For those that weren't watching the series back in 2008, let me refresh. There is a sequence in the manga in which Absalom stabs Sanji in the back with a dagger while he is trying to protect Nami from Absalom's attacks while invisible, causing Sanji to bleed out yet is fortunately able to discover Absolom's location when he accidentally reveals himself by stepping in Sanji's pool of blood. By all accounts, everyone expected to see this depicted in the anime.
However, due to some bad timing with an actual stabbing incident in Japan that very week (known as the Akihabara Massacre) Toei felt they needed to censor the episode of such a sensitive issue at the time. Hence the entire stabbing is edited to simply be a strong blow of some sort and Absalom just randomly makes an indentation in the carpet near Sanji. A compromise to be sure and it kinda works, though Sanji's line about not soiling Nami's dress with his blood makes no sense anymore and Sanji's injury is more questionable.
The episode has remained censored on Japanese TV ever since, and while the Japanese DVDs have it uncensored, they've been cost prohibitive to all but the most die-hard fans and are SD-only.
Yet now, 6 years later, it's finally available not only uncut but in HD!
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