Is it just Wikipedia, or is it a common opinion?

[Zhen Lin]

[wp]Editing of anime in international distribution[/wp]:

New York City-based 4Kids Entertainment is likely the most controversial company in the United States, due to their penchant for licensing shows which regularly feature content deemed inappropriate for young English-speaking audiences and then trying to alter the shows to make them appropriate for those audiences anyway. Their common alterations of character names and original soundtracks (although in some cases not of their own initiative), and assorted cuts for time and content result in dubs which rank among the most divorced from their original versions, leading to low popularity among older fans, but great success with their target audience, many of which may not have been the intended audience of the original version. In addition, 4Kids removes overly much content from their dubs, removing content that even other shows aimed toward the same children's demographic--such as Teen Titans and The Batman have.

 

[Doctor Oak]

Sounds accurate to me.

 

[birdboy2000]

Well, it's accurate, except for the "great success with their target audience" part.

(Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh being the exceptions ratings-wise, but pokemon's stateside popularity would have faded less if they censored less IMO...)

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

They list cuts for time in there? Those shouldn't count!

 

[Argy]

I find that description very accurate.

 

[Archaic]

Highly accurate. They are reviled amongst anime fans, and it is generally the worst fear of many that they ever get a hold of their favourite series. I believe there was even a letter writing drive to petition them to *not* license several shows at one point.

 

[Zeta]

In addition, 4Kids removes overly much content from their dubs, removing content that even other shows aimed toward the same children's demographic--such as Teen Titans and The Batman have.

This is true of many dubbed anime. An American show can get away with swordplay and guns, but for some reason if it's done by Japanese people it's significantly more evil and damaging to children than the American equivalent of violence or drama.

 

[KoalaDevourer]

We all also have to remember, Wiki can be editted by anyone, so whether this is accurate or not is based purely on one persons submission.

Anyway, I'm sure 4Kids doesn't feel that way about what they do.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

This is true of many dubbed anime. An American show can get away with swordplay and guns, but for some reason if it's done by Japanese people it's significantly more evil and damaging to children than the American equivalent of violence or drama.

Has the FCC ever said *why* they have such a disgusting double standard?

 

[FabuVinny]

We all also have to remember, Wiki can be editted by anyone, so whether this is accurate or not is based purely on one persons submission.

Wikipedia does strive to be NPOV, so it has to be true to stay for long. A piece on Ash from Wikipedia came up on the forums recently, and the offending text has been changed since then.

But you just have to look around to see anti-4Kids feelings. The "Legend of Thunder" threads would be a good place to start.

 

[Zeta]

Has the FCC ever said *why* they have such a disgusting double standard?

Honestly, I'd say it's a mixture of the dubbing companies wanting to water down their properties as much as possible to make them totally "accessiable" (ie - nothing possibly offensie in any way) and good old fashioned xenophobia, really.