One Piece in Germany

The German version of One Piece' is broadcasted by the channel RTL II.

Name changes
The names of the characters can differ from their original form, thus being the source of utter confusion from fans of the dubbed versions.

At times these are mere translations of the Japaneese meaning. Yet a number of names can cause confusion, as some of them are extremly different to their Japanese counterparts. As a result, there are many German fans who are unable to reconize the characters by their English or even their Japanese names.''

Character Name Changes

 * Note:several of these names are mere translations of their Japanese meaning.(marked "T") A few others are based on the lack of an l sound in japanese writing.


 * Monkey D. Luffy is called Ruffy.
 * Roronoa Zoro's name was changed to "Lorenor Zorro".
 * Usopp's name is changed to "Lysop".
 * Jango's name is changed to "Jacko".
 * Captain Kuro's is changed to "Captain Black".(T)
 * Nami's home town is named "Cocos" in this version.
 * Chew is called "Kiss". Since there exists the word "chu" (which is an onomatopoeic kissing-noise and what fans often believe his name is) in Japanese, they most likely translated it as a Japanese name unaware his name was spelt in English as "Chew" by Oda.(T)
 * Hatchan's name is translated to "Octa".
 * Kuroobi is called "Schwarzgurt". (T)
 * Portgas D. Ace's name is changed to "Puma D. Ace".
 * Commodore Purin-Purin's name is changed to "Puddingknie". ("Pudding" is pudding, "knie" means knee, together they mean an easily frightened person as his legs will wobble)(T)
 * Captain Nezumi's name is changed to "Ratte" (Rat).(T)
 * Hiluruk's name is changed to "Doc Bader". ("Bader" is a medieval term for a barber who acts as an unlearned doctor)
 * Pell's name is changed to "Peru".
 * Montblanc Norland's name is changed to "Maron Noland".
 * Montblanc Cricket's name is changed to "Maron Cricket".
 * Eneru is translated to "Enel".
 * Wiper is called "Viper".
 * Kaku's name is translated to "Ecki". (Ecke means corner) (T)
 * Fukurou is called "Eule" (german for owl) (T)
 * Kokoro's name is translated to "Cocolo".

Other

 * The name of the Shichibukai is changed to "Die Sieben Samurai der Meere" ("The Seven Samurai of the Sea")
 * Going Merry's name is changed to "Flying Lamb".
 * The name of "Mantra", a prominent part of the Skypiea arc, is changed to "Mantora"
 * Commodore Nelson's rank is translated as "Admiral". (The corresponding German rank would be "Flottillenadmiral" (Flottila Admiral).)
 * The name of Raftel is changed to "Unicon".
 * The Rokushiki techniques are called Formel 6 in the manga, but the anime keeps the original name. (T)
 * The Geppou technique is translated to the english word "moonwalk". (T)

Edits
Like the English dub, the German dub received much editing to remove blood, although edits are not as huge as the English dub and blood is left in usually when it is important to the storyline.

Sound
All intros (except intro 2, "Believe") were left in and unaltered. However as standard with anime dubbed in Germany, the lyrics were resung by a German voice group.(although the first opening "We Are" received completely different music)

Cuts
Unlike the 4Kids dub, the German dub did not undergo such heavy cuts to the series. Most episodes cut from the series are present in the German dub. However each episode itself has several minutes cut overall (normally from fight scenes).

263 Onwards
Following the dubing of episode 263, the series shifted to being heavily censored - The word "death" is now never said and dialogue is made harmless, to appeal to children, which was even tested in an episode of "Pokito TV".

Edits include:

1-The Just Eleven Jurymen "serve their sentence on Enies Lobby" and call everyone guilty because they want them to "make them company".

2-Olvia is not the only survivor of her ship, the scene with the blood on her forehead is cut.

3-When Sogeking shoots the World government flag,the soldiers say they are mean, and that it makes them sad to have their "pretty flag" shot.

Critisim

 * Several people have stated their disagreement with the heavy cuts in the fight of Luffy and Sir Crocodile, particulary at the final moment, when Luffy is pumeling Crocodile with a series of attack that make the ground tremble (the fight takes place in an undereart royal necropolis), however in the german dub the ground is seen trembling without a given reason.
 * Also, scenes like Luffy punching Crocodile in the face or Crocodile spiting blood were removed as well.

Trivia

 * Because in Central Europe, One Piece is broadcasted in the German version only, many Czech & Slovakian fans know characters out of this anime by their German names.
 * The airing of One Piece is a controversial topic, because there have been many changes:
 * having a double episode block changed to a normal one episode,
 * dubing the Rainbow mist arc only into the half, then ceasing to broadcast the show and re-starting it again, this time, however, without even reaching this arc.
 * One Piece won the Sondermann Prize in 2005 and in 2008 (both times in the category "best Manga/Manhwa international"). [de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sondermann_(Cartoon)]