Kong Chang

I am alive though barely. So addicted to FFXI. Hahaha. It's fun mmorpg.

Anyway, nothing new on the anime front and I'm a little behind but I'll soon catch up. I just bought myself a PS2 and the FFXI for the PS2, so I can play one character and have a permanent mule 24/7 selling stuff.

*LOL*

Anyway, I'll try to be more active on this board...

I see we had a dub/sub discussion. We always seem to have one in every incarnation of anime thread. Makes for great spam. ^^

Format Neutral Advocater
Samsung BD-P1200
Toshiba HD-XA2

Rob Lutter

I picked up NewType... here's my review of the Azumanga Daioh episode found on the included DVD.

This was definately not one of my favorite episodes from the series... as with most first episodes of any other animation. This episode introduces two characters into an already-formed group of friends... Chiyo-chan, an elementary-school-aged genius who has just been skipped into high school (10th grade in Japan) and the slow Osakan speaker renamed by her new friends... Osaka. From here the show will go all through the gang's 3 years of high school (2 discs per year for 6 total discs from ADV [and in R2]).

The video on the disc is flawless, as any new show should be. Colors are bright, colorful, and it is a generally happy consensus of contrast and hue. The OP/ED are translated into english (as with all ADV discs) but it is actually done rather well. The OP features text moving all over the place and (on my 19" computer monitor) it looks as if it was there from the start (this could have EASILY been screwed up, if they decide to put the japanese opening on one of the discs, you'll see what I mean). The ED surprisingly does not crawl over the images and fades in and out like the original (english VAs are listed first).

The dub is absolutely atrocious, as expected. This is a VERY Japanese show and is one show that it is absolutely necessary to listen to in it's original language.
For instance:
There is a text bubble translated as "She is an english teacher" over Chiyo-chan's teacher...
She begins talking to her students in Spanish...

Osaka the Osakan suffers from "Southern accent syndrome"... IE: "It's nice to meet y'all!".

Not to mention that Chiyo-chan's English VA just... isn't almost tear-inducingly cute like her Japanese counterpart

As with most newer ADV discs, the English dialogue is remixed in Dolby Digital 5.1 (although with minimal sound in the back channels), while the Japanese retains its original 2.0 Stereo mix.

Having seen the entire series in fansub form... I have to say that the subtitles are really good... and 18-pages of liner notes included with the DVD should help explain any cultural references listed (although I would have preferred ADVid NOTES).

All in all, at the end of the month... this is going to be the must-have disc of the year thus far.

DaveGTP

The ADVid notes on Excel were very very awesome and helpful for us semi-otaku types that don't recognize all the parodies and cultural stuff.



FYI : swiped from the dvdtalk anime bargains thread:

FYE (B&M)

Excel Saga Vol 2 and 3 - $12.99 each (FYE.com too)
Robotech Masters (4 or 5 disk set) - $19.99
Saiyuki #7 - $12.99
Ushio & Tora - $19.99


Some good deals on Excel and Saiyuki.


EXCEL IS YUMMY!! (Like Menchi).

Matheson- "There are probably some who'll say that by doing this, we are interfering with their culture."

Gideon - "Probably. Screw them."

-Crusade, Visitors from Down the Street

LindsayBea

I watched Witch Hunter Robin last night and the mustcahes were soo funny. They continued to do it into Inuyasha too.

my collection

Tony-B

Sorry for being late to the dub discussion.

So the TRUTH comes out! You now have no right to chastise me for watching dubs.

FINALLY! Some who agrees with me!

That is not true. I have only heard one dub that has made me want to slit my throat. That dub would be Orphen. Geez! How bad can a dub get?!

Well, I think that the Crest of the Stars dub is kind of dry and boring sometimes, but I still love it! Probably because if it wasn't for that dub, then I would not be into anime. Actually, I have tried watching the subtitled version, and it just did not feel right to me for some reason...

to you Woo, because that statement is so true!

You can't judge the whole dub based on one little thing that the translators said.

Now that I think about it, I agree with you. Afterall, I don't understand most of the Japanese cultural stuff, so it's useful to me others like me who do not know what the references are.

Rob, I understand the whole English teacher issue. That's pretty stupid that they did that, but still, it's only a very small portion of the whole episode. But what is so bad about this "Southern accent syndrome" with the Osakan? What in the world are you referring to? Why is this a problem?!


So, in a nutshell, I watch dubs for a few reasons...

1. It allows me to focus on the animation rather than the subtitles
2. I don't have to worry about rewinding if I miss something
3. Sometimes, I am just too damn tired to read the subtitles

However, there are two things that must be true in order for me to choose watching the dub version when offered a choice between the dub and the subtitles...

1. The script must be pretty accurate
2. Most of the voice actors need to do a good job

And I don't take any of your opinions about the dub into account when making the choice. The decision is all my own, and there is NOTHING that any of you can do to influence my choice!

Uh, It's a little something known as an APRIL FOOLS JOKE!!

Someone is too addicted!

DVD Collection/Video Game Collection/Music Collection
"The Weighted Companion Cube will never threaten to stab you." -GLaDOS

ChrisBEA

Wich they had the killer prices on Excel 5,6. I already have the others...

2008 Film List / 2007 Film List / 2006 Film List / 2005 Film List / 2004 Film List
My Blog

ThomasC

Hey guys, my friend wanted to know, just for illustrative purposes, how much it might cost for the licensing of a show for DVD distribution in the U.S., with some examples below. He realizes that the rights for most of the shows mentioned below have already been taken, but this is just hypothetical. Thanks for your help in advance!

Last Exile
Scrapped Princess
Hikaru no Go
Tokyo Underground
Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien
Fruits Basket
Onegai Teacher
.hack//SIGN

Stacey_B

Well....Dave just made me watch the movie to Evangelion and that was only following the first two episodes of Texhlnolyze....
All I can say in a Shinji-like fashion while gripping my pulsating temples is...:
"AGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"


Stacey
PS. And I might still snort some crack after that so I can be assured that people will still "love" me.

Woo Jae

Stacey_B

Heh - I myself have yet to watch the either of the two movies (Death and Rebirth and End of Evangelion) because the TV series really annoyed me with its' ending.

Tony-B:

Thanks for the endorsement. Now where is my money? But its mostly because I really want more non-mainstream anime available to Region 1 folk. And because as anime fans, we should remember that we are outnumbered by the casual, DBZ crowd we malign often.

Not to mention that you have yet to hear the worst dubs. There are many dubs out there. And I myself can't vouch for any of their quality.


Well, if you had just watched ONE ep of the dub then teh sub you could have compared. But watching and falling in love with a series ends up clouding your judgment about goodness/badness of the dub (or sub). I myself am guilty of this, and have been disabused of the notion by the Kenshin dub. That said, I still prefer the way I first heard Kenshin - in Japanese.

\"Me? Master Ramen Chef? Nahhhh.....\"
I am Korean/Therefore I rule~

Anime: 628 DVDs Total: 1168 DVDs
Boxed sets,if collected as such, count only ONCE

http://www.intervocative.com/dvdcollection.aspx/Wooster

Manga: total count 401 volumes
Series Completed: 21 Collecting: 32

ChristopherDAC

Reportedly the U.S. licensing cost for Cosmopolice Justy, a one-shot manga-based OVA which was popular among fans in the middle 80s, was one million dollars asking price, basically the highest ever, and [no surprise] it was never picked up. So, that is about as high as it gets. Conversely, the licensing cost of the old Pioneer material was zero, because the American release was done by the people who held the Japanese rights to begin with.
Sorry that's not much help.
By the way, who here likes of owns Akira? Judging by what I have seen [e.g. people who own no other anime will have a copy of this], it's really more highly regarded by people who are not interested in anime than by those who are. Any thoughts?

Resources for :
Anime on LaserDisc
Everything on LaserDisc

Rob Lutter

I own 2 copies of Akira (LE Tin and DTS 5.1 Japanese version)... it's my favorite anime movie and I think of it as the greatest animated film ever made (Japanese or otherwise).

It was also the first anime I EVER watched (rented it from Blockbuster when I was about 10-years-old after catching the very end of it on the Sci-Fi Channel. Had a cruddy, cruddy dub... but it really turned me on to the art.