Ghost Stories "Am I Beautiful? Kuchisake-onna" (partially found unaired episode of anime series; 2000): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:51, 28 June 2017

The Kuchisake-onna from the preview.

Status: Partially Found

A preview for the episode that was aired before the controversy began.

Ghost Stories is an anime series that ran for 20 episodes between 2000 and 2001. It centers around Satsuki Miyanoshita moving to a new town. After making new friends at school, they visit an abandoned building in the nearby area and discover that it's haunted. The haunting was a result of Satsuki's mother capturing ghosts who haunted the school and surrounding area. Due to the urbanization of the town, the ghosts are now roaming freely, and Satsuki must use a book from her mother to exorcise the ghosts for good.

One episode, "Am I Beautiful? Kuchisake-onna" ("あたしきれい? 口裂け女"), attempted to depict the the Kuchisake-onna urban legend. Kuchisake-onna (which translates to "the slit-mouthed woman"), according to folklore, would stalk an area in a large overcoat and a surgical mask. She would ask children if she was beautiful or not and, regardless of their reply, would normally kill them after revealing her disfigured ear-to-ear slit of a mouth.

The episode was intended to air in Japan on November 5, 2000 as the third episode, and was even previewed as an upcoming episode, but it was ultimately pulled from airing due to complaints from parents who were worried that her disfigurement would look too much like a cleft palate. Fuji TV obliged and pulled the episode due to fears of offending viewers. The episode was also never released on DVD and was not present in the English dub.^[1]

It is unlikely that Fuji TV will release the episode due to the controversy, and it's unknown if they even still have a copy of it. As of now, the only footage from the episode that has been seen by the public is the 15 second preview.

References

↑ Wikipedia page. Retrieved 28 June '17.

[1] Wikipedia page. Retrieved 28 June '17.

[1]

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 |image=Kuchisake.jpg
 |imagecaption=The Kuchisake-onna from the preview.
-|status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
+|status=<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Found'''</span>
 }}
 {{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8lWYFBB0mQ|320x240|right|A preview for the episode that was aired before the controversy began.|frame}}
-''Kuchisake-onna'', for those unfamiliar, is a popular urban legend in Japan. Translated as 'the slit-mouthed woman', Kuchisake-onna (according to folklore) would stalk around in a large overcoat, with a surgical mask on, and ask children if she was beautiful or not. Regardless of their reply, she would normally kill them, but not before removing her mask and revealing her horrifyingly disfigured mouth, slit from ear to ear.
-The 2000 anime ''Ghost Stories'' attempted to integrate the Kuchisake-onna legend into an episode titled '''"Am I Beautiful? Kuchisake-onna" ("あたしきれい? 口裂け女")''', although in the end it was never released. Scheduled to air in Japan on November 5, 2000 as the third episode, it was completed, (and even previewed as an upcoming episode), though was ultimately pulled before airing, after a barrage of complaints from parents worried that her disfigurement would look too much like a cleft palate. Fuji TV obliged, pulling the episode as to not offend anyone, although it never showed up in any ''Ghost Stories'' DVD releases, nor was it ever seen in the English dub of said anime.
+''Ghost Stories'' is an anime series that ran for 20 episodes between 2000 and 2001. It centers around Satsuki Miyanoshita moving to a new town. After making new friends at school, they visit an abandoned building in the nearby area and discover that it's haunted. The haunting was a result of Satsuki's mother capturing ghosts who haunted the school and surrounding area. Due to the urbanization of the town, the ghosts are now roaming freely, and Satsuki must use a book from her mother to exorcise the ghosts for good.
-It is unknown if Fuji TV have any plans to release the episode in the future, nor whether they even still have a copy themselves. Rumors of this episode having aired once are simply untrue; as of now, the only footage from the episode that has been seen by the public is contained in the above 15 second preview (though the plot details have also since been made available<ref>[http://ghoststoriesanime.wikia.com/wiki/Am_I_Beautiful%3F_Kuchisake-onna Page on ghoststoriesanime.wikia.com featuring (a rather rough translation of) the episode's plot.] Retrieved 15 Jun '13.</ref>).
+One episode, '''"Am I Beautiful? Kuchisake-onna" ("あたしきれい? 口裂け女")''', attempted to depict the the Kuchisake-onna urban legend. Kuchisake-onna (which translates to "the slit-mouthed woman"), according to folklore, would stalk an area in a large overcoat and a surgical mask. She would ask children if she was beautiful or not and, regardless of their reply, would normally kill them after revealing her disfigured ear-to-ear slit of a mouth.
+The episode was intended to air in Japan on November 5, 2000 as the third episode, and was even previewed as an upcoming episode, but it was ultimately pulled from airing due to complaints from parents who were worried that her disfigurement would look too much like a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleft_lip_and_cleft_palate cleft palate]. Fuji TV obliged and pulled the episode due to fears of offending viewers. The episode was also never released on DVD and was not present in the English dub.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ghost_Stories_(anime)_episodes Wikipedia page.] Retrieved 28 June '17.</ref>
+It is unlikely that Fuji TV will release the episode due to the controversy, and it's unknown if they even still have a copy of it. As of now, the only footage from the episode that has been seen by the public is the 15 second preview.
 ==References==