Wednesday, March 09, 2005

PW covers 'Tenjho Tenge' uproar

Publishers Weekly (subscription required) checks in on the kerfuffle over the censoring editing of Tenjho Tenge by DC Comics/CMX, making note of a campaign by upset readers, and the publisher's silence on the issue:
Many complaining fans are annoyed because of CMX promotional material, which claims that it offers "pure manga -- 100% the way the original Japanese creators want you to see it." But Japanese publishers are far more casual about depicting nudity, partial nudity and sexual content than U.S. publishers.

Random House found that out last year when they tried to remove nudity from the Negima series published by Del Rey Manga and set off protest. Del Rey backed down and now offers a shrink-wrapped and uncensored Negima that seems to please everyone. A spokesperson for DC declined to comment.