Point of Entry
From what I see, being in anime/manga fandoms is often like naturally living with several accepted AUs, especially in ones like Weiß Kreuz. Most times you have manga continuity vs. anime continuity, with the added difference of whether you're using the subtitled or dubbed version. And whether your subtitled version is a direct translation or a translation of a translation. (I named Berger's team "Russells" in "Glass Houses" in homage to the crackheaded translation of a translation of Glühen I have, which turned "Rosenkreuz" into "Russells.") It can narrow what's legitimately OOC. Weiß Kreuz's various manga have differences in continuities, and it has the CDs too. It tried to shoehorn some of the manga stuff into the anime but not all of it makes sense with anime continuity.
Some WK fans have only seen Kapitel. Some have gone through the OVAs. More people have been seeing Glühen but many haven't and some have sworn never to. It makes determining what a fanfic author means by "post-anime series" more challenging.
And I used to belong to fandoms where people could legitimately get annoyed at variant spellings of characters' names. Farewell to that here.
Me, I've watched Kapitel in dub and much later subtitles, the OVAs as subs, and the translation of a translation version of Glühen, read online scanlations of some of the manga, and received translations for some of the CDs. I haven't gotten Side B. 99.5% of my fic is based on the anime continuity with dashes of the manga and CDs thrown. I prefer anime Aya's continuity as far as his family, the Trauma, and the earrings go. But the An Assassin and White Shaman manga was my first trip into actually understanding him, since in Kapitel he came off as simply an opaque asshole to me. As such, I've grafted AAaWS's depiction of his sister, his past job as a waiter pre-Trauma, and some aspects of his first hours in the flowershop into my stories.
My initial exposure was the dubbed version, and that goes through the end of Kapitel, so my Aya doesn't sound like Koyasu Takehito, always heroic, instead he sounds hoarse and occasionally bratty, which I prefer. Thus, my kneejerk Farfarello has a damaged voice, while my Schuldig sounds sleazy. I'm less stubbornly attached to the dubbed version of the others, though I die with laughter every time dub Omi proclaims what sounds so much like "We're Vice!" Besides, the dub has Ran teasing his sister that the earrings she wants are "kind of tacky" in episode 13 and Omi doing his adoring "Oh, Aya" in episode 11. I once saw a whole room of non-anime fan slashers explode into hoots and laughter over the "Oh, Aya."
I'm very unhappy that dub Aya for Glühen is a different voice, a more perpetually-heroic sounding one.
Saiyuki is a big example of how the voices can change my perception of the characters. (Henceforth, E will stand in for English dub, J for original Japanese voices to make my life easier.) I hate E-Hakkai. Your mileage may vary, but his voice makes me want to punch him. He sounds fake and laughing at you, instead of mild and laughing behind his sleeve. The Chin Yisou thing started to rehabilitate him, but I didn't really warm to him until my pimp sent me the subtitled versions of everything after that. That said, J-Goku makes me want to put my eardrums out. (Ironically, I love that voice actor as Kazuki in GetBackers. My head spun when I was told it was the same guy. I guess that's talent for you.) I've become used to J-Goku, but I don't mind the "duuuude" sound of E-Goku. I like somewhat hoarse sounding voices. ::shrug:: Gojyo works in either version for me. After the sheer mass of subtitled Saiyuki versus dubbed I've seen, I've come to accept J-Sanzo as more familiar, but I enjoy E-Sanzo too because of that occasional bratty sound. Because he is and Aya is, okay?
I have the DVD vol. 12 and have watched episode 50 both ways. It amazes me the huge differences in dialogue in some scenes. Though there's that one scene that's slashy either way, as the J-version has a wounded Hakkai reminding Gojyo about how he said that Hakkai was the last man he'd be carrying to his bed, while E-version has Hakkai asking if he's the first man Gojyo ever held in his arms. E-Saiyuki has the guys being funnier and more obviously foul-mouthed (I've gained enough knowledge to recognize some of the cuss words in the dialogue whether the subtitles acknowledge them or not, but I miss some), and so my version follows that. My version is also manga-inflected, so my guys also seem more brusquely affectionate that the anime allows them to be. Anime Sanzo is more of an asshole.
Some of my favorite lines in Saiyuki anime are actually exclusive to the dub. They include the whole scene where Hakkai and Sanzo are sarcastically asking if Gojyo and Goku are actually making out in the backseat, "I suck at math," "He's outside fighting our waitress," "I should've just shot him," "I know it doesn't seem like it, but Gojyo's normal," and this:
"What kind of faggot fights with a fan?"
"The kind of faggot who's gonna kick your ass!"
My exposure to GetBackers anime is all fansub, and I dislike the manga's gratuitous T&A so all I took from there is the slightly more ruthless techniques manga Kazuki uses. Besides, hearing them pronounce the English names of their ultimate moves amuses the hell out of me. I started FullMetal Alchemist in dub but saw the last 46 episodes in subtitled form. I prefer the J voices, though I liked how E-Nina called Ed "little big brother." And it cracks me up how the J voices pronounce Edward and Al's names.
Some WK fans have only seen Kapitel. Some have gone through the OVAs. More people have been seeing Glühen but many haven't and some have sworn never to. It makes determining what a fanfic author means by "post-anime series" more challenging.
And I used to belong to fandoms where people could legitimately get annoyed at variant spellings of characters' names. Farewell to that here.
Me, I've watched Kapitel in dub and much later subtitles, the OVAs as subs, and the translation of a translation version of Glühen, read online scanlations of some of the manga, and received translations for some of the CDs. I haven't gotten Side B. 99.5% of my fic is based on the anime continuity with dashes of the manga and CDs thrown. I prefer anime Aya's continuity as far as his family, the Trauma, and the earrings go. But the An Assassin and White Shaman manga was my first trip into actually understanding him, since in Kapitel he came off as simply an opaque asshole to me. As such, I've grafted AAaWS's depiction of his sister, his past job as a waiter pre-Trauma, and some aspects of his first hours in the flowershop into my stories.
My initial exposure was the dubbed version, and that goes through the end of Kapitel, so my Aya doesn't sound like Koyasu Takehito, always heroic, instead he sounds hoarse and occasionally bratty, which I prefer. Thus, my kneejerk Farfarello has a damaged voice, while my Schuldig sounds sleazy. I'm less stubbornly attached to the dubbed version of the others, though I die with laughter every time dub Omi proclaims what sounds so much like "We're Vice!" Besides, the dub has Ran teasing his sister that the earrings she wants are "kind of tacky" in episode 13 and Omi doing his adoring "Oh, Aya" in episode 11. I once saw a whole room of non-anime fan slashers explode into hoots and laughter over the "Oh, Aya."
I'm very unhappy that dub Aya for Glühen is a different voice, a more perpetually-heroic sounding one.
Saiyuki is a big example of how the voices can change my perception of the characters. (Henceforth, E will stand in for English dub, J for original Japanese voices to make my life easier.) I hate E-Hakkai. Your mileage may vary, but his voice makes me want to punch him. He sounds fake and laughing at you, instead of mild and laughing behind his sleeve. The Chin Yisou thing started to rehabilitate him, but I didn't really warm to him until my pimp sent me the subtitled versions of everything after that. That said, J-Goku makes me want to put my eardrums out. (Ironically, I love that voice actor as Kazuki in GetBackers. My head spun when I was told it was the same guy. I guess that's talent for you.) I've become used to J-Goku, but I don't mind the "duuuude" sound of E-Goku. I like somewhat hoarse sounding voices. ::shrug:: Gojyo works in either version for me. After the sheer mass of subtitled Saiyuki versus dubbed I've seen, I've come to accept J-Sanzo as more familiar, but I enjoy E-Sanzo too because of that occasional bratty sound. Because he is and Aya is, okay?
I have the DVD vol. 12 and have watched episode 50 both ways. It amazes me the huge differences in dialogue in some scenes. Though there's that one scene that's slashy either way, as the J-version has a wounded Hakkai reminding Gojyo about how he said that Hakkai was the last man he'd be carrying to his bed, while E-version has Hakkai asking if he's the first man Gojyo ever held in his arms. E-Saiyuki has the guys being funnier and more obviously foul-mouthed (I've gained enough knowledge to recognize some of the cuss words in the dialogue whether the subtitles acknowledge them or not, but I miss some), and so my version follows that. My version is also manga-inflected, so my guys also seem more brusquely affectionate that the anime allows them to be. Anime Sanzo is more of an asshole.
Some of my favorite lines in Saiyuki anime are actually exclusive to the dub. They include the whole scene where Hakkai and Sanzo are sarcastically asking if Gojyo and Goku are actually making out in the backseat, "I suck at math," "He's outside fighting our waitress," "I should've just shot him," "I know it doesn't seem like it, but Gojyo's normal," and this:
"What kind of faggot fights with a fan?"
"The kind of faggot who's gonna kick your ass!"
My exposure to GetBackers anime is all fansub, and I dislike the manga's gratuitous T&A so all I took from there is the slightly more ruthless techniques manga Kazuki uses. Besides, hearing them pronounce the English names of their ultimate moves amuses the hell out of me. I started FullMetal Alchemist in dub but saw the last 46 episodes in subtitled form. I prefer the J voices, though I liked how E-Nina called Ed "little big brother." And it cracks me up how the J voices pronounce Edward and Al's names.