Um, they kick ass? (Well, w/ the possible exception of music videos where the video source - aka, 4th generation VHS tapes - sucked.)
“It’s time for another hallucination.”
“Green fire hydrants are waving at me.”
Heh.
I had a thread a few months ago about the terrible dubbing in ‘Vampire Hunter D’ here. The dub not only gave the characters voices completely unlike what they had in the original, it changed major plot points and gave lines to characters where they didn’t speak in the original.
Huh. Another question just occurred to me: what’s the appeal of Dragonball Z? I’ve never been able to get a straight answer out of a fan. To me at least, the plotting has always been slow-paced to the point of being excruciatingly dull and the art is pretty low-budget. So…is there a great deal of character depth I’m somehow overlooking?
I think Dragonball Z appeals to a lot of people because of all the violence. The guys at school don’t talk about the excellent character development. They argue over who has the potential to be the supreme butt-kicker of all time.
Mind you, I’ve never made it all the way through an entire episode. Maybe it does have some excellent character development, but I seriously doubt it. It’s just supposed to be amusing violence.
jessica
I will chime in on the subject of fan made subs. I find the majority are well rendered and not bad due to them being a labor of love by the doers.
Ok 2 questions here:
How do you guys feel about cartoon network and it chopping up some of their anime series as well as covering up (with some BAD drawing of bathing suits)? I mean these are some anime, though adult in nature, that are shown on regular Japanese TV where kids are able to watch em.
Oh and I love how they seem to get really shitfaced on the ‘tea’
and number 2
Do you think the world is ready for a all anime channel?? If so, why is it not happening darnit?!
What is with all the transformations? It seems that Japanese culture has a tendency to have stories about transformations into monsters or massive robots, often in varies stages (not strictly within animation). There are also a lot of sexual alterations that occur, like a male turning female or two characters of opposite sex switching bodies. Is this a common turn-on in their culture? This all happens in US entertainment as well, but it seems to a larger degree in Japanese literature and anime. So why is that?
I think Cartoon Network is trying very hard. They have a difficult job on their hands, trying to balance the fans and the parents. They could do a bit better, but I think it’s better to err on the side of caution than run the risk of getting everything pulled. It’s still just a grand experiment. Cartoons are still just for kids here in America, after all.
Besides, other networks are much worse with their edits. At least Cartoon Network doesn’t pick a supersweet girly show and then edit it to appeal to the guys!
Ready? Sure! Gonna happen soon? Nah. Too expensive. It would be nice, though…very nice…
jessica
Ok, what’s the deal with Yu Gi Oh? I’ve seen this a couple of times on the WB Saturday line up. In every episode there’s a dramatic moment when he yells his name, lights flash, wind blows, the camera twirls around him, and he transforms into…uh, he doesn’t transform into anything. Well, his voice gets a little deeper.
Did they just throw this in because kids expect it? Or is something happening and I don’t get it?
Also, here’s something fun. One of the bad movie sites I like reviewed a live action Dragonball movie. Enjoy:
Guess that makes sense–come to think of it, most of the people I know who watch it also like wrestling (rasslin’ 
).
As for the transformations, I also saw it as a sort of wish fulfillment fantasy for the target audience. Japan doesn’t seem like an adventurous place to grow up or work.
How does the giant transformable robot manage to be light enough to be aerodynamic as a fighterplane and yet strong enough to punch through buildings and tanks?
What ever happened to the Saturday morning anime movies?
It’s that amazing Japanese technology. A much updated version of the technology that allowed me to drop my expensive metal Walkman some nine times with no discernible impact to its performance.
Oh, and all mecha (except the shitty mobile suits in Gundam) are made from Gundanium.