It's a huge reason why the original anime never made it stateside.
What are you talking about? It's been distributed by Viz Media ever since it was first acquired by Viz. Just because it didn't air on American television doesn't mean it never made it stateside, the DVDs/Blu-Rays and manga are
everywhere.
As for the censorship of nipples in anime, this is an actual problem with Netflix-sponsored/funded anime.
Bastard!!, for instance, has no nipples to be seen even on the
actual adult women because Netflix (or the people behind the scenes) is apparently offended by them, something that tweet mentioned about how Western women are always going on about the "free the nipple" shit but then don't allow it for
adult anime when it's being streamed simultaneously. Japanese broadcasting won't allow nipples front-and-center on non-satellite channels, but the anime are clearly being animated without nipples to begin with since no uncensored versions exist.
And anyway,
Ranma ½ was pretty liberal about nudity but it always played it for laughs since it typically happened around the bath and was not meant to be titillating to begin with. The most perverted it ever got was with Happosai stealing panties, not counting a movie about a literal harem of concubines because that was a completely original script. If the remake wanted to skirt around broadcast standards, they should've been a bit more creative with the censor steam and the like instead of just being up-front about the Barbie doll nudity that is
always awkward.
Also Ranma is not a shota/loli by any means, so not sure why someone going on about censorship in anime in regards to
Ranma ½ is grounds for conversation
here.