Recently, I've begun watching One Piece I was reluctant to do so, because I remember it being terrible. But at the behest of my friends, I pushed through and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was amazing! Confused as to why my younger self thought it was so bad, I did some research and discovered that I watched the 4KIDS dub instead of the Funimation one. While this may not seem like a big deal, 4KIDS is infamous for its censorship, which in One Piece's case, ruined their adaptation of the story. Below are just a few of the changes that they made:
1. Helmeppo's Threat
In an attempt to get Luffy to stop beating up his father, Helmeppo threatens to shoot Coby. But 4KIDS thought that this was too violent and decided to replace Helmeppo’s gun with...whatever this is supposed to be.
2. Sanji's Cigarette
The most notable detail of Sanji’s character design is his signature cigarette. This little stick plays a huge role in his characterization of being cool, suave and mature. But 4KIDS didn't want to their viewers to romanticize smoking, so they decided to switch out his cigarette with a lollipop. In making this change, the intended effect of the cigarette is ruined, as we now simply see Sanji as being childish.
3. Krieg’s Poisonous Needles
In one of the first major fights of the series, Luffy fights Don Krieg, a famous pirate whose weapon of choice are poisonous needles. However, needles are obviously too dangerous for 4KIDS’ liking, so they decided to replace them with poison suction cups. Considering the fact that these suction cups don't pierce your skin to insert the poison, I don't really know how this was supposed to be a threat.
4. Bellemere's Fate
In one of the most heartbreaking One Piece moments, we find out that Nami’s mother, Bellemere was killed right in front of her by Arlong. Even though Bellemere’s death is a crucial part of Nami’s backstory and shapes her to be the woman that she is now, 4KIDS didn't want any characters to die. That's why they decided it’d be better to have Arlong imprison Bellemere instead of killing her.
Unsurprisingly, this raises some questions after Luffy defeats Arlong. If Bellemere isn't dead, why doesn't Nami rescue her? Doesn't she want to see her mother after ten long years? Instead, she just sails away without a care in the world.
5. Laboon
Shortly after entering the Grand Line, the Straw Hats meet Laboon, a whale who's been waiting fifty years for his owners to return to him. If you get far enough in One Piece, you know that Laboon is extremely important to a future crew member’s story. That's why it's confusing to see that 4KIDS completely removed his story, thinking that it was filler.
I actually sympathize with 4KIDS a little bit on this one, since Laboon’s significance isn't known until much later. However, they still should have known better than to think it was filler, as Luffy promised him that they'd see each other again and even put this paint on Laboon to show just how serious he was about keeping that promise.
As you can probably tell, 4KIDS definitely wasn't the best choice to dub One Piece. Let's all be grateful that Funimation picked it up and told the story in the way it was meant to be told.
