The Anime´ No Editing Zone is dedicated to promoting the idea that all anime deserves to be brought over to the North American market uncut, unedited, uncensored, and as unaltered as reasonably possible. Of course, translation of the original dialog from Japanese will require some changes, but there is a line where the changes go too far and start to affect the story, plot, and characters. That line is different for every anime viewer, but once you get too far from the original is it even anime anymore?

Anime´ is dedicated to letting people know where those changes have been made, urging the companies involved to re-release titles that they have only been released in an edited manner, and to prevent further editing wherever possible.

Past, present, future.

If we don't learn from past mistakes we are doomed to repeat them in the present and then we deny future anime fans the best possible translations of Japanese animation possible.

In addition to various pieces of information about editing in general, editing of anime, company information, and other resources for anime watchers to learn more, the focus of the Anime´ No Editing Zone is the EDITING REPORTS. These reports attempt to track and describe various changes made to anime that has been released in North America. This will provide a central and permanent location for information concerning edited anime.

The EDITING 101 section describes what we consider an 'edit', our editing report criteria, and our general recommendations. We highly recommend that be your first stop on your exploration of Anime´. The editing reports will be more informative once you have read the information presented in that section.

Although we have less than a dozen editing reports to start, we will be adding to the list as new information becomes available and we go through the older titles that have been edited in the past. To start, we have the following reports available:

• Card Captor Sakura/Cardcaptors
• Dragonball Z
• Dog of Flanders
• Fushigi Yuugi/Mysterious Play
• Kimera
• Kite
• Pocket Monsters/Pokemon
• Robotech/Macross
• Sailor Moon

The 'FAQ', "COMPANY INFO', and 'LINKS' sections provide helpful information on the site, contact information for many of the various companies releasing anime in the North American market, and links to other online resources for anime editing and anime in general.

And don't forget to check out the 'HOW YOU CAN HELP' section for information on how you can help in your anime purchases, contacting companies, and submitting editing information or full editing reports to this site. Remember one person doesnÕt make a difference, but together we can make that difference.

One thing we won't do or encourage on Anime´ is to flame or harass companies that make an honest effort to release anime unedited. Nothing turns a company off to a legitimate complaint faster than when it is presented in an inflammatory or threatening manner, so make sure to keep a cool head and state your opinions calmly when interacting with companies.

In time, Anime´ will be adding more sections and expanding what we have now. More lists that focus on particular types of editing, more petitions, polls, columns, etc. It will always be a work in progress... until the editing stops.

Remember: Alone we are but a single sale, together we can make a difference.

[This column first prublished on animeprime.com on June 26, 2000 and is copyright 2000 by Jim Lazar and animeprime.com]