And You Thought There Was Never an Anime Thread on This Forum!

[Wrangler]

Gargantia did open itself for expansion into another season (real one, not 12 episodes) because of the mention of the land based countries. (hey there actual land left not total water world!) 

Then you have possibility of the space borne cousins re-discovering the planet and becoming a threat.

[pheonixstorm]

Brining in the space cousins would be a bad idea with the severe difference in tech unless you also bring in the squid people to protect the humans of Earth (I don't rememeber the name of them). I did find the series enjoyable and really wish the story could have developed further into the issues the land countries were having.

Don't remember if I've watched the sub version. I know I have watched the series twice now. Usually I try and watch the sub and dub in those cases to see the dialog differences.

[Wrangler]

I just do subs, i find urge to hurl when i see Dubs having already seen the subs.  Some Dubbing are dubious in their translation.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

And some are excellent.  Dubbing has come a long way since the 80s.

[truetanker]

I like subs... particularly when you can learn new ways of saying a meaning, good or bad.

TT

[pheonixstorm]

Dubs are good for when you don't want to read the anime and would rather watch it. Subs are good for when you want to know what they are REALLY sayingThough if you watch a series enough to memorize the subs it gets even better  :P

[kato]

I just listen to the Japanese audio track and occasionally glance at the subs for the more difficult words...

[DarkSpade]

Subs are good for when you want to know what they are REALLY saying

I've never seen a sub that was a 100% direct translation.  I doubt there's really that much of a difference between the dialog in a dub, and the dialog in the subtitles of one that isn't dubbed.

As for horrible voice acting in dubs, I've always figured there's just as much in bad voice acting in the subs, but since I don't know the language, I just don't notice it.

[iamfanboy]

I've never seen a sub that was a 100% direct translation.  I doubt there's really that much of a difference between the dialog in a dub, and the dialog in the subtitles of one that isn't dubbed.

As for horrible voice acting in dubs, I've always figured there's just as much in bad voice acting in the subs, but since I don't know the language, I just don't notice it.

I think the only time I've bumped into bad seiyuu performances was in porn stuff - especially the La Blue Girl older sister actor. Just one more thing which made that anime pricelessly hilarious.

Wrangler, I haven't seen a bad dub since the mid-00's. American voice actors have REALLY come into their own, and it's genuinely a treat to listen to dubs - I actually prefer the dubbed Interviews with Monster Girls, and my only gripe with the Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid dub was the complete removal of "choragon" when "moragon" was perfectly available. Don't let grognardism hide talent from you.

[MadCapellan]

I've never seen a sub that was a 100% direct translation.

Yeah, I've seen A LOT of really creative subtitling in my day. It can be really obvious if you know a little Japanese. The only advantage of subtitles is it's much more clear what they changed it from.

As for horrible voice acting in dubs, I've always figured there's just as much in bad voice acting in the subs, but since I don't know the language, I just don't notice it.

People are overly critical of English dubs. There's a lot talented people working in dubbing that deliver some really great performances, & one of the things I've always liked about dubs is that English VAs will create some really distinctive voices for their characters in a way you really don't see in Japan. Voice acting is a big enough industry that the bulk of seiyu working in anime went through voice-acting school where they were all taught to perform the same basic character voices. While that produces a reliable level of quality, it makes most seiyu below the top-tier into uninteresting, interchangeable widgets.

The biggest problem with today's dubs is that the talent pool is so small that the same 25-30 people get cast in every show, and shoestring budgets limit time in the studio so you end up with a lot of rushed, bad takes in the final product & directors making terrible split-second changes as problems arise.

As for bad acting in Japan, there is a fair amount of that as well, but the overall larger market attracts a bigger pool of potential applicants, that produces a larger number of highly talented seiyu. I like a good dub, but there's no one in English dubbing that's close to the talent of folks in the top tier of Japanese voice acting. On the other hand, just because it's a dub doesn't mean it's not good. Dub directing gets my ire more than dub acting.

[Wrangler]

Wrangler, I haven't seen a bad dub since the mid-00's. American voice actors have REALLY come into their own, and it's genuinely a treat to listen to dubs - I actually prefer the dubbed Interviews with Monster Girls, and my only gripe with the Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid dub was the complete removal of "choragon" when "moragon" was perfectly available. Don't let grognardism hide talent from you.

Don't get me wrong.  I've watched dubs in the past, modern ones.  Its not so much their bad voice actors. Its just some studios i found don't have a lot voice actors (or the budget) to go with the image their translating.  Thus like when you have young boys whom sound mature in Japanese anime and then sound like badly done 10 year old or worse younger. An example of this is Gundam Build Fighters.  I simply couldn't STAND the English voice they were using for main character.  It sounded so wrong for the character.

Only good dubbing i saw recently was Space Dandy.  Older ones was like Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star.   EVEN OLDER anime, such as Star Blazers (aka the original Space Battleship Yamato animation), Voltron, and Force Five stuff.   They had really good voice actors in those shows.

However, my chief problem was translation itself.  Period. I'm sure there good ones out there, but it's not same thing for me.  Once i realize off course the dub was, suddenly anime subbing made more sense since it seemed to match what they were doing and the Americanization of script removed.  Don't get me wrong, i know they had pull certain things off for tv friendly viewing. Its just some things i just don't agree with, specially what Funimation did in the past with Dragonball Z.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Dragonball Z is one show that the dub doesn't really matter on.  It's basically professional wrestling where the characters can fly and shoot lasers.

[Daemion]

Brining in the space cousins would be a bad idea with the severe difference in tech unless you also bring in the squid people to protect the humans of Earth (I don't rememeber the name of them). I did find the series enjoyable and really wish the story could have developed further into the issues the land countries were having.

Don't remember if I've watched the sub version. I know I have watched the series twice now. Usually I try and watch the sub and dub in those cases to see the dialog differences.

I was hoping to see that, too - The Whale-Squid stepping in and protecting the humans of Earth, I mean. I found Chamber's assertion that the Evolved (Can't remember Leto's name for them, either) were a 'perfect' species and no longer capable of society to be reaching a little bit. It seemed Chamber was still trying to reconcile the perpetual war with the Evolvers to Leto with his discovery, which felt still propagandized, to me.

Something in me thinks the Evolved, especially the Whale-Squid, can be communicated with. Nobody has really tried in so long, and there's loads of superstition surrounding them since the Ice Age.

I was satisfied with the ending, honestly, and a new season would just be more world-building, which is always a plus.

I really got a kick out of the culture shock and communications issues.

[DarkSpade]

I have to occasionally remind myself that there are valid reasons to prefer subbed.  Back when I first got into anime, the preference of subbed was far more of an elitist/hipster thing.   

I still remember a friend using ghost in the shell as an example of why subbed was so much better.  He pointed out that during the conversation between the major and Batou alone on a boat there's a spot where someone starts talking and no one on the boat is moving their mouth.  What he called crappy dubbing was a part of the plot.  The person talking wasn't on the boat and was talking to the Major remotely.


My hype for Alita is rising.  Apparently Cameron is a huge fan and has wanted to make this move for 20 years.  Let's hope that results in a quality movie and not a crappy fan fic.

[iamfanboy]

Dragonball Z is one show that the dub doesn't really matter on.  It's basically professional wrestling where the characters can fly and shoot lasers.

Now Dragonball Z ABRIDGED, on the other hand, is an AMAZING re-dub. And re-edit. Every characterization and voice, especially later on, is spot on. They managed to make Cell both creepy AND hilarious, Freeza a bit fey, intimidating, AND hilarious, and so on. My favorite exchange:

BULMA: (to TRUNKS) Y'know, you're really cute.

TRUNKS: Well, my mom always said I was a cute kid.

BULMA: A momma's boy, huh? (wink) I'll be your mommy.

TRUNKS: (Internal screaming)

[Lazarus Jaguar]

I think I saw some of that.  Did they do a bunch of "I need an adult" gags?

[iamfanboy]

I think I saw some of that.  Did they do a bunch of "I need an adult" gags?

They do repeating gags, occasionally - that is one of them that showed up maybe four or five times, especially in the Namek arc.

I think what draws me about Abridged is simple: It restores the humor that was surgically removed from Dragonball to make Dragonball Z.

The original Dragonball was just as funny as it was action-oriented - yes, there were rare serious arcs, but it had as many gags as it did action sequences. DBZ, on the other hand, was almost gag-free - it was 90% action, maybe 5% comedy, no different from any other shonen martial arts manga.

DBZ:A, on the other hand...

VEGETA: Did... you just talk out your ass?

IMPERFECT CELL: Well, yes, but to be fair, I am at least 10% you.

And it does that comedy restoration while still telling the story of Dragonball Z. It's amazing how much filler you realize the story has - even the MANGA - after watching DBZ:A turn what was an overblown uninteresting tensionless 8 page fight into a quick conversation where you find out Dedoria was the most beautiful - and fertile - woman on her planet, just before Vegeta vaporizes her to erase that image from his memory.


Their other projects... ehhh, they're funny, but they don't have quite the same impact in my mind because that was always how I felt about Dragonball versus Dragonball Z: there's a definite line somewhere the jokes STOP and the punching doesn't. DBZ:A fixes that.

Although I almost did walk away because the first joke in the first episode is a pot joke, and I was afraid the whole thing would be lowbrow drug humor - which is rarely funny to me. I think there's about one drug joke every two or three hours, though, which works out okay.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Dragonball Z was the only series I've ever seen where a character had a flashback to a previous flashback.

[VhenRa]

An example of this is Gundam Build Fighters.  I simply couldn't STAND the English voice they were using for main character.  It sounded so wrong for the character.

You do realize thats a south-east asian english dub, right? Not a NA one. The SEA english dubs are notoriously bad IIRC.

At least if I remember it was. Or was that another Gundam one recently released?

[Wrangler]

You do realize thats a south-east asian english dub, right? Not a NA one. The SEA english dubs are notoriously bad IIRC.

At least if I remember it was. Or was that another Gundam one recently released?

Right now their doing a series of OVA 10minute releases on Youtube called Gundam Build Fighters Battlelog.
Which are random / independent stories, from any time (including future) of the Build series.

[Istal_Devalis]

DBZA is amazing. Probably one of the better done gag dubs. It treads that fine line between parody and loving affection that most of the various copycats miss.

If you dislike DBZ because of the lack of humor, check out Dragonball Super. It does a lot to bring that stuff back into things.

Right now their doing a series of OVA 10minute releases on Youtube called Gundam Build Fighters Battlelog.
Which are random / independent stories, from any time (including future) of the Build series.

They're kinda over now, though. We're getting something in February though, if that least teaser was any indication.

[DarkSpade]

I can't stand DBZ.   I will happily watch DBZA when my friends turn it on.   I especially love the side thing they did with the green guy(Cell?) getting challenged by different characters from other anime.

[VhenRa]

Right now their doing a series of OVA 10minute releases on Youtube called Gundam Build Fighters Battlelog.
Which are random / independent stories, from any time (including future) of the Build series.

Still not my point. The point is, after I looked it up. The dub included in the build fighters DVD release in north america is a (Philippines/Singapore? I think?) dub, not a north america one. Dubs from those tend to be crap. They had it on hand and just threw it into the NA DVD release.

Not exactly a good example to bring up... especially without knowing what their dubbing scene looks like, the typical voices they use for

• type of character and the like.

[Top Sergeant]

The dub / sub preference thing for me is entirely based on the product. Most of the time its pretty much the same. Sometimes the dub improves the anime (Oda Nobuna no Yabu) and sometimes it changes the tone and even the actual plot of the show (Knights of Sidonia). So I can never say one is always better than the other.

[Wrangler]

I felt adventurous other night, watched first episode of Birdy the Mighty Decode.  It was good, sometimes i have issues with the 90s cgi, but it a fun show.  I plan to watch it for couple weeks, watch episode a day so i something watch till new seasons begins.

[Daemion]

I noticed that while I can sit down and watch Tiger & Bunny back to back for long stretches, something about ID0 keeps me from doing the same. I think it has something to do with how cheezy they've made the introduction of the mining team.

[shrug] I can stick with it, but there's a style about this that I've found in a few other Anime that kinda has the same effect on me.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Now that you mention it, i had the same reaction when watching it.

[Dies Irae]

I was sweating bullets!

Poor Dia! They're my favorite rock person!  :'(

And then we went from watching Diamond get smashed to... Moon Puppers.
Houseki no Kuni has the art of comedic bait and switch down to an artform.

It's an absolute crime Dia wasn't there when that happened. I kind of want a spess pomeranian now.

EDIT: Now the official website is now overrun by them.

[Wrangler]

I just saw the last episode of UQ Holder.

I can't say i have good things to say with it.  It's plot was jumbling wreck in my eyes. I could barely watch it.  I fear for the manga's future with way it was done.  :-[

[Wrangler]

Random anime news - Apparently anime-adaption based on Galaga is being made.  ??? This is the old arcade game were talking about...why i don't know. I hope it's good. Their calling it, Galaga Chronicles | Revolution Age. 

Given there no real story to this to begin with, i'd imagine it's hard to at least ruin the original feel for the game.  :-X