(no subject)
For a while now, I've been addicted to something. Something uncommon, but not bad. Noir. Not Film Noir, but rather the anime series. I know I'm probably missing an accent somewhere, but what the hell. Despite this anime series getting mixed reviews from my friends, I watched it and announce: I love this series. The characters' backgrounds are well-discussed (Mirelle and Kirika), new characters are tied in well (Chloe, Artena/Altena), and the plot is still discernible through all the twists (and believe me, they are there). But what I think makes this series great is the music. Intense and emotional, the music really sets the tempo for this series. Even the "Copellia's Coffin" opening song I enjoyed immensely. That is probably the second-best opener I can remember, after Evangelion's opening. I even bought the OSTS. I really do like the one-season (26 episode) or less shows much more than the original. Though I do occasionally watch drawn-out anime with a distant ending (Yu-Gi-Oh!) or still-in-progress ones with no definite end (Naruto), the short shows really take the cake for me. Some short favorites of mine are one-season shows (Witch Hunter Robin, .hack//sign, Evangelion), half-season shows (Hellsing, Serial Experiments Lain) and even shorter ones (Furi Kuri - 6 Episodes). I also like the series that make you think. The deep stuff, but not necessarily with mind-numbing violence. That is why I'm looking for Gunslinger Girls and Wolf's Rain, both shows that serve to provoke thought.
Ahh, the old dubbery rant. I strongly believe that dubs in general will cause a deterioration in quality. The voice actors are rarely high-quality; two good ones I can think of at the present time are Kari Wahlgren and Crispin Freeman. Sometimes (as in the case of Kujaku Mai in Yu-Gi-Oh!), VAs are switched repeatedly. In the Yu-Gi-Oh! dub, Mai has three different VAs. If I'm not mistaken, the first does the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City arcs, the second does the DOMA saga, and there is yet another in the recently-released Uncut DVDs. The main problem for many series is that fansubs have not been released, which often forces consumers to choose between low-quality bootlegs of the original or low-quality, censored dubs. A user at the pojo.com message boards used an interesting and apt analogy. In response to a thread asking those with a grudge against the dub why they even bothered watching, darkmalik2 compared the argument to that of water. Why do people buy bottled water instead of drinking from the water fountain? Because the water from the fountain is polluted tastes like urine. If people are forced to choose between legal options of buying uncut DVDs (bottled water), which are neither consistently accessible or cheap or watching the bastardized dub (urine), they have a right to complain. (Fansubs are out of the question because the series is licensed and authentic subtitled discs have not been released) I watch the dub because that's all that is available to me - I have not the money to buy uncut DVDs at $17.00+ each, nor do I have the time to sink into finding fansubs. That makes me worry if the structure of the show will be kept intact: they've already let in repeated mentions of the "heart of the cards" and "the shadow realm" to dumb down the show for America. Anyways, it's late and I am beginning to ramble.
After Atemu loses to Raphael, will the repeated attack combo with Atemu's Breaker against Insector Haga remain? Will it be edited? That was rather violent in and of itself. How about the Jounouchi/Varon duel? That was brutal. Varon's armors pack a punch, as do the Helmos fusions.
ADV...I do not like ADV. No, no, AT LEAST WAIT FOR A SERIES TO FINISH BEFORE LICENSING IT! Seriously. They licensed Madlax at ep. 26, Chrno Crusade at ep. 13...That makes it near impossible for fans to finish the series, and believe it or not, a lot of people will not flock out and buy your DVDs simply because you licensed it halfway. IT KILLS THE SERIES. Not only do they have to pay, now they have to wait for the half-assed dubs to be released in excrutiatingly slow fashion.
(shortrant)Now on to a rant about fanbases. Canon is not a bendy thing. Canon is defined by any well-developed shows. This "canon" determines which characters interact/form relationships, the characteristics of said character...etc, etc... Listen up, fandom rapers: YOU DO NOT BELONG IN THE SHOW.(endrant)
My personal/academic life? Bleh.
Currently wants to find bittorents for: Madlax
Currently looking for:
Cowboy Bebop
Gunslinger Girls
Ahh, the old dubbery rant. I strongly believe that dubs in general will cause a deterioration in quality. The voice actors are rarely high-quality; two good ones I can think of at the present time are Kari Wahlgren and Crispin Freeman. Sometimes (as in the case of Kujaku Mai in Yu-Gi-Oh!), VAs are switched repeatedly. In the Yu-Gi-Oh! dub, Mai has three different VAs. If I'm not mistaken, the first does the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City arcs, the second does the DOMA saga, and there is yet another in the recently-released Uncut DVDs. The main problem for many series is that fansubs have not been released, which often forces consumers to choose between low-quality bootlegs of the original or low-quality, censored dubs. A user at the pojo.com message boards used an interesting and apt analogy. In response to a thread asking those with a grudge against the dub why they even bothered watching, darkmalik2 compared the argument to that of water. Why do people buy bottled water instead of drinking from the water fountain? Because the water from the fountain is polluted tastes like urine. If people are forced to choose between legal options of buying uncut DVDs (bottled water), which are neither consistently accessible or cheap or watching the bastardized dub (urine), they have a right to complain. (Fansubs are out of the question because the series is licensed and authentic subtitled discs have not been released) I watch the dub because that's all that is available to me - I have not the money to buy uncut DVDs at $17.00+ each, nor do I have the time to sink into finding fansubs. That makes me worry if the structure of the show will be kept intact: they've already let in repeated mentions of the "heart of the cards" and "the shadow realm" to dumb down the show for America. Anyways, it's late and I am beginning to ramble.
After Atemu loses to Raphael, will the repeated attack combo with Atemu's Breaker against Insector Haga remain? Will it be edited? That was rather violent in and of itself. How about the Jounouchi/Varon duel? That was brutal. Varon's armors pack a punch, as do the Helmos fusions.
ADV...I do not like ADV. No, no, AT LEAST WAIT FOR A SERIES TO FINISH BEFORE LICENSING IT! Seriously. They licensed Madlax at ep. 26, Chrno Crusade at ep. 13...That makes it near impossible for fans to finish the series, and believe it or not, a lot of people will not flock out and buy your DVDs simply because you licensed it halfway. IT KILLS THE SERIES. Not only do they have to pay, now they have to wait for the half-assed dubs to be released in excrutiatingly slow fashion.
(shortrant)Now on to a rant about fanbases. Canon is not a bendy thing. Canon is defined by any well-developed shows. This "canon" determines which characters interact/form relationships, the characteristics of said character...etc, etc... Listen up, fandom rapers: YOU DO NOT BELONG IN THE SHOW.(endrant)
My personal/academic life? Bleh.
Currently wants to find bittorents for: Madlax
Currently looking for:
Cowboy Bebop
Gunslinger Girls