75 replies to this topic

[チビゴク]

FINALLY got a reply.


Anyways. Here yah go (Very long post)
(Slight note. I'm quoting my messedges inside the quote. So instead of bold, you'll see my questions in quotes)

Dear John,



I recently received your email regarding Sonic X.



It was forwarded to me because I’m the producer of the 4 Kids version of Sonic X.



I’ve pasted your message below and I’ll respond in bold.



Thanks very much for your interest in the show.  Your future comments and questions are welcome.



Sincerely,



-=Name Erased for protective reasons=-

Producer

Sonic X

Hello, I'm a fellow fan of the series known as, "Sonic X", and the rest of the games and such. I have a few questions protaining to this series. If you cannot answer the question, please skip them.



First off, I was wondering why 4Kids used their  own voice actors over the offical Sega VA's? Now,  don't get me wrong, most of the voices fit fine, but it puzzles me why 4KidsEntertainment wouldn't choose them, especially with one issue which I know you don't want to talk about.

Well I’m not sure what the issue you mention is, but there’s only one reason why we didn’t use the original game actors:  they live in California.  Our production facility is in New York.  Flying them back and forth month after month wasn’t feasible, and we didn’t want to do a phone patch from West Coast studios when we have studios here. It’s as simple as that.

Second. Many fans are supportive of the fact you guys are releasing uncut dvds for many series. Many fans, including me, have been wondering if there's any plans for a possible uncut release of Sonic X.  While some may agree on your decisions for the editing, others may not agree.

I’m not aware of any plans at this time.

Third off. What was the decision on changing gun noises to laser noises? I understand you can't really have guns, but what's the point of having shotgun rifles shooting bullets with laser sounds, along with machine guns, despite the fact many kids I've talked to (which are around the target audience) knew what it was.

The decision to alter weapon sounds comes from Fox.  The people at Standards and Practices there (often referred to as “the censors”) don’t want to encourage weapon use.  Neither do we.  But sometimes there’s no way to delete weapons from the stories. So what they ask us to do is to make the weapons appear to be things that are not available to viewers.  The reason:  they don’t want young viewers copying on-screen behavior to tragic result. So when a character shoots, say, a shotgun, we change the color, shape and/or sound of the gun, and we may make it shoot laser beams instead of bullets.  In other words, we try to make sure that when (especially) very young children go looking for the fantasy weapon they’ve seen on a show, they won’t find one.

Fourth. I was curious about something for awhile. Can you explain (if

allowed) how the editing process is done in 4Kids studio. This would be something of interest to anyone.

I’m not sure what you mean by this question.  Can you clarify?

And finally, 5th. Recently, TMS is animating 26 more episodes of Sonic X, which are scheduled a tentative April release, according to TVTokyo's Staff Member. Out of curiosity, Does 4Kids have any plans of airing these episodes?

Yes!  Very soon, we’ll be going into production on the brand new Sonic episodes.  I believe they’ll start airing this Fall...so keep watching!

And thankyou for your time. A friend gave me your email, so I hope this is alright.

I hope I answered your questions.  Feel free to write anytime.

Thanks,

        John "ChibiGoku"

[shakidna]

Dam, you should have asked something about the BGM. Such as if they just never bought it or replaced it in order to shorten/cut some scenes.

[チビゴク]

I'm ganna email her some more questions later on. So I'll make sure to include that.

[kazuya prower]

is it the japanese eps. or the dub eps. will air this fall? I hope they meant the dub.

[Mikey]

I think they ment the dub...


And also you should email them one more time, and ask them two things.

Why is Sonic X one once a week instead of every day.

And Why haven't they come out with any action figures/alot more merchandise besides 7-year-old shirts???

[kazuya prower]

OMFG!!!!!! THE NEW SERIES ARE REAL!!!! I HOPE THAT IT IS RELEASED IN LATIN-AMERICA!!!!

They'll eventually will. Like the old episodes, the new episodes will go international as well. Who agrees with me that the French dub of the new episodes will come before the english dub?

[sonicka]

Yes! Official conformation at last wooooo!

Congrats on two repies chibigoku, you've given me back my faith in responces.

[Kevin]

And finally, 5th. Recently, TMS is animating 26 more episodes of Sonic X, which are scheduled a tentative April release, according to [TVTokyo's Staff Member. Out of curiosity, Does 4Kids have any plans of airing these episodes?

Yes!  Very soon, we’ll be going into production on the brand new Sonic episodes.  I believe they’ll start airing this Fall...so keep watching!

Well this pretty much confirms the new epsiodes. This is great news indeed.

Edited by kevintheman, 25 January 2005 - 12:44 PM.

[Mahzes]

I think its ridiculus that guns are changed to lasers. DBZ and YYH had plenty of gun use in the edited and parents didnt give a jack squat.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Those shows are aimed at older kids than Sonic X.

I hate to say this, but, when it comes to most of the cuts and edits, 4Kids are just doing their job.

They don't CHOOSE whether to cut or edit something. There's laws that force them to cut scenes containing certain things, etc. To leave those things in would mean the show would have to be given a higher age rating (most likely PG13), and that means they wouldn't be allowed to show it on Saturday mornings anymore.

If they showed Sonic X after 9PM, they'd be missing their target audience (which is, face it, kids). Sega would WANT the show to be suitable for young kids, because they are the most impressionable, and the most likely to bug their parents to buy Sonic stuff after watching the show. So basically, it has to be suitable for little kids.

Of course, that's what uncut DVDs are for. And the VA excuse is lame, and not using the original BGM is inexcusable.

[kazuya prower]

also ask why do they remove the words on the signs instead of renaming the signs.

[Mahzes]

WAIT. A. Second.

Ah crud, there's different people for every show? Cause I was just about to say HOW did One Piece get away with real guns and stuff (WHICH I'd like to add uses HUMANS) and Sonic's gets cut? And how is it that the Winx Club gets away (in fact abuses) issues about dating and love while Sonic X gets it ALL cut out ? (I'm mostly thinking SonAmy-ness... I know KnuxRouge is kept for like half part).

... OH! Oh, oh, oh, if you send another one, you NEEEEEEED to ask what the freaking HECK is with Gamma's voice.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Again, One Piece is aimed at older kids. (I think)

Also, there's no game sales depending on the success of the show among little kids. Plus, I don't know much about One Piece, but aren't guns etc an almost essentail part of the plot?

But wait... isn't One Piece on Satruday mornings too?

I dunno, I'm confused. I guess the age rating determines exactly what is tolerable or not.

They obviously cut the profile cards for time. God knows about the sign blanking.

Anyhow, I doubt we'll ever know how 4Kids minds work.