2. Do you think altering content can take away from the cultural significance some animes can have? 

In the original Japanese dub, Asuma is always depicted with a cigarette that is evidently lit and smoking. Conversely, in the English dub that aired in America the orangish glow on the end of the cigarette and the smoke were both digitally removed, making the cigarette look more like a toothpick or lollipop.

• Sociality rights and obligations: roles and social positions, conventions, styles and protocols, contractual/legal requirements

• Interactional goals: relational & transactional goals

What is a narrative?
Common features:
• temporal, chronological sequencing
• transition from one state of affairs to another
• Non-random events (causation)
• Approaches to narrative inquiry (Merminod, 2019)
i. Narrative configurations - what is told (the who, what, where and when of the story, the sequence of events (structure), the linguistic forms, the particular perspectives
conveyed in the story)
ii. Narrative situations - what happens when a story is told? (who tells what to whom, where, when, how, why and what for? Narrative as performance
iii. Narrative ideologies - how ‘cultural conceptions’ shape the stories told (what is tellable by and to whom, where, when, why, and what for) (Holmes, 2003)

This fight happens in the early episodes of Naruto where the protagonist and his squad fight a pair of rogue ninjas. This is quite a violent fight that involves a lot of bloodshed which was heavily edited in the English dub for US audiences by digitally reducing or removing the blood.

The references throughout the anime takes elements from both Asian pop and folk culture. An obvious Japanese popular culture reference would be ninjas. In Naruto, ninjas make up the government and military entities since they are perceived as powerful—the more power the better your political position. 

さん [san] (word of respect and friendly added to a person's name)

ちゃん [chann]（used after a person's name, which shows they have a very close relationship).

The words raised and the sentences end with ですor ます(which they called honorific).


In Japanese culture, these linguistic features "are critically important for constructing roles" (Bowe, Martin, and Manns, 2014). They index powerful relational dynamics which are not easily translated into other languages. 

Global audiences who experience anime in English dub may miss the important relational nuances established through these linguistic cues in Japanese culture (Bowe, Martin and Manns, 2014).

Face - In Naruto, there are differences in age and strength between the ninjas. The subordinate ninja mostly uses honorific to show politeness when talking to the superior ninja. For the Japanese audience, even they have no previous knowledge of Naruto, they can get a general idea of their identity by observing words used. This is based on cultural norms and expectations that translate into the text. Global audiences who do not have the schematic knowledge of this practice may not understand this rapport management technique and the power dynamic it implies.

Sociality rights and obligations - If all the honorific in Naruto is translated correctly into international versions, the global audience may gain a deeper understanding of Japanese culture. In Japanese society, honorifics have been integrated into Japanese national culture, and no one can break this rule. When talking to Japanese people, even if a foreigner does not use honorifics out of inadvertence, it is still very likely to cause misunderstanding.

Interactional goals - The omission of honorific in Naruto will cause problems to the audience’s understanding of the plot. There’s an interesting example of Sasuke. In the anime, he almost never speaks honourably to his elders. This deliberate rapport-threatening behaviour is designed to show that he is cold, proud and arrogant. However, international audiences who lack an understanding of Japanese honorific practices may miss this vital character-development technique. 

Another integral part of the Naruto storyline is the reincarnation of Asura and Indra to Hishirama and Madara then Naruto and Sasuke. The names Asura and Indra originate from Hindu scripture where they are referred to as gods that had respective domains and abilities. Additionally, the concept of reincarnation is a fundamental belief of Hinduism. 

Senju is a reference to Avalokiteśvara/Senju Kannon, a bodhisattva–a person who has made a resolution to become a Buddha. Senju vowed to free all beings from Saṃsāra to end suffering and was blessed by Buddha with eleven heads and one thousand arms to aid him.

Bowe, H., Martin, K., & Manns, H. (2014). Positioning the Other. In Communication across Cultures: Mutual Understanding in a Global World. 155-61. Cambridge University Press.

CBR (2020). Naruto: 10 differences between the Japanese & US versions.https://www.cbr.com/naruto-japanese-vs-us-version/

Geller. (2017, June 18). Asura - Mythological Hindu Lord Beings. Mythology.net. https://mythology.net/hindu/hindu-creatures/asura/

Holmes, Janet, & Meredith, M. (2005). Narrative and the construction of professional identity in the workplace. The Sociolinguistics of Narrative. 

Kishimoto, M. (2002). Naruto [Anime].

Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Merminod, G. (2019), Narrative analysis applied to text production. AILA Review 33.

Piller, I. (2017). Chapter 1: Approaching Intercultural Communication. In Intercultural Communication: A Critical Introduction, 1-12.

Spencer Oatey, H. (2008). Face, (Im)Politeness and Rapport. In Culturally Speaking: Culture, Communication and Politeness Theory, 11-47. Bloomsbury.

Statista Research Department,. (2021, April 15). Japan: male smoking rate by age 2018. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/741056/japan-male-smoking-rate-by-age/

Stelter, G. (2016, October 4). A Beginner’s Guide to the 7 Chakras and Their Meanings. Healthline; Healthline Media. https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/7-chakras

Toshiyuki T. (2006). Naruto movie 3: Gekijyouban Naruto daikoufun! Mikazuki shima no animal panic dattebayo!. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9ANw3Fqxn8

Zhang, W. (2018). Naruto movie: Boruto.https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1020821620087185408/pu/vid/1280x720/UNEYDpsQFQ6Dft0i.mp4?tag=3