So, there's a "Pretty Young Girl Warrior Sailor Moon" out there...

[6ftInchworm]

Might as well discuss this warrior or else in the name of the moon, she'll punish us!

So yeah, any comments and whatnot on one of the most well-known anime series out there? I know the fans of this are in this forum somewhere.

I like to get things started with this comment; am I the only one in this forum that doesn't necessarily HATE the English dub we got, but rather, thinks it really inferior compared to the orginal Japanese show? I mean, I know the dub to this show was anime dubbing in its' earlier days, but we had shows like "Batman: The Animated Series", "X-Men" and the "Looney Tunes" running at the time, so what's the excuse? I have theories, but maybe you guys like to chime in before I do.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. To quote Beau, "Well, do you"?

 

[Drtooth]

I've said it a billion times by now, but I have yet to see a broadcast anime dub that holds up to the original... with the obvious exception of Samurai Pizza Cats... arguably Ultimate Muscle...

I find that the people who kvetch about the American dub of Sailor Moon don't realize how lucky they had it. Sailor Moon almost became a BAD live action show with bad animated segments. And hey, they botched the lyrics to make it sound more American, but they at LEAST kept the original theme song and didn't replace it with a bland Will Smith-esque rap number (like a certain group of Straw Hats I know).

The top three things I hear about any dub is:

1) They change character names. So? Watch an American Cartoon dubbed into any other Language. They change names all the time. Even with Sesame Street, foreign co-Productions change the names to sound more localized.

2) Editing violence and sex. While American cartoons do tend to get away with just a bit more than their localized dubbed Anime counterparts, there still is an insane amount of idiotic rules and regulations that us overall cartoon fans see all the time. Not mentioning character deaths? It sounds preposterous, but they can't even reference death in a kid's show for the most part. But we're not the only country. Anyone ever hear of the UK version called "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" that edited out any isntance of Mikey's Nunchuks?

3) Music. That I agree with. I HATE cheap synthesized music that's used to replace anything. I didn't like it when they did it to Sesame Street in the 90's, I think the Gumby cartoon didn't need it in the 80's... but I hear that certain anime studios charge a fortune to have access to their library. Plus, with all the edits, they need to do something about the music anyway to make it sound fluid.

That said, My Sister forced me to watch quite a bit of old Sailor Moons. If anyone can tell you, I prefer stuff like Dr. Slump, Kinnikuman, and Tensai Bakabon, but the show is okay. I just can't stand Chibi-Moon (but most of the fandom doesn't). It stinks that one of the rumored reasons why they will never re-license the show is because the creator didn't like how it was handled (still nothing compaired to how 4Kids handled One Piece... which I blame on Toei for passing up Funimation in the first place). Though, I think the truth is, Toei especially, hates to license something in the US, unless it's a generic clone of something else that's popular here. I'm really sick of the lame Moes that pop out all over the place and not even getting any Yattaman or Dr. Slump (new or old of both).

 

[6ftInchworm]

This'll be fun...

I've said it a billion times by now, but I have yet to see a broadcast anime dub that holds up to the original... with the obvious exception of Samurai Pizza Cats... arguably Ultimate Muscle...

True, but if you got good Internet connection, there's a lot of good/above-average anime you can find on official websites that's actually pretty good. Seen "Cowboy Bebop"? Anime fans love the dub to that one.

I find that the people who kvetch about the American dub of Sailor Moon don't realize how lucky they had it. Sailor Moon almost became a BAD live action show with bad animated segments. And hey, they botched the lyrics to make it sound more American, but they at LEAST kept the original theme song and didn't replace it with a bland Will Smith-esque rap number (like a certain group of Straw Hats I know).

Again, true, but I find these stupid ideas so bad they're funny, so I guess you'll milage on things like that might vary.

The top three things I hear about any dub is:

1) They change character names. So? Watch an American Cartoon dubbed into any other Language. They change names all the time. Even with Sesame Street, foreign co-Productions change the names to sound more localized.

Good point. Never seen it that way. Then again, anime fans complain the loudest, so what do we know?

2) Editing violence and sex. While American cartoons do tend to get away with just a bit more than their localized dubbed Anime counterparts, there still is an insane amount of idiotic rules and regulations that us overall cartoon fans see all the time. Not mentioning character deaths? It sounds preposterous, but they can't even reference death in a kid's show for the most part. But we're not the only country. Anyone ever hear of the UK version called "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" that edited out any isntance of Mikey's Nunchuks?

Oh yeah, "TMHT". No wonder the TMNT fans want to forget that.

Well Tooth, if it cheers you up a little bit, they have been a LITTLE bit more lenient on subjects like death nowadays. Sure, there's instances where they try to censor it here and there, but for the most part, things have been improving just a little bit. And besides, that's just the TV edit. There's anime on DVD uncut if you want it that bad.

3) Music. That I agree with. I HATE cheap synthesized music that's used to replace anything. I didn't like it when they did it to Sesame Street in the 90's, I think the Gumby cartoon didn't need it in the 80's... but I hear that certain anime studios charge a fortune to have access to their library. Plus, with all the edits, they need to do something about the music anyway to make it sound fluid.

That, and I hear that when the dub music is used, the dub studios can use the royality if any legel matter uses it. I mean, Funimation admitted that on the original DBZ dub. But yeah, agreed.

That said, My Sister forced me to watch quite a bit of old Sailor Moons. If anyone can tell you, I prefer stuff like Dr. Slump, Kinnikuman, and Tensai Bakabon, but the show is okay. I just can't stand Chibi-Moon (but most of the fandom doesn't). It stinks that one of the rumored reasons why they will never re-license the show is because the creator didn't like how it was handled (still nothing compaired to how 4Kids handled One Piece... which I blame on Toei for passing up Funimation in the first place). Though, I think the truth is, Toei especially, hates to license something in the US, unless it's a generic clone of something else that's popular here. I'm really sick of the lame Moes that pop out all over the place and not even getting any Yattaman or Dr. Slump (new or old of both).

That first rumor is what it is...a rumor. I find that, to quote Strong Bad, bullhonkey. But that second rumor? I wouldn't be surprised if that's true (there's rumbling here and there though)...

Second, while I understand your dislike to Chibi-Usa (actually, a lot of the fans I know don't like Chibiusa), you saw/kinda based on it on SuperS didn't you? If so, I recommend reading what this guy has to say on that (and that arc for that matter).

As for moe, let's leave our readers find out and judge for themselves if they agree with that. I'm afraid the mods wouldn't like me discussing it. Besides tooth, you want to feel sorry and kinda mad at the anime business if you look into it. Trust me, I know.

 

[RedPiggy]

I find that the people who kvetch about the American dub of Sailor Moon don't realize how lucky they had it. Sailor Moon almost became a BAD live action show with bad animated segments.

This?

I like Sailor Moon. I only have the "original" season in Japanese, though my other DVDs has the Japanese audio track. Personally, I like Cardcaptor Sakura better (Serena is a smidge too whiny for my taste). However, certain scenes can bring me to tears. I'm also a sucker for eternal love stories.

 

[Drtooth]

A couple things...

I'm not really against any DVD or online official dub. But when it comes to broadcast children's dubs (which is effected by broadcast television kid's standards), I can't say I've seen anything that hold up as well as the original. Sure, I've seen ones I think are good, or decent... but I really think that when they go directly to the adult cartoon fan market, we get a dub that you can enjoy as much as the original Japanese language version.

As for moe, let's leave our readers find out and judge for themselves if they agree with that. I'm afraid the mods wouldn't like me discussing it. Besides tooth, you want to feel sorry and kinda mad at the anime business if you look into it. Trust me, I know.

Actually, it's a rant I borrowed from an acquaintance of mine. The anime market in Japan is flooded with cheap little moe type shows because they are sadly the most successful shows they have in the age of television becoming rapidly obsolete (or at least finding it tougher to compete). And anime studios really only want to sell things that are current to us Westerners... so that's what we wind up getting. Official internet sites are trying hard to plese fans, and I'm greatful they're working on stuff like that. I mean, you can watch an official Captain Harlock sub somewhere (Can't remember where). But for me, I'm one of those guys who has to scour for Japanese/Korean grocer tapes in raw Japanese to see something really unusual.

There are too may shows to license, and too much licensing red tape to keep the cult pre-90's anime fanbase (very small, and I'm one of them) happy. I pray for the day when Japanese companies can handle their own products online with subtitles for every country for every show possible.

That and SOMEONE needs to get off their butts and re-license Lupin III. I really want Funimation to get it. That way we can see the Conan/Lupin III cross over movie on DVD or something.

 

[6ftInchworm]

This?

No, THIS!

From the makers of Toon Makers!

 

[RedPiggy]

Saban? The guy who turned Shredder into Lord Zed? *shudder* He should be banned from ever making anything, even toast for breakfast, LOL.

 

[Drtooth]

Saban? The guy who turned Shredder into Lord Zed? *shudder* He should be banned from ever making anything, even toast for breakfast, LOL.

Have you ever heard the guy's 1980's background music? That stuff is to die for. Too bad he never does any of that anymore.

 

[mr3urious]

Saban? The guy who turned Shredder into Lord Zed? *shudder* He should be banned from ever making anything, even toast for breakfast, LOL.

It's from a company called Renaissance-Atlantic Entertainment, Bandai, and Toon Makers, but is often erroneously credited to Saban.