Author: Gabriel Persechino-Forest Published: June 29th, 2018
Funimation has confirmed that its home video release of Tsugumomo uses a combination of uncensored and TV broadcast masters. The company claims that they took what was available from the licensor however the bulk of the “broadcast” material appears to involve scenes with the youngest characters of the cast (Or child forms of the characters) and its very specific targeting leaves it doubtful to have been unintentional.
Funimation shouldn’t be necessarily blamed for the fiasco, it is entirely possible the Japanese censored the release themselves to avoid controversy. Funimation did release Seven Mortal Sins recently uncut, including some questionable content you’d assumed would have been censored if a new policy was active. It can also be said that some content featuring the more mature characters of Tsugumomo was also affected. However, it is just as possible that Funimation intentionally did it themselves as they have previously released broadcast footage as a stand in for censorship with the release of Haganai’s second season and attempted to censor Dance in the Vampire Bund as well.
It is also worth noting Funimation claimed that their release and streams were “Uncut” even as they used broadcast material. There is no indication that the company intends to fix the issue in the near future or issue recalls or take any other measures than the statement below.
This is the company’s full comment on the issue:
Originally posted by Funimation
Funimation’s normal process is to utilize uncensored materials when available to produce a home video release. If uncensored materials are not available, we utilize the TV broadcast version. This was the case with the “Tsugumomo The Complete Series” BD/DVD Combo which utilizes a combination of uncensored and TV broadcast materials based on what was available from the licensor during home video production.
People in the comment sections of both ANN and Funimation’s forum were less than amused; the moderator seemed to be amused though when he insulted the fanbase and called them pedophiles:
Originally posted by SpacemanHardy
How was I in anyway being disrespectful? I was just making the statement that people probably shouldn’t be looking at naked images of underaged girls. The fact that so many are getting upset about this isn’t really painting them in the most positive light.
Honestly, if it turns out that Funimation is indeed behind the changes, then I don’t blame them one bit for this. In this day and age, it’s for the best to play things safe and not run the risk of getting in trouble for distributing what might be misconstrued as “child porn.”
“In this day and age…” As I have said before, the global censorship system known as political correctness is moving into overdrive lately and it is becoming clear that they are establishing standards as to what we are allowed to think, say and watch on a social, political and international level.
People are afraid this will open the floodgates of censorship and since Funimation got away with it last time with Haganai, they might be right. This is the censorship I’ve been warning about and if people don’t fight back, they can just get used to it. Remember, Dance in the Vampire Bund was only released uncut because people didn’t tolerate their censorship. Letting funimation know how you feel in a polite message on social media (Facebook, Twitter) or through their contact form and forum might be best to let them know censorship isn’t something we tolerate today.
These articles on censorship might be relevant for those interested:
Source: Article Image: Funimation