Crazy shrine maiden anime Kannagi has been censored for what lagged (but extremely high quality) satellite broadcaster BS-J deems unacceptable utterances, with the words replaced by a bleep in classic fashion.
The profane word in question is “S**y”, referring to the lately troubled electronics giant of PlayStation fame, and it is used twice in the (obscene in the eyes of many) phrase “It’s a S**y”, occurring in a brief discussion of DVDs on the show.
You can hear the lines here and here, taken from the BS-J and Tokyo MX versions of episode 7.
However, the word in question is reproduced visually, uncensored, in the above frame, and apparently appeared audibly in previous episodes intact.
Although it seems quite possible the company in question has fallen so far out of favour that it is now considered a dirty word, some also speculate that the various corporate connections (keiretsu) involved, or simple demands of sponsorship, may have provoked this petty reaction.
A recent broadening of what can form an acceptable subject for copyright may also be at issue.
This broadcaster also has a reputation for censoring fences…
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Some things are just going too far...
Anime is going to end up how music is here.... Ah! Retarded.
what country?
┐(ﾟдﾟ)┌ nyoro~n
Where is the source of this news?
BS-J's episode 7 of Kannagi.
Well, this sort of stuff happened a lot on Hayate no Gotoku =p
Ya but thats because its a parody anime and its usually funny :P
wow, S**y is now a filthy word. Cant wait to use it!!
Well, to be fair, this is the first time in Anime I've ever seen a company or corporation name being spelled correctly.
Usually, all animes change something in the name.
Pocky, for instance, appears a lot on animes, and it's always something else... like Pucky, Packy, Pocka, etc
LOL Pizzahut anyone?
I thought the censoring of real life companies and products was common anime practice...
They aren't censored, but parodied. In this case the original airing/production seems to have been by a company with ties to S**y, whereas BS-J felt that mentioning such a company in polite company was out of the question.
Couldn't it also be that rather than considered obscene they're worried that the slogan might be considered subliminal advertising? Not that I'd find that reason enough, mind you, I'm not defending BS-J.
Lucky Star did that to Gundams...>_>
So did Haruhi, if I remember correctly.
I thought they'd have to give some money to Sony if they said their name.
what for!? It's like Kannagi endorsing Sony & advertising to fans.
Don't they censor practically every brand name on Japanese TV? You always see things like tshirt logos and drink bottles getting the treatment...
A-1 Pictures is owned by Sony so I'm not surprised if A-1 used the parent company's name in their anime.
I think it is a matter of sponsorship/TV advertisement. Correct me if I'm wrong but if you compare the cost of animation production to TV advertisement, isn't the former more cheaper than the latter?
I think BS-J's censoring of the name is only to protect their interest. This way, it would prevent some companies to "cheat" the broadcast companies and have maximum exposure at the broadcaster's expense. I don't about Tokyo MX though...I guess they are just that daring.
and I think BS-J forgot to censor the label on the Blu-Ray lol
So they beep the word but leave the video completely unedited? XD The disc case in the video can't be left without notice. I wonder what they were thinking.
Tonight on TV they are going to say....
...
Sony.
How uncouth!
i loled its a so--- dived by 0
I loved this joke/mention of sony, it's retarded to censor it but oh well, I understand it's an advertising matter
I loved this joke too, probably the best one of the episode.
Sony: one of the 7 dirty words you can't say on TV.
Seriously, I remember in Lucky Star, they'd censor names of animes, games , & other stuff that was trademarked. They censor it out so they don't have to pay for using it but still get away with enough of it (I think).
testing...
sony
sony
s o n y
testing done.
is that the word?
"It's a Sony!*
Most probably is the copyright thing. If you want use a name that is registered then you must have permission to use it first.
I'd say it might just be done for the sake of "joking" about censorship. I remember in Genshiken 2 they censored Hare Hare Yukai and Motteke! Sailor Fuku! to keep them (jokingly) ambiguous.
I thought it was normal on anime series to make a parody of the name of the company for sponsoring issues.
In many series I've watched brands like Somy, Tamaha, Caca-cola; along with bleeps sound or any other sound when they mention it.
It weird to me the fact that is not vissually altered and that they have say it before on prevoius episodes.
"It's a Sony!" XD
"It's a Sony!"
Haha, it cracks me up every time.