Showing posts with label Anime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anime. Show all posts
Thursday, October 14, 2010
The Amazing Sasuke McDonalds Toy
The quality of McDonald's Happy Meal toys might not have improved since I was a kid, but the use of them has. And This Naruto Sasuke Toy is amazing.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Anime Dub Vs Sub
Normally Anime fans regard the discussion of original subtitles vs dubbed English with disdain, because historically dubs have been terrible. No terrible as in an audio quality way, but terrible because the dubbers change the script to please a younger western audience. This can mean that characters nolonger swear, subplots are removed, cultural references get a more US flair and most scripts loose their edge.
In the last ten years this however has started to change and companies performing the dubs know that fans hate it when they change things, so they have been trying to do more unabridged dubs. For me this peaked when I seen the English Dub of Beck. I was shocked to discover the Dub was better than the original sub!
The reason for this is that Beck is about a native Japanese speaking band with no knowledge of English who sing English songs. This means they have a strong Japanese accent on all the songs and for myself an English speaker this was slightly jarring, the English dub however has none of this. And with an almost completely unabridged script, it's brilliant. I highly recommend the sub all the time, but the dub is better.
Japanese
English
In the last ten years this however has started to change and companies performing the dubs know that fans hate it when they change things, so they have been trying to do more unabridged dubs. For me this peaked when I seen the English Dub of Beck. I was shocked to discover the Dub was better than the original sub!
The reason for this is that Beck is about a native Japanese speaking band with no knowledge of English who sing English songs. This means they have a strong Japanese accent on all the songs and for myself an English speaker this was slightly jarring, the English dub however has none of this. And with an almost completely unabridged script, it's brilliant. I highly recommend the sub all the time, but the dub is better.
Japanese
English
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Exceptional Anime Music Video
There is something about this AMV that I really love.
If you want to know what the audio track is, what awards it has received or anything Here is the corresponding AMVs.com page. The primary anime in this AMV is Pale Cocoon which I found to be very thought provoking, so if you get a chance to watch it, I would recommend that you do.
If you want to know what the audio track is, what awards it has received or anything Here is the corresponding AMVs.com page. The primary anime in this AMV is Pale Cocoon which I found to be very thought provoking, so if you get a chance to watch it, I would recommend that you do.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Paprika (Completed)
Today I had the chance to watch Parpika (2006) by the same director that did Tokeyo Godfathers (2003) and Paranoia Agent (2004).
The story of Paprika is the story of a research team that has created a device called the DC Mini which allows for waking dreams and for physiologists to enter thoes dreams to help people find answers to their physiological problems. All is well until the dream world and the real world start to merge into one.
Paprika shares a lot of similarities with Paranoia Agent where there is stuff happening that doesn't make sense until the end, you don't know who the bad guy is until the end, there is a policeman that doesn't seen significant until later, a female character who has an alternative female personality, another character who's alternative personality is that of a toy and if you have seen Paranoia Agent then you will be glad this isn't as drawn out as that was.
Paprika is one of those Animes that a lot will rave about and I can agree with those ravers that the animation and characterisation is excellent, but as much as I love the drug endued Super Flat esk styled visuals, stories based in the realm of dreams just doesn't please me (and I know this is a personal thing) because as much as I like dreaming, stories based in dreams where there are no rules but for the willpower of the main character boars me as I know the main characters could aways just will the dream to stop being crazy and it would be. So I do and always have preferred watching stories based in reality, but again that is just a personal thing and Paprika is well worth watching.
4/5
The story of Paprika is the story of a research team that has created a device called the DC Mini which allows for waking dreams and for physiologists to enter thoes dreams to help people find answers to their physiological problems. All is well until the dream world and the real world start to merge into one.
Paprika shares a lot of similarities with Paranoia Agent where there is stuff happening that doesn't make sense until the end, you don't know who the bad guy is until the end, there is a policeman that doesn't seen significant until later, a female character who has an alternative female personality, another character who's alternative personality is that of a toy and if you have seen Paranoia Agent then you will be glad this isn't as drawn out as that was.
Paprika is one of those Animes that a lot will rave about and I can agree with those ravers that the animation and characterisation is excellent, but as much as I love the drug endued Super Flat esk styled visuals, stories based in the realm of dreams just doesn't please me (and I know this is a personal thing) because as much as I like dreaming, stories based in dreams where there are no rules but for the willpower of the main character boars me as I know the main characters could aways just will the dream to stop being crazy and it would be. So I do and always have preferred watching stories based in reality, but again that is just a personal thing and Paprika is well worth watching.
4/5
Joe is Japanese
Japan is a nation of tolerance, dignity, respect for elders, keeping ties with old friends, low rates of crime, a deep love for nature, and sometimes the strangest cultural intolerances or misunderstandings you will ever encounter. And this is kind of what Joe is Japanese an Anime by independent studio Humoring the Fates is about being halfu (half Japanese) and the kinds of things that are caused by it all because you live in Japan.
There is a Clip from Episode One up on the Page which looks stunning, but what happens in it is just one of those things you can only describe as a halfu-moment.
I am VERY much looking forward to Joe is Japanese, but something strikes me as a little odd. Joe McCunney is half Japanese and half Irish, yet like a lot of English speaking people in Japan speaks with an American accent. Being half Irish, one would assume he would speak with a slight Irish accent or maybe that is just me. No idea when or where it is coming out, but if it is as good as it looks I am sure we will be hearing from it again.
There is a Clip from Episode One up on the Page which looks stunning, but what happens in it is just one of those things you can only describe as a halfu-moment.
I am VERY much looking forward to Joe is Japanese, but something strikes me as a little odd. Joe McCunney is half Japanese and half Irish, yet like a lot of English speaking people in Japan speaks with an American accent. Being half Irish, one would assume he would speak with a slight Irish accent or maybe that is just me. No idea when or where it is coming out, but if it is as good as it looks I am sure we will be hearing from it again.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Akira Manga (Completed)
A few hours ago I finished reading the 2,182 page Akira Manga. The same manga that spawned the 1988 film that changed Anime forever and brought Anime to the west. Although I am a huge fan of Akira the film masterpiece, I have to admit that the manga is a different masterpiece entirely.
I first bought the volume 1 in April 2002 (according to my Amazon account) and the rest soon after because I was a big fan of the film. For some reason I only got to half way through volume 3. I don't remember why but the whole series then sat on a shelf waiting for me to get around to reading it again (after five years I chose to read from the start again). With it's daunting size and such things as final year projects and such to distract my attention I never got around to reading it again.
It is a lot of paper.
The reason why I felt I could just sit and read it is because a few months ago I read the entire of Death Note in about two weeks. Pertly because it was being made into a film and I had seen the impressive trailer, but also once I started grinding through the story I found the whole experience to be very rewarding. Normally I would pace myself, but on this occasion I just read (a lot) and found the story flowed much better with fewer breaks.
So being unemployed as I am I thought it was about time I paid my respects to the original manga that spawned the film I favour so greatly. If it wasn't for a certain Oblivion Expansion I would have gotten through it quicker, but I was quite surprised at how utterly different the manga is to everything that the film is. The manga has way more characters, happens over a much longer period and is a lot more epic in nature. I don't want to spoil anything about the plot, but if the film was converted to a graphic novel I am fairly sure it would be less than 400 pages. So even if you have seen the film a thousand times the manga is well worth reading and will enhance your understanding of the film's plot. And if you have read the manga, go see the film because it isn't an adaptation at all, but rather a different telling of the same overplot.
While I was reading I spotted this little pain:
The guy is being asked to lift a stone with his physic powers as training. As soon as I read it I thought of the Wachowski Brothers and wondered if they had seen that too.
Anyway the manga is the best graphic novel I have ever read and for some reason I thought it would be interesting to record how must time i spent reading each volume as I went:
Volume 1 (359 pages)
1 hour
47 minuets
32 seconds
Volume 2 (301 pages)
1 hour
15 minuets
52 seconds
Volume 3 (282 pages)
1 hour
18 minuets
37 seconds
Volume 4 (394 pages)
2 hours
5 minuets
5 seconds
Volume 5 (413 pages)
1 hour
59 minuets
38 seconds
Volume 6 (433 pages)
1 hour
10 minuets
48 seconds
Total pages 2,182
Total reading time 9 hours 36 minuets and 32 seconds.
X/5
It's a masterpiece I can't simply give it a score out of five!!!
I first bought the volume 1 in April 2002 (according to my Amazon account) and the rest soon after because I was a big fan of the film. For some reason I only got to half way through volume 3. I don't remember why but the whole series then sat on a shelf waiting for me to get around to reading it again (after five years I chose to read from the start again). With it's daunting size and such things as final year projects and such to distract my attention I never got around to reading it again.
It is a lot of paper.
The reason why I felt I could just sit and read it is because a few months ago I read the entire of Death Note in about two weeks. Pertly because it was being made into a film and I had seen the impressive trailer, but also once I started grinding through the story I found the whole experience to be very rewarding. Normally I would pace myself, but on this occasion I just read (a lot) and found the story flowed much better with fewer breaks.
So being unemployed as I am I thought it was about time I paid my respects to the original manga that spawned the film I favour so greatly. If it wasn't for a certain Oblivion Expansion I would have gotten through it quicker, but I was quite surprised at how utterly different the manga is to everything that the film is. The manga has way more characters, happens over a much longer period and is a lot more epic in nature. I don't want to spoil anything about the plot, but if the film was converted to a graphic novel I am fairly sure it would be less than 400 pages. So even if you have seen the film a thousand times the manga is well worth reading and will enhance your understanding of the film's plot. And if you have read the manga, go see the film because it isn't an adaptation at all, but rather a different telling of the same overplot.
While I was reading I spotted this little pain:
The guy is being asked to lift a stone with his physic powers as training. As soon as I read it I thought of the Wachowski Brothers and wondered if they had seen that too.
Anyway the manga is the best graphic novel I have ever read and for some reason I thought it would be interesting to record how must time i spent reading each volume as I went:
Volume 1 (359 pages)
1 hour
47 minuets
32 seconds
Volume 2 (301 pages)
1 hour
15 minuets
52 seconds
Volume 3 (282 pages)
1 hour
18 minuets
37 seconds
Volume 4 (394 pages)
2 hours
5 minuets
5 seconds
Volume 5 (413 pages)
1 hour
59 minuets
38 seconds
Volume 6 (433 pages)
1 hour
10 minuets
48 seconds
Total pages 2,182
Total reading time 9 hours 36 minuets and 32 seconds.
X/5
It's a masterpiece I can't simply give it a score out of five!!!
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