Advanced Anime Discussion Part III - Page 9

Hey all:

I picked up Dai-Guard volume 1 today, and watched the first four episodes of Magical Project S volume 2. Still funny, especially episodes 16 and 17. I also got a new DVD rack today, so room for more DVDs

John.

I need 2 more DVD racks, I'm so filling up quickly, it ain't funny anymore.

There's nothing I have picked up lately that's new besides the R2. Can't wait for February when all the new R1's come out.

Kong:

GTO volume 6 comes out on January 14th.

John.

JohnAD:

I already own the R2's of GTO and have seen the whole series. Pretty fun ending, I might add, a little depressing, but great onizuka fun nonetheless.

However, this week seems to be the week of continued series...so I'll go pick up some of those this week.

Kong:

D'oh! :b BTW, do the R2s have English subs?

John.

Well, I haven't watched or purchased any anime in the past several weeks (my anime DVD wantlist is about 200+ DVD's & my DVD wantlist is also over 200+ so I have to balance which movies that I want to buy) but I did finish watching A.D. Police several weeks ago. IMO, A.D. Police is a good anime TV show. The show only lasted for 13 episodes but, IMO, all 13 episodes are good.

I just finished Love Hina. Here is how I rate it:
Animation: A+ (always silky smooth, Bandai did a GREAT job with the transfer... some of the best animation I have seen on DVD [I believe it was made by a digital process as told in one of the extras])
Story: B- (One day a boy made a promise to a little girl... that boy was Keitaro and the girl is but a memory. Keitaro Urashima has flunked the entrance exam for Tokyo University 3 times in a row... one day he is called to his grandmother's inn and it turns out that, unbenounced to him, he has become the manager of the inn. The only problem is that the once inn has become an all-woman's dorm. One girl who strikes his interest of all the ladies is Naru... who causes a conflict of interest. Will Keitaro keep his promise to the girl he cannot even remember or find a new love in Naru? Will he become a fourth-time loser? Will he be able to keep the Inn in one piece?)
Japanese voicework: A+ (I really love all the character's voices... they all felt right. Also, I found the Dolby Surround mix to be very strong with a surprising amount of use of the rear channel)
ADR Dub: C (Kitsune has a SOUTHERN ACCENT?! When is the last time you met a Japanese lady with an Arkansas accent? It's nothing to write home about..., but it is pretty close to the Japanese translation [although I only watched half of one episode in English])
Overall: A-

Very funny series... kind of reminds me of Ranma1/2 and Tenchi is some ways. Well worth the price I paid for it, and I have already found it very rewatchable (between myself watching it and showing it to friends/family... I have watched the first couple of discs upwards of 4 times ) I would highly recommend it to anyone that likes the romantic/comedy genre.

Eugene:

If you haven't already, you should pick up Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, since AD Police takes place in the same universe, and is, IIRC, a prequel of sorts to it.

Rob:

The Kansai (western) Japanese accent is often 'translated' as a Southern American accent. IIRC, Kanto (eastern/Tokyo) accent speakers tend to treat the Kansai accent in similar ways that Northern/Western American English speakers treat American Southern.

John.

Really? Weird. Are there any other shows where this has been done? It just threw me off track when I heard it.

Translating accents is always funky. I have a really hard time with it in the subtitles; since in the US, the only accents that lend themselves towards representation in text are the ones which also tend to indicate ignorant/uneducated hicks, it becomes hard to reflect a thick accent without making the viewers think that the character is thick as well.

Even worse is when the character doesn't always have the accent; this has happened twice in Dai-Guard recently. I'd have never spotted one of them myself, but it was driving our translator up the wall. ^_^

It's a bit easier in dubs because you can do a verbal-only accent; however, then it's complicated by having to find somebody that can do that accent convincingly, which can be difficult.

Incidentally, AD Police is 12 episodes. (First anime I timed.)

Kansai dialect, which is a general accent of the Kansai Prefecture, the more specific is Osaka dialect which is part of Kansai, and it's a little bit more harsher. Osaka dialect is the one that is very popular nowadays and their language style is used often in modern Japan as the new "trendy" slang usage. So, even though there will be Tokyo born kids in Tokyo, a lot will speak in Osaka dialect, since it's considered cool to speak in such a dialect. Hence, for translation, I would cater it to more like street-slang rather than southern slang...because Osaka dialect is more like a street-slang used by kids and teens alike (and even by young adults).

However, if the character comes from Osaka and speaks Osaka dialect, then that's a whole other story. How you can tell the difference? Read their bio stats which usually is available online on webpages or in books that do character analysis (you know, the atypical breakdown, blood type, birth sign, birthplace, name, etc.).

Furthermore, it would be harder to sub and do accent for characters which their dialect is the actual pun to the situation, like Osaka from Azumanga Daioh. Her Osaka dialect is a farce in the first episode, in which she speaks natural Tokyo-dialect, but her classmates wanted her to speak in Osaka dialect and from ep 2 on all she speaks is in Osaka dialect. It's a huge joke of stereotyping Osaka people.


JohnAD:

Unfortunately, no, they don't have subs. However, the quality is better on the R2.

Kong:

Thanks for the info. I'm working on the Pimsleur Japanese program, so hopefully when I'm done, I won't need them any more . Thankfully, at least one of the GTO live action movies has subs.

John.

pretty slow here, I see....

Just watched a very short but funny show called:

Dragon Half
Hard to explain but really funny and cute. Liked it better than Excel Saga.

See Chris Beveridge's review - it is balanced and to the point..... use this link...

http://www.animeondvd.com/reviews2/d...views/1497.php

Try it.

Too bad Dragon Half was a short OVA series based off the manga, which first was serialized in Dragon Magazine (in Japan). Anyway, funny OVA series for those not in the know. I wouldn't say it is better than Excel Saga. Excel Saga takes a lot more knowledge of animators, anime and a whole bunch of nostalgic spoofs...so it takes more brainwork to figure out why it's so funny.

So Rob, ever see End of Eva?

Morgan, I still need to send it back to Manga... argh, I will see it soon enough. I have been too busy at the moment w/ the beginning of classes, but I will soon get a replacement

Right now I am waiting for those bastards at Amazon to hurry up with my Escaflowne TV Box and I should be picking up Gasaraki: Perfect Collection at Best Buy's Preferred Customer weekend (god bless GCs)

So what is everyone looking at for this year? So far I have Noir, and Ai Yori Aoshi boxes ordered, and will be getting the Nanako set (for the box) plus the Hand Maid May figure/box. Looking at Mahoromatic, maybe Chobits, maybe Sugar and I don't know what else. I'll have to look through all of ADV's listings again to recall everything they have. Since I haven't seen any of these before (other han Nanako and HMM), I'm hoping they are wise choices...

Of course there's the rest of GTO, Excel Saga, the last Cosmo Warrior Zero and a bunch of other series I'll be completing.

I already have Chobits and RahXephon preordered... and as soon as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Witch Hunter Robin are announced, those will be preordered too. I will most likely be picking up Hand Maid May and I would like to start Excel Saga as well as pick up the rest of Berserk, Fruits Basket, Kare Kano and X:TV (and maybe GTO, but I think I may just wait for the boxset). There are others, but I don't know if they will be licenced this year.

Ugh, that sounds expensive now that I say it

Hey all:

Let's see...to finish up: GTO, Betterman, Escaflowne, Tenchi in Tokyo, Dai-Guard, and of course, the Love Hina Spring Movie.

New series: Southern Cross, Genesis Climber Mospaeda, Vampire Princess Miyu TV, Inu Yasha, Dual, Crying Freeman, Excel Saga, Hellsing. Undoubtedly, there will be more. My wallet is already crying .

John.

Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospaeda are pretty much a given. Inu Yashu gets a pass due to the episode count. I'm still not sold on RahXephon or Chobits yet. The RahXephon box does look pretty cool, though I'm not keen on shirts in general.

It does look to be a pretty expensive year, and while it would only aggravate that fact, I'm hoping we see more Matsumoto in R1.

Don't forget the Love Hina Again OVA

Rob:

Do you know when Love Hina Again OVA is coming out?

John.

John, I have absolutely no idea... sorry

I still have to pick up the Christmas movie, maybe I can have Christmas in July?

Ill be picking up Noir , RahXephon , .hack , and Chobits so far. All those series were very good in my books. Speaking of very good , just finished Witch Hunter Robin. An AMAZING series that needs to be licensed here very quick. Starting on Haibane Renmei now , with doses of Naruto and Spiral in between.

WHR has been licensed but I won't say whom. Do expect it this year though to be released on R1 DVD. I am not going to say it until they announce it in February.

Haibane Renmei is already licensed by Pioneer USA since they co-produced/funded the anime. That will come out this year as well.

Right now, I'm watching Wolf's Rain. First episode is sweet!

Well, seeing as WHR is a Sunrise property... I would be SHOCKED if it wasn't a Bandai release. I sure as hell hope they give this sugar-mamma a nice Vol 1 + Box release (and maybe throw a TSHIRT inside too

I TOTALLY agree with you Bill... I think WHR was my all-around favorite anime released this year.

Now, what about Getbackers? (AKA: Bill + Ted w/ superpowers)

Out of the new series starting right now , Wolf's Rain and the new .hack series are the ones im looking forward to. Seems the new .hack series has nothing to do with the other series or the OVA's.

Ooo, I'll have to get an episode to see if it isn't utter bore-fest like .hack//SIGN.

In terms of new anime right now, I'm watching Witch Hunter Robin, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Gundam Seed, Heatguy J, Naruto, Get Backers, Haibane Renmei, Overman King Gainer. And right now I added Wolf's Rain to that list. I also saw a promo for Ragnarok Online, a new anime based on the Ragnarok online game and the manhwa too. The intro animation character design was by Nobuteru Yuuki ("EScaflowne", "X-Movie", "Heatguy J" etc.). Looks very promising.

Oh, btw, Wolf's Rain is done by Studio Bones, the same company that helped make Cowboy Bebop TV and Movie and part of the studio that helped in making Escaflowne.

Also looking into some last year series like:

Samurai Deeper Kyo (just finished a few weeks ago)
Prince of Tennis (already 60+ episodes now)

Still watching:

Hikaru no Go (I just love this series and the manga rules!)

Woohoo!!!! Crest of the Stars is on in three hours!!!! I can't wait!!