Dumbass newfag animoo questions

[Silenka]

Back when FMA was first airing (the original anime ver, not Brotherhood) I chatted with Vic online/at cons and stuff and I thought he was a really cool guy. At that time he was still relatively unknown and building his fanbase from the ground up. Since FMA though he's been able to land basically any role he wants and he absolutely takes advantage of his fame in really whorish ways, he turned into a general douchebag. Last con I went to devoted like two entire nights to his autograph signings, shit was whack.

He did well as Ed (I suppose, I still much prefer Paku Romi) but I haven't liked him in a single other role he's played. I think the general overall quality of the FMA dub contributes to that (good scripters, good directors) but yeah I am totally feeling the annoyance.

Also yes, stop watching dubs. There are a few good ones but they are so few and far between it's hardly even worth it to pick through the piles of crap when the original Japanese is almost always equal or better anyways.

[edit] oh, you hate reading subtitles? Then you really have no right to complain. Learn moonspeak or put up with subs if you want to watch anime that isn't fucked over to hell and back.

[samalis]

I like to always watch material in their native language.I prefer not to watch dub films even, like korean, swedish, spanish films etc. Usually I stick with subbed, but like other people have mentioned there are a few good dubs (FMA, Bebop) but it's really not worth it.

[Ksandra]

Just 'cause OP said he was a n00b gonna clarify something you may not know (sorry if you do, just sounds like you didn't). A lot of funimation animes are not really funimation. Anime distributing companies basically all went to shit years ago (I'm terrible with time, but I'd like to say things really went downhill for businesses about 5-6 years ago, but time flies so could have been more). Funimation is one of the last distributors left and they bought basically the rights to everything the other companies did. They didn't change anything, just removed whatever symbol of the original distributor and slapped their name on it instead.

Now, of course, current anime is basically (? I think all, not sure what other distributors are left, if any) going to be through Funimation, but anything maybe 4-5 years old might not have been originally done by them.

I am also like you OP in that if I can watch a dub I will. Sometimes I'll watch a dub with the subtitles going just for a more accurate translation. My younger years I was more hardcore and was "subtitles onry!" but now it seems like if I'm actually watching something, I'm multitasking (ie. folding laundry, doing dishes, etc.). So, I am willing to sacrifice "superior" if it means not having to stare at the screen the whole time. Though, as well, I can't think of anything recent I've watched outside of Gurren Lagann, so can't comment on current voice acting.

I will say outside of Odess's suggestions, I really like the Dubs for Bubblegum Crisis and Trigun (yayaya they're old, but I still like them!)

[Kaylia]

I like to always watch material in their native language.I prefer not to watch dub films even, like korean, swedish, spanish films etc. Usually I stick with subbed, but like other people have mentioned there are a few good dubs (FMA, Bebop) but it's really not worth it.

This is something native English speakers rarely realize because everything is dubbed for them, and most won't have to look very far to find somtehing they understand. Hell, most can't even compares the different versions because they don't understand two languages

However, when you start looking for shows or movies in their original language, it doesn't take long to realize how much is lost. After a few bad experiences, it's hard to give dubbing any kind of credit.


Not every dubs are terrible obviously, some [richer] studio manages to pull it off okay, but it's always hard to match the original. The delivery is sub par at best, the text has to be modified heavily to fit the lip, many jokes or subtleties are lost completely (subbing alone won't help you, but having the original track might give you a clue).



[edit]
One of the worst aspect of dubbing in my opinion (regardless of the language) are kids. They never get their voice right. Adult are generally more tolerable (probably because they are easier to dub).

[Silenka]

Disagree, I think Alphonse was pretty good, possibly because they actually got a kid to play him :D

As for anime distributors, there are some studios left. The hardest hit was when ADV kicked the bucket years ago, because they had a crapton of licenses - the flipside of that though is that they did a shitty job dubbing/releasing almost everything they bought the rights to and then charged ridiculously high prices.

Anime has always had a horrible business model in North America. For a studio, buying the rights to release something here is usually very expensive unless it's total crap that even Japan doesn't want. When anime began becoming popular (still back in the day of VHS), customers could buy dubs 10-15$ cheaper than subs, which didn't make any sense to consumers whatsoever (you'd think dubs would cost more, if not the same price). For instance, I once bought a Sailor Moon movie subbed on VHS for 25$ when the dub was only 15$ from Suncoast (remember them?). Add to that the fact that what little anime that was trickling onto North American TV at the time was not suitable for the age group they were targeting (see: Escaflowne) and you've got an idea of where anime started going wrong here.

After the anime boom of the early/mid 2000s though, when Cowboy Bebop was being repeated endlessly on Adult Swim and, thanks to many recent successes, American TV was becoming more interested in showing anime, a lot more studios cropped up or became more prominent. Viz, Media Blasters, Geneon, ADV etc were all releasing material in a steady stream with varying success at producing quality (some dubs were ok, some were horrible; some releases were grainy or missing vocal tracks, some looked better than might be expected). One problem with the release quality, though, was that anime localization was a recent development compared to how much anime actually existed. It was like studios trying to play through a backlog of 1000+ games, there was too much material and too much fan demand for titles that hadn't yet been brought over. Problematically though, even though anime was getting more fans and more exposure, there just wasn't enough advertising to make the general public aware of anime as a genre, so it never truly became mainstream like it is in Japan. I suppose one problem is we have to import all of it and it's not made natively, and another problem is dubs suck because we use theatre rejects for dubbing because there's not a real big cast of good, experienced actors who are interested in lending their time and voices to anime. Also at this time, anime was prohibitively expensive for its target audience (teenagers), one dvd of 4 episodes would be 20$. That's not as bad as it is in Japan, actually, but it probably could have been cheaper here. It got a little better when they started releasing whole series at once in box sets and nearly abandoned singles entirely, but that change could also be seen as the death knell of the industry.

After that heyday though, maybe the novelty of anime wore off, maybe with the rise of torrenting people stopped wanting to pay the high prices for it, maybe people got sick of crappy releases, not sure, but the anime industry tanked hard, and a bunch of companies went out of business. A little after that time, Funimation picked up the rights to just about everything and they made sure to release a good FMA dub with a really nice slick DVD release and tons of North American exposure, which probably kept them in the money for a long time. Nowadays they are the go-to anime company, but they still need to advertise more, and though they're fixing their business model, I'm not sure it will be enough. It would be helpful, anyway, if they could at least hire some other voice actors, Vic Mignona is getting pretty annoying, huh? ;D

[Senji]

I'll take Vic cast in everything is that means Greg Ayres has been run out.

OP: Check the stuff with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. Best dubs imo.

[Fhqwghads]

Read everyone's posts. Thank you for the info on this. Helps shed some light on why I've ran into 99% crap while cruising Netflix. Last night wrapped up my search for anything that was rated MA on Netflix (anything TV-14 or below never has the kind of over-the-top violence, etc., that I like in an anime.) There were a couple that piqued my interest. I did try Blue Gender, but the rollerblading mecha kinda ruined it. I tried that Shiguri anime also, but it gave me the impression of a prettier version of DBZ. Even the YouTube that was linked kinda shows what I'm talking about, where the guys spend more time getting ready for a fight than actually fighting.

Also, this is an example of the vignetting I'm talking about:



It's just a random image I pulled from a google search, and the original looks like this:
(Possibly not safe for work because of panty shot)Register to see the NSFW content

It strikes me that's what a lot of the stuff I watch has had done to it. Can't prove it though since I don't have an original copy.

[Kalima]

The only dub I can truly defend is Ghost in the shell: Standalone Complex (which is also on nextflix btw). Don't think I've heard any VAs better than these and I actually slightly prefer the dub over the original.

[Senji]

Also, this is an example of the vignetting I'm talking about:

It strikes me that's what a lot of the stuff I watch has had done to it. Can't prove it though since I don't have an original copy.

I checked a few, in both original/raw jp files and after eng release. Not all do it, and only in some scenes in those that do (that I have). Those two pics look shopped to either extreme.

"vignetting anime" and BG is third hit now

[Silenka]

I don't actually see that in DVD releases though - it's possible that much of the anime on netflix was previously adapted for a TV channel (there are a couple anime-only cable channels afaik). Those might be the versions they're sticking up on Netflix, but I don't really know. I didn't expect that kind of thing on Netflix though, I don't think it has any particular censorship rules for what it carries (I mean, I watched an 'X rated' cartoon on there before so yeah...).

I didn't read all of the recommendations on here but if you really want just violence and panty shots and shit you might wanna try
Berserk
Hellsing (which has a pretty good dub)
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (aka When They Cry)
Umineko no Naku Koro ni (not a sequel, but by the same people)
Witchblade
Ninja Scroll
Rurouni Kenshin Trust & Betrayal (aka Samurai X ughhh)
Akira
Burst Angel
Evangelion
Queen's Blade


I don't actually like over the top violence and giant bouncy boobs (I prefer my anime more believable with a good story) so I haven't seen most of them but I've heard enough lol.

[Zilong]

Vignettes are usually removed on DVD/BD release, so it really shouldn't be there unless the american distributor put it back.

And really, if rollerblading mecha is the limit of your tolerance, on top of not liking subs, I would suggest to just give up on anime altogether.

[Senji]

From previous BG posting, I want to say OP has a severe disdain for rollerbladers though.

[Fhqwghads]

Vignettes are usually removed on DVD/BD release, so it really shouldn't be there unless the american distributor put it back.

And really, if rollerblading mecha is the limit of your tolerance, on top of not liking subs, I would suggest to just give up on anime altogether.

Why? I've watched other anime that I enjoyed. I will admit I'm a bit picky though in what I like, but I don't think I'm alone here.

From previous BG posting, I want to say OP has a severe disdain for rollerbladers though.

I do? I don't recall anything about rollerblading that I posted about. My memory sucks though, so it's possible. But for the record rollerblading doesn't bother me, so this post is a bit puzzling.

[Silenka]

Why? I've watched other anime that I enjoyed. I will admit I'm a bit picky though in what I like, but I don't think I'm alone here.

It's just that those of us who watch a lot of anime have learned to just sigh and accept things like that - it's very rare that any show is going to lack one or several 'what the fuck is this shit?' moments. Japanese sensibilities are...different (this is easily seen if you've watched any non-anime Japanese TV)

[Fhqwghads]

Those two pics look shopped to either extreme.

Yeah, that's because I shopped the one as an example of what I see a lot of in the anime I've watched. Most of them are pretty over the top with obviously dark areas overlayed on what I think is the original, to censor gore or nudity. It pisses me off badly.

[Zilong]

It's just that those of us who watch a lot of anime have learned to just sigh and accept things like that - it's very rare that any show is going to lack one or several 'what the fuck is this shit?' moments. Japanese sensibilities are...different (this is easily seen if you've watched any non-anime Japanese TV)

Pretty much this.

Here is an description of what I consider as the last year's best series that can be taken out of context, in no particular order

Magical Girl Mindfuck
Superhero Buddy Cop Show
Cellphone + Microwave = Time Machine
Stock Market Pokemon Battle
Magical Girl, Incest, and Penguins
Club for people who can't make friends, but really, tits

You kinda just need to let most of the stupid shit go, since most of this quirk tends to be what makes the series great in the first place.

I personally am enjoying the shit out of Powerpoint: The Animu pt2, now with less words and more tits.

[Judai]

Pretty much this.

Here is an description of what I consider as the last year's best series that can be taken out of context, in no particular order

Magical Girl Mindfuck
Superhero Buddy Cop Show
Cellphone + Microwave = Time Machine
Stock Market Pokemon Battle
Magical Girl, Incest, and Penguins
Club for people who can't make friends, but really, tits

You kinda just need to let most of the stupid shit go, since most of this quirk tends to be what makes the series great in the first place.

I personally am enjoying the shit out of Powerpoint: The Animu pt2, now with less words and more tits.

lol@ titles, perfect descriptions!

[Elcura]

I don't know if I should be sad about knowing exactly what anime Zilong is talking about. But yeah, all great series which sound stupid when taken out of context.

Don't watch anime with the same mind frame as most American/British TV (or movies even), watch it expecting to see something weird and unusual and just enjoy it for that. Even the best anime will have quirks that most first timers will find odd.

[arus2001]

I think there's some dramaticization in things lost in translation or censorship. Ultimately, part of it will depend on the audience they're targeting while doing that. There are a lot of shows I've watched the original JP airings of and eventually rewatched them on Adult Swim, both to promote the genre stateside, little as it may help outside the antiquated Nielson rating sphere, and out of curiosity to see how some things may be handled. For the most part, I've been okay with what I've seen and know exactly why something would've been censored. Hate America and the obsession in correlation of anime to cartoons to kids, not so much the people bothering to even bring it here.

As for dub vs. sub, get over it. Damn near every time I see a purist hater, they can't speak a lick of Japanese but try to profess some spirit of moonspeak emotion is lost in translation. You never see them whining about the impractically high-pitched females or the gravelly-voiced-mid-constipated-shitting males. Too often that first impression is made where if the dub VA doesn't sound at all like the JP, it's auto-fail. There's some truth behind the hardcore fan being the genre's own worst enemy when it comes to expanding the media. Things are better than they used to be. Some shows just won't fly in the States as they're too far out there, or dare I say, sucked to begin with. The funny thing about entertainment is not everyone likes the same things.

If you've got netflix, just highlight a show, read its summary, and decide if you want to give it a peek. Some shows take a few episodes to really get their legs. As another possible mindfuck, sometimes the JP censor themselves. The more you worry about things not there, the more likely you are to miss things that are.

[Zilong]

Purist hater here, but then again, I can't really complain about dubs since doing so would imply I actually watch dub