in the series and out speak of the intentions to me. The series very heavily favors portraying the female characters in that manner far more than the male ones and generally whenever we see male Ranma naked it's framed completely different. |
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MarshalBanana
 Posts: 5503 |
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I'm 100% certain the Blu-ray release in Japan, and the west if we get one, will add these elements back in.
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tomdean
Posts: 127 |
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couldn't they have have done a normal version, and then a 'china' version?
Whilst the nudity and fan service isn't a necessity in anime, but they definitely add the fun and excitement dimension to it for many. WIthout them, we could easily have been watching US cartoons or sometimes, Chinese production. Many don't want either as both tend to be political or low production/artisitc value. Whilst the audience maybe getting younger(I don't know if that is even true, we started watching anime when we were young - that hasn't really changed), we do know a large section of the audience is a) like fan service, or b) hate consership What they are basically saying is, since they are aiming for one section of the audience, but no problem alienating the other section of the audience. This I have a problem with. Has this strategy wortked for them? Maybe they are profitable, in which case, good for them but I hope not. |
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residentgrigo
 Posts: 2582 Location: Germany |
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Nudity fades away in the actual manga over time but the last chapter has a boob shot of Akana and the first half of Inuyasha also included nudity to keep the boys engaged before Takahashi basically up on that for good so it´s all a bit complicated.
Anyway. If the show featured nudity, and it is sexual in the end, as a core feature then it would get TV-MA or high teen ratings all over the world and the anime wouldn´t even be able to air on most Japanese stations even at night. Ad the 16-year-old characters and you are only looking at trouble in the end. Can´t wait till the US Culture War fully discovers animanga... This is supposed to be a show for teens so the barbification was a foregone concussion even 2 decades ago. The Inuyasha anime had no nudity either for example. Why was nudity removed from adult-rated Seinen shows like Vinland Saga or Parasyte in 2014? Same reason as here. Not worth the hassle for the producers so 17+ Netflix shows and uncensored releases of softcore porn are the exclusive domain of anime nudity now. The brief nudity in the original Urusei Yatsura anime was controversial in the 80s but it wasn´t the first TV anime with boob shots. Lupin Part 1 is an early example from 1971. Even Gundam. The last Gundam product with nudity was the very beginning of Turn A in 1999 and Urusei Yatsura´s readaptation was also nudity-free. The global market and Japan becoming more buttoned up killed the money shot. No magical Blu-rays are bringing it back. Especially if we consider that even Japan is giving up on discs these days. It´s Netflix or nothing and Netflix has spoken. PAL versions of video games used to have a similar problem back in the day. The anti-gore and Nazi imagery German market sometimes lead to full EU releases being censored. The German market was too lucrative to skip and only making one version saved money and time in too many cases. (Both problems solved themselves in the end.) Streamers couldn´t be more cheap these days so they won´t waste money on alternative scenes being made. Especially if they don´t even get to stream that version. They can´t even pay real humans to make subs anymore and what is cheaper than that? Last edited by residentgrigo on Mon Nov 11, 2024 5:54 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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