While anime has been a cultural staple in Japan since the mid-20th century, its mainstream boom in the West only happened in the late 1990s. Many American audiences were first introduced to Japanese animation during that time via TV broadcasts, with Cartoon Network’s Toonami block playing a particularly big role in getting American audiences hooked on anime.
Back in the day, animation in America was still seen as a medium exclusively aimed at kids; as such, many classic anime shows were considered too daring to be aired on American television unaltered. From ridiculous censorship efforts to mind-boggling rewrites of entire series, these fan-favorite anime titles were changed drastically for Western TV because they were considered too inappropriate.
Cardcaptor Sakura’s U.S. Version Stripped the Series of All the Magical Girl Charm
In America, the beloved magical girl classic Cardcaptor Sakura turned into Cardcaptors, and the title change wasn’t the only notable difference between the show’s two versions. The Western localization aimed to make Cardcaptors more appealing to a male demographic, cutting out much of the early non-action scenes and downplaying its core romance and coming-of-age themes.
The entire show was cut down from 70 to 39 episodes. On top of losing much of the original’s identity through cuts and focus shifts, the U.S. version also removed all LGBTQ+ references and relationships from the show, like the romantic subplot between Toya and Yukito. This sanitized version of Cardcaptor Sakura failed to make as big an impact in the West as it did in Japan.
Progressive Elements Were Erased from Sailor Moon’s American Dub
Unlike Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailor Moon’s popularity in the West was hardly affected by censorship. Despite changes made in the localized version, it was still the most popular magical girl show in America in its prime. However, this does not mean that the version American fans of Sailor Moon enjoyed was totally true to the source material.
The most excessive censorship effort in the American broadcast of Sailor Moon concerned the relationship between Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, which was stripped of its romantic overtones and changed to that of “close cousins.” Violence, as expected, was also toned down; mentions of death were completely erased, even when concerning plot-relevant characters.
Tenchi Muyo! Was Too Suggestive for American Television
A classic harem series that pioneered many of the genre’s early tropes, Tenchi Muyo! had to be changed quite drastically to meet American daytime broadcast standards. When Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki aired on Toonami in 2000, most of the sexual themes, suggestive dialogue, and fan service were removed from the show – which, for a harem series like Tenchi Muyo!, was like stripping it of its core appeal.
Whenever characters appeared nude or in suggestive clothing in the original, such as in hot spring or beach scenes, the localized version digitally added clothes to them. Action scenes with explicit violence were also altered or cut entirely, making the U.S. version of Tenchi Muyo! even tamer.
Robotech Combines Three Anime Titles Into One
Robotech was quite a curious “American anime” due to, in essence, not being a localized version of a Japanese series but an amalgamation of three unrelated titles – Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA. The resulting chimera was not just confusing but also hardly resembled any of the shows it “adapted.”
Neither of the shows Robotech is composed of was aimed at children, yet Harmony Gold’s localization strived to make their new show as kid-friendly as possible by removing excessive violence, death scenes, and nudity. Still, Robotech ended up being considerably darker than a typical ’80s American cartoon, which contributed to its popularity but also led to further cuts and complaints from concerned parents.
Voltron: Defender of the Universe Turned a Gritty Mecha Title Into a Children’s Cartoon
Like Robotech, Voltron: Defender of the Universe was a completely different series in Japan, albeit one instead of three – Beast King Go-Lion. The original Beast King Go-Lion anime is a rather gritty post-apocalyptic mecha title, which was transformed into a considerably more lighthearted superhero flick for American audiences.
Voltron fully rewrites some of the core plot points of the Go-Lion anime, including erasing the show’s grim post-apocalyptic setting and removing all death from the narrative. When a major character is supposed to die, in Voltron they are simply sent away to heal. Even when altered beyond recognition and stripped of all its darker elements, Voltron still managed to become a cult classic in the West, spawning multiple sequels and even an incredibly popular modern reboot.
Yu Yu Hakusho Lost Its Edge on American Television
A beloved ’90s classic that was an entire generation’s favorite shonen anime to air on TV, Yu Yu Hakusho initially aired on Cartoon Network’s late-night Adult Swim block, which did not require it to be censored. In 2003, however, it transitioned to Toonami and, as a daytime program, had to be redacted accordingly.
While hardly the most daring shonen series, Yu Yu Hakusho still featured plenty of violence, suggestive dialogue, and profanity, all of which were toned down in the Toonami broadcast. Yusuke could no longer smoke or drink on TV, and most of the action scenes lost their edge due to censored blood, gore, and substantial injuries.
Censorship Didn’t Stop Dragon Ball Z From Becoming a Global Cultural Phenomenon
There was hardly an anime more important in making the medium popular in the West than Dragon Ball Z, and many American fans experienced Goku’s adventures for the first time when the series started airing on Toonami in 1998. Of course, no early dub of Dragon Ball Z went without extensive censorship, even if it hardly affected the audience’s passion for the series.
Dragon Ball Z faced all of the typical alterations expected from anime localized for young American audiences: violence was considerably toned down, blood was recolored or removed, mature and suggestive themes were cut from dialogue, and substances like alcohol and nicotine were changed to kid-friendly alternatives. The most ridiculous alteration, however, was the U.S. version renaming Hell to Home for Infinite Losers.
Cowboy Bebop Was Altered Despite Airing Late at Night
Cowboy Bebop remains one of the most significant and popular anime titles of the ’90s, highly acclaimed for its thought-provoking thematic depth, genre-bending brilliance, and remarkably stylish presentation. In America, Cowboy Bebop first aired on the late-night Adult Swim programming block, which helped the series avoid the harshest censorship, though it was not entirely immune to alterations.
While Cowboy Bebop is an adult-oriented anime, some of its more excessive violence, sexual content, and strong language were still considered too intense for American television. Certain episodes were also temporarily pulled from broadcasts because they correlated with real-life tragedies. However, when the series re-aired on the revived Toonami block in 2017, it was no longer censored.
The American Broadcast Got Rid of Outlaw Star’s Most Suggestive Episode
Another ’90s sci-fi classic, Outlaw Star is not an inherently inappropriate series, yet it was heavily censored when it aired on Cartoon Network’s Toonami block. The gritty space Western adventure was transformed into a family-friendly version with minimal violence and gore, toned-down fan service, and lighthearted dialogue devoid of profanity or suggestive jokes.
An entire episode of Outlaw Star, Episode 23 “Hot Springs Planet Tenrei,” was cut from the original broadcast due to its risqué setting and high concentration of sexual humor and nudity. This episode only aired on television when Outlaw Star returned to Toonami in 2017, this time without the excessive censorship.
One Piece’s Early Censorship Is Excessive to the Point of Ridiculousness
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Image via Toei Animation -
Image via Toei Animation -
Image via Toei Animation
One Piece is one of the most famous (and funniest) examples of American anime censorship there is, purely due to how egregious and out-of-place most of the changes made to the series in the infamous 4Kids dub are. An already rather kid-friendly series, One Piece was sanitized beyond reason, turning cigarettes into lollipops, transforming weapons into odd-looking toy guns, and redesigning all religious imagery, like Mihawk’s cross-shaped sword.
Darker themes and violent action scenes were, of course, also heavily censored, removing the stakes from most of the fights in a battle shonen series. And, even though One Piece was already famous for rarely letting characters die, 4Kids decided that even side characters can’t be put in harm’s way, altering the dialogue so heroes like Kuina and Bell-mère survive off-screen.
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