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Why would kids be watching uncut, subtitled box sets, though? Especially if it has the word "uncut" in big letters on it and not put in the kids section.

OjaruFan wrote:

Quote: There is very little benefit to making the original version available, which would only satisfy a handful of otaku but runs a real risk of making a handful of pearl-clutching parents VERY LOUDLY upset. Fair enough, but can't the "pearl-clutching parents" just simply make their kids switch back to the edited dub if they (the parents) don't like the content in the original version?

They aren't necessarily clutching their pearls because their kids are watching...

Many times the mere existence of such a thing is sufficient. Not in the least because only the hardest core of the pearl clutchers keep their kids in a dungeon and absolutely control every second of every second of their life. Or to put it another way, they may be misguided, but they aren't stupid. They know if it's out there, kids will find it and a way to watch it.

That might impact sales, and even the smallest impact on sales for a brand like Pokémon typically means a loss in the millions of dollars -- far more than streaming a subtitled version could ever hope to bring in.

I mean, never say never, but I certainly don't see it happening anytime soon. And if I were running Pokémon Company, I certainly wouldn't seem like sound business to me.

Regarding live action, I find the Japanese just as unrealistic as anime. In fact, live action drama is rather similar to a drama genre in anime likewise with period live action compared to anime. I mean the live action GTO TV show is no better at being more realistic than the anime. IMO the only medium that gives a good representation of normal everyday mundane speech is simple real people footage--news interviews, youtube people-on-the-street interviews, documentaries. I'd say exactly the same for English--dramas (e.g. prime time drams and especially soap operas) do not represent realistic everyday speech either.

However, even if non-fiction live footage is a good representation of the majority of the way people speak, that is not a complete representation either, with the minority to be found in fiction ironically. Unless you get live honne footage rather than the usual tatemae.

Fair enough, but can't the "pearl-clutching parents" just simply make their kids switch back to the edited dub if they (the parents) don't like the content in the original version?

How many kids/parents would be purchasing uncut box sets rather than the cheaper releases marketed at their age group?

As for streaming, 4kids streamed Sonic X uncut for years while the show was also running on Saturday mornings and I don't recall any complaints.

Quote:

There is very little benefit to making the original version available, which would only satisfy a handful of otaku but runs a real risk of making a handful of pearl-clutching parents VERY LOUDLY upset.

How many kids/parents would be purchasing uncut box sets rather than the cheaper releases marketed at their age group?

As for streaming, 4kids streamed Sonic X uncut for years while the show was also running on Saturday mornings and I don't recall any complaints.

Regarding live action, I find the Japanese just as unrealistic as anime. In fact, live action drama is rather similar to a drama genre in anime likewise with period live action compared to anime. I mean the live action GTO TV show is no better at being more realistic than the anime. IMO the only medium that gives a good representation of normal everyday mundane speech is simple real people footage--news interviews, youtube people-on-the-street interviews, documentaries. I'd say exactly the same for English--dramas (e.g. prime time drams and especially soap operas) do not represent realistic everyday speech either.

And I'll bet that's a reflection of the traditional Japanese plays, where people spoke in an exaggerated, stylized manner so that viewers in the back can understand what's going on. I mean, it happened in western culture too, but for some reason, acting methods changed to be quieter and more realistic (though not completely, of course), whereas something different happened in Japan (and much of the rest of east Asian live action).

What about doing what Disney, another company protective of their brand, did with their classic material, for Pokémon? Release specially packaged collector's editions, with a respectable personality (Disney used Leonard Maltin) giving commentary and wholly unnecessary (but legally defendable) "perspective" on the show. Put 13 episodes on a set, One Piece style; Release several sets over a few years; And if it's felt that interest needs to be gauged, make the first/each set only available by pre-order.

Honestly, on the Pokémon thing, the dub these days is actually extremely faithful, dialogue-wise. They only really change Team Rocket's lines... in a way that, from where I'm standing, just makes things harder for other translations because of the abundance of puns. Really, the only significant change the dub makes aside from names and TR dialogue is changing the music... and I seriously doubt that has anything to do with making the show more "accessible" to international audiences

If you pick up Japanese from period pieces, you'll end up talking like a samurai. If you watch too many gangster movies you'll talk like a yakuza. But obviously none of these make a up a complete language study diet either. You'll only get the words that make up the drama that takes place, and few of the mundane things that make up the bulk of everyday speech. Depending on what you're watching, you might also end up sounding like a bad actor.

What about doing what Disney, another company protective of their brand, did with their classic material, for Pokémon? Release specially packaged collector's editions, with a respectable personality (Disney used Leonard Maltin) giving commentary and wholly unnecessary (but legally defendable) "perspective" on the show. Put 13 episodes on a set, One Piece style; Release several sets over a few years; And if it's felt that interest needs to be gauged, make the first/each set only available by pre-order.

That sounds workable in the sense that I doubt anyone could find it offensive. But I don't think that it will get done simply because there isn't much profit to be had in it. I imagine the number of fans who want an uncut release like that is minuscule and they don't expect sales to be anywhere near high enough to offset the cost of production. Sure, Pokemon is a major title, but only a very small percentage of fans would go out of their way to buy something like this given how many alternatives exist for watching Pokemon anime. Remember that the Pokemon anime's real purpose is advertising. Merch is where the real money is; the anime is basically just a big commercial for the games and merch.