Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why And How Was Fist Of The North Star Censored?
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residentgrigo
 Posts: 2443 Location: Germany |
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The reason why this young adult manga (only the TV version went for a kids demo) ran in SJ was due to the violence not looking painful but goofy. That´s how Buronson at least explained it and even the dude on the last page of the series that Ken cuts in half looks more surprised than anything. This film though, hoo boy. The exploding skull kill that blasts half the face of thug towards a wall, while his body jolts back is still pretty crazy. A true Face Off
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I don´t think that the film will ever be restored. The censorship obviously stands out but the 2 endings dilemma and the uneven film stock makes me think that the generic excuse of the negatives being lost could be true. The franchise had too many revivals to not publish a proper remaster of this film by now too. That´s what stands out to me about FotNS. The franchise never really stooped and had more comebacks than Robert Downey Jr. It even outlived Mad Max! Only the mid 00s films/OVAs were mostly worth it and the new game is pretty decent too. |
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FLCLGainax
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I think the only hope of an uncensored print turning up would be if a projectionist had stolen a print during the initial Japanese theater run. Like how missing scenes from the original King Kong showed up.
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doomydoomdoom
 Posts: 278 Location: Michigan, USA |
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Fist of the North Star being my favorite manga ever I of course have to chime in with something on every topic even if it's word salad.
I figured a lot of the crap said among fans surrounding the censorship of the movie was speculation at best, including "it was lost in a fire". Possible but not something anybody knows for sure. Some people swear up and down that Streamline released an uncensored version or something, and of course that isn't true, it's been censored since it came out on video in Japan in the late 80s. A lot of this stuff is extreme obsessive speculation and wish-fulfillment from a fan who posts on many forums and Facebook pages and the like named "Joseph Hostage," "joehanime12," etc. As a matter of fact he is in all likelihood the "Joseph" who sent this question in. Hell, is there even any proof that the theatrical release in Japan didn't have that stuff? Maybe it was censored during post-production, prior to release. It's happened to major American films. The studio or MPAA views the film, says it's too nasty and to take it back to the editing room. A watered-down R-rated version is subsequently released. Some films, like Friday the 13th (the original 1980 flick of course), are later recovered in their totally uncut versions. Others aren't. Supposedly some fans in Japan have said that the version of FotNS released on video is the same version that was in theaters. This honestly seems like the more likely scenario, given that all theatrical prints of a film released in 1986 are probably not going to just vanish forever. Perhaps the print used on the infamous Italian VHS was an actual theatrical print, indicating the film just underwent more censorship for home video. Or maybe it's an unfinished cut of the film. Will a completely uncensored version ever turn up in history? Probably not. Sadly, as FotNS is a cult franchise only, there's just not enough interest in the subject. Nobody really cares. A lot of it has to do with people like GeorgeC who only think of FotNS as a cheesy comedy, good for a cheap laugh, then throw it in a drawer never to be seen again. Also, I wonder if anybody has any more info on what GeorgeC says about Streamline having produced a package for television stations of their anime with pixelized censorship. That's pretty weird but cool. Network 1 huh? Also weird... |
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Ojamajo LimePie
 Posts: 769 |
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I knew about the taping over (Doctor Who  ), but I didn't know the BBC burned stuff as well. Such a waste.
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psiho66
Posts: 23 |
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HAH no even then Shounen Jump series were still made for Teenagers like now ( 12 - 18), you can't take some slice of life or comedy series and clame the whole magazine was aimed at kids , while ignoring series that came out in the magazine in a similar time or before that, series like Black Angels (1981, about an assassin), Cat's Eye (1981, about art thieves), Gorgeous☆Irene (1980, about a sadistic female assassin), Kouya no Shounen Isamu (1971, A western with a half Japanese half Indian MC whose parents were killed by racist thugs, in the wild west), series that were before Fist of the North Star Fact of the matter is even then in the late 60s and 70s Shounen Jump was still made for a Tween and Teen age demographic, just as its is today. |
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Fawlee Runlan
 Posts: 2 |
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Very fond memories of this one right here.
I think I could be wrong when I say this, but this film might be the most violent anime Toei has ever made (kinda ironic when you consider that this is the same studio that animated Digimon and the anime adaptation of One Piece) Also, here's a video of the semi-uncut Italian VHS release : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JECb0ZJXQR0 |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13580 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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The above almost is almost a treasure hunt for old media collectors: finding an old TV show or movie's unaltered master print in good to pristine quality. |
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