Dispelling the myth about the Hot Springs episode

[Sheamon]

Since the issue of a re-edit of Outlaw Star has come up with the recent great news about the Saturday night block, I thought this would be a good time to clear this subject up.

Ever since Outlaw Star showed up on the block exactly one year ago yesterday, there's been all this talk of the 'holy grail' episode, "Hot Springs Planet Tenrai". All I and I'm sure all of you heard for months on end is how this episode is nothing but an excuse to get the characters naked, and how its content was so ridiculous that it could never get aired on TV.

Well, those of you like me who eventually got OS uncut have probably realized the same thing as me. Its hype, nothing more. The episode is tame, extremely tame compared to the hype.

The entire episode an excuse to get naked? Wrong. It explains quite a lot about the casters, which will help explain the events surrounding Gene's caster in the series make much more sense. It also features one of the Anten Seven going after Gene. Its not a useless episode, by any means.

And the content? Its nothing compared to what the hype says. Most of the episode is just like the rest of the series. While its implied that the women are naked, you don't see anything, just like how while you know Melfina's naked while navigating the Outlaw Star, you don't see anything. In the end, you see Aisha's boobs for about 3 seconds, and you get to see the butt of Suzuka, Urt(one of the caster wizards) and a Sylgreen for maybe 20 seconds in total. Thats it. Yes, there's the 'dirty' video, but its not all that dirty. You see her butt for 2 seconds. Outside of that its just like it usually is with Melfina, you don't see anything.

Is it the most 'offensive' episode of Outlaw Star? Thats probably true. But the show's content is NOTHING compared to the hype. If the episode's content is given the same treatment as CB got on this new block, don't only expect the episode to air, but expect only 30 or so seconds of edited footage at the most.

[Dark Spider]

Is that ALL that's in that episode? If that's so, then Toonami could've digitally painted that episode. I find that episode to be somewhat important to Outlaw Star as it explains the Caster Gun. This in turn helps build up the importance of the Caster gun in the end of the series. Now if the episode was like the episode "Demon of the Water Planet" (totally useless to the plot overall), then I wouldn't of cared about it. But, again, I feel that episode is important.

But this is just my opinion...

[Kesh]

Yea, I've downloaded that one episode just to see what it had. And he's right, it's rather tame. Slap some digital bikinis on the girls in the springs, cut the Aisha & Gene breast shot, and digital bikini the dirty video (call it a 'swimsuit' video :wakko: )... voila! Easily placed on Toonami, much less AS.

Most of the episode everyone's already in swimsuits (that's a law of the planet... everyone can only dress in swimsuits), so it's a matter of making the digital bikinis look like those. That might be the tricky bit.

[ohmrbill]

That episode is friggin hilarious!

The problem, though, is that most of the people ARE already wearing swimsuits. Since these swimsuits are drawn much better than the digital swimsuits, the digital ones would look really stupid next to the real ones. Plus, there isn't a whole lot CN can do to hide the, uhhh "more animated" cleavage.

[Zorakfan]

Yeah, the animators at OS had a lot of that silicon based ink.
*BOOOO*

[Evil Dr. Reef]

I've got the DVD, and "Hot Springs Planet Tenrei" is one of the funniest episodes of any Anime I've ever seen. It dosen't really need the semi-nude scenes to be funny, but it would still be nice if CN didn't edit them when, and if, they show it on the new Saturday night block

[Zorakfan]

You mean 'Saturday night Hentai Hormone Hoedown' with your host, Quickdraw McGraw!

"Hyuk hyuk! You can call me Al-kaBONK!"

*BOOOOO*

[Evil Dr. Reef]

*BOOOOOOOOO* indeed.

[BrundelFly]

There's more to the reason of why they didn't show it, and never will show it, than just the nudity. Several of the characters in the episodes are straight up perverts as well as quite a few clevage shots. To a degree, censors in America are more frightened by the "implied" than what's stated. It doesn't take them showing a woman's nude body to convey the same point that one would create, and its because of that fact that CN simply can't air it. It's obvious to anybody that Tenrei provides certain "services" to its clientel, and in a nation where you can get arrested for standing on a street corner and offering your "services", this is simply too taboo.

Later, BrundelFly
Anime Adrenaline (http://www.theadrenaline.cjb.net) - The Ultimate Anime Rush

[Sheamon]

>>Several of the characters in the episodes are straight up perverts

Yet Gene was never exactly portrayed as this perfect man, even in the chopped up Toonami version :P Perverts is nothing that someone over the age of 12 can't handle.

>>as well as quite a few clevage shots.

Which we got from Faye in almost every episode of CB :yawn:

Its obviously not Toonami material, but when you show characters getting high on mushrooms, the red eye stuff, people shot in the head, etc... it hardly seems difficult for something as tame as this episode to be labelled as this ultra offensive and risque thing. Not showing Eva because there's a scene where you see dozens of naked Rei clones that you can't edit out without ruining the story makes sense. Not showing KtMI because removing the nude scenes would result in taking a lot of the 'effect' of the show out makes sense. What doesn't make sense is totally removing an entire episode because it has 2 minutes worth of footage that CAN be toned down without ruining things.

[BrundelFly]

The thing is this, you're making some very broad statements. Censorships dont work on broad statements, and some things are acceptable while others are not. Getting high on mushrooms and violence are two separate issues in the eyes of the censors than straight up sexual content. Cowboy Bebop wasn't shown totally uncut as well, there were some mild changes here and there. Faye in a somewhat skimpy yellow top with a doll body is entirely different than bands of cloth wrapped tightly around the breasts of a bunch of women with more detailed "anatomy". Sorry if I sound graphic on this next part, but for the sake of this discussion I'm just going to say it. Faye doesn't have.... nipples. You do not see them openly or underneath clothing in Cowboy Bebop, at least not on the CN version. The women in Outlaw Star however DO have them, particularly you can see their effect underneath the swimsuits in the hotsprings episodes. I'm sorry if this seems overly detailed, but it is a point worth noting as it can make the difference between what gets edited and what doesn't. Lastly, this discussion isn't really worth having any more, at least not for me for one big reason. I've talked with and watched the work of the Toonami/Adult Swim people for so long that I've grown to trust their judgement in these issues. They're in the actual industry and can make amazingly more informed decisions than any of us. If they say it can't be on there, then I believe them, simple as that.

Later, BrundelFly
Anime Adrenaline (http://www.theadrenaline.cjb.net) - The Ultimate Anime Rush