One Piece Forum

If it they can market themselves widely enough as an alternative to the usual scanlation groups, I can see it cutting down on it. However, I feel like this is better suited at targeting a new audience that are just approaching the shows or manga now. A good chunk of the older viewers that have stayed with the fansubs and scans for so many years will more than likely continuing to do so simply out of habit.

If VIZ still keeps up the practice of censoring titles I will still go read fan translations first.

@AgentJ: Truth is, I don't know... Haven't checked in the past month+.

Their digital releases are sort of pointless. Not when they are the only publisher of manga still censoring many series on mass. If I wanted to read digitally. I'd go to scanlations for many of their series. At least there I wouldn't be getting an altered version of the story. No other publisher does that anymore.

It was a better idea for VIZ to increase their manga volume selection to try and catch up with the Japanese volumes for many series. Now, volumes for series such as Naruto, Bleach and One Piece are maybe only a few months to a year behind Japan.

They are releasing Chapter 7 of Evangelion in September??? That volume came out in the US over ten years ago. How is this suppose to be impressive?

I'd be more impressed and take them more seriously if they announced an end to the censorship or offering an uncensored option for readers. The way they do for anime and offer uncut versions. I'll have a hard time forgiving them for how the butchered Detective Conan in the US.

@AgentJ: @VanTesla:

In Naruto, they painted out the cigarette and the lighter from Shikamaru's hands and mouth in that issue where he lights the cigarette to say goodbye to Asuma. The page shows him making the motion of lighting the cigarette, but there is nothing in his hand or mouth.

That was only a few months ago.

@Halberdierv2:

The English production of VIZ Shonen Jump is one of the biggest wastes of paper imaginable. VIZ censors some content in that US Shonen Jump that they don't even do when published in the volume format. One example is in One Piece, the US Shonen Jump added an undershirt to her clothes to hide her cleavage, but it was removed for the volume. That Shonen Jump is so far behind it's an utter joke.

Okay, if they can release translated chapters within a week of their Japanese release, and if they can offer an uncensored version, then hell yeah i'll pay instead of going to scanlation sites.

@ninjadude853 said:

Okay, if they can release translated chapters within a week of their Japanese release, and if they can offer an uncensored version, then hell yeah i'll pay instead of going to scanlation sites.

I wouldn't suggest holding your breath on that one. It would be an act of suicide. They have shown no interest in producing manga uncensored.

@FoxxFireArt: Dude, i know you hate VIZ, i freaking get it. You don't need to talk about VIZ to me because honestly, even though it's been months since we've had a conversation, I'm kind of sick of hearing/seeing you complain about VIZ, i agree, the censorship is bullshit, But i don't really care that much.

I wish Hajime No Ippo would get an English release.

@Halberdierv2:

That's fine if it's what you're looking for, but I'm a person who wants the most authentic version produced in English. That's what me and many others who use scanlations go for. I don't care about VIZ version of this story. I want the creator's version. VIZ releases uncut DVDs but not manga. Part of the censorship is them changing the story from the original version.

Not only that, but VIZ tries to hide their alterations, and they are the only publisher still doing this in the U.S. They don't want people to use scanlations, but wont produce the same level of quality and authenticity that scanlations provide. VIZ's digital comics wont be of any higher quality.

The change they made to Boa Hancock in the US Shonen Jump was the same kind of crap 4Kids used to do to One Piece. They removed the shirt hiding her cleavage when they published the volume version, but then why change it in the first place?

If VIZ owns the rights then it's their private property. They are within their rights to do whatever they see fit to make money. Altruism doesn't make shareholders happy. The concern is that no company up to this point has created a digital service that has really been worth the financial investment. So it remains to be determined if VIZ is the company to do that.

@FoxxFireArt: As much of a pain as censorship is, the bulk of the potential audience is not bothered by it, just as the bulk of the audience prefer dubs over subs for convenience sake (much to our chagrin, I am sure). The enthusiast crowds that puts a premium on authenticity have already been following the manga from their point of original Japanese release, or at least point of initial fan scans. Hence why I say the potential success of VIZ's endeavor will depend on how widely they can market themselves to new potential audiences as an alternative to fan subs and scans.

@ZombiePie: I don't think that fact is much up for debate. The bulk of VIZ's criticisms have thus far been the quality of their localizations, not their audacity at making money off the licensed property.

@FoxxFireArt said:

Their digital releases are sort of pointless. Not when they are the only publisher of manga still censoring many series on mass. If I wanted to read digitally. I'd go to scanlations for many of their series. At least there I wouldn't be getting an altered version of the story. No other publisher does that anymore.

It was a better idea for VIZ to increase their manga volume selection to try and catch up with the Japanese volumes for many series. Now, volumes for series such as Naruto, Bleach and One Piece are maybe only a few months to a year behind Japan.

They are releasing Chapter 7 of Evangelion in September??? That volume came out in the US over ten years ago. How is this suppose to be impressive?

I'd be more impressed and take them more seriously if they announced an end to the censorship or offering an uncensored option for readers. The way they do for anime and offer uncut versions. I'll have a hard time forgiving them for how the butchered Detective Conan in the US.

@AgentJ: @VanTesla:

In Naruto, they painted out the cigarette and the lighter from Shikamaru's hands and mouth in that issue where he lights the cigarette to say goodbye to Asuma. The page shows him making the motion of lighting the cigarette, but there is nothing in his hand or mouth.

That was only a few months ago.

@Halberdierv2:

The English production of VIZ Shonen Jump is one of the biggest wastes of paper imaginable. VIZ censors some content in that US Shonen Jump that they don't even do when published in the volume format. One example is in One Piece, the US Shonen Jump added an undershirt to her clothes to hide her cleavage, but it was removed for the volume. That Shonen Jump is so far behind it's an utter joke.

I remember that bs...

@ZombiePie:

They do have the legal right to alter these stories, but they have scanlations to compete with. That was one of the main reason they increased publication of many of the larger series they publish to be closer to the Japanese releases. It was an effort to court the scanlation audience. But they shoot that attempt in the foot by altering story content, changing art, and censoring. Even the quality of their translations have been poor. They can't keep character's names straight at times, and I've seen examples when their translations are wrong and contradicts what happens on the page.

VIZ is also the only manga publisher still making alteration to art and story. Not only do they change content. They hide their changes. When other publishers such as Kodansha Comics or Yen Press make even the small changes, they explain alterations in back of every volume. VIZ never explains anything.

When it comes to publishing. I see censorship as evil.

When it comes to anime, they release those both censored and uncut editions. They provide a second option to that audience, but they leave the manga audience out in the cold.

@FoxxFireArt: My defense is just pure pragmatism. There's probably an equation of how much profit an entire press of books has to make in order for it to be viewed as a financially viable venture. From VIZ's perspective maintaining their current economic model makes more money than changing it, and they are within their rights to do that and are not evil by any measure.