Funimation Censors Mild ‘Butt’ Pun Joke in Nekopara

Spencer Baculi |

Mar 2, 2020

Funimation, the anime production and distribution company, has altered a joke containing a mildly crude joke during their subbing and dubbing of an anime series, this time in their dub of Nekopara.

In Episode 6, a sports competition is organized by Kashou Minaduki and Shigure Minaduki in order to resolve the growing tension of conflict between Azuki and Coconut. One of the sports included in this challenge is a butt-bumping challenge, in which respective opposing team representatives attempt to knock their opponent off of a small platform into a pool of water using only their butts. During Vanilla and Coconut’s matchup, Vanilla attempts to distract Coconut with a riddle.

In the original Japanese script, the answer to the riddle was a play on the words “oshirari” (acquaintance) and “oshiri” (butt), resulting in the pun “ass-quaintences”.

In Funimation’s updated subtitles and dub, the answer is instead replaced with a similar, though less crude pun of “hip-ster”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zqLHpZxDVk

Listening to the audio, one can hear Vanilla clearly speak the “oshirari” pun at the conclusion of the match.

Funimation’s dialogue alterations are becoming more and more frequent. Shortly before the Nekopara censorship was discovered, Funimation altered another extremely mild, sexual joke to remove any sexual references in BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt.

YouTuber Hero Hei notes that issues with Funimation’s dubs go back to 2013.

The company also dropped Interspecies Reviewers after only three-episodes, apparently failing to have known the content of the series they had licensed.