Can we say "censorship"?

How many of you out there reading this have seen at least one episode of the North American Sailor Moon?� Now, for those of you who answered yes, how many of you have seen the Japanese version?� If you answered "not me", just bear with me here, I'm on another rant *heehee*.
Okay, for those of you out there in cyberspace used to the Americanized version of this anime, there are quite a few things you have never ever seen from the series.� For example, the character of Zoicite is portrayed as a woman in the NA version, when that character is really a man in the Japanese version (I'm gonna use NA for North American and J for Japanese, just to make it easier for all of us).� Why, you ask, did this get changed?� Well, the answer is simple, once you take a look at it.� Zoicite is in a relationship with Malachite, another very male General.� I suppose Dic (the company who syndicates the show for NA) felt it was inappropriate for us to see a gay relationship on television (more on this later).� Along the same lines, those of us who only get to see the Dic version only get to experience the first two seasons (there are 4 seasons in all, and one Sailor Stars season).� Because of this, we never get to see the outer senshi and the very intriguing storylines they are in.� So, why don't we ever get to see these episodes?� Could it be because there is a lesbian relationship within the outer senshi?� Probabaly.� Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus will most likely never be shown in NA just because of their relationship.� I think that's pretty sad, as in pathetic.
Those of us in North America also miss out on some excellent fight scenes.� I guess they were too graphic for NA...who knows?� All I know is that when the scouts go to fight Queen Beryl, we (NA) see their spirits helping Sailor Moon on, although we never see them die.� However, in the Japanese version, there is some torture, some suggestive scenes toward the violence, and lots of screaming.� THEN the spirits are shown helping Sailor Moon.� I'm not saying violence is good, but it makes the scenes much more interesting.� Besides this one example, there are scenes which have been cut from the NA version, and sometimes, entire episodes have been left out.� Can we say censorship??!
Now, why would a company like Dic go to such great lengths to change the series.� Surely it couldn't have been that bad in its original form.� I mean, the show has been off the air for nearly 6 years and it still has a massive group of loyal followers.� So, why the cuts?� It's this whole thing Americans have about being politically correct *groan*.� If even one person finds it offensive to see a gay relationship on TV, then it gets cut.� If one parent complains about the amount of violence, it gets cut.� In other words, all the things which made it enjoyable in the first place get cut.� So now, it has been turned into a cartoon.� Yes, friends, there is a difference between anime and cartoons.� Cartoons are aimed at kids.� Toys are sold to market the show.� Cheezy dialogue is used to get the point across to young minds.� A moral is a part of every story, trying to teach little ones good manners (that explains those stupid "Sailor Moon Says" segements...).� Anime is quite different.� It is mostly aimed at an older audience, say 13 to 40 year-olds (this is not scientific research, I'm just making a generalization).� It looks more realistic, and keeps the audience involved, rather than talking down to them.� And another big thing: Anime is the product of Japan.� Hence, the culture is completely different.� They have different views on violence, relationships, and things like that.� Their level of tolerance for many things (in my opinion) is much higher than Americans'.
Yes, I realize that there are those of you out there who might not agree with my views.� But ya know what?� They're my own opinions and the first amendment of my constitution allows me to express them freely (that's probably one of the few good things we Americans have going for us)
Until next time...

*addition: Since this was written, Cartoon Network has begun showing Sailor Moon S episodes. By the way, a different company syndicates them. But anyway, I was horrified to see that they made Haruka and Michiru (Uranus and Neptune) cousins. How dumb is that? Like I said, just more censorship...