New Anime Block Starts Tonight Cartoon Network 386
Silverhammer writes "Just a reminder that the new five-hour Saturday night Toonami block starts
tonight on Cartoon Network. It includes the american premieres of three of Bandai's new (or at least newly dubbed) anime series: Yu Yu Hakusho (11pm EDT), Pilot Candidate (12pm), and Gundam 0083 (12:30pm)." Also in the list is
old favs Tenchi, Bebop, and Outlaw Star as well
as the non-anime but still cool Justice League, which
I've been enjoying, but is it just me, or are there
only like 4 episodes that they just keep looping? I'll be Tivo'ing each
of the new shows for a few weeks in hopes that they
are good.
I'm still first in line to vote for a Toonami channel.
reasons for anime? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:3, Funny)
I wish I had tentacles.
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:3)
Well, no we don't. We have the Simpsons and we have Futurama and that's pretty much it.
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:3, Informative)
Also, Mo Willems' Sheep in the Big City is back on the air and it's hilarious. How can you not love a show that ends every episode with a ranting Swede?
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:2)
I've never been able to get past the fact that Dexter's Laboratory just looks ugly. Powerpuff Girls are ok and I think it's great to have stuff that appeals to girls but. "
A: Dexter's Lab looks wonderful. It is an artform, a specific style of animation that Dexter's Lab exceeds at.
Then again I also know of people who think that Dexter's Lab looks great and that PPGs looks horrible. It think that they are both outstanding examples of their respective genres. (which actually are pretty closely related, the artwork is not THAT far apart, just how the main characters are drawn)
B: PPG is _NOT_ aimed soly a females.
I thought it was too at first, but come on.
That one episode that was a Star Wars spoof (flying down the Deathstar trench) that also happened to include disco dancing pretty much disproves that idea.
Or the episode were (almost?) every line spoken is a line from a Beatles song.
Not to mention some of the, err, other odd things that the show has in it.
It is a
I know some people though who cannot STAND the voices in the show at all. They say that the voices are 'too sqeaky and annoying sounding' for them.
::shrugs:: I think that the voices are exactly what they are supposed to be, insanely cute. ^_^
And, oh yes. the PPGs are popular over in Japan as well.
Uh.
A bit
::wink wink nudge nudge
;P
depends on your preferences (Score:2)
Cowboy bebop? (Score:2)
yes (Score:2)
Re:yes (Score:2)
Re:yes (Score:3, Informative)
OK, how about:
- Princess Mononoke - absolutely magnificient, fantasy (legendary history), man vs. nature
- My Neighbour Totoro - for whole family, this is a story about children as could be seen by children
(I could go on about the rest of Miyazaki's works, but those two should suffice for starters)
Comedy/Drama? Kimagure Orange Road, Maison Ikkoku, Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, Oh My Goddess..
Something more serious? Area 88, Grave of the Fireflies..
For children (not limited to children)? Cardcaptor Sakura, Jubei Chan..
None of the titles mentioned are sci-fi or cyberpunk, nor are they action/adventure titles. Even if those limitations rule out perhaps 70% of my collection, there's still much more than that.
Re:depends on your preferences (Score:2)
Re:reasons for anime?-Variety. (Score:2)
And what about Spike and Mike's animation festivals? It's not all good stuff, but I've discovered some stuff there that I sure like (such as Don Hertzfeldt's [bitterfilms.com] work)
It's not just because it's Japanese... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's because of the many genres that you find all the time in anime but very VERY rarely in American cartoons. Sword-and-sorcery fantasies, superhero adventures, supernatural ghost stories, mecha space operas, cyberpunk thrillers, high school kung-fu comedies...
And then there's all the "mundane" comedies and dramas that just seem so sweet and moving when done as anime but are obsurdly overwrought when done in Hollywood.
Mind you, there's nothing wrong with Futurama or the Family Guy, but you're comparing apples and oranges. It's all a matter of style...
Re: (Score:2)
Re:It's not just because it's Japanese... (Score:2, Informative)
I can't help but say that the frame rate of anime drives me up the fucking wall. At times it seems like it isn't really animation, just a slide show, or a scene with a cell "sliding" across some cracked-out background that has nothing to do with what's really going on.
Apparently, the anime you've been watching is either from the early 90's (or before) or cheap crap like Dragonball Z, etc. Try watching Cowboy Bebop on Cartoon Network for a good example of modern anime. Or you can go to your local suncoast and pick up shows like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Trigun, Niea_7, and Gasaraki on DVD. Look for shows like Read or Die, FLCL, Hellsing, Mahoromatic, and Alien Nine on winmx or morpheus to see the absolute cutting edge, some really awesome stuff there (most of which is not available in America, although FLCL is being released on DVD in march).
Re:It's not just because it's Japanese... (Score:2)
That wasn't done because it was cheap - it was meant to show the tension between two characters. It was in my opinion, extremely well done. You're waiting for something to happen, and then it doesn't, and doesn't until Rei finally breaks the silence. It does a very good job of conveying that uncomfortable feeling of being a comfined space with someone you really don't want to talk to. I considered that scene one of the high points of the show. Similarly the scene with Kowaru and Shinji before Shinji snaps his head off as Shinji agonizes over whether he should or can kill this one person who he's actually been comfortable with in his entire life, particularly in light of the earlier incident where his father used the Eva he was piloting to destroy another, maiming one of his two best(only) friends in the process. It give you time to think about his dilemma and builds the suspence as you wonder what he'll do.
And in response to the post earlier in this thread about why Anime is so popular - Because something like Evangelion would never air on American TV. They would turn it into a show about fighting robots, instead of a show about the characters. Because of what FOX did to Escaflowne. Character development? We'll just snip that out and show about 5 minutes of the first episode so that they have no chance of understanding Hitomi's character, but that doesn't matter cause we'll get to the cool robots with swords sooner! Hmmm...people don't seem to like this so much, I wonder why? Guess we'll can it. Because Star Trek passes for decent Sci-Fi. Something like Furi Kuri? Yeah, right. In short, because it beats the hell out of another season lousy sitcoms, the latest Star Trek with it's neatly contained hour long episodes and no character development and whatever Survivor and Who wants to win Bus Fair clones they can throw at us.
Re:It's not just because it's Japanese... (Score:2)
Of course, hearing Ode to Joy (oh, no! classical music) during that scene was a great touch. I really enjoy classical music, and I think it can make for the most intense scenes.
They would turn it into a show about fighting robots, instead of a show about the characters. Because of what FOX did to Escaflowne.
I saw the first episode on FOX and forgot about watching it there. It is interesting how they think advertisements should come first in way of time. If people do not like the show, then the advertisers will not get their money's worth.
I noticed a series called "Nadesico" at Fry's. You wouldn't happen to know if it is any good? I rather here the opinion of someone who is picky about anime than someone who thinks Futurama is the greatest.
Because Star Trek passes for decent Sci-Fi.
I agree. Star Trek is entertaining, but B5 was my favorite sci-fi show (non-anime). Besides having a long plot, the fact that it was not only the extras that die but main characters really kept the suspense up.
P.S. My definition of B5 is the first four seasons and part of the fifth. The Byron era hurts to think about.
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:4, Interesting)
My reasons for liking anime:
1. The stuff I watch isn't censored, I get to see real drama in anime, while it seems to be targeted at a slightly more mature crowd. The simpsons and futurama are just as great, but they are mainly comedy driven, which is fine in itself.
2. Most american cartoons on saturday morning seem to be cookie-cutter rip-offs of the same crap thats been on the air for 20 years. Mostly good-guys with no flaws looking beautiful fighting ugly badguys that are robots or aliens so there's no problem with "destroying them". I guess this goes back at target audience and censorship.
3. Anime feels more Artistic (just an opinion, its probably commercialized to death over in japan) than the american stuff, it almost seem to enjoy creating the images they produce. I just don't get that feeling when watching any current cartoons or even tv shows.
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:3, Insightful)
You know, I don't think you can blame all of this on censorship or audience targetting. Even with the young audience and network restrictions on content, they have plenty of room to maneuver, creatively speaking. Blame the writers and producers, who follow the same tired cliches over and over and over again; the hokey moral issues, the predictable villainous plots, the 2-dimensional stock characters.
Anime feels more Artistic (just an opinion, its probably commercialized to death over in japan) than the american stuff, it almost seem to enjoy creating the images they produce. I just don't get that feeling when watching any current cartoons or even tv shows.
Well, I think what Japanese animation has that American animation lacks is range. There's plenty of commercialized, cookie-cutter anime made in Japan--but there's also enough truly creative stuff to balance it out. In America you only get the cookie-cutter stuff.
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:1)
On the other hand, I have totally fallen in love head over heels with Cowboy Bebop. It has nothing to do with animation, but with great characters, great stories and really cool music. I seriously doubt it could be done effectively live action, which is probably why it's anime, but what a great show.
In short, the anime that I've seen and liked has had everything to do with stories and writing and little to do with the fact that it's animated. Maybe people just prefer a different style of story and are sick of the same stuff that is rehashed by so many live action shows and movies.
Try Trigun, and... (Score:2)
There's also the standard fare (not the greatest, but entertaining and very accessible), Tenchi is fairly good (the series Cartoon Network calls Tenchi Muyo! [the 12 episode one] is actually an OAV that was heavily edited), Ranma 1/2 is hilarious (though guaranteed to never appear on Cartoon Network), Dragonball Z needs to be thought of as a live action comic book (if you ever hear the original Japanese voices it's funny because Goku sounds like a squirrel with his nuts in a vice), the City Hunter movie was pretty funny, and Slayers is priceless if you know anything about RPGs.
Once you've developed a taste for anime, you might want to check out Evangelion, Gasaraki, and Serial Experiments Lain. I would advise against starting out with them, though.
BlackGriffen
Re:Hmm my opinion on Cowboy Bebop.. (Score:2)
I understand where you're coming from, but I would put it a different way: I think Cowboy Beebop isn't so much overrated as inconsistent. Some episodes just blow me away with their seamless fusion of music, epic storylines, and deep characters. On the other hand I find some episodes, especially those with Ed, just downright annoying.
Re:Hmm my opinion on Cowboy Bebop.. (Score:2)
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:1, Interesting)
to tell a story. Something that is remarkably lacking in the American
episodic cartoon format.
I mean, I love The Simpsons - but certainly not for any ongoing plot
development.
Kartoons for Kids! (Score:2, Insightful)
The Japanese attitude appears to be "Is it possible to do this story live-action? No? Make it anime then."
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:2)
But that doesn't really constitute "all kinds great animation". Essentially all American animation is either comedy or aimed only at kids. There's no American equivalent of shows like Cowboy Bebop, much less movies like Perfect Blue or Ghost in the Shell. The technical quality is completely different, too. Futurama is the only show I've seen that comes anywhere close to the best TV anime in production values, and that's still not particularly close. Top notch anime has animation, acting, music, and plot that's so much better than run of the mill American animation that it's not even funny. Good American cinematic animation can approach the technical quality of anime, but I have yet to see any that is nearly as well written.
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:2)
"He's never done anything immoral... Unless you count selling dope disguised as a nun!" -- Hannover Fist, from Captain Stern
BlackGriffen
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:2, Insightful)
Japanese animation on the other hand covers EVERYTHING. There is little in Japan that you can't find an animated series about. So with all this anime they're filling a real hole of genre's.
There are a couple of other reasons to though honestly. I think one of the first and foremost is that they translate these shows over and all the sudden you can watch a new episode 5 days a week. For anyone who's fed up with having to wait a whole..long..week.. to watch a rerun thats a godsend. It's like reading a book you can't put down. In an almost shameful sense it's the same reason soap opera's are popular.
The other reasons are needing adult cartoons blah blah etc. etc. Mostly there are a lot of adults out there that just don't jive with what the mommies out there will allow to be put on prime time tv. I've watched Futurama and I think it's great crack em up stuff but I can't get into it. It dosn't jive with my taste of how animation should look and it's a story made to make people laugh instead of a story with parts that make you laugh. Different strokes for different folks as always.
Jartan
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:2)
So at the insistance of friends, I watched some of it. . . and discovered that some amazing stories have been told using anime as a medium. Utterly fantastic character development and plotlines, as well as some excellent art. Examples of what I mean can be found by watching Cowboy Bebop and Princess Mononoke.
Of course, there's also stuff at the other end of the spectrum. The vast majority of other anime I've sampled has been for the most part a waste of my time. Blatent sexism and endless, pointless fighting in particular seem to be rampant, both of which are real turnoffs for me.
Consider anime as a style of storytelling instead of the stereotype-laden 'geek fetish' a lot of people (at least, here) pronounce it to be. If you're in the mood to try something new, download/rent some Bebop and watch a few episodes. You might just get hooked.
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:2)
- Mostly anime series have a story to tell, unlike most Hollywood series.
- There are genres Hollywood seems to despise.
- The stories leave room for individualism - You're allowed to think while watching, no need to laugh when told.
- The screenplay is uncensored. There seem to be way too many taboos in the US that can't be shown on the screen, mentioned in the series, or even thought of.
Then of course, I'm not American but Finnish, so what I like and don't might not reflect US culture. And yes, I do watch European, Australian, and US productions, too. And Japanese live movies, and other Far East productions.
However, when asked "what US animated productions would I buy", I could answer from my collection: Disney's Fantasia collection. There are other titles, too, but if asked if I'd buy Simpsons, Futurama, South Park, or the like, the answer is simple 'No'. They're ok to watch once when trying to not to think about anything, just the basic "couch, beer, TV" routine. But if I want to watch something, it's not them.
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:2, Troll)
Then I figured "Eh, my pot roast is still cooking, I might as well respond."
Ah, yes - people only like anime and Linux because of an elite attitude. I used Linux for 2+ years after being exposed to it not because of the great tools (Gimp, Image Magick, able to set up a mail server, fetchmail), or because I had it running 10 months without a reboot, or even on the day that a physical hard drive died, the system kept running so that when I got home I could do something to fix it.
I only watch anime because I have bad taste and I'm a pedophile. Not because of fascinating shows (Lain, Utena, Boogiepop Phantom) that challenge conventional ideas with symbolism, or for heart wrenching shows (like Grave of the Fireflies), or works of art (Princess Mononoke, Porco Rosso), courageous tales (Magic Knights Rayearth, Gunsmith Cats). Yes, there is the crap (Bastard), but I only watch it because I like to watch young girls getting nearly naked (let's see, I don't like Sailor Moon, but I do admit to liking Jubei Chan because it's so damn funny).
Sorry. I have seen the error of my ways, and I will now only comform to the crowd.
Asshole.
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:4, Insightful)
Asshole.
You're the asshole. The guy asks a legitmate question and because you don't understand him you call him an asshole. Classy.
He didn't insult you. He didn't tell you were wrong. He simply asked what it is about anime that intrigues so many people.
I've always had the same question. Of course, I've never actually asked because I know some defensive dickwad like you would bite my head off.
Grow up, jackass.
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:2)
Please excuse me. Next time someone says "Well, the reason you live in Utah is because you want to rape babies" to me, I won't take it as a personal insult.
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:2)
The way the articles were scored made it look like you were giving a smart ass response to an innocent question.
I should have done better research before flaming you - sorry.
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:2)
The names do mean something, you just have to watch and think to figure out what. Some examples:
Trigun: the main dude uses three guns
Ranma 1/2: poor Ranma is half man half woman (sort of, cold water changes him to a girl, hot water changes him back) because of a curse
Outlaw Star: story of outlaws set among the stars
Macross: the ship is named Macross
Slayers: show about adventurers in a fantasy world with a comedic bent
etc.
BlackGriffen
Finding Anime Online (Score:2)
As for buying anime, the above-mentioned Animefu [animefu.com] gives links to AnimeNation [animenation.com]; I've used Robert's Anime Corner Store [animecornerstore.com] before. You can also try looking for anime stores via Google [google.com]. (Which, strangely enough, gives the exact two places I mentioned as the first and second links in the same order I mentioned - weird :).)
The best way to find anime though is to find a friend who likes it and watch what they have. That's how I found out about anime first and why I have a growing collection of anime DVDs.
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:2)
Re:reasons for anime? (Score:1)
Doubt me, just sign on to Morphious or your favorite file transfer program and check out one of the titles I've just mentioned. Or go to anipike and just serf. Yes there are many good American TV shows, West Wing, Invader Zim, Family Guy (oh wait) Futurama (darn) and the Simpsons (well it was good for a time), but they are in the minority. For every one of them, there are a dozen Darma and Gregs.
I won't lie, there are a whole lot of bad anime titles, but the reason why we see so many good titles over here is that none of the bad stuff gets sent over the pond, just like only the best titles get to Japan, its like a big filter.
Finally (Score:2)
I was always kind of pissed when they took off that late night block in favor for tired old crap like Flintstones and Scooby Doo. Nice to see this returning to Saturday night.
New Anime Series! (Score:1)
... oh wait, what was that? 24 frames per episode? Oh darn.
Re:New Anime Series! (Score:2)
So far, so good.
Re:New Anime Series! (Score:2)
PAL and SECAM are both 25fps. Movies are converted to PAL/SECAM by simply speeding them up by 4%. That way they playback with 25fps and you don't get as much interlace banding as with the ntsc telecine process.
DVDs and HDTV also got native support for 24fps. Please note that Japan is the only country in the world that got widely aviable and used HDTV.
Mastering in 30fps can get you the best quality when its broadcasted at 30fps, but mastering at 24 fps gives you a very high quality in nearly every tv/video standard aviable. DVD are better at 24fps too because they got more bits to encode each frame.
Adult Swim + Dragon Ball (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Adult Swim + Dragon Ball (Score:2)
There are several very obvious 'animeisms' in the series and there are also frequent tributes to various anime. Girls vs. the Giant Fish monster anyone?
Accordingly, PPG is *Very* popular in Japan. Megumi Hayashibara (Ranma, NukuNuku, Lina Inverse, Naru Narusegawa)is doing one of the voices and appears in the soundtrack.
C.
Ahh! Megumi-sama! (Score:2)
Ms. Hayashibara was also the voice of Faye Valentine in Cowboy Bebop and Asuka in Neon Genesis Evangelion. She is basically the "June Foray of Japan" in that she is widely considered the finest female seiyuu (voice actor)in Japan. I suspect she is the Japanese voice of Bubbles because she does "little girl" voices really, really well.
It is when she does more mature female voices that I find fault with her...after hearing the very well done dub of CowBe on Cartoon Network, hearing her original voice work as Faye was very disappointing. I think that perhaps the woman who did the voice of Mishima Akiko in the three Nuku Nuku series would have done better.
Still, Ms. Hayashibara is incredibly good. She's also a pop star and often is heard on the soundtrack of the shows she voices. My only regret is that she never showed up on a tasting panel on Iron Chef. There have been other seiyuu who have participated. Strange that she wouldn't have been asked.
MsGeek no baka! Gomen nasai! (Score:2)
Re:MsGeek no baka! Gomen nasai! (Score:2)
Anime? (Score:1, Troll)
They need to air the GT series of Dragon ball (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:They need to air the GT series of Dragon ball (Score:1)
Also, your complaining and asking "Caroon Network" to play GT and stop playing Z, but they have absolutely no say in the matter. All Cartoon Network does is take the edited tape from Funimation and put a commercial break in, and air it.
Re:They need to air the GT series of Dragon ball (Score:2)
Re:They need to air the GT series of Dragon ball (Score:2)
First you ask that they stop showing DBZ in favor of DBGT, then you ask them to show you events that happen in DBZ (like the introduction of Gotenks and the defeat of Majinbuu). Make up your mind! ^_^
They will air more episodes as they are available. The translators are still working on the series, as I understand it, but I don't really keep up with the dubbed version on the Cartoon Network, since the International Channel is showing the original uncut DBZ in their Fuji Fun Time block, with new episodes every week. They just introduced Gotenks in a recently aired episode, to give you an idea of where in the series they are already.
Funimation's translation of DBZ is horrible. Lame rock music, Gokuu has a manly voice (!!!!!), and incredibly lame frame censoring all add up to put it up there with Robotech as far as I'm concerned. I've posted about that before, so I'll leave that topic alone for now...
< tofuhead >
Hooray! (Score:1)
But only in the States (Score:1)
Anyone else with me?
Re:But only in the States (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:But only in the States (Score:3, Interesting)
On the bright side, Gundam 0083 is on DVD, Pilot Candidate reportedly sucks, and Yu Yu Hakusho is from Funimation (not Bandai), say no more.
And YTV ran all of Escaflowne, Teletoon ran all of Cyber 6, while Fox axed both of them real quick. It's not all bad here.
Double Edged sword (Score:5, Insightful)
1) The dubbing of most anime is crud. For shows like CB, you get a great feel for the characters when you can hear the original voice acting, since much more thought goes into voice acting selection for the original as opposed to the dub.
2) Again, using CB as an example: The editing. If you're gonna put a show in 'Adult Swim', then let it stay true to it's original release form. Bebop's had an entire episode yanked (for quite a silly reason) and a numbre of scenes cut. Granted, I don't want Cartoon Network to become a hentai crap-flood, but if you make the decision to put a show on, put the damn thing on as it was meant to be seen.
I bring up these points since often times it's quite easy to dismiss some really quality anime when you dont have the complete experience.
Dub vs. Sub. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Dub vs. Sub. (Score:2)
Cost, effort, and licensing issues. It takes money to create captioned scripts, and even to broadcast in SAP. Plus, not all cable systems actually broadcast the SAP; Cartoon Network doesn't even broadcast in stereo as far as I can tell (around here on AT&T Digital at least).
< tofuhead >
Re:Dub vs. Sub. (Score:2)
No, one parent post in this thread was talking about dubbing, captioning, and broadcasting the original Japanese tracks via SAP on the same material, not the cost of dubbing vs. subbing.
In such a comparison, dubbing seems to have won the decision on the parts of the network people. I've posted in another thread about my preference for subs in every case; the preference for dubbing is merely an American trend that I've noticed.
< tofuhead >
I doubt that it was cost... (Score:2)
The reason they dubbed is because they considered their audience to be half-literate morons who wouldn't watch if they had to read the dialog. That, and the fact that censorship is easier/less obvious if you don't have to worry about people who might understand the original dialog, too.
BlackGriffen
Re:Double Edged sword (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Double Edged sword (Score:3, Informative)
BlackGriffen
Re:Double Edged sword (Score:2, Informative)
Also the episode (cowboy funk) that was not did in fact air, it was aired last thursday, it was pulled during the season's first run in october, after the 9/11 attacks.
Due to the nature of the episode and the similarities of 9/11 (two skyscrapers as a target, terrorists, etc.) it was in the best interest to not air it then. This rotation, every episode was set to air, when we got to cowboy funk, the tape was misplaced and Jupiter Jazz Part I was shown as a last minute replacement. However during the encore the following thursday, the tape was found and cowboy funk did air.
As for people wanting completely uncut anime. It's neve going to happen on cable, maybe premium channels, but the FCC will not allow the S-word F-word or nudity still. So certain elements must be altered/changed/ommitted I do believe some of the editing is excessive and that the shows should stay as original as possible without landing the broadcaster some hefty fines.
Here's an Unpopular Opinion about Dubbing (Score:2)
Here's an unpopular opinion:
I think the real reason that american anime fanatics like japanese voice acting is that they're not japanese. NOT because it's any better than the english dub. If you're not listening in your native language (and especially if you don't even understand the language), then you're less likely to pick up on the awkwardness that a bad voice actor brings. Everything seems more "artistic" when you don't understand it.
That is my theory. For low-to-medium-budget anime, I'll bet the voice acting is just as bad, or worse, than the american dub. (For instance, the high-pitched girls' voices come to mind.)
However, you might be right that a big production like Cowboy Bebop has more thought going into the japanese voices, though.
That said, I usually watch a foreign film in the original language; it's just more fun. But for watching TV, when I am distracted by things around me or don't want to concentrate too hard, I prefer dubbing.
Re:Here's an Unpopular Opinion about Dubbing (Score:2)
Some English voice acting is good, yes. This is something that has improved greatly as anime has gotten more popular and more budgets have increased. None the less, there are still some truely horiffic dubs. To pick an example from the above, Rurouni Kenshin. The TV series dub in excellent. The OAV's and Movie(Samurai X) on the other hand, I really wouldn't care to watch dubbed. Or to pick another recent example, Crest of the Stars. It's just...flat.
Mostly, I while I do find the everything must be subbed zealots to be fairly annoying, I also dislike people who whine about having to read subtitles. I honestly tend to forget whether I watched something subbed or dubbed, unless theres something exceptionally good or bad about the voice acting. (Or in the cases like the Angel Santuary fansubs, which had the subtitles from hell)
i-channel to the rescue (Score:2)
Check out the schedule here [internationalchannel.com] and watch Slayers tonight at 11pm EST.
News for Nerds... (Score:2, Insightful)
now the question is (Score:1)
anyway, it's still more anime to waste my life on . . . i can't complain
Yu Yu? (Score:2, Informative)
Oh, for the day that we can air Evangelion...
Re:Yu Yu? (Score:1)
Re:Yu Yu? (Score:2)
WE can. I saw the whole thing on my local PBS stations, KTEH. Subbed, not dubbed. Unedited. KTEH shows stuff like that because of demand and support from their viewers and members.
I suppose it takes a public station that's dedicated to it's viewers, and a geek-heavy audience (San Jose area) to make that happen, but if it can happen here, I don't see why it can't happen elsewhere.
Just one of the reasons why I love PBS...
Speaking of Justice League . . . (Score:2)
Besides the whole, "you mean there's actually more than four episodes?!?" problem, I'm somewhat dissapointed with the over-the-top plotlines. With the exception of the Atlantis two-parter, every other episode I've seen so far has taken place in far off space locations.
It's a matter of taste, of course, but I'd prefer they tone the whole "other planet as a backdrop" thing down and get to plotlines that were closer to the Batman and Superman type stories.
Thanks for accepting my article, CmdrTaco... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Thanks for accepting my article, CmdrTaco... (Score:3)
Brad Siegel: Moron At Large (Score:1, Troll)
How nice that Chuck Jones and LNB&W die on the same day. Piss on history some more, why don't you? Screw anime, give me classic Warner Brothers!
News for nerds? (Score:2, Troll)
Am I the only one here who doesn't see the connection? Maybe it's the "stuff that matters" part...in which case I'll just go away (for now).
You've never met a real Marine, have you? (Score:2, Insightful)
It's funny/sad but there are 20 year old kids--men actually--in the Marines, overseas, with gun in hand, doing the tough business of protecting this country.
You've never actually met a real Marine, have you? Or anyone in the Armed Services, for that matter. I should introduce you to some of my friends, such as Andrew the Everquest nut who is now in Army Intelligence serving as a Korean translator, or Tia the goth raver who is now a medtech at Travis AFB, or James the Champions GM who was a mechanized infantry seargent in the Gulf War...
Re:You've never met a real Marine, have you? (Score:2, Insightful)
Can you say the same? Or are you too busy looking at how other people think of you to do something you actually enjoy.
Ask yourself, who really cares?
--theKiyote
Don't confuse taste with maturity... (Score:3, Insightful)
I wouldn't be bragging about being associated with unsophisticated people like that
"If I were as dumb as you, I could be a jarhead too!" --the navy brat's credo
BlackGriffen
Re:Use your preferences (Score:2)
At least you could have been honest with us and let us know you and the Taco share the same agenda [oldcrows.net] [oldcrows.net], which would definitely explain your position.
Well duh. [slashdot.org]
Anime vs Chuck Jones (Score:3, Interesting)
Lots of posts here wondering what people see in anime, especially the more adult-oriented material.
Lots of posts in the Chuck Jones thread saying how much they loved and grew up on Chuck's features, even though many were aimed at adults.
What makes comedy animation so much more acceptable than dramatic animation?
Re:Anime vs Chuck Jones (Score:2, Interesting)
Nothing, really. The problem is that most anime has juvenile plotlines, characters that are two-dimensional in more ways than one, and really weak scripting and dialogue.
This can be made an advantage in episodic comedy, but obviously just sucks for continuous drama.
And let's not get into the whole "good anime vs. Americanized crap anime" thing, alright? In my quest to find some anime I really like, I've watched most of your favorites, many in the original Japanese with subtitles (and yes, I recognize that subtitles and translations are suboptimal), and even the "good" ones (Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ninja Scroll, Record of Lodoss War, Mononoke Hime, etc.) are all the animated equivalents of the X-Men comic books in terms of depth. Not bad if your audience is teenaged boys, but anyone else is going to get real bored real fast.
(Actually, that's unfair. Mononoke was mildly interesting, if horrendously drawn out. And Cowboy Bebop is actually sort of cool, but I think that's mostly because of the random blues riffs.)
Foreigners: Quit your bitching (Score:2)
As for the Europeans or Asians, all depends on what satellites you can see. Not that you bother checking before you complain about how stories like this affect "only" the United States...
Do yourself a favor, don't watch Toonami... (Score:3)
The translation of Cowboy Bebop wasn't horrible, aside from the standard censorship, but the voice acting was terrible. The guy who talks Spike just doesn't know how to get those subtle gradations of emotion in his voice that were in the original (we're not talking soap operas here, Spike is pretty stoic, but even stoics betray some emotion in their voices). Just compare the end of session 6, Sympathy for the Devil in the subtitled and dubbed versions to see exactly what I mean.
I'm all for anime on TV (I've become an anime freak of late), but, damnit, they need to do it right! I don't object to dubbing as long as the translation, lip syncing, and voice acting are all done well. Dumping the freaking censorship is also a good idea.
If I really want to get my anime off of cable, I find that the Action channel tends to do the best job overall (no censorship, and they even do both subbed versions from time to time).
BlackGriffen
Re:Do yourself a favor, don't watch Toonami... (Score:2)
Episode 23, Hot Springs Tenrei, was never aired on Japanese TV in the first place. (Neither was that other one). It was a bonus episode on the video release. As such, the content was adhering to OVA standards rather than TV standards, which allowed it to get away with a lot more than it would have otherwise. Anime companies do this all the time to boost the video sales of TV shows, by giving the fans something new, and frequently smutty.
w00t., Yu Yu! (Score:2)
I am VERY intersted in seeing how Bandai is going to cover the fact that:
A: The first few episodes are Horribly Boring. (to the point that if you have not seen later episodes they may very well turn you off of the series)
B: The insane amount of non-western religious/mythos stuff in there. While it is not exactly a historical drama, I am wondering if Bandai is going to have to resort to translation notes???
C: The INSANELY large amounts of GORE. YuYu is a VEEEEEEEERRRRYYYYY bloody show.
Re:w00t., Yu Yu! (Score:2)
Sorry, what I get for listening to the main
Oh well, first impressions, voice acting is only so so hardly what I expected the characters to sound like in English, then again I said the exact same thing about Cowboy Bebop, so I am going to wait an episode or two more before I make any final judgements.
The first few measures of the intro song are off.
Horribly off.
Oh yah, and their singers SUCK. Well appreciated that they are sticking to the same theme song as the original version had in it, but damnit, even though the singers voice is similar, that song just, well, SUCKS in English.
The intro song is not really their fault, unless done VERY well, almost anything sung in English sounds only so so I imagine that the singer had a lovely time trying to sing something that was originally written in another language and then translated over to English. Even with our broad base of synonyms to work from, choosing words that make sense and have the right syllable count and sound to them in order to line up with the song WHILE keeping the same meaning as the original song, must have been a royal pain in the ass.
Which explains why they only did a so so job on it. ^_^
I had to turn off the end credits though, they were just dismal.
I -LOVED- how they kept the Chibi characters for the faders before and after commercials though.
First episode was not something to catch the DBZ kiddies onto the show, but the acting was good enough to make you feel depressed during the wake.
Hmm, now that I think about it, it is kind of weird to actually have COMMERCIALS while watching YuYu. ^_^
Ugh, I already submitted this... (Score:2)
/me ends rant.
Re:Ugh, I already submitted this... (Score:2)
so where's reboot? (Score:2)
I still haven't seen the end of Daemon Rising, much less any of My Two Bobs...
Re:Speed Racer (Score:1)
Re:Adult Swim (Score:3, Informative)
Well, it's true, most purist anime fans prefer subtitles to dubs. But, the Cartoon Network isn't for anime fans, it's for the mainstream who are merely looking for something different to watch. Anime fans already have many other venues to find the same material, presented in superior fashion.
Also, Adult Swim is not purely an anime block. It's filled with some anime shows as well as some American shows.
< tofuhead >
Re:Adult Swim (Score:2)
Yeah, I remember watching Home Movies a couple of years ago, when it was on some other network (UPN?). It's very funny, but a it's paced a little too slowly for my taste. I still watch it now and then.
< tofuhead >
Re:Adult Swim (Score:2)
I have major problems with dubbing, not just with anime but with all foreign-language films. Simply, I want to hear the actor's own words, the same ones that the writers put in their mouths. I speak Japanese and French on top of English (at non-native fluency), but even for other languages I prefer subtitling over dubbing, simply because of this.
The solution to your subject of blocking the artwork, at least at home, was actually proposed by Carl Macek of Robotech and Streamline Pictures fame some time back (at either Anime Expo 92 or 93, when they were still held in Northern CA): For all letterboxed films, shift the picture to the top of the screen, and place subtitles/captioning at the bottom of the screen, so as not to block any part of the picture on 4:3 screens. I am disappointed that neither they nor anyone else has taken that idea anywhere.
< tofuhead >
Re:Adult Swim (Score:3, Informative)
That would make it three camps then. Even if you don't understand the original language, you can still pull a lot out of how the original voice talent performs the original dialog. With subtitling, you deal with the original director's interpretation of how the characters should sound and behave, which is very complementary to interpreting what the translator is presenting you in the subs. With dubs, you get the entire experience (voices _and_ script) translated, _time-edited_, and colloquialized by a second director and spoon-fed to you in your native language. Colloquialization _is_ more of an issue with dubs than subs; a Japanese ko-gal is _NOT_ a valley girl, and I don't want to hear valley girl language come out of Japanese character's mouths.
People keep saying that only elitists could possibly dismiss dubbing on the basis that it is dubbing. That in itself is an elitist statement, IMO, since it's a commonly-shared preference. It's not like I run around telling people that they are sinning by watching and enjoying dubs; other people can do whatever the hell they want, and I don't think they are elitist morons for it.
< tofuhead >
Re:crappy shows (Score:3, Informative)
Re:crappy shows (Score:2)
a. Zoicite was really a guy and Kunzite's (Malachite) gay lover.
b. All four of the inner planet senshi and Tuxedo Mask died on screen in the first season.
c. Usagi (Serena) and Mamoru (Darien) are frequently shown at his apartment early in the morning. While it's not explicit that Mamaoru is getting some underage nookie, it's not explained away either.
d. Makoto (Lita) is quite proud of her breast size and says so loudly on any number of occasions.
e. Haruka (Amara) and Michiru (Michelle) ain't cousins. Again, while there's no hot Senshi-on-Senshi action, series creator Naoko Takeuchi has confirmed that Sailors Uranus and Neptune are lesbian lovers.
f. In the fifth and final season of Sailor Moon which has yet to make it to NA shores, Sailor Moon fights along side the Sailor Starlights, three transsexual Sailor Senshi from a solar system far away. They're male pop singers by day and leather- S&M-gear-clad fighters for justice by night.
Explain that one away. I dare you... Sadly, that's probably the reason we'll never see Sailor Stars on U.S. TV.
The list of cuts is too numerous to mention. Even the most casual violence to humans, like all the scenes where Rei rather justly slaps the shit out of Usagi, are cut.
Getting Tivo to Record Anime... (Score:2, Informative)
Setup a wishlist to get ANIMATED SHOWS that have a rating higher than Y7.
Always triple thumbs up anything that's japanese anime. (regardless of whether or not you like it)
Do ONE thumbs down for any cartoon shows that show up that are completely out of your field (like My Little Pony).
One thumbs down seems to get Tivo to realize the genre's ok, but the subject matter is all wrong... 3 thumbs down seem to give Tivo the idea that everything about the show is wrong, which is not what you want...
It takes a while, but I've got my Tivo trained enough to pick up the Action network's saturday night anime about 60% of the time. (which is about my thumb hit for other shows as well...)
That's still not perfect, but it's still pretty cool to come home and find some anime I didn't even know was showing recorded automatically (Although Encore likes to show Appleseed way too many time...)
Short attention span theater. (Score:2)
That said, I don't think this series is actually slow. In fact I think it is the best of the gundam series. The animation is top notch throughout, the story is excellent in premis and very well excecuted. If there is a negative, it's the absolute inability of the original writers to provide half decent names for anything. Hardly a problem unique to this particular series.