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New Dragon Ball anime Blu-ray removes flipped birds, ruffles fan feathers【Photos, video】

Casey Baseel Dec 19, 2018
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Throwing planet-smashing energy beams at one another is OK, but those martial arts masters better keep their middle fingers down.

As one of the very greenest of anime’s evergreen hits, it’s easy to forget just how old Dragon Ball Z is. The most popular and influential arc of creator Akira Toriyama’s generation-and-galaxy-spanning martial arts epic, Dragon Ball Z’s first TV episodes aired all the way back in 1989, and if you go back to its anime predecessor, Z-less Dragon Ball, that anime premiered in 1986, with the manga it’s based on starting in 1984.

In the decades since, attitudes about what is and isn’t acceptable in anime primarily aimed at young children have changed, and that’s manifested in a way that’s extremely upsetting to Japanese Twitter user @nappasan.

今月5日に東映ビデオより発売されたドラゴンボールZのBlu-rayソフトにおいて、中指を立てて挑発する表現がデジタル修正されていました。公式側による告知や但し書きなどは何も無く、過去の映像作品における表現の問題に関する重大な背信行為であると憤っています。 pic.twitter.com/dLhuW1JeHi

— ΝΑΠΠΑ (@nappasan) December 15, 2018

The above tweet shows a brand-new Japanese Blu-ray release of Dragon Ball Z, which went on sale from publisher Toei December 5, on the left, and the original version of the same scene on the right. While fan favorite Trunks used to be seen flipping the bird to his adversary Broly, he’s now just raising a clenched fist, in a much less aggressive/offensive gesture.

▼ Video comparison

映像による比較をしてみました。2カットに渡ってトランクスの中指が修正されているのが判ります。なお画面右側で使用している「オリジナル版」の映像はAmazonプライムビデオにおける配信映像であり、今回発売されたBlu-rayはこれと同じHDマスターを使用しています。 pic.twitter.com/fe5nNfaGgJ

— ΝΑΠΠΑ (@nappasan) December 15, 2018

What’s got @nappasan, and presumably the many people who have retweeted his comparisons, especially upset is how this digital altering of the anime’s visuals doesn’t seem to mesh with what’s written on the back of the Blu-ray box, which promises:

“A portion of ths anime’s visuals and dialogue are considered to be inappropriate in the current era, but in recognition of the importance of the work’s historical value, the existing original materials are presented in their original form. Thank you for your understanding.”

▼ The notice, boxed in red by @nappasan, as it appears on the Dragon Ball the Movies #6 Blu-ray.

なお「原版のとおり収録」の文言が書かれているのはここです。 pic.twitter.com/U4j2hOoqaI

— ΝΑΠΠΑ (@nappasan) December 15, 2018

It’s definitely odd that Toei would go to the trouble of printing such a confidently worded disclaimer on the box only to do the opposite. “This is an upsetting and serious betrayal of past visual expression,” Tweeted @nappasan, who later came across yet another example of middle finger-repositioning in the new Blu-ray.

https://twitter.com/nappasan/status/1073973105901547520

The digital self-censorship highlights an evolution of how flipping the bird is seen in Japan. @nappasan claims that the gesture used to be less widely recognized in Japan, and was something that could fly under the radar without causing widespread offense.

▼ The raised middle finger pops up in Toriyama’s original manga as well.

鳥山作品おいては昔から度々使用されてきた中指を立てるジェスチャーですが、当時日本ではあまり認知されていたわけではなく、「分かる人にはわかる」程度の挑発サインでしかありませんでした。今回のように規制対象になるまでにタブー化したわけで、文化的な意味でも興味深い事例であると言えます。 pic.twitter.com/4KvNrmH8Uq

— ΝΑΠΠΑ (@nappasan) December 15, 2018

Raised middle fingers actually enjoyed a brief spurt of popularity in otaku-oriented anime and video games that largely overlapped with Dragon Ball Z’s 1989-1996 original TV run. However, it was usually used in a challenging sense of “Come on, fight me!” or to express a general “I’m pissed off!”, as opposed to the “F**k you!” it’s generally interpreted as in the West. You’ll notice in the above tweet, for example, that Ranch is flipping someone off as she’s walking towards them (and thus needs to be held back) as opposed to using the gesture as a parting shot as she walks away.

As time has gone by, though, Japan’s perception of the raised middle finger seems to have come more in line with that of other countries’, and its casual use in otaku media has dropped off considerably. The upraised digits were also removed in Dragon Ball Kai, the reworked version of Dragon Ball Z that also trimmed filler story content and toned down depictions of violence and gore.

▼ Original (left) vs. Kai (right)

なお中指を立てるジェスチャーが修正された例はこれが初ではありません。『ドラゴンボール改』においても当該表現はデジタル修正の対象となりましたが、『改』はあくまで『Z』の映像を流用して再編集された新規のTV番組でしたし、日曜朝の番組とあってこちらの場合妥当性はあったと思います。 pic.twitter.com/S7BF4zv045

— ΝΑΠΠΑ (@nappasan) December 15, 2018

Still, @nappasan isn’t happy about the latest attempts to clean up Dragon Ball Z, especially since there was no prior, or subsequent, notice from the publisher. He does note, though, that the non-remastered version available for streaming through Amazon Prime in Japan, as well as the overseas Blu-ray release, don’t have this latest round of censoring applied to them.

「海外で人気があるから仕方ない」といった趣旨のツイートが散見されますが、海外版の映像ソフトにおいて今回の場面が修正された例は私の確認できる限りでは存在しません。画像は北米版Blu-rayのもので、年齢制限もされていません。 pic.twitter.com/QvA85iuyrZ

— ΝΑΠΠΑ (@nappasan) December 15, 2018

So if the rebent middle fingers are a deal breaker to you, at least you still have other options.

Source: Twitter/@nappasan via Otakomu

Follow Casey on Twitter, where he clearly remembers main character Bang in PC Engine fighting game Flash Hiders flipping off his opponent before each and every fight starts.