Friday, March 04, 2005
CMX's Tenjho Tenge fiasco...
Geeze, I don't check the boards for a couple of days and everything goes crazy. The long and short of it is that DC has decided to extensively censor the long-awaited fighting manga Tenjho Tenge. All instances of nudity have been removed, through a combination of drawn-on bras and panties, zoomed in panels, and over-large sound effects. It is also rated Teen (13+) and is non-shrinkwrapped.
Not only is editing bad in general (and this is some of the most extensive editing done in quite some time), but even worse is who they are marketing it toward. It is a series for adults (or at least late teens), containing violence, sex, and various instances of rape. People have pointed out that this is the same kind of rating used for Shonen Jump titles like One Piece and TenTen is being put on the endcaps right next to them. I don't think drawing a bra on someone being raped automatically makes it appropriate for a 13-year-old. I've not read much of the series, but I hear it only gets more troublesome as time goes on, with things such as lesbian sex and some disturbing torture scenes.
This is even more stupid, when taking into account the success of titles like Berserk and Battle Royale in the direct market, and the strong sales of Negima everywhere. Negima was originally going to edited, but the decision was reversed after fans got wind of it. This could have been a successful title with the adult market, but instead they'll alienate those people with censorship and market it to an audience for which it still isn't appropriate.
If you'd like to see before and after images, you can visit: FIGHT: DC CMX - The Campaign for Uncensored Tenjho Tenge. I haven't looked at this yet, but I'm guessing it is NOT worksafe. Actually there is a textual list of edits on ListerX.
Personally, I'd urge everyone to boycott this title until CMX gets its act together. It has been suggested that people who bought it unawares to try return it to wherever they bought it. A lot of people are also sending letters to the editor here:
Jake Tarbox-- Editor
CMX Manga
DC Comics / Wildstorm Productions
888 Prospect Ave., Suite 240
La Jolla, CA 92037
Posts are starting to pile into the CMX message board, but no one from DC aparantly ever posts anything on their own borad. Not they've responded to anyone in any capacity that I know of yet.
If you'd like to see the three huuuge thread on AoDVD, you can look here, here, and here.
I really think DC may have set themselves up for a fall here. CMX is just getting started as an imprint and so far hasn't had as much overall success as other newcomers like Del Ray. This is going to cause a huge backlash from fans and also make people extremely suspicious about any new titles they decide to come out with. It certainly hasn't been helped by their total silence on the matter.
It's a shame, since I've heard their other titles have been pretty well done so far. I've been meaning to at least check out Swan myself, but this dampens my enthusiasm toward CMX in general. If they wanted a title for teens, they should have licensed a title that was meant for them instead of trying to shoehorn something else. I myself wasn't going to buy TenTen, but I've really been enjoying Dark Horse's release of Berserk. I can only imagine what might have happened to it if CMX had been the one to release it...
Not only is editing bad in general (and this is some of the most extensive editing done in quite some time), but even worse is who they are marketing it toward. It is a series for adults (or at least late teens), containing violence, sex, and various instances of rape. People have pointed out that this is the same kind of rating used for Shonen Jump titles like One Piece and TenTen is being put on the endcaps right next to them. I don't think drawing a bra on someone being raped automatically makes it appropriate for a 13-year-old. I've not read much of the series, but I hear it only gets more troublesome as time goes on, with things such as lesbian sex and some disturbing torture scenes.
This is even more stupid, when taking into account the success of titles like Berserk and Battle Royale in the direct market, and the strong sales of Negima everywhere. Negima was originally going to edited, but the decision was reversed after fans got wind of it. This could have been a successful title with the adult market, but instead they'll alienate those people with censorship and market it to an audience for which it still isn't appropriate.
If you'd like to see before and after images, you can visit: FIGHT: DC CMX - The Campaign for Uncensored Tenjho Tenge. I haven't looked at this yet, but I'm guessing it is NOT worksafe. Actually there is a textual list of edits on ListerX.
Personally, I'd urge everyone to boycott this title until CMX gets its act together. It has been suggested that people who bought it unawares to try return it to wherever they bought it. A lot of people are also sending letters to the editor here:
Jake Tarbox-- Editor
CMX Manga
DC Comics / Wildstorm Productions
888 Prospect Ave., Suite 240
La Jolla, CA 92037
Posts are starting to pile into the CMX message board, but no one from DC aparantly ever posts anything on their own borad. Not they've responded to anyone in any capacity that I know of yet.
If you'd like to see the three huuuge thread on AoDVD, you can look here, here, and here.
I really think DC may have set themselves up for a fall here. CMX is just getting started as an imprint and so far hasn't had as much overall success as other newcomers like Del Ray. This is going to cause a huge backlash from fans and also make people extremely suspicious about any new titles they decide to come out with. It certainly hasn't been helped by their total silence on the matter.
It's a shame, since I've heard their other titles have been pretty well done so far. I've been meaning to at least check out Swan myself, but this dampens my enthusiasm toward CMX in general. If they wanted a title for teens, they should have licensed a title that was meant for them instead of trying to shoehorn something else. I myself wasn't going to buy TenTen, but I've really been enjoying Dark Horse's release of Berserk. I can only imagine what might have happened to it if CMX had been the one to release it...
