Author Archives: Kaldath

This weeks Anime Talk I want to discus the Western Habit of taking an Anime series and then severely altering  it but editing out scenes, and or completely changing  the dialog so that the series is no longer anywhere near what the original source material was. One of the biggest offers of this is series known as Robotech. What we know as Robotech was originally three separate and unrelated anime series Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, Super Dimensional Calvary Southern Cross, and  Genesis Climber Mospeada. These three Anime were bought buy the company that made Robotech and were nearly completely rewritten and meshed together. 

There are many other examples of this happening also,  The Original Voltron ( Originally named Beast King GoLion in Japan ) was another series that was heavily rewritten for the original, and The Anime Sailor Moon was edited to turn it from a Teenager and Young Adult show  into a kiddie show on Western tv.  I an an anime fan find this to be a bad thing and the only reason I can think of for it to be happening is that I think that the predominate point of view in western culture  is the cartoons are for kids, that adults wouldn't want to watch them and so they must be edited and changed to remove any of the adult themes and stories. What do you all think about the Bastardization of Anime for the western Market ? Do you think it is a good thing, a Bad Thing, or does it just not matter to you ?

This week on Anime Talk I want to discuss Subtitles and Dubbing.  What I would like to know from the Anime fans in our community which do you prefer ? When I first got into Anime myself I went out of my way to avoid Dubbed Anime  because at least 85% of all Shows I saw that were dubbed had HORRIBLE voice actors. I preferred Subtitled because though I did not ( and still don't ) speak Japanese I could hear the emotion in the voices of the actors which in my option made the shows more enjoyable.  The Voice actors of the English Dubs usually have bad character voices and can't get the emotion right most of the time.

Now however as I am getting older I find I am seeking out Dubs more then Subtitled works. It seems the the English voice actors are getting better maybe because Anime is becoming more mainstream. I do still find the voice overs could be better but now a days I find less enjoyment in Anime if I have to focus a portion of my attention on reading words that are flashing by at a rapid pace at the bottom of my screen. Plus if you are watching anime on the go on your smart phone or tablet it becomes harder to read the subtitles on the smaller screens. So unless the dubbed are truly bad, or I just can't find a copy dubbed and is only available in Subtitled format I will choose not reading while watching Anime, how about you ?