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Anime

New Anime Block Starts Tonight Cartoon Network 386

Posted by CmdrTaco from the art-at-24-frames-a-second dept.
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.
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New Anime Block Starts Tonight Cartoon Network More

New Anime Block Starts Tonight Cartoon Network

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  • reasons for anime? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by I Want GNU! ( 556631 ) on Saturday February 23, 2002 @07:31PM (#3058774) Homepage
    I might get modded down for this, but could someone please clarify for me why anime is so popular? I mean, it's just a Japanese form of animation, and we have all kinds of great animation in the US, with shows like Family Guy and Futurama. Of course, I've seen some great anime-ish type video games like Jet Grind Radio for the Dreamcast, which uses this weird cel shading technique. I'm just genuinely curious as to why anime is so popular, I haven't seen much of it in the mainstream but among certain crowds it seems really popular.
    • It's the tentacles!!! It's all about the tentacles!!!

      I wish I had tentacles. ;-)
    • we have all kinds of great animation in the US

      Well, no we don't. We have the Simpsons and we have Futurama and that's pretty much it.
      • What about some of the new stuff on Cartoon Network. Genndy Tartakovsky and others have done some wonderful work. Dexter's Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls, and Samurai Jack are all great shows.

        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?

      • I personally have yet to see a single anime series I really liked. Some are okay, sure, in a "Dexter's Laboratory is a pretty good show" way, but none have been excellent, in a "Futurama is fucking amazing" way.
        • Have you ever seen cowboy bebop? Simply amazing. Probably the best Telivsion series I've ever seen in the genras it encompases (sci-fi, action adventure, cyberpunk)

          • yes (Score:2)

            by Trepidity ( 597 )
            I saw one episode, and it didn't really impress me much. But then I don't like sci-fi, action/adventure, or cyberpunk.
            • Try Tenchi Muyo (the OAV, not the TV show or Tenchi in Tokyo version). If you don't like that, and you don't like Bebop, then you probably won't like anything else, because they're pretty much the best anime around.

            • Re:yes (Score:3, Informative)

              by elandal ( 9242 )
              But then I don't like sci-fi, action/adventure, or cyberpunk.


              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.

    • It's not just because it's Japanese... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Silverhammer ( 13644 ) on Saturday February 23, 2002 @07:41PM (#3058818)

      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...

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:reasons for anime? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Hott of the World ( 537284 ) on Saturday February 23, 2002 @07:46PM (#3058845) Homepage Journal
      "could someone please clarify for me why anime is so popular? I mean, it's just a Japanese form of animation, and we have all kinds of great animation in the US, with shows like Family Guy and Futurama. Of course, I've seen some great anime-ish type video games like Jet Grind Radio for the Dreamcast, which uses this weird cel shading technique. I'm just genuinely curious as to why anime is so popular, I haven't seen much of it in the mainstream but among certain crowds it seems really popular."

      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)

        by nomadic ( 141991 )
        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.

        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.
    • Honestly, I'm not sure why anime is so popular. I enjoyed Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Princess Mononoke, but that's really about it. I've seen a bunch of anime that just kinda makes me wonder what's up. Stuff like Dragonball Z (is that anime? I'm not sure) just leaves me scratching my head.

      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.
      • The following anime is quite good, and accessible: Give Trigun a try. Trigun is a helluva good series with an interesting blend of the comedic and serious. You might also try Vampire Hunter D and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. The former was the first, and only Ok. The latter was made recently, and was done better (interesting note: you won't find a subbed version of Bloodlust because it was originally done in English). Macross Plus (either OAV or movie should be good, I've only seen the OAV) is also quite good, and it has the same director as Cowboy Bebop, and the music composer, Yoko Kanno, also worked on both (though most of the Macross Plus stuff had a more decidedly pop bent than the jazzy Bebop soundtrack, you'll probably like Myung's theme).

        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:reasons for anime? (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Well, the anime that seems to be popular amonsgt Slashdot'ers normally tries
      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)

      by Anonymous Coward
      American's are extremely narrow minded when it comes to producing animated series. Until relatively recently if it was animated it was for pre-teen kids. The Simpsons changed that to a degree; Now if it's animated it's either for pre-teens or it fits in The Simpsons slot.

      The Japanese attitude appears to be "Is it possible to do this story live-action? No? Make it anime then."
    • we have all kinds of great animation in the US, with shows like Family Guy and Futurama.

      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.

      • The closest thing to Anime I've seen come out of America was the original Heavy Metal movie. It's not really quite anime, but I would say that it is at least on par with the average anime fair. Heavy Metal 2000 plain sucked. The only thing they carried over from the original was the girls who kick butt bit. HM 2000 was basically just a standard Hollywood action flick that was animated. The original has a certain dream-like quality to the story flow that I really enjoy.

        "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)

      by Jartan ( 219704 )
      While I think Futurama and The Simpsons are great for a laugh there is deffinetly a real dearth of serious animation in the US. I think that's the real reason Japanese animation is so popular. Most of the american stuff is comical in nature or geared towards kids.

      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
    • I wondered the exact same thing for the longest time. It seemed (at least at my school) that in order to be in the CS department a taste for anime was almost as much as a prequisite as the introductory 'weed-out' programming classes.

      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.
    • Perhaps the most important things are:
      - 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.
  • Cartoon Network used to do something like this on Saturday nights, back before there really was a Toonami. They'd run all kinds of cool, old shit like Thundercats, Thundaar, Robotech, and of course the requisite Dragonballs. Awesome way to end a Saturday night if you'd get in before 2:00 am.

    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.
  • Animated at a full 24 frames per second!

    ... oh wait, what was that? 24 frames per episode? Oh darn.
    • I was hoping that no-one would point out that I was mixing up the number of animation frames in a cartoon with the number of frames-per-second a TV spits out.

      So far, so good. :-)

  • Adult Swim + Dragon Ball (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Quizme2000 ( 323961 ) on Saturday February 23, 2002 @07:36PM (#3058794) Homepage Journal
    I would like to see the midnight run of Dragon Ball Z, be the unedited version. The SF Chronical recently did a pretty good story on cartoons for the 18+ crowd. Though they name the simpsons as a saving grace(?) Anyway, Being in CA I think we are ahead of the curve concerning Anime and the like but its kinda funny to see Burger king marketing DBZ and PowerPuff toys, if they only new what a potty mouth gohan has!

  • Anime? (Score:1, Troll)

    by Hexray ( 546646 )
    Hrm.. is a rose still a rose after you die it black and stomp on it? I guess it is just a crushed rose.... Anyway the point is dubbing is terrible and I doubt you should consider it "anime". This title is inaccurate...
  • They need to air the GT series of Dragon ball, I make sure I am home every day at 5:30 so I can watch dragon ball and dragon ball Z at 6. I really wish they would stop showing dragon ball Z, its old and we have been watching the reruns for a long time! Please give us Dragon Ball GT! I want to see Trunks and Goten fuse! Please or at least show how they defeat Buu! They always end dragon ball Z when vegita dies bye Buu, They need to continue it so we can see what happens! Please Cartoon Network Please!
    • Funimation is a small company. There is ALOT of work that goes into translating a DBZ episode. They are doing the best they can and releasing at a pretty constant rate. If you want the rest of Z and the GT series, why not contribute some cash? That would help them pump out episodes quicker. Otherwise don't bitch, or order yourself the versions with english subtitles.

      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.

    • I too was hooked, then needed more. I have been able to find subtitled DIVX versions (no audio) on Morpheus. Also ebay has quite a few auctions that will sell the VCDs for All the DB,DBZ, and DBGT episodes and movies. Real collections go for about 300-400 dollars, pirated collections around 70-110 dollars. I strongly advise you not to get a pirated collection, the dubs suck and you will have no legal recorse if you get screwed by the seller. Try to get versions that are subtitled in english but have the original japanesse voices. Freiza's voice is badass.

    • 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 >

  • More Gundam :\
  • Naturally more anime on TV excites me, until I hear it is only on Cartoon Network. Perhaps its time to write a letter campaign to Teletoon to get some of these shows like Outlaw Star, Tenchi and so on put on Canadian (bleech) cable.

    Anyone else with me?
    • I'd really like to see HBO pick up these kinds of shows, and air them unedited with no commercial breaks. Hell, I think we're almost at the point where a premium anime/animation network could be self-supporting...

    • Re:But only in the States (Score:3, Interesting)

      by tb3 ( 313150 )
      Yeah, (sigh). I just moved back to Canada, after living in the States for three years. I'm still in CN withdrawl. YTV has Gundam Wing, Teletoon has zip.

      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)

    by joh3n ( 201817 ) on Saturday February 23, 2002 @07:48PM (#3058853)
    While I'm glad that some good anime (case in point Cowboy Bebop) is getting some 'mainstream' play, there's a dark side to CN's airing of the shows:

    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)

      by alphaseven ( 540122 )
      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.
      I just thought of this: Why doesn't the cartoon network put the original Japanese audio on SAP. Then to follow the story you could just turn on captioning. Any reason this isn't implemented?

      • 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 >

    • actually every ep was shown. Even the teddy bomber ep that had a building that looked a lot like the WTC getting blown up.

    • Re:Double Edged sword (Score:2, Informative)

      by cdf12345 ( 412812 )
      In defense of Cowboy Bebop, the English dub is the best anime dub....ever. It's extremely well done and very smart.

      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.

      ...See You Space Cowboy

    • 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.
    • If your cable network carries the i-channel, you can sometimes get some subbed anime. (Along with the other crazy stuff they carry -- I'm still trying to figure out this [apparently Indian] game show). Granted, the non-Dragonball-Z stuff only comes once a week, but every little bit helps.

      Check out the schedule here [internationalchannel.com] and watch Slayers tonight at 11pm EST.

  • News for Nerds... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by quintessent ( 197518 )
    Stuff that... (yawn)
  • how much are they going to change in the translation? because in most cases (take DBZ for example) things get radically changed through translation (master roshi is actually a teen seeking lech in the japanese version . . . i love it :).
    anyway, it's still more anime to waste my life on . . . i can't complain :)

  • Yu Yu? (Score:2, Informative)

    by AvatarADVathome ( 538740 )
    One notes that Yu Yu Hakusho is a Funimation title, not a Bandai title.

    Oh, for the day that we can air Evangelion...
    • Funimation? Dammit.
    • Oh, for the day that we can air Evangelion...

      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...

  • ... 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?

    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)

    by Silverhammer ( 13644 ) on Saturday February 23, 2002 @08:13PM (#3058940)
    ...but you sure edited the crap out of it. In my original submission, the shows were on Cartoon Network, "American" was capitalized, and midnight was 12 AM. Bleh.
  • Glad to see that Brad Siegel's reverse Midas touch is working perfectly. For this we're losing Late Nite Black and White? First it got moved to Saturdays from Sundays, and now it's gone, replaced by some crap anime? And I thought Siegel was a complete Stallman when he let World Championship Wrestling die a very hideous public death on his watch as AOLTW's overseer. This takes the cake.

    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!

  • I've never been able to make the connection between the "news for nerds" thing and anime. Especially when Cmdr Taco already takes care of his anime fix via Anime Fu [animefu.com].

    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).

  • Anime vs Chuck Jones (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ashitaka ( 27544 ) on Saturday February 23, 2002 @09:12PM (#3059103) Homepage
    Hmm..

    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?

    • What makes comedy animation so much more acceptable than dramatic animation?

      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.)

  • Just because your local cable or DSS provider doesn't carry this particular US network doesn't mean you can't get it at all. Those of you who at least live in the western hemisphere and have a relatively unobstructed horizon in the direction of the equator can get themselves a C-band dish and watch along with us.

    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)

    by BlackGriffen ( 521856 ) on Saturday February 23, 2002 @09:39PM (#3059185)
    Not saying that it's not a good idea, but everything they do is so heavily edited it's pathetic. Consider Outlaw Star. That series dealt with sex a lot (i.e. Gene was called a space cherry, not a space rookie) in the original, but Cartoon Network cut all of that out (including all of episode 23, which explains where Gene gets those four uber-powerful caster shells). I haven't been able to get my hands on anything but eps 1-4 and 23, but I'd be willing to bet that Gene was sleeping with Suzuka and Aysha, too. They also edit out any blood for some reason.

    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
    • For the 40,000,000,000th time -

      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.
  • About time! I have been looking forward to YuYu Hakusho coming onto TV for some time now.

    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. :)
  • I usually don't rant on /. but I'm pissed. I posted this same goddam story, several weeks ago, and it didn't get accepted. What the fuck does this particular posting have that mine didn't? Why can't the admins of /. give a damn reason why an article is rejected? I even included some bits about Tenchi and Cowboy Bebop (aimed at Taco's tastes in anime, as well as my own). No dice.

    /me ends rant.
  • as in why is it taking them months to repeat season four for those of use who tried to tape it but couldn't because our lousy f'in' cable went out that day...

    I still haven't seen the end of Daemon Rising, much less any of My Two Bobs...

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