BLACKWHITE by ほう

It’s now a little over a month until Pokemon Black and White make their American debut on March 6th (and, for the first time, Europe will be getting the games two days before America on March 4th). Bits of info have been trickling in about the English release, particularly the English names of characters, places, items, and other aspects of the games…

On this post I’ll be discussing my thoughts on some of the English B&W names, particularly the pokemon themselves of course. I’m not going to discuss every single name – just the ones I feel are worth mentioning. If I don’t mention one of the English names here, I’m neutral to it and didn’t have anything to say about it.

Credit for the info and pictures on this post goes to Bulbapedia and Pokebeach.

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One of the first notable translations is that the new region the games take place in, Isshu, will be called Unova in English, marking the first time one of the Pokemon regions has been renamed.

The Unova region

I’m trying to figure out why they would change the region’s name this time when all the others have kept their Japanese names (honestly I think “Isshu” is easier for English speakers to say than “Unova”). It’s probably because these are the first games that take place in a region not based on a real region in Japan. In this case, it’s based on New York City.

Bianca and Cheren

The English names of the games’ two rival characters are also worth noting. Cheren keeps his Japanese name while Bel is renamed Bianca. “Cheren” is Bulgarian for “black” while “Bel” means “white” in Slavic and “Bianca” means “white” in Italian. Perhaps the English translators thought “Bel” is too similar to the French name “Belle,” meaning “beautiful,” but still wanted to follow the black and white theme of the Japanese names.

Professor Juniper

The region’s first female professor, Professor Araragi, will be named Professor Juniper, keeping up the tradition (in all languages I think) of Pokemon professors being named after trees.

And now we get to the most important English names – the 156 new pokemon. Official sources have revealed about 27 so far. However, a list of English names for all the new pokemon has been circulating and it’s now believed to be at least 99% true, as it contained accurate names that weren’t officially revealed until after the list was made. Going by that list, approximately 21 of the new pokemon keep their Japanese name, or some very slight variation of it.

Below is my commentary on the names I feel like mentioning. Again, there’s still that 1% chance that some of these names turn out to be fake. If that happens later on, feel free to laugh at me. But I don’t think so…they all sound very legit to this long-time Pokemon fan.

Snivy, Servine, Serperior

We’ll begin with the Grass starter pokemon. Snivy and Servine are good while Serperior (serpent+superior) would be good if there wasn’t already a completely unrelated pokemon named Rhyperior (rhino+superior). Did the translators forget about Rhyperior or did they just not care about the similarity?

Tepig, Pignite, Emboar

Next is the Fire types. Tepig (tepid+pig) is okay though, like Serperior, there’s already an unrelated pokemon named Grumpig (I’m sure they could have thought of a different pig-related word to use). However, the English names for its evolutions – Pignite and Emboar – are perfect.

Oshawott, Dewott, Samurott

And lastly, the Water types. Oshawatt (ocean+water+otter) takes some getting used to. Dewott and Samurott are okay…but for Samurott (samurai+otter) I can’t help but think, “Rotting samurai anyone?” XD

Patrat, Watchog

Patrat (patrol+rat) and Watchog (watch+groundhog) – pretty cute names. Watchog is actually a direct translation of the Japanese name, Miruhog (“miru” means “see” or “watch”). These guys are kinda cute it’s just…those eyes 0_0

Lillipup, Herdier, Stoutland

The name Lillipup for a “little pup” is a bit plain for my taste =P Herdier (herd+terrier) is good and similar to the Japanese name (Haderia). Stoutland I assume comes from “stout” and either “Newfoundland” (a breed of dog, though Stoutland’s attributes are of other breeds) or “lander,” which is German for “terrier.”

Purrloin, Liepard

Purrloin (purr+purloin) and Liepard (lie+leopard)…adorable names XD

Unfezant

Unfezant (unpleasant+pheasant) – I’m not a big fan of names that are insulting to the pokemon (like Purugly from the fourth generation).

Zebstrika

Zebstrika is similar to its Japanese name, Zebraika. But I think they should have translated it as “Zebrike” (zebra+spike/strike) instead. Zebstrika is kinda hard to say.

Woobat, Swoobat

Woobat and Swoobat – good names, but we already have a line of unrelated bat pokemon whose names also end in “-bat.” I’m sure they could have thought of something else. These guys are pretty silly looking but they kinda grow on you after a while.

Throh, Sawk

The Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan of this generation. These names will take some getting used to. The names remind me of Seel, Dewgong, and Jynx from the original 150 pokemon; pronounced like real words but spelled with a slight difference.

Liligant

Liligant – pretty name for a pretty pokemon~

Cofagrigus

Cofagrigus (coffin+sarcophagus). Yes, the word “fag” is in it…ha, ha.

Minccino

Minccino (mini+chino cloth) – not sure why they didn’t keep its Japanese name, Chillarmy (chinchilla+charming). The Japanese name just seems simpler.

Gothita, Gothorita, Gothitelle

I love the names of the Gothic trio :3 Almost like the Japanese names but a bit friendlier to the English tongue.

Litwick, Lampent, Chandelure

These guys are three of the most unique new pokemon, so I’m glad their English names do them justice ^^ Litwick (lit+wick), Lampent (lantern+lament), and Chandelure (chandelier+lure).

Axew

Axew (axe+chew) – sorry, it just sounds so much like “achoo!” XD

Braviary

The Japanese name, Wargle, already used English words (warrior+eagle) so I don’t know why they needed to change it to Braviary (brave+aviary).

Deino, Zweilous, Hydreigon

Three of the coolest new pokemon have been given equally cool English names. Deino is dino(saur)+ein (German for “one”), Zweilous is zwei (German for “two”)+jealous or perilous, and Hydreigon is hydra+drei (German for “three”)+dragon. This is similar to the translations of the names of the three legendary birds, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, except with German numbers instead of Spanish.

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I’ve already written a review of Pokemon Black and White after playing the Japanese version of Black. But I’m sure I’ll write another related post after I get my English copy of White :3

Fruits Basket – one of the best dubs ever

Despite what we may think nowadays, the majority of us got our start with anime through dubs on TV, whether it was shows like Astro Boy and Voltron in the old days, Pokemon and Dragon Ball in the semi-old days, or Cowboy Bebop and Inuyasha in the newer days. Ever since anime began to be recognized as a medium that should be separated from typical cartoons and not necessarily be edited and Americanized, most non-kids anime, especially DVD-only releases, have had dubs that stay faithful to the Japanese script. So what is it about dubbed anime that spawns so much debate?…

Like many others, I got my start with anime through dubs of kids anime like Sailor Moon and Pokemon. But I didn’t come to understand the whole sub vs dub debate until I watched both the dub of Cardcaptor Sakura (changed to Cardcaptors) and the original uncut Japanese version. Despite Cardcaptors being one of the worst dubs ever, I didn’t lose my taste for anime dubs. In my earlier years of fandom, I continued to watch kids anime like Digimon and Sonic X dubbed, and later on, Toonami/Adult Swim shows like Tenchi Muyo! and Inuyasha. From around 2002 to 2007, I spent roughly the same amount of time watching anime dubbed as I did subbed. Although I usually preferred the Japanese version, I enjoyed most English dubs as well and got to know popular seiyuu as well as English VAs. Some, like the dubs of Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion, Wolf’s Rain, and Fruits Basket, particularly impressed me.

Two things caused me to fall out of the loop with dubbed anime in the past three years – 1) the lack of new dubs in general, both on TV and DVD, and 2) the ease of accessibility to subbed anime online. The reason I haven’t watched dubbed anime much lately is because I prefer subs, which have become more easily accessible to me than they were before, and not because I’ve come to hate dubs.

My overall thoughts about dubbed anime are this – watching an anime dubbed provides me with a different interpretation, one that let’s me focus more on the visuals since I don’t have to look at subtitles, and hear the dialogue spoken in my familiar native language. Watching the anime in Japanese is its original interpretation, which is what I’m more interested in, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy seeing a translation. Watching a sub and a dub is a different experience, but unless the dub is blatantly rewritten or has terrible voice acting, seeing the original interpretation as well as a secondary interpretation isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As long as I find the dub at least tolerable, if I really love the show I would watch the dub just to get that different perspective of the story and characters.

I’m not saying that all dubs are worth watching. Besides dubs that are edited for whatever reason, like the dubs of most kids anime on TV, there are many, like Shakugan no Shana and Love Hina, where I personally feel the voices and acting just don’t match up well to the characters, even if the script is well translated. The appeal of moe characters just doesn’t carry on well to English voices either. Others are the opposite; anime comedies like Azumanga Daioh that rely heavily on jokes involving Japanese language and culture, have no choice but to be changed, and I don’t usually find the translated jokes as funny. Also in Japan, anime voice actors interact with each other in the same room while the animation that they’re recording for is played, unlike American voice actors who are often recorded alone in a room. Many fans claim that the intimacy and spontaneous-ness of the way the Japanese actors are recorded makes them seem more emotional and real than the English dubs. While I agree this has merit, it doesn’t apply to all cases. But in general, I think it’s more appropriate to say that you don’t like dubs rather than make the statement that all dubs are bad. Making such a statement implies that all English VAs and dub script writers have no talent, which is horribly unfounded. Like a fan of intellectual anime stating that all moe anime sucks, the dub vs sub debate is more about taste than fact. Nowadays I’ll only watch the dub of an anime if it’s a title I really liked and want to watch again in a slightly different way. But if I don’t watch a dub, that doesn’t mean I think it’s bad (how would I know it’s bad unless I watch it?)

After not watching any dubbed anime for the past three years, I just recently watched some via Bandai’s release of Haruhi season 2, and watching the dub of Fruits Basket with my mom. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too hard to get back into them. After only watching the Japanese version of the Haruhi episodes, I enjoyed the dubbed interpretation as a change of pace. I know many fans hate when an anime they especially like gets dubbed, thinking it’s a “defilement” of their precious show. I’ve never had that problem – before Haruhi, I loved the Inuyasha dub despite recognizing its flaws. I overlooked some of the weird dialogue in favor of its excellent casting. And the only reason I stopped watching the Pokemon dub is because the voices were completely recast and I just plain don’t like the new voices and scripts. Actually, watching Haruhi and Fruits Basket dubbed again has made me want to rewatch some of my other favorites, like Wolf’s Rain and Noir, dubbed. Again, even though I prefer the original, I like seeing this other interpretation, in my native language, of stories and characters that I love, especially when I feel the dub does them justice. Fans are free to think what they do about dubs, but that’s how I feel.

The dub vs sub debate isn’t as hot as it used to be because, as many of us know, there’s hardly any new anime dubs being made anymore. Since I still prefer subs 99% of the time, I’m not terribly upset about this. But it’s sad that the English VAs won’t be getting as much work, and “subbed-only” isn’t nearly as successful as dubs are at getting new people into anime. Honestly, I can’t predict whether dubs will eventually disappear completely, stay as they are now, or suddenly get a revival. Alas, the times they are a changin’.

Back when I first became an anime fan about 10 years ago, I didn’t have cable TV or high-speed Internet, so I was stuck with watching mostly Americanized “kiddy” anime on local channels. Thinking back, many of these series were pretty dispensable. However, Digimon was one of my early favorites that I still enjoy even to this day…

Digimon was one of the many “monster collection” anime that sprung up during Pokemon’s initial success, though it was one of the more prominent ones. Unfortunately, it often got mislabeled as a blatant Pokemon rip-off. But anyone who’s actually taken the time to watch the series knows that it’s very different. The story and plot, the way the characters are presented, the themes that are brought up, the pacing – almost everything about it is different from Pokemon. Sure, they have some similarities (lots of anime series do if you think about it XD), but even the digimon and pokemon themselves are different from each other in many ways. But most will agree that Digimon is “darker” than Pokemon, and deals with more upsetting themes and violence than the latter does.

After Digimon was taken off local channels, I always wanted to watch it again in its uncensored, and obviously better, Japanese version. I managed to find a few random fansubbed episodes over the years, but recently I came across a batch torrent of the entire 54-episode Digimon Adventure series, which was the first series in the franchise. As of now, I’ve watched about half of it and am thoroughly enjoying it ^^

It’s not perfect, but in general Digimon Adventure is a unique and enjoyable family series. The concept of a digital world in the series is fascinating, and not too far-fetched considering the age we live in. The digimon themselves are perhaps more individualized and not as “cutesy” as pokemon; many of them are very well developed characters, whether they’re presented as lovable or wicked. The human characters are also great; even though they’re only elementary school kids in this series, we see each of their sides of sadness, anger, fear, and insecurity within themselves, their family, and their relationships with each other and their digimon. The 54 episodes go through different story arcs depending on where the kids are, what goal they have to fulfill, and which evil digimon they have to defeat. I loved the series when I used to watch it dubbed, and I’m loving it even more in Japanese =)

Now that I think about, the Digimon English dub was really not that bad compared to dubs of other anime on local channels. The casting was really good, and now that I’ve heard a lot of the voices in Japanese, many of their English counterparts sound almost exactly the same. Considering the sheer number of characters in the series, digimon and human alike, both versions provide a good variety of voices. Once I started watching it in Japanese, I was surprised to learn that some well-known seiyuus such as Takahiro Sakurai, Akira Ishida, and Junko Takeuchi are in it (Sakurai provides the voice for Tentomon, Ishida is Wizardmon, and Takeuchi, Naruto’s seiyuu, is Gomamon). The story/plot in both versions is the same, and character deaths and other saddening events were more or less kept intact in the dub. Even the names of most of the characters remained unchanged; despite sounding Japanese, most of the digimon names were the same in English, and for the human characters who had their names changed, they at least sounded similar to the Japanese names, i.e, Taichi to Tai, Yamato to Matt, Hikari to Kari. The only things the dub really suffered from were some scene edits, music and dialogue changes, and Americanization.

Although it wasn’t shoved down our throats that the characters were not from Japan, any scenes or dialogue involving Japanese customs such as hot spring bathing, flower arranging, Japanese food, etc, were changed or censored, and random American expressions, slang, or jokes were sometimes inserted into the characters’ dialogue. What irked me the most in the dub is when they would make a character say something sarcastic during a serious moment, which unfortunately is something that became more prevalent in the later Digimon seasons. And of course, a universal edit in “kiddy” anime is to add extra dialogue or background music wherever there’s a moment of silence in the original. Pokemon has it worse, but the Digimon dub suffers from this as well.

As for music, anyone who used to watch the Digimon dub probably remembers the infamous theme song…

I must admit, it is pretty catchy XD The dub uses that same song as the opening for three of the Digimon series, as well as the insert song for when the digimon evolve.

For Digimon Adventure (and the other series), the Japanese version uses nice songs with actual lyrics. Koji Wada’s lovely song, “Butter-Fly,” is the Digimon Adventure opening.

The equally talented Ai Maeda (AiM) sings the majority of the Digimon ending songs (she’s also the voice for Mimi in the series). Here’s the second Digimon Adventure ending, “Keep On.” Sweet song, and the lyrics are very uplifting =)

With the exception of a few Digimon Savers songs, Koji Wada and Ai Maeda (AiM) sing all the openings and endings for the five Digimon series.

All in all, Digimon is probably the best post-Pokemon monster anime that was released back in the day. Although it will probably always be thrust in Pokemon’s shadow among U.S. fans, the two are as different from each other as any other series that happen to be in the same genre. If you still enjoy watching kid/family adventure anime, you might want to give it a try XD I’m looking forward to watching the rest of this 1999 classic =)

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Omake: Here’s some old Digimon Adventure fan art I had on my hard drive. It was so long ago, I have no idea where I got them from XD

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Taichi and Hikari’s brother-sister love is very touching ^^

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The original eight Chosen Children and their digimon

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Yamato and Takeru

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Two of the prettiest digimon, Rosemon and Lilymon

Earlier today it was announced that English anime VA Maddie Blaustein, most famous for her role as Meowth in 4Kids’ dub of Pokemon, passed away unexpectedly last Thursday at the age of 48…

I could not find out the exact details of Maddie’s death; it was either the result of a recent illness or the after affects of an operation, but apparently she died in her sleep. I’m sure there are many of us who got our start in anime by watching the English dub of Pokemon, and who are very familiar with Maddie’s role as Meowth. Maddie provided the voice for Meowth for nearly 8 years in almost 400 episodes and 8 movies of Pokemon. She also did a few voices in Slayers, as well as in Yu-Gi-Oh! and many other 4Kids series. Unfortunately, in late 2006, a decision between 4Kids, Pokemon USA, and Cartoon Network was made to completely recast the English voices for the 9th season of Pokemon before it would begin airing exclusively on Cartoon Network. Fans of the original Pokemon dub were outraged. Many petitions and letters went out, and a web site called Save Our Voice Actors (SOVA) was even launched. Maddie and the other Pokemon VAs were supportive, but in the end nothing could be done and the rights to the Pokemon dub were moved to PUSA with their new cast of VAs. However, despite this and the fact that the infamous 4Kids dubbed most of the Pokemon anime, Maddie and the other original Pokemon VAs are still fairly well liked in the fan community because their performance started many of us on the road to becoming anime fans.

Considering all the VA/seiyuu deaths that have happened over the past years, surprisingly I was not too familiar with any of them. Maddie Blaustein’s death however, touched me a lot more because 4Kids’ dub of Pokemon is what started me on the path to becoming the major anime fan that I am today. In fact, the lovable Team Rocket trio are half the reason I like the Pokemon anime, and I thought Maddie’s performance as Meowth was just as good or even better than seiyuu Inuko Inuyama. She provided Meowth with the perfect blend of sentiment, humor, and craftiness that made him so entertaining.

I’m still very much a Pokemon fan, and the 4Kids’ dub of the series, despite its many flaws, will always hold a special place in my heart for being the springboard into the deep passion for anime that I have today. Maddie’s performance as Meowth was greatly missed when the dub was changed, but she will be missed even more now that she will never be able to perform again.

Forty-eight is a young age to die nowadays, especially for someone with so much talent. Rest in peace, Maddie.

If you want to find out more info about Maddie and all the anime voices she has done, this page should be helpful.

And to get a taste of Maddie’s talent (and right in time for the coming holidays), here’s a hilarious song that Meowth sings for the Pokemon Christmas Bash CD that was released a bunch of years ago…

This has been a pretty hot topic amongst the English speaking anime world lately, especially with the collapse of Geneon and with ADV barely holding on. Now I don’t know much about business, licensing, finance, etc., nor about the inner workings of US anime companies. However, from what I’ve seen being an American anime fan for almost ten years, I definitely know that there are some things that need to be done in order to help the R1 anime industry recover, outdo fansubs, and to also please the majority of fans…

Just to note, I understand that there have recently been a number of articles and essays discussing this topic (I think there was a very well received one on ANN some time ago). So I apologize in advance if any of my opinions in this post are restating what’s already been said.

First of all, I’ve already written a past post addressing my view of fansubs so I’m not going to go into too much depth about them here. However, just to summarize my opinion, although I myself would never have become the knowledgeable and dedicated anime fan that I am today were it not for fansubs, I can definitely understand that they do hurt the anime industry. Obviously there are a number of people who, if they can watch anime for free online, would see no reason to spend money on the DVDs. But in my case, and I’m sure in the case of many other fans, I would love to have a massive collection of anime DVDs, but I simply cannot afford to spend $100 or so per series. One DVD for $25 may seem cheap, especially when compared to Japanese prices, but who’s satisfied with just 3 or 4 episodes of a 26+ episode series and not the whole thing? So for me at least, it’s either $100+ for the whole series or none at all, and I just can’t afford to do that for every series I like. Fansubs allow many fans like me to watch the variety of anime that we yearn for without financial burden; some people simply cannot reach a point in their life where they’ll make enough money to afford luxuries like anime DVD collections, so even if fansubs were taken away, that wouldn’t put money in people’s pockets to buy the DVDs. If fansubs didn’t exist, perhaps the anime industry would make more profit (though I don’t think there’d be a major positive difference), but for the many anime fans who can’t help being poor, no fansubs would mean a lot of misery for them.

So now that I’ve pointed out the main reason why I’m supportive of fansubs, I’ll now point out another reason that will lead further into the topic of what needs to be done with the R1 industry. Without fansubs, the R1 industry would not know which shows are currently popular among anime fans, and thus would not know which ones would make the best profit for licensing. Obviously, this is another major and positive purpose that fansubs serve. Which leads to something important that non-Japanese anime fans get from fansubs that they would otherwise never get: preview of anime before they decide to buy it. In Japan, almost all anime on DVD has aired on TV or in movie theaters at one time. So Japanese fans have ample and legit opportunities to preview entire anime series before they decide to spend their money on it. However in the US and other non-Japanese countries, the amount of anime that airs on TV or in movie theaters is only a fraction of what’s released directly to DVD. Most anime fans are not going to spend money on a series they’ve never seen before and are not sure they’ll like or not. So most likely their only easy previewing method is to turn to illegal online uploads of the series. Which brings me to the first thing I think the R1 anime industry needs to do: provide free, quick, and easy ways for fans to preview episodes of a new series on DVD. Luckily, a lot of anime companies have started doing this by allowing fans to preview the first episode or so of a new series when the first DVD is released.

However, although this is definitely a great step forward, unfortunately I don’t think one or even a few preview episodes is going to be enough in most cases. While the Japanese get to watch an entire anime series for free on TV before they decide whether they want to buy the DVDs, fans in other countries usually cannot. Previews of the first episode will definitely help, but since most anime is not episodic (unlike the many episodic American TV shows), even if they like the first episode or two in a 26 episode series, fans still may be wary about shelling out money for the first DVD when they’re not sure the rest of the series will be good. If it’s possible, I think it would help if R1 industries figured out some way for fans to preview entire series weekly just like the Japanese fans (perhaps for a small charge if need be) even before all the DVDs are released. Ad sponsoring online would be the first method, and if not that then maybe they can make deals with cable companies and allow fans to purchase, for a reasonable fee if needed, all the episodes of a newly released series. If the entire series isn’t an option, then in addition to as many preview episodes as possible, perhaps they can at least show parts of later episodes (even raw, non-subtitled clips from later episodes would prove effective) just so fans can legally know where the series is headed past that first DVD. They should also definitely provide information about how many episodes a series has right when the first DVD is released, and also if there’s any additional seasons or movies so fans know exactly what they’re getting themselves into when they decide to invest in a series, perhaps putting something like “contains episodes 1 through 4 out of 26″ on each DVD.

Another possibility that I think would help even more is for R1 companies to release episodes of licensed series subtitled only online before they even bother with dubs and DVDs. As I’ve mentioned before, ad sponsoring methods would be their best bet so fans can get their anime legally for free just like with fansubs. I’m sure many fans will appreciate having free access to a more professional translation, and saving money on dubbing and DVD packaging should hopefully help keep this system going for the anime companies. Then, once the company can see what fans have to say about the series and how well its received, they can then decide if it would be profitable to spend the money on making a dub and/or DVD releases. If companies need to charge a small fee for their online anime database, in order to keep the fans from turning to the completely free fansubs, they should offer them something like a big discount on DVD releases, free gifts, or something like that if they sign up with them instead of fansubs. If anime companies do offer their anime online, another thing they should probably do is allow fans to actually download the episodes (through bittorrent, etc) just like fansubs rather than just stream the episodes. Another reason fans may turn to fansubs is because they can download the episodes onto their computer and watch them over and over without needing an Internet connection, and can burn them to DVD. So anime companies will need to supply this feature too in order to further compete with fansubs.

So we can see that in order to get fans to turn away from fansubs, R1 anime companies need to find some way to offer their legit online anime downloads for free as well, and if they do need to charge money, offer the fans compensation through free gifts or item discounts. Charging cheap prices like $0.99 or even $0.50 an episode is another possibility, but I’m sure many fans will still be enticed to go with free fansubs. If R1 companies can make ad sponsored databases that offer subtitled episodes of complete anime series for free, that would definitely be a major step to outdoing the fansubs. ANN has already started something like this with their anime trailer database so hopefully actual episodes aren’t too far away.

But even if anime companies are able to make large amounts of anime episodes available to fans for free online, there is still one major advantage that fansubs have: offering fans episodes of the latest shows airing in Japan almost immediately after they premier on Japanese TV. This will probably be the most difficult thing for anime companies to do, since licensing and translation agreement are such time consuming processes. But when they do get a series licensed, even if it’s after the series has started airing in Japan, if they find some way to catch up to the latest episode, and as I’ve mentioned before, give the fans access to a legit professional online weekly translation for free and cut out dubs and DVD releases to save time and money, then this should definitely sway more people away from fansubs. Anime fans, especially those of a particular series, will most likely not wait months and months for the official release of a new or continuing series when the show has already aired in Japan and is easily available through fansubs. Anime companies will have to find some way to release their free episodes at the same time (or roughly the same time) as the fansubbers. Perhaps making deals with the Japanese companies even before a series airs in Japan would help speed up the release process and give them official, reliable connections and translations to a series that fansubbers can’t offer.

Well, I think I’ve just about covered everything I can offer about how to help the R1 anime industry. To sum things up, in order to compete with illegal anime uploads, anime companies need to make their anime available online for free by ad sponsoring or similar methods, and if they do need to charge a fee, offer the fans compensation such as free gifts or discounts. The anime they offer also needs to be complete series and available almost immediately after the episode airs in Japan. In order to make this possible, not making dubs or DVD releases until a series has proven its worth should help. But this would put many voice actors out of work, however hopefully there will still be enough mainstream and other anime airing on TV for them to work on. Again, I don’t have much knowledge of how licensing and business in anime companies works so perhaps some of my ideas may be near impossible for anime companies to fulfill. But this is what a passionate non-Japanese anime fan like myself can offer to help the R1 anime industry get back on its feet and bring fans away from illegal uploads by satisfying them with official, professionally translated anime, and also by not putting too much of a strain on those fans with limited money.

Last night I went with my one of my friends to see the US theatrical premier of the first Bleach movie at a theater in Woodland Hills, CA. Like the US premier of the Death Note live-action movies back in May, Viz premiered the English dub of the Bleach movie for two nights (June 11th and 12th) at a few select theaters across the country…

Besides the Miyazaki movies, anime gets very little theatrical release in the US. I think the only anime movies to be released in most mainstream theaters were the Pokemon movies, but those stopped being released in the theaters many years ago because of Pokemon’s drop in popularity (and Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh! only got one movie release each). A couple of years ago, Viz also did a short theatrical release of the 3rd Inuyasha movie, and Funimation did the same for the Full Metal Alchemist movie, so at least US anime companies are trying. Hopefully one day we’ll see more anime in US theaters (though I don’t know if the US will ever be ready for a mainstream theatrical release of the Evangelion movies! XD) There were quite a number of people at the Bleach movie, and from what I’ve heard, when the Death Note movies were shown at AX last year, the room was totally filled. I hope things like this will make people consider the growing popularity of anime and realize that showing it in theaters might not be a bad idea.

Anyway, as far as the showing of the Bleach movie, I think Viz did a pretty good job. In place of standard movie trailers, we had a few quick promo videos for various Viz titles. And before the movie actually started, there was a 15-20 minute segment about how Viz makes the US release of Bleach, including insight into the manga translation, voice actor recording sessions, and of course, appearances by the English cast themselves. We even got to see some of the Japanese staff as well as Tite Kubo himself (with their dialogue subtitled) so that was a nice little addition. I wish more US anime DVD releases would have extra material like this.

And as for the movie itself, it was pretty much just what I expected of a movie based on a long running shounen series; it was a filler story that wasn’t terrible but definitely wasn’t anything exceptional. I could predict right away that Senna was the one who caused all that chaos in the Soul Society at the beginning of the movie, and that she had some “secret” behind her carefree attitude, AND that Ichigo would have to rescue her from the new villains eventually. Upon mention of the Shinenju, I also knew right away that she was indeed the Shinenju…I even predicted that she would die in the end. So yeah, the movie didn’t really surprise me at any point. This kind of storyline in which a new character (who isn’t all they appear to be) is introduced, gets attached to the lead characters, gets into trouble with the new villains, then leaves or dies in the end, is a pretty familiar storyline that’s been used in many anime filler stories. Although I like Bleach, I’m not a fan (I prefer Naruto and One Piece) and it never struck me as having much depth…it’s pretty much all about the action scenes, which was just what I expected from the movie. And of course, with the movie’s higher budget, the action scenes looked better than in the TV episodes so that was cool. Another good point was that most of the characters got to make an appearance at one point in the movie (but why not Yoruichi?! XP)

I haven’t watched dubbed Bleach in a while, but hearing it again, it’s not too bad. Most of the lead characters are well cast. Johnny Young Bosch, Michelle Ruff, Stephanie Sheh, Megan Hollingshead, and Derek Stephen Prince are all veteran English voice actors that have done a number of other anime voices besides their Bleach characters. The new voice actors for Senna and Ganryu were okay but their acting could’ve been better. Viz still has their weird translation inconsistencies, for example, why they translate “shinigami” as “soul reaper,” but leave “gigai” and “zanpakutou” untranslated. But more or less it was a good translation and they even kept in all the original music.

All in all, I can only recommend this movie if you’re already a fan of Bleach. If you’re just a casual Bleach watcher like me, then it’s basically just a predictable and typical shounen filler story that isn’t really thought provoking at all. But still, it has some good action scenes, decent animation and music, and it was great watching anime on the big screen (at a place that’s not an anime con! XD)

It’s hard to judge it from just the first episode because the only topic of discussion was the new dub of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. But it kept my interest well enough. Each member of the cast got to voice their opinion and we even got to see new clips from the dub. The only opinion I didn’t think was very well-founded was Nicholas’. He failed to take into account the fact that The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and every other anime for that matter, is meant to appeal to the ideals and expectations of Japanese viewers. So an American viewer shouldn’t blame the actual show simply because he or she can’t relate to the Japanese culture involved.

I think the discussion part of this first AnimeTV episode was well done. Maybe if there was a bit less of the cast members talking over each other, it would be even better, though it shouldn’t be totally rehearsed either. However, there were other things I thought should be improved:

- The ATV’s top 5 list. I’m sure lots of people had problems with this. Three Miyazaki movies, Evangelion, and Bleach topping them all. Miyazaki movies are fantastic, sure, but I really think anime movies should be judged separately from series’ (and Nausicaa beats Howl any day). Also, I think it would be better if each ATV member had their own top 5. I mean, it’s hard to believe that all 9 of them think Bleach and Evangelion are the best series’ (that’s about as mainstream as you can get =P)

- The segment where they had fans submit ratings for the series in question, and rate each category like story, animation, music, etc., and then have a short quote as to why they gave those ratings. For Haruhi, they had one really good rating and one really bad one. I think they should have had at least one medium one just to balance out the two extremes. I also think they should have made the reviewers expand on their reason for the ratings. One little quote as to why they gave such terrible or such wonderful ratings isn’t very convincing.

Anyway, like I said, it’s hard to judge AnimeTV from just one episode. The short Behind the Scenes video that was released last night helped give a slightly better idea of what the show will be like, but not much. I just hope that the cast members don’t “fool around” more than actually talk intelligently and informatively about anime. I wish they had a more variety of ages among them. I mean, having a bunch of teenagers together will probably always lead to some distractions and joking around with each other. But I don’t mind that as long as there’s not too much of it. I also hope that they don’t limit their discussions to just new series’ that are going to be released on DVD in the US. It would be nice if they also talked about older anime that were once popular (or unpopular), anime that’s currently popular on TV or even among fansubs, and maybe a manga discussion once in a while too. These things wouldn’t definitely make the show appeal to a more variety of anime fans ^_^

Wendee Lee – as Haruhi
other roles: Ururu(Bleach), Faye(Cowboy Bebop), T.K.(Digimon), Yui(Fushigi Yuugi), Kiyone(Tenchi Muyo!)

Crispin Freeman – as Kyon
other roles: Holland(Eureka 7), Zelgadis(Slayers), Tsume(Wolf’s Rain), Alucard(Hellsing), Hideki(Chobits)

Stephanie Sheh – as Mikuru
other roles: Orihime(Bleach), Eureka(Eureka 7), Hinata(Naruto)

Michelle Ruff – as Yuki
other roles: Rukia(Bleach), Chii(Chobits), Tsukiko(Paranoia Agent)

Johnny Young Bosch – as Itsuki
other roles: Vash(Trigun), Kiba(Wolf’s Rain), Renton(Eureka 7), Ichigo(Bleach)

Bridget Hoffman – as Ryouko
other roles: Rem(Trigun), Miaka(Fushigi Yuugi)

Kari Wahlgren – as Tsuruya-san
other roles: Sher(Wolf’s Rain), Anemone(Eureka 7)

In my opinion, I think the dub will turn out pretty good. Most of these voice actors are very experienced and have done a ton of other anime voices, both major and minor roles, as well as general staff jobs and many non-anime roles too. Johnny and Crispin for example, are two of my most favorite voice actors in the industry, and probably two of the most well-respected among anime fans. So I think Bang Zoom! did a good job of picking the cast that they did. Of course I couldn’t say for sure until the DVDs are actually released, but it really looks like they’re trying to do their best to please fans =) As you can probably tell, I’m not one of those people who despises all anime dubs. Though nowadays I pretty much only watch subtitled anime, I used to watch dubs all the time, and even now I still like them as long as they’re good. There’s no reason why English voice actors can’t be just as talented as Japanese voice actors in anime. Of course, even if you have a good dub, 99% of the time the Japanese version will be better because Japanese actors are naturally more fitting in shows that are intended for a Japanese audience and are endowed with Japanese ideals and culture. But still, I think English voice actors deserve some credit for the many good anime dubs out there. And let’s hope The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya will be among them! ^_^

Not only is it a once in a blue moon opportunity to be able to buy official DVDs of an entire 70 episode anime series for only $75(most 26 episode box sets cost more than that!) but it’s a great series as well ^_^ Unfortunately, after I ordered it about a week ago, AN sent me an e-mail saying they were restocking the item, so they might not actually ship it until next week sometime(it’s currently #1 on their best seller list =P) And this being the holiday season, it might take longer than usual to arrive. But I’m more than willing to wait ^^ I have the first 30 episodes or so on old VHS, and then about 3/4 of the rest of the episodes on DVD. So replacing my old VHS with DVDs as well as getting the rest of the episodes I’m missing, is definitely something I have to look forward to this Christmas!

Anyway, as you probably guessed, Cardcaptor Sakura has been a personal favorite of mine for many years now. It’s the first anime I ever watched in Japanese, so that also makes it special to me =) But really, I think it’s just the sweetest and cutest show of them all. And it’s also good because it’s not just sweet and cute either; it has an excellent story and pacing despite having no main villain, great fantasy elements, well developed characters, and very good animation for a late 90s series. I’ve seen/read a few of CLAMP’s other series’, such as Chobits, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Angelic Layer, but I still think that CCS is their best! ^_^

Sadly, despite being such an enjoyable series for kids as well as adults, CCS suffered from one of the worst English dubs of all. I started watching the dub back when anime was still a fairly new genre and I wasn’t aware of how screwed up some dubs could be. Back when CCS first came to America, the only anime I was really into were the so-called “kiddy” ones like Pokemon, Digimon, and Sailor Moon. But how I went from watching the dub, to buying nearly all the subtitled episodes on original VHS, is kind of interesting…

In late 2000, I saw commercials on Kids’WB for a new show called Cardcaptors that was coming soon, so I was very eager to watch it the day it first came on. And I did, and I liked it…but I could tell that something about it was not right. That episode did not seem like the first episode; there was no introduction to the characters or plot, and events took place without any sort of explanation as to “how” or “why.” Back then, I was still somewhat ignorant about just how much some anime can suffer in their American translations. Regardless, I was so desperate for anime back then that I kept watching Cardcaptors, hoping that I’d be able to figure out more of the story. The show steadily began to grow on me, but I could still tell that something was missing.

However one day, while exploring a store called Anime Plus, I noticed a couple of videos that had Cardcaptor Sakura episodes(why they weren’t called Cardcaptors I would soon find out!) I realized that the videos had episodes that I had never seen, episodes 1 through 7(I later found out that Kids’WB had started with episode 8…no wonder I didn’t get it!) Not only that, but the episodes were in their original Japanese dialogue with English subtitles…something that I had never experienced before! So of course I bought the videos, and thus Cardcaptor Sakura became the first anime that I ever watched in its original, uncut, Japanese language version. It took me a while to get used to the Japanese voices, but when I did, I was totally blown away! With me still being a rookie anime fan back then, I had never seen a “cartoon” like this! I then realized just how superior it was to the English version. As I continued to buy the Japanese videos as they were released each month or so, I began watching Cardcaptors less and less. After watching episodes in their Japanese version that I had already seen in the English version, and finding out all the edits and dialogue changes, I really started to get irritated! I just couldn’t understand why they would dumb it down like they did. But after doing a bit of research, especially at the great site CCSvsCC.com(they haven’t updated in a while, but they’re still very informative!), I figured out the reason why some TV anime, especially ones that are aimed for children, are changed so much…

I won’t go into too much detail about how and why Cardcaptor Sakura was defiled so, but to make a long story short, Kids’WB had a plan to change it from a cute, romantic show for girls into a fantasy, action show for boys. Not only did they do the usual edits like changing the characters’ names and Americanizing the dialogue, but the episodes were shown out of order, episodes without enough action were skipped altogether, and almost every scene that focused on relationships between the characters, especially romantic ones, were edited out. The reason I was confused when I first watched the show was because Kids’WB skipped the first seven episodes. They did this because Sakura’s rival, Li, the main boy in the show, wasn’t introduced until episode eight. Sakura is the main character in the original version, but Kids’WB was trying to make it seem like Sakura and Li were equals (hence the name change from Cardcaptor Sakura to Cardcaptors). So yeah, though One Piece comes pretty close, I still think CCS has the worst dub. But luckily, unlike One Piece, the uncut version of CCS is also available. Actually, from what I’ve heard, the uncut VHS and DVDs of CCS proved to be way more popular than the Cardcaptors English dub ones. I don’t even think they released all the dubbed episodes because the Japanese ones were selling so much better. So a proper dub of CCS was never actually made, which doesn’t really matter since the Japanese version is great. The two movie DVDs do include a recast English dub, but I don’t see what the point in watching it is if you’ve already watched the rest of the series in Japanese ~_^

Anyway, I just felt like rambling a bit about my recent anime purchase and the nostalgia that CCS brings me. The series really helped me learn about what anime can truly be and it also started my appreciation for the Japanese language and watching subtitled anime. Cardcaptor Sakura is a definite classic for any fan of cute, romantic, and magical girl anime, or even just a general all-around anime fan ^_^

Well, Bleach has finally been officially released in America. And even though it didn’t seem to create quite a reaction as when Naruto was officially released, it’s still a pretty big deal for Bleach fans. As of my writing this, I’ve watched Bleach fansubs up to episode 98 and I’ve watched the 5 dubbed episodes that have aired on Adult Swim so far…and I’m happy to report that I’m pleased with the dub.

Johnny Yong Bosch, who also does the voice for Vash from Trigun and Kiba from Wolf’s Rain, is an excellent voice actor. But I wasn’t sure if he would be good at a “bad-ass” guy like Ichigo(most of the voices he’s done are of quieter, gentle guys.) Although he doesn’t make Ichigo sound quite as “tough” as Masakazu Morita makes his sound, he still makes Ichigo sound appealing. The rest of the main characters, like Rukia, Chad, and Orihime, are well cast too. Supporting characters like Ichigo’s family and classmates, and the Hollows, all sound good as well. I really couldn’t point out any character that I felt was poorly miscast. We got to hear a bit of Kon and Urahara’s voices in the previews, but not enough to really tell what they’ll be like once they make their appearances in the episodes.

Translation-wise, I think Viz does a pretty good job with making the dialogue sound natural(way better than what they did with the first season of Inuyasha.) Of course there were some lines I thought could’ve been translated better, but for the most part I can’t complain. The only thing that struck me as kind of odd was that they translated “shinigami” as “soul reaper,” but left the Japanese word “zanpakuto” untranslated. But I suppose whether they chose to translate both words, neither one, or one and not the other, people would still complain.

Which brings me to another point I want to touch on while we’re on the subject of dubs, especially those of popular fansubs. I’m sure there are people who will read this and think “How can she say such good things about the Bleach dub?! It sucks! The voices are so horrible! etc,.” But most people who think things like this have the same negative opinions about all anime dubs. I’m not saying it’s wrong to prefer the Japanese version over the English dub. For most of the anime I watch, I prefer the Japanese version, and I have my share of dubs that I think are bad and refuse to watch. But what I’m referring to are fans, usually those who only watch anime via fansubs, that bad-mouth pretty much every dub no matter its quality, sometimes even if they haven’t seen it themselves. It’s like they feel that only Japanese voice actors have talent, and that all English voice actors are completely incapable of portraying anime characters in a satisfying way. This is a pretty shallow way of thinking in my opinion. What if you have someone who’s passionately aspiring to be a voice actor for a popular anime that’s soon to be dubbed? Would you tell them that they should just give it up now because anime dubs suck and they could never match the quality of the Japanese version? Yes, there are many horrible dubs out there, but most dubs that have been released straight to DVD or on Adult Swim, have been fairly decent, especially within the past few years.

Rather than complaining about every little flaw in English dubs, I think fans should be happy about the increased respect and overall better dubbing quality that anime has been getting recently. If you think dubs are so horrible now, take a look at a dub from the 90s or even before, back when anime was just a sliver of an entertainment genre and most of the few American anime companies out there couldn’t afford to hire real voice actors. Viz’s dub of Naruto is a good example of the point I’m trying to make. A few years ago, airing a show like that, even with the (relatively few) edits that Viz makes, would be totally unheard of. I’m sure Viz had to pull a few strings to get Naruto its PG rating rather than Y7. Fans complain about edits and voice casting, but nearly everything about the story, characters’ names, dialogue, etc., is translated accurately. People also gripe about the censoring of violence and some blood(I say “some” because Viz does leave a lot of the blood intact), when in fact, I believe Naruto’s the only children-aimed cartoon to even show blood so frequently. If Naruto actually did air a few years ago, it would be so heavily edited and chock full of mistranslations and American gags that it would be pretty much unrecognizable. Same goes for Viz’s other dub, Zatch Bell. Now Zatch Bell has a Y7 rating, so its probably aimed at an even younger audience than Naruto. And sure, its has its censoring, edits, etc., but in general, like Naruto, nearly everything about the story, characters, and dialogue is translated fairly well. Zatch Bell can get a bit wacky sometimes, but even then I never hear Americanized jokes or totally rewritten dialogue. Again, if Zatch Bell aired a few years ago, it would surely be butchered into almost a different show(i.e. Cardcaptors.)

And if the quality of “made for childrens’ TV” dubs like Naruto and Zatch Bell have improved so much over the years, then the quality of some direct to DVD and Adult Swim dubs can surely be considered good. Nowadays, fans should be rejoicing in the fact that anime is finally being marketed as its own genre, independent of “cartoons” and American shows, and that US anime companies know its essential to have well translated, quality dubbing. In fact, I think the only anime still suffering are the few aired on local channels(they usually fall prey to 4Kids.) But generally, in my opinion anyway, most dubs coming out nowadays are at least decent. Sure, there are still and always will be bad dubs, and even with good dubs, even I usually think the Japanese version is better. But what I’m saying is that fans shouldn’t label every new dub of their favorite fansub that comes out as “bad,” especially ones like Bleach, in which there’s no editing nor any significant miscasting or mistranslation. Rather, they should be happy that dubbing quality and respect of anime has been on the rise for many years now. And maybe they should take the time to see that there are some good English voice actors out there. I know of many English VAs that voice a variety of anime characters that I believe are very talented people, just as my favorite Japanese VAs are. I know there are many English VAs, Crispan Freeman for example, who are just as passionate about their work as Japanese VAs, so someone needs to give them some praise. If fans of the show won’t do it, then who will? =P But really, to sum this rant of mine up, all I’m saying is that I think fans shouldn’t be so narrow-minded in their opinions about anime dubs. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with preferring the Japanese version, but at least be a little appreciative of the improvement anime dubs have seen over the years and that the more accurate dubbing nowadays means that more Americans will be able to see the true storytelling quality that makes anime so special.