Answerman
The Fellowship of the Answer
Forgive the quality of this column; Answerman busted up his hand pretty good this past weekend, so my spelling might be a bit off. Anyway, let's rock.
I hate to open the column on a negative note, but here's a “question” from a particularly embittered fan:
Dear Answerman,
Please answer this, now if most anime fans don't like dubs and edits, why the hell are they supporting the DAMN CARTOON NETWORK!?! When will the Cartoon Network's "REIGN OF TERROR" end? And when will these companies stop seeing dollars(Bandai,Viz,Pioneer, ADV) and americanizing and toning down content, language hoping to be on that damned network. AND BESIDES ANIME IS NOT FOR THE KIDDIES! AT LEAST NOT IN THE U.S. THEY RUIN EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING. IF I WANTED TO HEAR AMERICAN CATCH PHRASES I WATCH AMERICAN TV. STOP RUINING ANIME YOU DAMN KIDS, NEWBIES, STUPID FANS AND MOST OF ALL, THE CARTOON NETWORK!!!!!!!!!
I have some bad, bad news for you, my friend. The stuff they air on Cartoon Network… at least, a sizable majority of it, like G-Gundam, The Big O and Dragon Ball, was created with an underage demographic in mind. A few things, like Outlaw Star and The 08th MS Team, were definitely intended for an older audience, like high school kids, but all in all, we're talking about kid's stuff. If they want to sell this stuff in the US, they have to make some changes so it meets American entertainment standards. Personally, I'm getting a little sick of fans that bitch and moan that the stuff on TV is censored when they can walk in to any video store and buy uncensored, subtitled versions of these exact same shows. You can't purchase the edited versions of Outlaw Star or The 08th MS Team. They only exist on DVD in their purest form. You have your version available, they have theirs. Be thankful for what you have. Pioneer took a huge risk, releasing unedited, subtitled editions of Card Captor Sakura into the market, and lo and behold, it outsold the edited version. Eventually they may learn that they don't really have to change something to sell it, but for the time being, you have what you want. If you don't like the dubbed version, go buy the subtitled one. Either way, you're paying to watch it. Besides, if you're really going to sit here and tell me that Fox is doing the world a great injustice by editing portions of Yu-Gi-Oh!, then you need to redefine your definition of art and choose your battles. Most of these shows were toy commercials in Japan, and now they're toy commercials here. So chill out, and count your blessings.
When the show was originally released, its name was translated to, in English, Mobile Battleship Nadesico. The show itself contains no mention to Martian Successors of any kind. When ADV released the series here in the States, it was renamed Martian Successor Nadesico; now, theoretically, this works, as you could say that Nergal and the Nadesico crew are trying to "succeed" in taking back Mars from the Jovians and ending the war. So whatever.
BUT. In the Nadesico movie: Prince of Darkness, the chief villains are a cult called the Martian Successors. Whoobaba. So where did this whole Martian Succesor thing come from? Did ADV know about the characters in the movie? Did Xebec ask them to change the name themselves, anticipating their movie? Who what where when? Thanks.
Here's how I understand it. The reason it was called “Martian Successor Nadesico” in the first place is because the Nadesico was “succeeding” the previous colony on Mars that got wiped out in the first episode (as I understand it.). In the version of The Prince of Darkness that I saw (and most of the subsequent versions), the chief villains were a cult called the “Sons of Mars”, not the “Martian Successors”. Even if they were called the “Martian Successors”, they're still claiming that they have a right to Mars, which would in fact make them Martian Successors. Since they aren't the Nadesico, they could still call themselves that without causing any major confusion. Technically both the Nadesico and the Sons of Mars are “Martian Successors” at this point. I don't know for sure, but since Martian Successor Nadesico was the title most fans knew best when they were releasing the show, they probably went with name recognition over Xebec's advice or the “official” English title translation. They wouldn't have any reason to change it, even if the villains were called “Martian Successors”. Confused yet?
Hi, I just had a question that keeps on bugging me. Well on Neon Genesis Evangelion, my friends think of the Evangelion's as mecha, But I do not see them that way. I see them as living creators trapped in armor and controlled by the plug. So I was wondering, what do you think, are my friends right about Eva's being mecha or am I right about the eva?
Justin
They flat out tell you at one point in the series that the EVA units aren't mecha, they're living beings that are trapped in the armor and controlled by the plug. I mean, I think it's either Gendo or Ritsuko that says it. They literally tell you that, which is rare for Evangelion, since the show almost never divulges anything but vague hints. Your friends are either not paying attention, yanking your chain, or really stupid.
Answerman,
I've been meaning to ask you this question for the longest time. Im a big fan of anime soundtrack. The instrumental part of the soundtrack, and not so much of the vocal part. Don't get me wrong, there truly are a lot of vocal anime soundtracks out there, that are wonderful and magnificent. Im all over the board when collecting them from various series of TV and movies. But one of my favorite so far, and my most prized is "The Big O Soundtrack." I was wondering if Toshihiko Sahashi has done any other work besides "The Big O"? And also too, if there is any other related type of anime soundtrack out there, that has the same grandeur as the "The Big O"? And one last question. Why did "The Big O" do so badly in Japan, and yet, why did it do so well here in the States?
Thanks, Oh! great One....
Raul..
Sahashi has composed a few soundtracks in his day. He also scored the video game Blue Stinger, and the anime series Steel Angel Kurumi and Full Metal Panic!. I couldn't tell you if these series have similar music to The Big O, but you may want to give them a listen and see for yourself. As for other good scores, try anything by Yoko Kanno, specifically Brain Powerd and Escaflowne (both the movie and the TV series). The woman is a complete genius. It's hard to say why some things work in the US and not in Japan. Escaflowne, for example, is one of them. It tanked, big time, in Japan, but was a huge success overseas. The Escaflowne movie was made primarily for a North American audience, because they knew how popular the property was over here. Some things click, some things don't.
Hey answerman i am a fan of Kare Kano and when i finished watching the series i wanted to know more about the series. I heard that the story continues in the manga is this true if so will it come out in america.
Thanks Answerman =D
Yes, the Kareshi Kanojo no Jijō manga does indeed continue the story found in the anime. The manga is still running strong. Tankoubon 12 was released in May of this year, and since the anime only gets through volume 8 or so, there's quite a bit of story left. The Kare Kano manga has been licensed by Tokyopop, but it hasn't been released yet. You'll just have to sit tight.
Hey Answerman I recently watched the first Golden Boy DVD and in the second episode a female character runs away and is censored at waist level, front and back. Was that how this part was origionally shown. I have no idea why that was censored can you please help. thanks Mike I.
Yup. Although the Japanese lifted the restriction preventing the direct show of genitalia in manga and anime a while back, people still stick to it. Sometimes, in doujinshi, they're trying to satirize it (witness the frequency of a giant private part “censored” by a tiny stick of white covering a miniscule piece of the puzzle), but for the most part, they still censor themselves. Given that Golden Boy is not a hentai show, I can see why they would censor it.
Last week, I got a question regarding Manga's release of Evangelion: Death and Rebirth. He wanted to know if Manga had replaced Rebirth with the first part of "Air". I told him "No, of course not! That would be silly!", and, of course, I was wrong. Here's the story, according to several stalwart fans:
Dear Answerman,
Last week, you reported that on the newly released Manga Entertainment Licensed "Evangelion: Death and Rebirth" DVD that, contrary to rumor, Manga Entertainment had not replaced the Rebirth portion of the "Death and Rebirth" movie with "Air" from "The End of Evangelion."
However, this is rumor has an unfortunate truth behind it.
The audio for Rebirth is different from the audio for Air. Although the footage is almost identical, the original Japanese dub is a different recording for each, and different music cues are contained within as well. Manga has indeed replaced the Rebirth portion of the film with the first half of Air from The End of Evangelion.
On one hand, I can understand, given the effort and expense of coding two separate versions of the movie for American dubbing and release, why Manga would opt for using portions of Air instead of Rebirth. However, given the length of time it took to release this disc, and the cost of the license itself, it seems odd that they would choose to alienate any of their audience by releasing a mis-labeled DVD.
As an Evangelion fan, I feel that the anime community has a right to know about Manga's choice. Most of us will still purchase the DVD, but there might be some of us who don't want to fork out the 29.95 for a product we're not actually receiving.
Thanks for listening,
I hope this finds its way to ANN.
Heather
And another take:
Just wanted to offer a quick little correction to your reply to a question last week about the reports that Manga Entertainment replaced the Rebirth segment of the film with 'Air' (or, the first segment of the second film, The End of Evangelion). You said no, which is in essense true (Manga didn't replace anything, and the entire "Air" movie is not on their DVD), however - the answer is more complicated than that. The fact is that the version of Rebirth featured on Manga Entertainment's DVD/VHS is not the original edit of that section of the film. The original version of Rebirth was something of a workprint version of the first 30mins of the second film, The End of Evangelion. It featured some temporary background music (later replaced with the new score for the films), sound effects and also rough/unfinished animation. This footage was cleaned up, some new animation done, all the dialogue re-recorded (in Japanese) - and other tweaks were made to the footage that overlaps between "Rebirth" and "Air". The version found on the Manga Ent. DVD is actually the re-done animation seen in The End of Evangelion spliced in between the original Rebirth title cards and ending credits. The changes made, and the differences between between the two, are minute, but it is something to be aware of.
Manga Entertainment has stated that they used the master source they were provided by Studio Gainax, and *did not* edit this release at all. Thus, this version of Rebirth is done directly by Studio Gainax and Manga Entertainment released the film as it was intended to be released from Gainax.
Sincerely,
- Brendan Jamieson
www.EvaOtaku.com
Thanks! Keep reading!
Alright, that's it for now. My Lord of the Rings DVD waits for me, and if you know what's good for you, you already got one for yourself. See y'all on Friday.
I hate to open the column on a negative note, but here's a “question” from a particularly embittered fan:
Dear Answerman,
Please answer this, now if most anime fans don't like dubs and edits, why the hell are they supporting the DAMN CARTOON NETWORK!?! When will the Cartoon Network's "REIGN OF TERROR" end? And when will these companies stop seeing dollars(Bandai,Viz,Pioneer, ADV) and americanizing and toning down content, language hoping to be on that damned network. AND BESIDES ANIME IS NOT FOR THE KIDDIES! AT LEAST NOT IN THE U.S. THEY RUIN EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING. IF I WANTED TO HEAR AMERICAN CATCH PHRASES I WATCH AMERICAN TV. STOP RUINING ANIME YOU DAMN KIDS, NEWBIES, STUPID FANS AND MOST OF ALL, THE CARTOON NETWORK!!!!!!!!!
I have some bad, bad news for you, my friend. The stuff they air on Cartoon Network… at least, a sizable majority of it, like G-Gundam, The Big O and Dragon Ball, was created with an underage demographic in mind. A few things, like Outlaw Star and The 08th MS Team, were definitely intended for an older audience, like high school kids, but all in all, we're talking about kid's stuff. If they want to sell this stuff in the US, they have to make some changes so it meets American entertainment standards. Personally, I'm getting a little sick of fans that bitch and moan that the stuff on TV is censored when they can walk in to any video store and buy uncensored, subtitled versions of these exact same shows. You can't purchase the edited versions of Outlaw Star or The 08th MS Team. They only exist on DVD in their purest form. You have your version available, they have theirs. Be thankful for what you have. Pioneer took a huge risk, releasing unedited, subtitled editions of Card Captor Sakura into the market, and lo and behold, it outsold the edited version. Eventually they may learn that they don't really have to change something to sell it, but for the time being, you have what you want. If you don't like the dubbed version, go buy the subtitled one. Either way, you're paying to watch it. Besides, if you're really going to sit here and tell me that Fox is doing the world a great injustice by editing portions of Yu-Gi-Oh!, then you need to redefine your definition of art and choose your battles. Most of these shows were toy commercials in Japan, and now they're toy commercials here. So chill out, and count your blessings.
When the show was originally released, its name was translated to, in English, Mobile Battleship Nadesico. The show itself contains no mention to Martian Successors of any kind. When ADV released the series here in the States, it was renamed Martian Successor Nadesico; now, theoretically, this works, as you could say that Nergal and the Nadesico crew are trying to "succeed" in taking back Mars from the Jovians and ending the war. So whatever.
BUT. In the Nadesico movie: Prince of Darkness, the chief villains are a cult called the Martian Successors. Whoobaba. So where did this whole Martian Succesor thing come from? Did ADV know about the characters in the movie? Did Xebec ask them to change the name themselves, anticipating their movie? Who what where when? Thanks.
Here's how I understand it. The reason it was called “Martian Successor Nadesico” in the first place is because the Nadesico was “succeeding” the previous colony on Mars that got wiped out in the first episode (as I understand it.). In the version of The Prince of Darkness that I saw (and most of the subsequent versions), the chief villains were a cult called the “Sons of Mars”, not the “Martian Successors”. Even if they were called the “Martian Successors”, they're still claiming that they have a right to Mars, which would in fact make them Martian Successors. Since they aren't the Nadesico, they could still call themselves that without causing any major confusion. Technically both the Nadesico and the Sons of Mars are “Martian Successors” at this point. I don't know for sure, but since Martian Successor Nadesico was the title most fans knew best when they were releasing the show, they probably went with name recognition over Xebec's advice or the “official” English title translation. They wouldn't have any reason to change it, even if the villains were called “Martian Successors”. Confused yet?
Hi, I just had a question that keeps on bugging me. Well on Neon Genesis Evangelion, my friends think of the Evangelion's as mecha, But I do not see them that way. I see them as living creators trapped in armor and controlled by the plug. So I was wondering, what do you think, are my friends right about Eva's being mecha or am I right about the eva?
Justin
They flat out tell you at one point in the series that the EVA units aren't mecha, they're living beings that are trapped in the armor and controlled by the plug. I mean, I think it's either Gendo or Ritsuko that says it. They literally tell you that, which is rare for Evangelion, since the show almost never divulges anything but vague hints. Your friends are either not paying attention, yanking your chain, or really stupid.
Answerman,
I've been meaning to ask you this question for the longest time. Im a big fan of anime soundtrack. The instrumental part of the soundtrack, and not so much of the vocal part. Don't get me wrong, there truly are a lot of vocal anime soundtracks out there, that are wonderful and magnificent. Im all over the board when collecting them from various series of TV and movies. But one of my favorite so far, and my most prized is "The Big O Soundtrack." I was wondering if Toshihiko Sahashi has done any other work besides "The Big O"? And also too, if there is any other related type of anime soundtrack out there, that has the same grandeur as the "The Big O"? And one last question. Why did "The Big O" do so badly in Japan, and yet, why did it do so well here in the States?
Thanks, Oh! great One....
Raul..
Sahashi has composed a few soundtracks in his day. He also scored the video game Blue Stinger, and the anime series Steel Angel Kurumi and Full Metal Panic!. I couldn't tell you if these series have similar music to The Big O, but you may want to give them a listen and see for yourself. As for other good scores, try anything by Yoko Kanno, specifically Brain Powerd and Escaflowne (both the movie and the TV series). The woman is a complete genius. It's hard to say why some things work in the US and not in Japan. Escaflowne, for example, is one of them. It tanked, big time, in Japan, but was a huge success overseas. The Escaflowne movie was made primarily for a North American audience, because they knew how popular the property was over here. Some things click, some things don't.
Hey answerman i am a fan of Kare Kano and when i finished watching the series i wanted to know more about the series. I heard that the story continues in the manga is this true if so will it come out in america.
Thanks Answerman =D
Yes, the Kareshi Kanojo no Jijō manga does indeed continue the story found in the anime. The manga is still running strong. Tankoubon 12 was released in May of this year, and since the anime only gets through volume 8 or so, there's quite a bit of story left. The Kare Kano manga has been licensed by Tokyopop, but it hasn't been released yet. You'll just have to sit tight.
Hey Answerman I recently watched the first Golden Boy DVD and in the second episode a female character runs away and is censored at waist level, front and back. Was that how this part was origionally shown. I have no idea why that was censored can you please help. thanks Mike I.
Yup. Although the Japanese lifted the restriction preventing the direct show of genitalia in manga and anime a while back, people still stick to it. Sometimes, in doujinshi, they're trying to satirize it (witness the frequency of a giant private part “censored” by a tiny stick of white covering a miniscule piece of the puzzle), but for the most part, they still censor themselves. Given that Golden Boy is not a hentai show, I can see why they would censor it.
Last week, I got a question regarding Manga's release of Evangelion: Death and Rebirth. He wanted to know if Manga had replaced Rebirth with the first part of "Air". I told him "No, of course not! That would be silly!", and, of course, I was wrong. Here's the story, according to several stalwart fans:
Dear Answerman,
Last week, you reported that on the newly released Manga Entertainment Licensed "Evangelion: Death and Rebirth" DVD that, contrary to rumor, Manga Entertainment had not replaced the Rebirth portion of the "Death and Rebirth" movie with "Air" from "The End of Evangelion."
However, this is rumor has an unfortunate truth behind it.
The audio for Rebirth is different from the audio for Air. Although the footage is almost identical, the original Japanese dub is a different recording for each, and different music cues are contained within as well. Manga has indeed replaced the Rebirth portion of the film with the first half of Air from The End of Evangelion.
On one hand, I can understand, given the effort and expense of coding two separate versions of the movie for American dubbing and release, why Manga would opt for using portions of Air instead of Rebirth. However, given the length of time it took to release this disc, and the cost of the license itself, it seems odd that they would choose to alienate any of their audience by releasing a mis-labeled DVD.
As an Evangelion fan, I feel that the anime community has a right to know about Manga's choice. Most of us will still purchase the DVD, but there might be some of us who don't want to fork out the 29.95 for a product we're not actually receiving.
Thanks for listening,
I hope this finds its way to ANN.
Heather
And another take:
Just wanted to offer a quick little correction to your reply to a question last week about the reports that Manga Entertainment replaced the Rebirth segment of the film with 'Air' (or, the first segment of the second film, The End of Evangelion). You said no, which is in essense true (Manga didn't replace anything, and the entire "Air" movie is not on their DVD), however - the answer is more complicated than that. The fact is that the version of Rebirth featured on Manga Entertainment's DVD/VHS is not the original edit of that section of the film. The original version of Rebirth was something of a workprint version of the first 30mins of the second film, The End of Evangelion. It featured some temporary background music (later replaced with the new score for the films), sound effects and also rough/unfinished animation. This footage was cleaned up, some new animation done, all the dialogue re-recorded (in Japanese) - and other tweaks were made to the footage that overlaps between "Rebirth" and "Air". The version found on the Manga Ent. DVD is actually the re-done animation seen in The End of Evangelion spliced in between the original Rebirth title cards and ending credits. The changes made, and the differences between between the two, are minute, but it is something to be aware of.
Manga Entertainment has stated that they used the master source they were provided by Studio Gainax, and *did not* edit this release at all. Thus, this version of Rebirth is done directly by Studio Gainax and Manga Entertainment released the film as it was intended to be released from Gainax.
Sincerely,
- Brendan Jamieson
www.EvaOtaku.com
Thanks! Keep reading!
Alright, that's it for now. My Lord of the Rings DVD waits for me, and if you know what's good for you, you already got one for yourself. See y'all on Friday.
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