SeibaaHomu's Blog

Anime Relations: Heartcatch Precure!, Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica, The iDOLM@STER, Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica Movie 3: Hangyaku no Monogatari, Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! School Idol Project 2nd Season

If you've been living under a rock and don't know what I'm talking about read this article
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com.au/news/2014-07-31/anime-production-companies-manga-publishers-crack-down-on-piracy/.77121

Obviously, this is not going to work out. Whoever came up with this idea is completely ignorant to the fact that the entire western anime fandom is built on piracy so I don't think I even really need to explain what's wrong with this logic. But I guess that's exactly what I'm doing here.

We all know Crunchyroll right? They're basically one of the biggest names in the western anime community today and since late 2008 they've been subtitling and legally streaming anime on their website for a reasonable price. But let's go back to the period before then shall we? Do you want to know what Crunchyroll was doing before they went legit? They were charging people to stream illegal fansubbed anime on their site. Making money off of something that isn't even their property. Basically, the worst kind of pirates. Personally I don't hold it against them. In fact, I've been a paying member of the site since early 2012. But considering they wouldn't even exist without piracy it just goes to show how much it helps the western anime community.

For a more recent example let's take a look at one of the most popular anime of 2011: Puella Magi Madoka Magica. For those who don't know, there was no legal method of watching this show while it was airing. Hell, it didn't even get put on Crunchyroll until some time after the show had already gotten a western release. So where did Aniplex look when they came to the conclusion that it was popular enough to give it an English dub and release it as three super special limited edition Blu-ray boxes? Because it certainly wasn't Crunchyroll.

Not to mention before Crunchyroll went legit the only way of watching anime legally was waiting two years until the DVD came out. But if it got a DVD release chances are it was fairly popular in the first place. I don't think I even need to explain where that popularity came from.

The one thing this has proved to me is that the Japanese do care about making money off of us if only a little bit. After all, why else would they be doing this in the first place? In fact, that's exactly why this is such a misguided plan. Yes, there is probably some money that they could be making but aren't as a direct result of piracy. But piracy accounts for a very large majority of anime's current popularity in the west. It's a classic example of biting the hand that feeds you.

You might be a bit confused where I stand in all this so I'll explain. Yes, I do pirate anime on a regular basis. But at the same time I also have a sizeable collection of locally purchased anime, a Crunchyroll membership, a handful of shows I've imported from the US and quite recently I've got into importing Blu-rays directly from Japan with my collection currently consisting of the first two volumes of Love Live Season 2 and Madoka Rebellion. I also have great respect for the people who make the anime I love, the Japanese and English voice actors who bring the characters to life and the Australian companies such as Madman, Siren and Hanabee who make anime available to me. So if you're going to go and criticise me for being a leech you'd best think before you speak.

To be honest, I would be perfectly fine with going fully legit and paying for everything I watch. But if that's the route we're going to go the Elevens better come up with a legal method for me and everyone else to watch every single fansubbed anime to ever exist. You can start with all 500+ episodes of Precure and all those obscure shows from the 80s and 90s that have no legal subs. If that seems unreasonable to you, then I think it's plain to see where the problem lies

Anime Relations: Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu

Anime Relations: Sword Art Online

Anime Relations: K-On!

Anime Relations: Shinseiki Evangelion, Elfen Lied, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica, Guilty Crown, Sword Art Online

When people insult an anime, there's always a few names that get thrown around. Names such as Guilty Crown and Sword Art Online as well as pretty much any show with high levels of sexual content. You constantly hear people saying bad things about these shows but almost no one seems to question them. I've seen rants that have more holes than the shows themselves. But no matter how dumb, you can say whatever you want about these shows and no one would even care to question why you would waste your time on such things.

But when you go off the path and decide that your opinions don't match up with the masses, they will let you have it. Even informed criticism of shows like Evangelion, Madoka Magica or FMA Brotherhood will be scrutinised more than a nonsensical rant about Elfen Lied. People will keep telling you how much of an idiot you are, point out every single little flaw in your argument and will mercilessly tear you apart for even the most minor of comments about the show.

But why is this so? None of these shows are objectively better than one another. But for some reason, the anime community has just collectively decided what you can and can't do. Insult SAO fans for their intelligence? That's okay. Call people who watch Strike Witches paedophiles? Sure, that's fine too. Say that you didn't think Eva was all that good? You're a shallow idiot with no taste in anime.

For example, I've had this Youtube comment in my signature for a few weeks now and not one person has responded negatively:

On top of that, I'm constantly bashing bad shows on the forums. Even I think my SAO bashing is uncalled for but no one else seems to think so. Everyone thinks I'm so fucking hilarious when I'm riding on the bandwagon.

One show I don't like to talk about often is Eva. While that doesn't mean I don't say bad things about the show, the amount of comments I've made about Eva are significantly less than a lot of other shows. However, earlier today I decided to make a joke on a forum thread where I compared the show unfavourably to Guilty Crown. Suddenly I was bombarded with comments like 'Jesus Christ, what's your problem with Eva?', 'You're obviously just flamebaiting' and 'Get your head out of your ass if you want to say bad things about a show'. And now because of a few incredibly minor comments, I'm known as the guy who keeps ranting about Eva. Despite the fact I think it's completely pointless to keep ranting about a show I have almost no memory of.

So I'm asking anyone who's willing to listen to be proud of your opinion. You don't have to fit in with the masses. If you want to defend Elfen Lied, go right ahead. If you want to say something negative about Madoka Magica, then you're allowed to do that too. Just don't be someone you're not. Stand up for what you believe in and speak out about if there's something you don't like. Sword Art Online is no better or worse that Legend of the Galactic Heroes. The only thing that can determine whether a show is good or bad is you own opinion. It's alright to accept constructive criticism. But if someone says something that you don't agree with, you don't have to go along with it.

Anime Relations: Beck, K-On!, K-On!: Live House!, K-On!!, K-On!!: Keikaku!, Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica

I've been thinking about the topic of English dubbing for quite some time. Arguments rage on about which is better. I personally am in the middle. If a dub sounds good I'll watch it. If a show has a bad dub or doesn't have a dub, I'll just watch subbed. On this website, people are generally sub only. I'm not going to say that all people who watch subs only are evil. For some people, it's just their personal preference to watch subbed anime. I can see where they're coming from and understand their reasoning most of the time. If you just don't like dubs but respect other people's opinions, that's fine. This isn't aimed at you.This is more about the people who think that the original Japanese track is infinitely superior no matter what.

I can understand why people wouldn't want to watch dubs. Doing something you don't want to do by choice isn't very bright. However, the people I'm talking about are the ones constantly insult dubs despite the fact that the only dubbed anime they've seen is a 30 second clip on Youtube. For example, the Madoka Magica dub by Bang Zoom is lumped as unlistenable solely because of its crappy trailer. Ask pretty much anyone who actually watched the dub and their opinions will be very different. The Madoka Magica dub is one of the best I've heard in quite some time. I'd even go so far as to say it's about on par with the original. Sure, Christine Cabanos might not be as good as Yuki Aoi. But Cassandra Lee's Kyubey is amazing. Even though the voices don't sound too much like the Japanese counterparts, it's a more than watchable dub.

However, there are shows that I believe don't work in English. Bang Zoom's K-On dub has some good voice acting with a cast comprised of veteran voice actors (Stephanie Sheh, Karen Strassman, Laura Bailey) and newcomers (Cristina Vee, Christine Cabanos, Cassandra Lee). With a good cast and competent voice acting, how can it possibly go wrong? The translation. The dub doesn't take many liberties. Almost everything stays as is for better or worse. Mostly for worse. There are some translation choices that would confuse even the most experienced of anime watchers. But the main flaw with the dub is that it sounds awkward. It feels like it shouldn't have been dubbed in the first place. They're speaking English but I don't buy it. The characters don't sound realistic. They're stuck awkwardly in the middle of Japanese and English. I won't insult you for liking the dub. But that's just my opinion.

As you can see, opinions are highly subjective. You can't say that the original is infinitely superior when you haven't even given it a try. There are some people who like to watch dubs. People have different opinions to you.The only thing that can make an opinion invalid is ignorance. How can you form an opinion on something you don't know anything about? Can you even call it an opinion? It's simply a fear of the unknown. I can predict the questions that some people are going to give me. No, the voice acting isn't as terrible as you think it is. No, 4kids don't dub any more. No, dubs are very faithful nowadays (for better or worse). I'm not better than you for being indifferent and you're not better than me for liking subs. If you don't like dubs, that's fine by me. Just don't go around acting like you're superior to dub watchers. Because quite frankly, you're not.

PS. My favourite dub is Beck just in case you're asking