About censoring - Kaguya-hime no monogatari (2013) Discussion

[–] Wayne_is_better_than_Eastwood 10 years ago

Personally I would prefer that they didn't censor it, because I would love to see a dubbed version of the original uncut film. But if they do censor it, it won't really bother me as long as I get to watch a subtitled version of the uncut film.

And regarding Only Yesterday, that movie isn't even available in the US and it never received an English dub, so being censored may have helped it out actually.

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[–] chuck-526 9 years ago

And regarding Only Yesterday, that movie isn't even available in the US

Only approximately true. There was never a theatrical release in the U.S., and no Region1 DVD is available.

A Blu-ray is available though (but it's quite expensive).

By far the easiest and cheapest way to obtain it is to buy the Region2/PAL DVD from amazon.co.uk. (They'll readily ship to the U.S., provided only that you affirm on the website that you know what you're doing.) This will only work if your equipment can handle DVDs that are not marked Region1 ...which typically means what's called a "region free" DVD player. (Also, somehow something in the system -either the DVD player itself or the display screen- needs to handle PAL -perhaps by "upscaling", which is typical _but_not_guaranteed_ of "region free" players. My suggestion is to own some cheap junky Region2/PAL DVD and use it to test your equipment to make sure it can be played before you spend money on any "real" foreign DVD.

...and it never received an English dub

It was not handled by Disney (probably because the Disney/Ghibli deal _seems_ to extend only to things directed by Miyazaki). Disney has done all the high-quality English dubs of Studio Ghibli productions - in this case without Disney (or at least some other company handling distribution of a Region1 DVD), nothing at all was done.

Soundtracks in quite a few European languages exist (I have no idea if they're high-qualiity or not), but no English soundtrack has ever been made and nothing is available.

I have a copy, and greatly enjoyed it. My experience is the English subtitles supplied by Studio Ghibli -which are included on virtually all discs- are pretty good, and there's not really any good reason many in the U.S. can't enjoy this anime.

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[–] Wayne_is_better_than_Eastwood 10 years ago

Personally I would prefer that they didn't censor it, because I would love to see a dubbed version of the original uncut film. But if they do censor it, it won't really bother me as long as I get to watch a subtitled version of the uncut film.

And regarding Only Yesterday, that movie isn't even available in the US and it never received an English dub, so being censored may have helped it out actually.

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[–] tmy_yamada 10 years ago

Thanks Wayne.
I also hope that they don't censor this film.

Oh, I didn't know that "Only Yesterday" isn't available in the US.
That's too bad because it's a really good film by Takahata.

I hope "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" will be released in the US as soon as possible.

By the way I cannot praise this beautiful film too much.
Last Saturday a famous critic ranked this film the second best film in 2013, whereas "The Wind Rises" was out of the best 10.

When I get a news about this topic, I will write the details.
Thanks.

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[–] ijly 10 years ago

If this film is released internationally, (which, honestly, I doubt, as it is terribly Japanese in every aspect) they will of course censor it in some way, as they should.

Japan is very open to oopai, or breast feeding, whereas the rest of the world is not. And, to be honest, even in Japan it is sexualized... and they pretend it isn't... just as naked young girls are sexualized... and they pretend they aren't (though I didn't really notice any naked girls in this movie... any child nudity was anamorphic in nature... without private parts, desexualizing it.)

One might argue that the nipple in this movie is needed, and not sexual... but it lingers... while it is avoided in some shots, it is taken head (or nip) on in others... and really, it does nothing to improve the film at all.

To be honest, this film is awfully long... making it difficult for kids... and in Western countries, the nipple will also push it away from a children audience... which is good in some ways... though without children this film won't find a substantial audience outside Japan.

I found this a beautiful film, which holds on too long and doesn't want to end. Without the religious background, this story will not really appeal to many. The ending (no spoilers) only works in Japan.

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[–] Projectedlight 10 years ago

One might argue that the nipple in this movie is needed, and not sexual... but it lingers... while it is avoided in some shots, it is taken head (or nip) on in others... and really, it does nothing to improve the film at all.

I don't think we should question if a nipple in a breast feeding scene is necessary any more than we should ask whether a shot of a hand or a blade of grass will improve the film by their inclusion. Questioning such a detail in a scene where it fits the context strikes me as prudish.

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[–] Quotation-of-Dream 10 years ago

Japan is very open to oopai, or breast feeding, whereas the rest of the world is not.

What possible justification is there for saying such a thing? Here in Europe, breast-feeding in public - in shops and restaurants too - is very much the norm these days, as it is in most other parts of the world. And nobody "gets off" on it sexually either. That sounds like a nasty puritan myth.

Quite why you feel anyone ought to be "protected" from perfectly natural functions and behaviour is anyone's guess. But when it comes to art, we need to put our personal prejudices and hang-ups to one side.

Censorship is wrong. Period.

And many of us in Europe cannot wait to see this lovely film.

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[–] eivind-august 10 years ago

Aggreed! It would be the act of censoring in itself that would be the sexualisation in this context. If you censor breast feeding or nudity, you are saying it's wrong, which it isn't in most places on earth.

Remember, movies like Walkabout shows actual underage nudity without anyone batting an eye. Why? Because it isn't sexual. We are all naked sometimes, and I see no reason to censor something natural.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."

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[–] adog1990 10 years ago

Don't worry I am sure it will be release by Touchstone Pictures or GKIDS and will have it uncensored. Cause Touchstone has released a lot of mature stuff and GKIDS has done some of the same.

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[–] chuck-526 9 years ago

Agreed!

Many inaccurately think "the rest of the world" has issues with straightforward bodily functions, whereas in fact it's "just the U.S."

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[–] Wayne_is_better_than_Eastwood 10 years ago

If this film is released internationally, (which, honestly, I doubt, as it is terribly Japanese in every aspect)

Looks like you were wrong. It's being released in the US this fall.

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[–] finn1980 9 years ago

With the rest of the world you obviously mean North America. I doubt the depiction of a breastfeeding mother will cause a lot of uproar here in Germany or in the rest of Europe for that matter. I would even say if you censor such a scene it would give a wrong impression to children that one of the most beautiful and natural acts could be in any way shameful.

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[–] spamzwik 9 years ago

breasts are an affront against god after all, so the entire northern american continent pretends they dont exist. cursing and violence are a-ok tho, so if the princess in this movie chops off a few heads, it'll be an instant hit

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[–] Combat-Carl 10 years ago

It won't be censored. Mamoru Hosoda's Wolf Children had similar nudity and got a PG rating (Also a stunning movie much like a Ghibli movie)

Exploding genitals? My God!

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[–] Unicorn_Blade 10 years ago

There is a French animated film called Kirikou abou a boy living in an African village. He walks around naked and all women in the village have bare breasts. Yet the film is rated suitable for all in the UK as 'the nudity is entirely natural and has no sexual context.', which is I believe the same case as Kaguya.

When my pupils first watch the film, as well as Totoro, they always make really silly comments as a rule. The bathing scene in Totoro in particular always provokes comments. But then they get over it. As long as the nudity is not sexualised, I think that there is no need to censor it.

In the beginning there was nothing, and it exploded.

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[–] TutuAnimationPrincess 10 years ago

Studio Ghibli doesn't allow physical cuts to their films. This has been true for quite a while.

If everything is not all rainbows and kittens for you today, hopefully it will be tomorrow!

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[–] nyjack 10 years ago

Well, the film is out in New York and those scenes are included. However, the film is partially "censored" in the original in that like in much anime directed toward a general audience the genital area is drawn incorrectly, which I would think would actually be more confusing to little kids than if they drew characters with actual genitalia instead of without them.

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[–] rim543 10 years ago

I will see it this weekend. I'm glad it's not "fully censored" in NYC.

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] chuck-526 9 years ago

I think the frequent drawing of genitalia in a not quite realistic way (for example Anime character never have any hair in their genital area) has more to do with Japanese domestic laws than it does with making things acceptable to international audiences.

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[–] masuka-fan 9 years ago

It is not "drawn incorrectly"; it is drawn in the same loose, impressionistic style as everything else in the film.

Passion is just insanity in a cashmere sweater!

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[–] Viktoriyachicago 9 years ago

I'm American and I agree with this!

"Zhu Li, do the thing."-Varric

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[–] stelladeli 9 years ago

Well said my friend.

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[–] chuck-526 9 years ago

I would not want to see any censoring whatsoever, not ever. Here are my reasons:

1) It's a slippery slope. Although you start very carefully making only a "few cuts", after several years all kinds of things start to feel normal. Soon enough you get stuff like 'Cinema Paradiso', where the U.S. cut we all know and love is in fact only half of the original movie.

2) To learn how to be "world citizens", people need to see how other cultures really are ...even when it's a bit uncomfortable. If media is tailored to exactly fit the current prejudices of each audience, nobody will have the chance to learn anything new.

3) IMHO, the current sexual prudishness in the U.S. is just plain wrong, and needs to be challenged repeatedly.

4) Too much opportunity for corruption. Who decides what to censor? How much are they influenced by outside money? Isn't it reasonable to "wreck" a film with ham-fisted censoring if the distributor doesn't pay up? Isn't that called "extortion"?

5) It cuts both ways. We get pretty upset when some other country tries to censor our stuff. The only way we can protest legitimately is if we never censor their stuff.

6) Cultures change. In 100 years viewers will probably wish to cut something we never thought of and restore what we did cut. One of the principal banes of restorers of old movies is sections that were censored for some forgotten reason and subsequently lost completely. The only way to remain timeless is to not cut anything at all.

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[–] masuka-fan 9 years ago

Well-said.

Passion is just insanity in a cashmere sweater!

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