Game Censorship & Localization General Thread

[whatever I feel like]

Haha, yes, 35 is old enough to go all grey, I agree game. lol how old...

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

You'd think using child soldiers will be bad enough on its own...

 

[Spud]

Might as well ban most japanese games such as Persona

Yes, too many people consider playing Persona a personality rather than realizing that it's just another rpg from Nippon

 

[Celebrate Nite]

Haha, yes, 35 is old enough to go all grey, I agree game. lol how old...

That's just general anime shit. They do this all the time no matter what game it is. By the time people reach the late 20's/early 30's they are having a mid-life crisis while all the lolis and 14-18 year olds are fighting robots in space and having all the fun and shit.

 

[The Demon Pimp of Razgriz]

. and they didn't even fire her for the CP defense shit, just that she was moonlighting.

It was probably more because she was taking sexy pictures with their products.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Except there is literally nothing of "pedo" from Anna's S support, it's just a kid having a crush for the Divine Dragon (the MC who can be either male or female) who is relatively young too. Both of them agree that it's too soon to be lovers in the original script, so it's not even a real romance option.

View attachment 4712646
Screenshots and translation are from me.
I don't know yet about Jean's (the doctor-in-training boy) S support because he went to the bench in my Hard playthrough, so his support with Ryuuru/Alear never went above C.

I would have deep concerns for anyone who honestly believes this is an issue, let alone the difficulty to distinct fiction and reality in the first place. But as usual, it's trannies and other retards who don't play the game pushing this narrative.

I know I'm gonna get swamped with trashcans and puzzle pieces, but let's be honest, that's not a great conversation to depict. It's literally depicting a homosexual adult entering a romantic albeit celibate relationship with a minor. I don't care that Japan does this because I don't live in Japan, but I'm glad that in particular is censored (or a compromise would be making the games M Rated, which Nintendo obviously won't do, but still).

I was watching a Did You Know Gaming video on the Pokemon franchise recently and the reason why Ash's female travel companion has changed so many times (Misty to May and so on) is because the show's writers want to keep the male audience interested by having new female characters for them to perve on. All those characters are underaged girls, it's fucking weird that the adult staff writing a kids' show think like this.

They never really sexualized them though (at least not Misty, I never watched much later in the series). I did like Misty when I was a kid so their tactic worked, my parents didn't want me watching it because of the psychic and magic shit, not because of Misty being inappropriate.

 

[Active User]

or a compromise would be making he games M Rated

This sort of thing I'm pretty sure actually explains a lot of instances of censorship in games that aren't rated M. Japan tends to be stricter on violence and looser on sexuality, while in the west it's the opposite. Companies would rather maintain parity with what age range the game is rated for in each country than not cover up an ass shot or two. Add in that the major console carriers and big retailers tend to refuse to stock AO games and there you go.

Compare how almost every AO rated game is porn with the exception of Hatred, Manhunt 2, and some explicit cuts of already very violent games (with these explicit cuts often including material of a sexual nature anyways) with how Callisto Protocol was outright banned from release in Japan due to violence and a lot of these weird sex sim games that don't even make it overseas in the first place thrive there.

 

[BananaSplit²]

I know I'm gonna get swamped with trashcans and puzzle pieces, but let's be honest, that's not a great conversation to depict. It's literally depicting a homosexual adult entering a romantic albeit celibate relationship with a minor. I don't care that Japan does this because I don't live in Japan, but I'm glad that in particular is censored (or a compromise would be making the games M Rated, which Nintendo obviously won't do, but still).

It's the same dialogue for every support scene regardless the player has chosen Male or Female for the MC, in Fire Emblem Engage. The IS devs definitely focused more on the gameplay parts than the story & characters.

It wouldn't have changed anything if male Alear was present in my screenshots regardless, and that would have otherwise required me to do a whole new playthrough, rank up support levels with the characters up to A, then beat the side map after Chapter 22 (to get the Promise Ring) again. The japanese seem to much prefer femAlear too from the related videos I've seen (in a similar fashion to female Corrin/Kamui from Fates) as her design and voice actor, Aya Endou, strikes people's fancy better.

You can't say to me however that you adopt an anti-censorship stance for artistic/vidya stuff, then claim it's fine for a fictional work to be altered because it contains something (non-explicit in this case too) that you don't personally like, or compare it with real-life issues.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

It's the same dialogue for every support scene regardless the player has chosen Male or Female for the MC, in Fire Emblem Engage. The IS devs definitely focused more on the gameplay parts than the story & characters.

It wouldn't have changed anything if male Alear was present in my screenshots regardless, and that would have otherwise required me to do a whole new playthrough, rank up support levels with the characters up to A, then beat the side map after Chapter 22 (to get the Promise Ring) again. The japanese seem to much prefer femAlear too from the related videos I've seen (in a similar fashion to female Corrin/Kamui from Fates) as her design and voice actor, Aya Endou, strikes people's fancy better.

You can't say to me however that you adopt an anti-censorship stance for artistic/vidya stuff, then claim it's fine for a fictional work to be altered because it contains something (non-explicit in this case too) that you don't personally like, or compare it with real-life issues.

I don't mind certain censorship, I'm not against it on principle. Regardless, I'm not fishing for a debate, that's why I made it clear I think Japan can do as it likes, and is why I suggested a higher rating alternatively. I just don't think a 13 year old should see a positive depiction of romance between a 12 year old and an adult, that's not healthy.

 

[RurkerHivemind]

[3:57-4:00]
HM (heavy breathing) "Dubs-...(loud crash) ...Dubs are for FAGGOTS!... and... a-(indecipherable) Ha Ha! ..AND FAGGOTS GO TO HELL! Ha! ...(another loud crash)... Ha HA HA! HELL!!!" (loud crash) [END OF RECORDING]

- Hayao Miyazaki, award-winning director of Spirited Away in 2004 call to Mel Gibson

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Anyways and in all seriousness, it is a disservice to consumers that they cannot exclusively enjoy localized content without it being re-replicated unfaithfully by saboteurs, however with how the political climate is all media is becoming increasingly scrutinized like this. It will only get worse as localization companies take an active role in censorship after more calls from media to police content they deem culturally insensitive (ironic, I know). Although it can affect subs as much as dubs like the OP shows, any service that meddles in localizations always does it in the worst possible way to suit the tastes of the people who don't even watch it anyways! Those that do are even worse for not realizing how bad the practice inherently is.
Who's there to defend faithful localization anyways, you don't want to end up a pariah, do you? By not participating in good think, you are only propagating bad think.

To build on this, as much as the changes to seem to be coming from a certain type of mind virus much like the same strain that ruined SA and NeoGAF, America-centric localization companies like Funimation et al. always maintained this kind of precedent in the industry because of pressure from whatever culture was dominant at the time. It's definetely not a modern phenomena.

The localization services by companies like Crunchyroll and Funimation are already notorious for changing dubbed lines:
View attachment 3532301

Companies who insist on dumbing down media for American audiences and the people they hire who are hostile to the medium unsurprisingly have problems with Japanese culture and localizations. Who knew?

Notorious scenes replacing Heaven with "The Other Dimension" from the Ocean Dub of Dragon Ball:
View attachment 3532310

Obligatory video of the American localization of Japanese culture in Pokemon:
View attachment 3532133

4Kids was even more egregious:
View attachment 3532109

One Piece:

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Japanese authors put certain things into their work for a reason. Both the consumers and translators that pick up a Japanese work are aware consciously and should be aware of cultural differences but choose to enjoy it faithfully anyways. The norm isn't universal.

Other censorship of language, nudity or religious references:

Code Geass​

Death Note (anime)​

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood​

Nekopara​

Tokyo Ghoul​

One of the worst things about most localizers today is not just the lack of understanding Japanese culture, but the lack of understanding western culture as well. Though, America has always had to change international content for American audiences, censoring certain french erotic novels in the 1940s.

Once upon a time when the cultural power of Christian fundamentalists waned I thought things would settle down to pre-Bush levels for freedom of expression, but apparfently I was wrong. Then the culture shifted and now we're all back at square one again.

Joyous.

I actually think we had it easier during the Bush Era. At least then we didn't have Drag Queen Story Hours or Trannies shitting things up.

I would gladly take the Christian Fundamentalists back if we can get rid of Troons.

 

[The Demon Pimp of Razgriz]

It's literally depicting a homosexual adult entering a romantic albeit celibate relationship with a minor.

There is literally nothing explicit here and the entire incident is treated as light hearted and innocent. You are grasping at straws.

I just don't think a 13 year old should see a positive depiction of romance between a 12 year old and an adult, that's not healthy.

Alear isn't an adult, she's 17. There's only a four year age difference.

 

[SiccDicc]

I don't mind certain censorship, I'm not against it on principle. Regardless, I'm not fishing for a debate, that's why I made it clear I think Japan can do as it likes, and is why I suggested a higher rating alternatively. I just don't think a 13 year old should see a positive depiction of romance between a 12 year old and an adult, that's not healthy.

As said, Alear isn't an adult, but the romance options left unchanged are with adults when Alear isn't one.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

There is literally nothing explicit here and the entire incident is treated as light hearted and innocent. You are grasping at straws.


Alear isn't an adult, she's 17. There's only a four year age difference.

I didn't imply there was anything explicit. But I don't see her age in the wiki mentioned as 17, it says she's 1,000. For once, a character thousands of years old doesn't look 7.

Anyway, even if no age was listed the conversation reveals all you need to know. The girl says she's still just a kid still so they should wait until she's grown up so they can be together.

I'm not grasping at straws, it doesn't even really bother me too much. Do I seem upset? It's all very cartoony and stylized and fantastical, and as you said, not explicit. I just stayed my opinion, which again, included that even if it wasn't censored I could probably overlook it granted it had an appropriate rating.

 

[BananaSplit²]

that's not healthy.

Neither are incestuous relationships that are not uncommon in Fire Emblem games.
And nobody seemed to mind of the possible student-teacher relationships in Three Houses (Byleth the MC being the teacher).

Or in Radiant Dawn, if their rank support ever reaches A level, Mikaya/Micaiah has a romance ending with Saza/Sothe whom she raised since he was a little boy (they got separated at one point before the events of PoR). From a "sibling" relationship to lovers.

デイン王となったミカヤの側近として
また夫として力強く彼女を支えた。
貧しい者たちの力になったといわれる。

As a close retainer of Mikaya (Micaiah) who became Queen of Dion, Saza (Sothe) also strongly supported her as a hubsand. It was said he stood up to the poor folks.

I'm sure there are other examples out there, I'm still rather new to the FE franchise.

People buying into the outrage for Engage, and the translation mod, are dumb bandwagonners who conveniently forget the principle of fiction when it's something that does not please them. They just crave the online clout, for all the pretense of moral grandstanding.

I didn't imply there was anything explicit. But I don't see her age in the wiki mentioned as 17, it says she's 1,000.

Alear/Ryuuru is a Divine Dragon, or to be more exact, a Mamkute (manakete in english) which is a recurrent dragon race in Fire Emblem games, divided into different tribes. They can take the form of a human and choose to reveal their true form when fighting (most often with the help of a special stone). While the stories & details differ between the different FE universes, it's expected of Mamkutes to outlive humans by aging slower by comparison. It's not stated in Engage how they exactly age as Alear went to a thousand-year sleep to recover her injuries after destroying the villain Sombre the first time, although it's mentioned that Veyle looked much different in a span of a millennia.

My personal headcannon is that by the time Alear will reach 18 or 20 in human years, everyone else will be over 60 or already dead as friendship or romance tales between people with large disparities in lifespan do not end fairly well.

I could probably overlook it granted it had an appropriate rating.

It's rated "for teens" fine though. The fact grown ass adults from anglo countries get uncomfortable over mundane portrayals of affection & compliments, and have to censor media initially meant for teens, is both funny and worrying to me.

The recent Engage DLC wave also shown Treehouse can't accept a character being depicted with a fear of women (from a personal trauma, not even out of malice) as that would be somehow too misogynistic. Even if it means missing out a seiyuu joke with Takehito Koyasu who plays the voice of Kagetsu in Engage and Ronkuu/Lon'Qu in Awakening, both swordmasters.


Treehouse are literal babies, I swear.
And too bad the altered english scripts likely carry to other languages, including mine, since it's easier (in hiring someone) to translate from english than directly from japanese.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Neither are incestuous relationships that are not uncommon in Fire Emblem games.
And nobody seemed to mind of the possible student-teacher relationships in Three Houses (Byleth the MC being the teacher).

I only played the English releases, and only up through Shadow Dragon, but never noticed any incest, though I've heard it existed (either it wasn't present in the ones I played or it was missable). Positively depicting that is kinda inappropriate for a T rating too, I think. I know you disagree, but anything available to a child should be scrutinized. I don't see the problem with an M rating for anybody except Nintendo. It's there for a reason.

If the student-teacher relations were among adults then I think only certain people, SJWs I suppose, would complain about that.

Treehouse are literal babies, I swear.

They're pretty bad, yeah. They're the poison in Nintendo's well, seemingly responsible for a lot of the woke shit, and I think they're influencing Nintendo in Japan too.

 

[X Prime]

To be fair to the VA joke, they would have had to remove that part in English simply because it wouldn't work there, unless the two characters had the same VA again.

 

[ZMOT]

To be fair to the VA joke, they would have had to remove that part in English simply because it wouldn't work there, unless the two characters had the same VA again.

depends, anyone who's really interest can look it up and appreciate the in-joke, it's flying over most people's head anyway.

 

[The Zekenator]

I only played the English releases, and only up through Shadow Dragon, but never noticed any incest, though I've heard it existed (either it wasn't present in the ones I played or it was missable). Positively depicting that is kinda inappropriate for a T rating too, I think. I know you disagree, but anything available to a child should be scrutinized. I don't see the problem with an M rating for anybody except Nintendo. It's there for a reason.

If the student-teacher relations were among adults then I think only certain people, SJWs I suppose, would complain about that.

Regarding incest: Their is incest in Fire Emblem 4, aka Genealogy of the Holy War which was a JP game as a plot point for I believe one of the antagonists, though they didn't know at the time of the act, so take that how you will. The other notable instance of incest is in Fates if Male Corrin marries Azura who is his first cousin iirc, even if in 2 out of 3 routes they can't possibly know this and when it is known they just kind of ignore it.

Regarding student-teacher relationships: You can start to form relationships with 16 year olds as a young adult teacher, teacher who is 20. The dynamic shifts later after a 5 year timeskip (which is when you can actually marry anyone), so it depends on at what point do you care about this sort of thing. The main character is a big authority figure for the rest of the cast though so it depends on how much you care about that sort of thing. This isn't some seedy 25 year old dates 13 year old thing.

 

[The Demon Pimp of Razgriz]

I know you disagree, but anything available to a child should be scrutinized.

These games aren't really targeted at children, but older teens, and, lets face, adults who have been playing Fire Emblem for years at this point. Most children wouldn't play through your average Fire Emblem game anyway. The difficulty alone would probably scare them off.

 

[BananaSplit²]

They're pretty bad, yeah. They're the poison in Nintendo's well, seemingly responsible for a lot of the woke shit, and I think they're influencing Nintendo in Japan too.

The one thing I've noticed from Nintendo as of late is that their games no longer explicitly mention "female/male" when you're prompted to select or customize a character, regardless of the language. It's less obvious than the タイプ - (Body)Type shit seen in Capcom, Squeenix and From Software (Monster Hunter Rise, Dragon Quest 10 Offline, Elden Ring) but it's still there nonetheless.


Not exactly a deal-breaker in order to enjoy the (bing bing wahoo) games themselves, but it's still worth to pay attention for the things to come.