Censorship: The consequences of going mainstream

[Lt Colonel Summers]

We all have our own opinion on what Touhou will evolve into if it ever goes mainstream.
However, we all overlooked something that plagued all mainstream medias: censorship.
Simply put: if the series ever goes mainstream, some of its elements will be censored in certain countries' versions, while the same elements may get it a total ban in some countries.

Here's a few examples that I believe may be possible:
Censored in South Korea: the South Koreans still hates most Japanese elements, including any depiction of Shinto. Reimu will become something other than a Shinto miko if mainstream Touhou is released in South Korea.
Banned in China: China bans all depiction of non-Chinese supernatural creatures, as evident with every movies or series that featured ghosts and/or aliens (although I think giant monsters like Godzilla are not considered supernatural). The mere mentioning of Youkai will get Touhou banned in China.

So what do you think? Should the series go mainstream and get plagued by censorship, or should it stay as a Doujin series and avoid the problem of censorship?

[the old guy]

This question is null, because it wouldn't be the Touhou Project because ZUN is Japanese, and a lot of the Touhou Project is inspired by Japanese Myth and Folklore. So it would be very, very different if it was made in somewhere other than Japan. The only thing that would remain the same is Marisa and the SDM (But Meiling would not be Chinese if this is in China, she would probably be Japanese instead, ironcly).

[N-Forza]

Yeah, this strikes me as an unnecessary concern since it probably isn't going to happen in the first place.

Besides, I'm pretty sure some of the comics already got Korean translations and I didn't hear of anything that was extracted.

[Tengukami]

Touhou "going mainstream" has been the boogieman of the fandom since its inception. You might as well ask what party ZUN would join if he ever ran for office.

[aListers]

I think ZUN likes being king of doujins. Sure more touhou fans would be better but when touhou was undisputedly at the top I think things were good enough. We don't need to be mainstream - we can keep doing our own thing and still be popular without having to sell out.

[R.P.]

In my opinion Zun would likely never let someone modify or censor his works, after all is the same guy who don't let his fan make games that use the stories of the original ones without his permission, I see him (and I may be wrong mind you) as very protective toward his creations and creativity, so I think that if Zun see that being Touhou mainstream limits his creativity or forces him to modify and eliminate part of the story he would return to the doujin world

[Toushiro Scarlet]

I'm Chinese, and I can tell you that Touhou is crazily popular in China. It's not censored in anyway.

I also don't think ZUN will ever let Touhou get mainstream... Because I'm sure Yukari wouldn't like it.

[Shadowlupus]

I'm Chinese, and I can tell you that Touhou is crazily popular in China. It's not censored in anyway.

Didn't China banned all depictions of supernatural creatures outside of their own? I have read that Ghostbusters film is also banned in China for that reason to boot.

[aUsernameIsFineToo]

Didn't China banned all depictions of supernatural creatures outside of their own?

Yes, but as we all know Touhou youkai aren't exactly a faithful depiction of actual youkai :V

[the old guy]

Also Touhou is a doujin series and is probably not subject to Chinese law.

[Clarste]

I believe the official Touhou comics are licensed in China.

Anyway, point is that Asian countries are incredibly accustomed to Japanese pop culture at this point and are very open to anime in a general sense.

Edit: Not to mention that the style of translation they often use in China and other countries is far more literal than the English translations, so in that sense they're more faithful to the originals than we are.

[N-Forza]

Considering how much of Touhou lore (and Japanese lore for that matter) has roots in China, that's not much of a surprise.

[Hello Purvis]

You might as well ask what party ZUN would join if he ever ran for office.

I'm more concerned about what band he's going to join. It should be Queen, but it'll probably be something like Journey.

[MANoBadAssGar Jr.]

Won't Touhou Project will eventually become mainstream(widely popular trend) while still being a doujin? i think it's not something that's really avoidable.
If you mean ZUN selling Touhou rights to some official commercial studio, then thats scares me i can even murder ZUN himself i think, i dont know, i guess i would probably :derp: or better, execute him before he does that
Too much official "too extra fan service" wont be good for my sage-mode-purpose-of-life i think. fanwork bad enough, if "those" behaviour ever become official, screw world, i join ISIS.
Komachi might not actually that big, i could love her more if not for that "big" that fan associate her with in most fanwork. But fanworld standard proportion may vary per dimension according to their GOD so a big Komachi is fine too once in a while.  :derp:

About censorship, i think the religion and legend arent much of a concern because it can be easily a derivative fiction work. What would get censored in my country is Reimu armpits :derp: 50% joke btw.
The sake and party with sake would most likely get omitted, would be hilarious to my amusement if they still show that while censoring the whole scene, but depends on how perception will change. Im not sure about mamizou pipe, but i think it's fine. The god/goddess thing can be debatable, not if they shrug it off as deities instead as "higher being" not like its that much difference lol. Higan can be controversial i guess, idk.
The youkai eating human isnt problem as long as they didnt visually depict the guro life scene, dunno about Mokou suicide moves.
Anyway i probably just thinking too much, they would just come out as cartoon & game if its ever get into public media.
Regarding modesty of attire is what i quite proud of from Touhou, canon Touhou rather safe for wider age range compared to their canon "neighbour" which has literal canon. :derp: (dem thong & bandage bra)

I think going mainstream as in more popular while ZUN still in the ultimate total control, stay doujin that is, can be good and bad just like how thing has been happening all this time. We could get more sillyness from fans, or get another awesome work like "osana reimu" for example. I like how they design Lord Tenma for MUGEN :derp: just as otherworldly as Hecatia the trendy girl of death metal hell (lol).
But will be good if that trend outburst would quickly died off so nothing too annoying would come out of it, and we still could get another good fan staying behind. Not occult believer, but fan.

Basically my answer is, get mainstream just for a bit moment but still a doujin. But i thought Touhou already mainstream enough?

If some of touhou element are considered heretic to your society then just become a secret fan :derp: like me join me lets plague people mind with nothing but touhou, slowly from the dark (please ignore this last statement)

[Tengukami]

I'm more concerned about what band he's going to join. It should be Queen, but it'll probably be something like Journey.

Yellow Magic Orchestra reunion tour (on keyboards, of course).

[Hello Purvis]

I would unabashedly wet myself in sheer glee if that happened.

[Lollipop]

I think it should just stay like what it is now.

[VIVIT]

Tohou is already as mainstream as it is going to get. It has dedicated cons in Japan (a la pony cons over here), a million doujins, and a million more shitposters on /jp/ and 2ch. That's far more mainstream than most doujin games can hope for.

[Tiamat]

Maybe the poster means if Touhou gets sold to a billion dollar AAA company or something, cause as it is, yea, I don't think it's possible for it to grow more than it is already as a one-ZUN-man operation.  Even then, I don't know what on earth they could censor.  It's not like it has any blood, gore, or bikini thongs like everything else in existance and most everything in it stems from open-source non-copyright mythologies.

[Lt Colonel Summers]

Maybe the poster means if Touhou gets sold to a billion dollar AAA company or something, cause as it is, yea, I don't think it's possible for it to grow more than it is already as a one-ZUN-man operation.  Even then, I don't know what on earth they could censor.  It's not like it has any blood, gore, or bikini thongs like everything else in existance and most everything in it stems from open-source non-copyright mythologies.

Different countries have different opinions on what can, and cannot be portrayed in medias.
For example: European countries ban all depiction of the Nazis and Hitler, whereas Asian countries have no problem with depicting Hitler & co correctly.
In the case of a mainstream Touhou, the mere portrayal of Japanese Youkai will get it banned in China, which bans all depiction of non-Chinese supernatural creatures.

[Clarste]

Different countries have different opinions on what can, and cannot be portrayed in medias.
For example: European countries ban all depiction of the Nazis and Hitler, whereas Asian countries have no problem with depicting Hitler & co correctly.
In the case of a mainstream Touhou, the mere portrayal of Japanese Youkai will get it banned in China, which bans all depiction of non-Chinese supernatural creatures.

World of Warcraft is super popular in China last I checked, and has elves and dwarves and western dragons and such.

The most famous censorship they do to it is cover up the exposed bones of undead characters. Most Japanese youkai are extremely similar to Chinese folklore anyway though.

[Shadowlupus]

The other censorship I can think of is censoring Sake to sweet drinks or healthy drinks. I believe that was rampant in the old days anime or video games. The censorship team gave a BS reason something along the line of "This is underage drinking", "This thing is unfamiliar to this country" or "Currently, the government encourages healthy eating and drinking."

To this day, I still loathe the US-aired Doraemon that changes sweet snacks to fruits due to the third reason. Even though I'm not from the west or even watch that one, I still call it BS no matter who does the change. Originals should be kept original at all times unless an understandable cultural or wordplay reason is given.

After having read Cut-and-Paste Translation or Dub-Induced Plot Hole TV Trope Pages, I figure that it would be the best if Touhou is still as it is, not having to suffer from stupid editing just because the editing team can. I believe you all still remember the 4kids fiasco to this day. That's basically it if Touhou would go mainstream.

[Chill Observer]

Touhou as of now is crazily popular in China and Korea despite the worries mentioned in the OP, so in the events that Touhou will ever go mainstream (it probably never will), I doubt censorship will be our main concern.

[Clarste]

After having read Cut-and-Paste Translation or Dub-Induced Plot Hole TV Trope Pages, I figure that it would be the best if Touhou is still as it is, not having to suffer from stupid editing just because the editing team can. I believe you all still remember the 4kids fiasco to this day. That's basically it if Touhou would go mainstream.

Well for one thing, Touhou isn't a Saturday morning kids cartoon show. Anyone who ever manages to get the license would almost certain know the value of what they have, and who the target audience is. Heck, a couple of fangames are already getting translated by Nippon Ichi America, and the world hasn't ended yet.

[iori98]

Just gonna chime in here but what's there to censor? The game features no sexual situations, no sexualized characters, and the story is borderline family friendly. If it did go "mainstream" what would change? Names? Ages? Honestly these censorship talks are really very silly and not based in reality.

[aListers]

Just gonna chime in here but what's there to censor? The game features no sexual situations, no sexualized characters, and the story is borderline family friendly. If it did go "mainstream" what would change? Names? Ages? Honestly these censorship talks are really very silly and not based in reality.

Here's a few examples that I believe may be possible:
Censored in South Korea: the South Koreans still hates most Japanese elements, including any depiction of Shinto. Reimu will become something other than a Shinto miko if mainstream Touhou is released in South Korea.
Banned in China: China bans all depiction of non-Chinese supernatural creatures, as evident with every movies or series that featured ghosts and/or aliens (although I think giant monsters like Godzilla are not considered supernatural). The mere mentioning of Youkai will get Touhou banned in China.

Basically cultural things. Censorship can range from sensible to really silly anyway but other countries will have unusual censorship laws. As of yet, it seems that none of these things the OP mentioned have actually been censored according to the users in this thread but I don't know all the censorship laws in every country so you never know.

[VIVIT]

TV Trope Pages ... stupid editing

heheheh

[the old guy]

Ironically, i get the feeling that if touhou was more mainstream, their be a HELL of a lot more fan service. Which would be the opposite of censorship.

[andykhang]

^That would make it completely redundant, since there's a fk ton of those in fan art, and greatly cheapen it instead. We would soon have a Simpson dilemma where we would considered the "Golden Years" without it longevity.

[MANoBadAssGar Jr.]

Ironically, i get the feeling that if touhou was more mainstream, their be a HELL of a lot more fan service. Which would be the opposite of censorship.

Fan service from fan are inevitable, but at least it's not the real thing. If it's not official work from ZUN it's invalid. This include Komachi breast size & Letty weight. actually, plump Letty kind of attractive too.