How Viz Media Censored Mega Man NT Warrior | WWW Arc

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In a new series, I'll take a look at all of the localization differences between Rockman.EXE and Megaman NT Warrior.
This video focuses on Episodes 1 - 9, what I call the WWW Arc.

[@OtakuJuanma2]

Today I learned the swords of NT warrior were censored. I genuinely thought they were intended to be energy blades of sorts.

[@LazyMaybe]

They are energy blades, they just have a harder outline in the original.

[@OtakuJuanma2]

@@LazyMaybe You know what I meant...

[@MASJYT]

Can't have any pointy edges on your laser swords, make them round and put some bubble wrap if possible, or else kids might get traumatized.

[@phorchybug3286]

@@MASJYT I never found blades traumatizing. The idea of a magic energy blade is actually kinda cool, too. I just don't like it when they're made too bright.

[@KnightedSilverWolf]

THATS PART 2. CHEATER OR TIME TRAVELER

[@AlonzoTompkins]

The scene with Torchman losing his arm makes it seem like he’s profusely bleeding with those sparkle blurs instead of really censoring it.

[@its_heeho]

Based Strange Journey pfp

[@DiceFTW273]

Ironically it looks more violent.

[@nicksrandomreviews]

Sometimes the censorship in anime makes things worse like that. I remember the 4Kids version of Dragon Ball Kai recolouring all blood to look like dirt, grime, and sweat, and in many cases it made everyone's injuries look a lot more painful, which is definitely not what they were going for.

[@RapiDEraZeR]

Fuck yeah. Bleed to fucking death!

[@burnum]

It looks like he's leaking data.

[@VGamingJunkieVT]

6:09 "We'll censor it by making it look like he's bleeding"

[@banditkade]

Fun fact about Brad Swaile: he also voiced Light Yagami in Death Note's dub. "Hikari" means "Light" in Japanese, for those who don't know.

[@firepuppies4086]

Granted, the Hikari name is just a reference to Dr Light

[@NebLleb]

He also voiced Amuro Ray from Mobile Suit Gundam. Just thought you should know.

[@whichcache2517]

He was also Yusaku Godai in episodes 37-96 in Maison Ikkoku, and Mousse in Ranma 1/2. I dunno, I just think that's cool.

[@MikeBSc]

@@NebLleb Don't forget the other Gundam series: Quatre - Gundam Wing Dearka - Gundam Seed Auel - Gundam Seed Destiny Setsuna - Gundam 00

[@BriNathanCollins]

This was such an nostalgic video and I personally need you to finish the series. Thank you for putting in the time to make this video so thorough! You Rock Man!

[@Edu_Gamer-cu8tx]

Wow A pun? You've got some guts, man!

[@BriNathanCollins]

@@Edu_Gamer-cu8tx yeah I'll be a dad in 5 months so I'm practicing my dad jokes.

[@otakutoongamer5616]

@@BriNathanCollins congratulations 🎊

[@mesousagaby740]

I wonder if you'll ever cover Mega Man Star Force? That one...is such a nightmare to try to cover it's Frankenstine's Monster-esque approach the english dub tried to do.

[@genmuzero808ify]

Same. But Star Force's english dub was pretty good. They barely censored anything.

[@RetroNerdyGamer]

Honestly, Star Force's dub was actually pretty decent, but I wish they would've finished it at least, it was REALLY good. I also like the songs they did for Sonia's stuff. It was generic pop music yes but it was actually pretty good, better imo than what they did with the original just playing the main theme song over and over from what I remember. And they actually kinda fit the theme of the game/show.

[@HenshinFanatic]

​@@RetroNerdyGamer heart wave and kizuna wave are infinitely better than whatever trash music the localization used.

[@Medachod]

​@@HenshinFanatic And it is completely fine to think that way. Nerdy here simply prefers the localized music.

[@TwilightWolf032]

6:26 But why? We already know it's tea... the dialogue specifies it's tea... where they afraid children would mistake it for coffee and try to drink it? Like coffee is alcohol, or something like that?

[@jadedheartsz]

Probably.

[@rokotigersgamingclaws9554]

Gutsman getting hit by that mini-bomb has got to be considered dirty fighting for Navis! Then again, maybe it's a reference to Gutsman being weak to bombs in the classic games.

[@tribopower]

I am kinda glad western respects anime more nowadays to keep the original japanese songs untouched, hope they start respectng the script too

[@zandershadowbane]

Honestly I'm on the other side of the fence about the Japanese songs. I prefer when the songs get translated. Lyrics are one of the most important parts of a song, and if you can't understand it, then you lose half the meaning.

[@imafireIsFroent]

Out of all the changes, my favorite was the announcer saying the logout sequence. It is my favorite thing from the dubs.

[@johnbatista1877]

tourch man arms actually seem like its bleeding data wich seem cool

[@mechamonster]

there's also changes made with the dialog. yai eats steak from texas in episode 4. and who can forget "staring contest!"

[@superbodoque7860]

Jesus, imagine if there was a Mega Man Zero anime made around this time that doesn't stem away from the tone the og games set and they had to localize it

[@ThePigKnight]

The logout/login voice and energy swords were an improvement

[@Hollow_Tim]

No they weren't. Wtf. The voice sounds terrible and the swords look more like an actual sword (what kind of braindead idiot censors an energy sword in the first place)

[@edgarlozada3858]

With this video I met your channel. Please I would love that you do more episodes.

[@crashban4t.f.s.b783]

9:59:Tie from digimon has seen better days.

[@halo3boy1]

ColoredMan name changed makes the most sense to me

[@summermermaidstar756]

"Removed Kilometers" ah dub team

[@MsSlagar]

11:04 talk for youself, lmao

[@thomaspurol9322]

It was strawberry milk not lemonade

[@tylercamp8808]

Fun fact is that removing the point of impact is a general means to censor violence, due to the subject being more controversial for children in the United States. Other anime have gone through similar problems in their censorship such as Digimon.

[@RemiScutlet]

Thats a concering most viewed Spike

[@RagnamanEXE]

I think part of the reason the buster aimed at the screen was removed had to do with America removing such things for a time due to a movie showing that and being a hot issue for a good while.

[@evanbennett8579]

They had better edits than 4kids

[@RetroNerdyGamer]

I'll admit there's some weird changes but I also feel the dub removed some awkward moments like iirc when Megaman was deleted there's just silence as it cuts to like multiple characters and I feel that moment when they added lines there in the dub made the scene way less awkward and jank. but then in axess you have them censoring Lan getting hit by Shademan but the next cut you see Lan on the floor like how'd you end up there??? Edit: the two VA's Lan had is interesting because they actually sound like they could be the same person as I don't hear any difference from them lol, maybe just different tones? It's crazy because I legit could not catch that on the DVDs.

[@AlexandraStubbs]

Ohh this is so very awesome!

[@jeffersonpontsler5665]

I’m a big fan of the Megaman games and episodes for both battle network and starforce

[@venezuelanomori15]

Random unnecessary censorship is something not many of us will ever understand

[@Neoroxas616]

I know this is an old show that was aired back in the 2000s but man these censorships frustrate me for some reason and I shouldn’t feel that way lol

[@Oriana_leung]

2:00 Piece of Peace never had a full song T-T, other than one Live.

[@mkonji8522]

I saw the Japanese version when I was younger since it's where I'm from. The English one looks so different and colorful. Feels strange.

[@exodosthesoulbanish]

Jack in is not a phrase that's aged well.

[@ZekeyX2004]

Do Part 2 PLZ!!!!

[@MissJenca]

It's supposed to be strawberry milk, isn't it? Not lemonade? I know the english said milk, but I don't know enough japanese to know if they call it 'milk' or just a vauge 'drink'.

[@MrOmegatronic]

It is milk, yes. They apparently have more flavoured milks over there, compared to just normal and chocolate milk in most parts of NA.

[@cashnelson2306]

do you think arc is an acronym for something...? It's just 'arc,' not ARC

[@vantia5448]

i assumed the swords are blurred cause western kids have tendencies to learn how to shank

[@hasheeems1989]

where can I watch the JP one ?

[@Blaman44]

Coloredman would have a hard time living in America

[@tbb2953]

I wanted to watch these shows for how long, do you know how I could watch them?

[@ajflink]

I think the only English dubs that I enjoyed were Code Geass, Spice & Wolf, and Dragon Ball Z (only because I found Goku's voice in Japanese to be very distracting for some reason).

[@Thornbloom]

Calling it a P.E.T. instead of PET is an egregious sin.

[@RobertStacker]

Part 2 soon?

[@yosukerechain2000]

*Megaman NT like Megaman X8. I like it play Nintendo GameCube.*

[@kei-tronbell7114]

Me too

[@blazingsonic]

Now imagine if Capcom announces they are bringing NT Warriors to DVD and Bluray redubbed and uncensored.

[@d4c_reznor470]

It’ll never not be funny how the dub makes everyone sound like teenagers in a Disney sitcom despite being fifth graders

[@DrPhoenixJKZ]

Agree, even including Aquaman EXE and Iceman EXE, who originally have baby voices!

[@markmessi9020]

Yeah I feel that's why I never got into it when I was a kid 😂

[@Gittykitty]

I know right, it's so jarring.

[@jadedheartsz]

@@DrPhoenixJKZ I don't like baby voices so I was fine with those changes

[@Mojo1356]

Yeah- the casting for this show was a mess. Between that, some of the worst cases of censorship I’ve seen for an anime from anything not 4kids, and a horrid script that resulted in said censorship, the dub for this is freaking mess.

[@Bunni89]

WHY DID THEY ADD A TEABAG WHEN THEY WERE DRINKING TEA WTF did they somehow think the tea wasn't tea enough

[@1997811isaac]

I guess VIZ media wanted to ‘Americanise’ the scene, based on their belief that one cup tea bags are common in the U.S instead of using a tea pot, which is common in Japan.

[@meatbleed]

@@1997811isaac I think they wanted to make sure it was obviously tea and not coffee

[@damienthonk1506]

​@@meatbleedBut like... why??? you can show coffee on kid's TV 😊

[@Bunni89]

Some of these changes are so bizarre, like adding pixels trailing off a severed arm that was already pixellated just makes it look more like blood! And I know that other dubs censored swords to energy swords but why change something thats ALREADY an energy sword to look more like star wars?? You'd think they'd wanna avoid copyrighted stuff...

[@jeremyriley1238]

True, but from what I heard, most of the changes were done to keep the dub as sensitive as possible, as it aired a year and a half after the 9/11 attacks, which was the reason FireMan was renamed TorchMan, and most scenes involving the buster aiming were cut, along with the cuts requested to comply with Kids WB's standards and practices.

[@Ai_M3talloidX7]

@@jeremyriley1238 Gud ol' "Broadcasting Standards and Practices" amirite?

[@Zurenza]

@@jeremyriley1238 Half correct, the US has always had a thing against Gun's or "Gun-Like" things in "Kid's Show's". Several early episodes of Pokemon were completely unaired in america because of that. But also, the Columbine School Shooting happened in 1999 and was still fresh in america's mind. So around 1999-2006, guns were pretty much banned from all Animations, even Toonami(which airs with Adult Swim) had several anime censored, even though those anime weren't made for kids. Edit: Correction, guns are still pretty much a No Go in animation in america. Luckily it's no Longer TV that broadcasts most Dub, people usually watch Dub on streaming sites now and there's very few TV networks that still air Anime.

[@jadedheartsz]

@@Zurenza actually it was just one episode of Pokemon that was unaired in America because of gun violence(though apparently 4Kids did receive the episode as clips of it are shown during the Pokerap). Guns were actually shown in series like Batman the animated series and more realistic looking guns were going to be in Beware the Batman until the Aurora shooting at a showing of Dark Knight Rises happened.

[@Kurotaisa]

@@Zurenza Funny, kids can see guns in school but god forbid they see them in TV

[@megametexe5129]

As a kid I always thought the sword battle chips were more like lightsabers or other laser swords so the blurring effect didn't bother me. I would even argue that the elec sword used at 3:20 looks better with the glow in the effect.

[@melody3741]

I always imagined elecswords as yellow, in the game they move too fast to see…

[@RyouKaguraTV]

3 things I’ve noticed: 1.) The swords getting censored makes them more like energy swords, which kinda fit the cyberspace setting of the anime. 2.) Gutsman getting minibombed on the crotch is funny to me 3.) the “Gril” text on the poster is actually “Griffith”, which was a car TVR made back then. It was one of their popular models

[@springssprangyard8278]

Honestly, Fireman's arm leaking voxels makes it look metal af, way cooler lmao

[@yoshimasterleader]

Its funny they felt like they needed to tone down the violence from or inflicted on essentially digital characters in a fictional world. That is twice removed from reality! Three if you count the fact that it's a cartoon. I really don't get censoring the Mega Buster shooting the screen. It's a arm cannon that looks nothing like an actual gun. I do believe the glow effect on the swords were done to give it a more "cyber" look to it.

[@jadedheartsz]

Keep in mind this dub originally aired shortly after 9/11 so no dubbing studio wanted to take any chances here.

[@RebelTrooper543]

the no guns pointed at camera was, I think, either an FCC thing or at the very least, a network thing. You can find Bruce Timm talking about it when working on Batman the Animated Series.

[@michaelmiceli1931]

@@RebelTrooper543 Pretty sure it's a network decision. Far as I know, the FCC haven't relaxed their laws but shows are experiencing fewer censorships.

[@TheJjcczz]

This aired in the US in 2002 so 1 year after 9/11 and 3 years after the Columbine shooting. As a result violence and anything gun related in kids programming came with heavy restrictions. It also why as time passed and people moved on some restrictions were relaxed

[@jadedheartsz]

@@TheJjcczz yeah Transformers Robots in Disguise had some scenes edited out due to violence cause of 9/11 and one episode "Spychangers to the Rescue" actually got redubbed after it's first airing to remove references to the MacGuffin device potentially exploding.

[@BriNathanCollins]

Best show from my childhood

[@serPomiz]

personally, I like the "logoff" voice I also personally prefer the added effect on the wounds

[@megamanpwn3dmario]

you'd think this was dubbed by 4kids given all the pointless censorship, good lord.

[@el-karasu6070]

Actually what 4Kids did was pretty common for dubs of children's anime back then. It was mostly because of strict BS&P that the networks had and them not quite getting how to market anime to a mainstream audience.

[@dancorneanu9144]

Almost like it was something common for shows of that time. The networks had very strict codes and having less censorship would get your show pulled. The gun thing for example. For some it was banned. for others, show them if used responsibly. They also had the "no show guns pointed at the screen" thing.

[@TheJjcczz]

It wasn’t so much pointless as reactionary this aired 3 years after Columbine and 1 year after the 9/11 attacks. As a result the US imposed stricter standards then relaxed them to a degree as time went on

[@Reymdusk]

While some of these changes were typical 4Kids shenanigans, I actually liked the Login/Logout sounds. It really drove things home when the "System Voice" also said "(Navi) Deleted."

[@Mojo1356]

And you know what the worst part is? 4kids didn’t even do this one.

[@McKnighty]

I don’t understand the pan up being removed. They were just legs. Nothing sexual about it

[@JamesonTylerBynum]

The one thing I like about the dub over the sub is the more vibrant colors. I can’t stand the faded colors in the Japanese dub

[@petergriscom3431]

Honestly, the biggest thing that turned me off this show as a kid was the English VAs making Lan & friends sound like they're in their 30s. I guess they figured the main characters wouldn't sound cool otherwise. Either way, I'm glad I gave the Japanese dub a chance, because this anime is totally worth watching.

[@_V.Va_]

Having an older more experienced voice actor voicing a younger character is better than having a less experienced voice actor just to "fit" the character.

[@d4c_reznor470]

They could have a girl voice the boys, common in anime for both languages

[@RikaRieGaming]

I don't know Lan's 2nd voice fitted him way more imo, but tbh kids nowadays sound older than they look. I don't mind them sounding 30 since my ears won't bleed from hearing annoying high-pitched voices.

[@billmore6486]

Seriously this, I've watched more anime than average person should ever consume and high pitched voices are super annoying.

[@OmegaForte]

That was one reason why I didn't get into the anime back then, and that was when didn't know about subs/dubs. It wasn't until years later I revisited it and enjoyed the original.

[@DreadJoker]

Been watching this show and playing the games since I was 8. Don't regret a minute of it and I'm slowly getting my friends into it now.

[@KnightlyBrosGaming]

Where are you able to watch the shower?

[@nicksrandomreviews]

I legit used the NT Warrior TCG to indoctrinate my friends into Mega Man. Its an excellent gateway drug.

[@AwesomeCardGames]

I enjoyed Mega Man NT Warrior when I was a teenager. I never understood why episodes were not broadcasted in order. Episodes 7 and 8 were broadcasted as "the lost episodes" after the Gospel arc. The official DVDs from Viz have these episodes out of order.

[@Wolf_3125]

I watched NT Warrior as a kid, though it had great moments, but also cringy dialogue. Now that I've been watching the Japanese version with subs, I can't sit through the American version anymore 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Ph4ntom0]

*Reads all of the name changes with nostalgia until....* COLOREDMAN Lmao aight imma logout

[@xBlaster]

The fact that they censored the metric system is such a 4Kids thing to do...

[@jadedheartsz]

well we don't use the metric system in the USA so it does make sense.

[@EphemeralPseudonym]

and they didn't even convert it properly lol, it should have been 100mph and 1 inch to approximate scale while still being easy to understand

[@FrozenDarkVoid]

This type of censorship is absolutely ridiculous

[@emoducky]

I went back to watch this this week and Light's second english voice is the same person who did Light Yagami and everytime he spams battlechips i cant help but giggle thinking it has the same energy as when Light writes names into the notebook!

[@thelastgogeta]

I'll take a battle chip and delete it.

[@emoducky]

Megaman… he..he was.. DELETED

[@mattwolf7698]

For the most part considering that this is a kids anime, these edits aren't horrible, I still think it should have been edited less but at the sametime some TV stations would probably have issues with some of the violence in it so it makes sense.

[@crestfallenhussar895]

huh, I sorta like the dub swords more. Felt like they were radiating power. Which tracks with how op swords were in the Anime.

[@MegaXstream]

Some of these changes are really weird, like the tea bags. Like.. why? xD

[@oriongear2499]

Yeah. Definitely one of the more pointless additions if you ask me.

[@vwr0527]

6:30 censoring the "KM/h" is crazy. "The units are too foreign! The children will be confused!"

[@espurrseyes42]

The least they could've done was use imperial units instead of nothing and implying those were floor numbers.

[@Warrenmitchum]

Normally the dub destroys the anime but these dubs didn’t really hurt it any at all actually.

[@Sh1no_skeleton]

I like japanese version Cause the ost is very fun

[@Synr6ix]

Brad Swaile was more fitting as Lan in my opinion

[@DarkAuraLord]

it's so weird hearing Light Yagami's voice coming from Lan, tbh

[@Kaleidosaur]

I remember loving the NT Warrior series, then I tried to keep going by watching the subbed stuff where the dub stopped, and I couldn't get into it. I felt like the banter between Megaman and Lan was less punchy, or just replaced with the two of them saying each other's names. Is this just me? I didn't give many episodes a try, to be fair.

[@silentwaltz1483]

That is true, I personally liked the dub a lot, cuz of the witty comments which even as you get older, you can still appreciate and even find them funny.

[@salchichabarista]

Whenever there's a discussion of megaman battle network, it's going to be a good time

[@retrogamer6403]

Some of the censorship for this show had to do with 9/11. Things like sword, fire, and even bombs, were triggering so they usually tend to avoid those though they did lax up on some of those as the dub goes on. But yeah, there's a big difference between 4kids and Viz and that Viz will actually localize something while 4kids doesn't see the point in it if it serve no purpose other than being a bigger prop.

[@MasterStacona]

The swords are not censored, they tried to make them look more like laser swords with the blur

[@damienthonk1506]

That's still an unnecessary amount of work done just to make the swords look worse.

[@bluemew123]

While I prefer the shots of MegaMan actually aiming his blaster and the more ‘violent’ bits that the dub cut out, I think I have a certain soft spot for the slightly blurry blades, as it feels more like a proper energy sword that glows and would burn/shock than the uncensored originals that just look like stylized icicles

[@alexlugo7479]

I wish the dub finish the series man love megaman voice so much

[@antonyfelix5662]

Japanese Verison LG Blu ray this case Jill Mullen girlfriends ex engilsh dubbed Blu ray original on HS7MC engilsh dub DVD childhood engilsh Verison Blu ray

[@yousefslimani99]

Wait does also lan and megaman English voice actors voiced themselves on battle network double team DS?!

[@DarknessGuard]

Plenty of reasons why dubs SUCK. Not that they even localized the whole series. Didn't they stop half way in the "Access" series anyway.

[@Angelina-bn5nq]

Pola Pottery LG Blu Ray players region B region 2 a good Clay V8600 Tekken collection

[@Alexmaquina2023]

10:15 What do you mean? I don’t remember differences in the animation in the Dub and JP of Sonic X Where are those animations differences??

[@Briter]

Me, who used to watch JPN version as a kid, saw this video: "Woah! Censorship is weird, but there some new animations!" Good to knows. 😆

[@MrDmoney156]

you're lucky you didn't had to suffer like all the american kids had to years ago!

[@willmckean8424]

I never knew they blurred the swords. Seeing as it’s called a “Cyber Sword”, as a kid I assumed it was because the blade was made of energy. Like a lightsaber. Honestly, I prefer the blurred energy sword.

[@Glaugan]

11:03 I consider that a downgrade

[@daviddyer3543]

It's a pity we never got an uncut English version of Megaman NT Warrior.

[@the_gratefulgamer]

All that Pointless censorship of violence and we still ended up with all these school shoutings, 15 years after...

[@Ai_M3talloidX7]

Any good talk about Megaman NT Warrior or Battle Network. Me: _The most relaxed feeling in the world_ Quick question: what is that theme at the end of the video discussion? Edit: "Oh I'm an idiot. It's part of the Megaman Network Transmission OST." 😅

[@rudeondude21]

The oddest thing is based off how the US has become softer maybe censorship should be removed

[@pokenerd99]

That 'Most replayed' feature is kinda sus, you degenerates.

[@masonmartin6743]

Ok but like the dub has a lot of great parts about it and I feel most things they do dont really effect it a lot if at all

[@zeronixtheyoutuber3983]

Sub is better anyway.

[@AzureDragonZX]

I'm sure you've been made aware by now, but that isn't strawberry lemonade in the English version, it's strawberry milk. They say this out loud several times throughout the show.

[@RaikaSTi]

just as bad as what 4kids would have done. smh

[@bobjim4126]

I actually liked the censored versions of the swords

[@ReavinBlue]

This show is such a treasure. I think the brasilian dub I watched came from US too, by the early 00's all animes started coming from english instead of the actual japanese. had no idea how censored this show was.

[@pablocasas5906]

The Latin American Spanish dub was also based on the English dub. The way some anime are dubbed into Spanish is quite interesting, some old shows like Digimon, Dragon Ball, Ranma 1/2 and Sakura Cardcaptor were dubbed directly form the Japanese version, while other dubs like Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Zatch Bell used the 4Kids version as a base. That led to some confusion, for example as a kid I used to watch Ranma and in many episodes the characters were eating onigiri which were translated as rice balls, but in Pokémon the onigiri were referred to as donuts (because they had to translate the U.S. scripts), that always confused me as a kid, and later I found out that both Pokémon and Ranma were dubbed in the same studio

[@Morgil27]

I was a teenager in high school and still pretty new to anime when this aired on tv. I watched it and was like "cool, I remember Megaman from when I was little". I had no idea that this was actually based on a spin-off series of games that were pretty new at the time. Incidently, I didn't start really getting back into the Megaman franchise until later, when I was in college and bought the Anniversary Collection on GameCube.

[@ChrisMS0815]

I am a huge fan of Classic and X series and when I saw this airing I looked at it as the lame Mega Man because I didn't like the designs and it wasn't the Mega Man I was used to. I only grew a little interest in this version of Mega Man when I played Network Transmission on Gamecube which played more like classic 2D Mega Man games. I am excited to really dig into the Battle Network collection thats coming out cause I played half of Battle Network 1 on Wii U and I enjoyed it.

[@Aranesque]

I find hilarious how they censor cool shots of Megaman pointing his blaster to the screen. Why? since when US Americans are so sensitive against guns? Also, changing metric units? really? are they so scared of meters? lol.

[@jadedheartsz]

Keep in mind this anime aired not too long after 9/11 so understandably a lot of TV networks were very gun-shy(no pun intended) about kids shows getting too violent. We don't use the metric system in the USA so changing it in the show makes perfect sense.