Bethel Park Anime #10--Fandubs, fansubs, and scanlations

This week, I'm addressing a more serious issue in the anime industry: Fandubs, fansubs, and scanlations. Fandubs and Fansubs, as their name implies are dubs and subs (subtitles) made by fans. Subs are the more common and more popular because they're easier to make, and the original voice actors are generally preferred to any dubbed voices, be they professional or not.
Anime is usually subbed/dubbed for three reasons. One, fans don't like waiting years to catch up with the Japanese version. They'd much rather watch ahead and see everything right when it's new. This also helps prevent spoilers.
Two, the dub is really bad, so the fan would rather watch the original. In most cases, if the anime has been released in America, this can be done simply by watching the Japanese audio track on the legal DVD. However, for older animes, or animes dubbed by 4kids (that, by definition, have bad dubs) no legalcopy of the Japanese version exists for Americans.
Three, fans are too cheap/too lazy to buy.

For the most part, fansubs and dubs are the result of the first two reasons. This is a big probelm for the anime industry, because if we've already seen the anime, why should we watch it again or spend money on it? Fans have argued that without subs, they wouldn't buy DVDs (who wants to spend $30 for 4 episodes of an anime they don't know if they'll like??) but the fact is, profits for anime dubbing (and producing--they lose money in Japan, too) companies are way down.

Here's an interview with Arthur Smith, the president of Gonzo Digital Holdings International. He gives his opinion of the state of the anime industry, and how fansubs and dubs are affecting it.
http://www.activeanime.com/html/content/view/2171/36/

Makes you feel pretty bad, doesn't it? Personally, yes, I have watched fansubs and dubs. Many of my favorite fandoms had the bad luck to fall into the dubbing hands of 4kids Entertainment, the bane of the anime dubbing world. Let's face it, subs of 4kids animes are infinitely better than their dubbed counterparts. Now, if 4kids was like NORMAL dubbing companies, and included the Japanese audio track on their DVDs, I would buy them. But 4kids has refused to do so. Not only are they dubbing anime horribly with no regards to the fans, they make it literally impossible to get a legal copy of the original versions of their shows. Why should I have to put up with a bad dub just because I live in a different part of the world? I won't stand for it. I watch the subs.

Now, as for things that have been subbed because the fans are too impaitient... well, I don't entirely agree with that, but let's face it, in America we're anywhere from 1-5 years behind an anime or manga series, depending on it's popularity and how long it took to get the liscense. Before I go any further, here's what a guy from ANN had to say:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/editorial/2007-11-25


I agree completly. Anime should be dubbed immediately after it is aired and released no more than a week after its original Japanese air date. That's the only way to get things back on track. Hopefully, that would cut down on the number of subs and dubs, and then the legal stuff could happen with the people doing the subbing/dubbing.

Now, the next issue is scanlations. Manga, like anime, takes a long time to get to the US. (though I have to say, Viz is doing a good job keeping up with FMA. I'm pretty sure we're only a volume or two behind as of now) Fans don't want to wait, especially when it's so easy to find scans on the internet. Personally, I have done read scanlations, but manga is much cheaper and usually comes out ahead of anime, so I tend to stay away from them. (also, they don't much agree with my computer)

Overall, the state of the industry may be going down the drain, but it's not all the way gone yet. It can be fixed, but someone needs to push it in the right direction.



Now, to touch on my last article...
Christmas break may be over, but if you still want a movie to watch, here are links to some great ones you can order from the library!
Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away
Howl's Moving Castle (be warned; it's differnt from the book)
Whisper of the Heart
Porco Rosso

And in closing, I'd like to wish a happy birthday to Hayao Miyazaki, who turned 67 yesterday, January 5th. (I started this entry on Dec 29th, but I'm actually posting on January 6th) Happy birthday, sensei! ^__^

Bethel Park Anime #9--Studio Ghibli

It's Christmas break. You've got about 2 weeks off school. What do you do with all that spare time on your hands? How about watch some movies? This week (I guess I should say month now, as I don't post nearly as often as I should) I'll be taking you through the works of Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and all the other talented people of Studio Ghibli.

First, a brief history. Miyazaki-sensei was born on January 5, 1941 in Tokyo, Japan. He used to work for Toei, then teamed up with Isao Takahata at A Pro. He directed some tv shows, including Conan the Boy in the Future and Lupin III. His first feature film was Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro. (source)

After Cagliostro, Miyazaki wanted to direct his own work, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Anime films and television series are usually based on manga series, which ensures an audience. The producers Miyazaki-sensei approached didn't want to make a movie about a new series. So, Miyazaki made them a manga series. Two years later, Nausicaä made its film debut. It is widely regarded as Miyazaki's masterpiece.

The money he made from Nausicaa allowed him to open up his own animation studio. Thus, Studio Ghibli was born. "ghibli" (pronounced with a soft "g") is an Italian word for a hot desert wind, and also the name of an Italian plane. The real word is pronounced with a hard "g", but by that time it was noticed, the name had already stuck.

Ghibli is a very unique studio in that all of its animators work for salary, not commission. Thi ensures top quality on all the films made there. But in order to have the money to pay salaries, Ghibli must release many movies on a regular basis. I'm not complaining, though, as I have yet to see a Ghibli movie I didn't like.

While the films that come out of Studio Ghibli are directed by many differnt people, the majority of Ghibli films are by Miyazaki-sensei. All the feature films he has directed are:
Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Laputa: Castle in the Sky
My Neighbor Totoro
Kiki's Delivery Service
Porco Rosso
Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away
Howl's Moving Castle

All of sensei's works are outstanding, but my absolute favorite is Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke). Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spriited Away) would be my second favorite. It's really hard to put the rest in order, because they're all different genres. (Nausicaa is Sci-Fi, Totoro is childrens, Laputa is action-adventure, Kiki is coming of age, etc.) Mononoke broke every Japanese box office record when it first came out, and for a while held the title of biggest-grossing movie in Japanese box office history. It was knocked off by James Cameron's Titanic quickly after, but then Spirited Away came out in 2001 and re-broke all the box office records. To my knowledge, Spirited Away still holds the records. That's how big Miyazaki-sensei is in Japan. An animated film holds box office records.

Other movies that have come out of Studio Ghibli are:
Grave of the Fireflies
Only Yesterday (covered under the Disney-Tokuma deal, but not yet released in America)
Pom Poko
My Neighbors the Yamadas
Whisper of the Heart
The Cat Returns
Tales of Earthsea (not going to be released until at least 2009 because the Sci-Fi channel currently holds the rights to the Tales of Earthsea books)

And Miyazaki-sensei's next film, Ponyo on a Cliff is scheduled to come out in 2008 in Japan, and is covered under the Disney-Tokuma deal, so we will see it eventually. Short movies like On Your Mark, Ocean Waves, and Gauche the Cellist are not covered in the deal, so I can't say if we'll ever get to see them. The only legal way to get them as of now is to buy a Japanese DVD player and buy the Japanese DVDs. But then they're still in Japanese. ^_^;;


A very reliable Studio Ghibli fansite is nausicaa.net. (I'd give you the official site, but it's in Japanese.) Just about anything and everything you'd ever want to know about Miyazaki-sensei, Takahata-sensei, Hisaishi-sensei, and the rest of Studio Ghibli is on there.

Bethel Park Anime #8--Attention! Tekkoshocon has moved!

Tekkoshocon 6, like the last 3 Tekkos was schedueled to be at the Monroeville Expo Mart April 11-13, 2008. THIS HAS CHANGED. It's still April 11-13, but the location is now the Greentree Radisson!

Link to the article: http://tekkoshocon.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9887

Link to questions about the venue change: http://tekkoshocon.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9888