To me there's two factors, which are A) which one you happened to hear first, and B) the quality of a particular dub. For the former, if you heard the sub first, then usually the dub won't live up to it, and vice versa. For the latter, even if subs are your preference, a good dub can still sway you; there's dubs so good that they surpass their subs (Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop come to mind).
As for my personal preference, I like both equally...
I know what you mean. I couldn't stand listening to the Japanese dub of FMA after hearing the English Dub. And I agree that the Dubs for Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop are great.
It would be good if there was a dub of Bakuman because the characters sometimes speak faster than I can read the subs which means I have to pause and go back a few seconds but I haven't had to do that with Bakuman too much lately.
That's why I prefer Dubs. I'm a slow reader and I find it difficult to keep up with Subs, and it slows things down if I have to pause a lot.
I look for dubs wherever I can. There have been shows where the dub is so bad that I have to watch it with subs, but I'm not too picky. Unless the English dubs are particularly screechy; cannot stand such high pitched noises. One example of dubs being better, is Hetalia. The characters have a bit more accent and apparently it is a bit fast to read the subs.
Sean Aaron ~ "The secret is out: I'm really an American cat-girl." Q: How many physicists does it take to change a light bulb? A: Two, one to hold the light bulb, the other to rotate the universe.
I'll happily watch either. My library, where I get most of my anime, stocks a few undubbed versions of movies (Ocean Waves, Appleseed and iirc their copy of Tekkonkinkreet were all undubbed), so I'm used to reading subtitles. I'm more likely to pay attention to the plot if I'm reading subs, too.
spoilery spoilers I finished watching Darker Than Black this morning. I really enjoyed it. Thought it spent too long on complex backstories for characters who most often winded up dead by the end of their two-episode arc, and not long enough developing the main characters (would've liked to have seen the potential storyline between Misaki Kirahara and 'Lee Shenshun' go further than the awkward scene in the clothes store, and their night out together, for eg). But still, it was all very tightly written and very enjoyable. Looking forward to the second series, definately.
Now I've started watching Eden of the East. Only 3 episodes in, but really enjoying the storyline so far, and the characters are really interesting. Akira Takizawa's introduction was... wtf xD
EDIT: Whoops, I double posted. Handn't realised I already had the last post here xD
I'm pretty burnt out on anime right now, but I fit in some Detonator Orgun, Fractale, and Darker than Black this week. DO was boring, and Fractale got too dark, unfortunately. But Darker Than Black has been great so far.
I went to Naka-Kon '11 over the weekend and picked up Welcome to the NHK complete (which I have seen twice and love), Baccano complete(which I've only seen part of,) and Crying Freeman complete which I hadn't previously seen. I've watched about half of Freeman inb the last day (it's 6 double-length episodes) so if anyone is interested I can post impressions in a few days.
[21:14] pixelman: I blame fheblackdragon
[21:15] pixelman: That's not an f by the way, it's a fancy t.
[21:15] Objection: Tales of Graces "fancy t"
[21:15] Objection: Tinal Tantasy
[21:15] theblackdragon: lol OB
[21:15] pixelman: OB knows what he's asking about.
I went to Naka-Kon '11 over the weekend and picked up Welcome to the NHK complete (which I have seen twice and love), Baccano complete(which I've only seen part of,) and Crying Freeman complete which I hadn't previously seen. I've watched about half of Freeman inb the last day (it's 6 double-length episodes) so if anyone is interested I can post impressions in a few days.
I'm interested of course. One of my favorite artists worked on Crying Freeman.
Sean Aaron ~ "The secret is out: I'm really an American cat-girl." Q: How many physicists does it take to change a light bulb? A: Two, one to hold the light bulb, the other to rotate the universe.
For those of you burnt out on anime, I suggest checking out the J-drama Liar Game. Too much attention is given to Japanese animation and its television series get left in the dust. Liar Game is based on a manga which is similar to Death Note or 999. Basically it's a game where people try to cheat each other out of a million dollars or are faced with immense debt. Great show with a lot of twists, clever puzzles and psychological tension. Just don't watch it expecting character development.
@HolyMack: From your description, it sounds in a similar vein to Hustle (a BBC1 drama series that I love), so that's piqued my interest. Is there a subbed version of it available?
Yes, there are fansubs for it. Quality translation and editing on them too.
It's quite different from Hustle (judging from what I read about it) in that it's not about targeting people to con them. It's more like a competitive game where willing participants are given cash, and then lie and cheat each other out of their cash within the rules of the game. The participants span from everyday people to genius conmen. The way it's structured is very clever. And in typical Japanese fashion, there are periods afterwards where everyone explains their motives and plans in detail and you get a double whammy over the head while you sit there in awe. Good stuff.
Watching Outlaw Star now. I have started a lot of animes without finishing them...
Outlaw Star was the bomb back in the day. Let me know if it holds up. Also I start a lot of anime without finishing them, too. I just right them down and hope I get back to them.
Yes, there are fansubs for it. Quality translation and editing on them too.
It's quite different from Hustle (judging from what I read about it) in that it's not about targeting people to con them. It's more like a competitive game where willing participants are given cash, and then lie and cheat each other out of their cash within the rules of the game. The participants span from everyday people to genius conmen. The way it's structured is very clever. And in typical Japanese fashion, there are periods afterwards where everyone explains their motives and plans in detail and you get a double whammy over the head while you sit there in awe. Good stuff.
Yeah, that last bit is what makes it sound a bit like Hustle. Cleverly written plots with the big how-it-happened at the end. I love stuff like that (I'd probably love murder mystery too if the storylines weren't generally so ridiculously contrived xD). Definitely gonna have to check it out, then. Not watched any live-action Japanese shows before.
I've seen a few wacky comedy shows but never a drama. The 16 year old me would probably go for it the current me wouldn't be able to follow it. I may mark it down as some thing to try though. Can't hurt...well, it can hurt me brain, I've done plenty of that already.
@Raylax Yeah I think you'd like it then. The fortunate thing about Liar Game is that it's quite similar to an anime in execution so you know roughly what to expect. That's the reason I brought it up - I've watched many other live shows and this is one is an easy introduction for anime fans. Though I must say having people acting out the scenes lends it a bit more sophistication than if it was animated, for some reason. I generally regard live shows higher than anime these days. Buuut you can still expect that Japanese cheesiness from some of the supporting actors!
@Mickeymac Well the only problem is that there is no dub for it and I know you hate reading! There won't ever be one because shows acted by Asians would never be widely accepted in the west. The dialogue pacing is a little slower than an animated show. But don't judge it as a "drama" because it isn't one in that sense. Seeing the recent shows you've watched though, I think you'd enjoy Liar Game. It's definitely got that shonen feel to it.
I say it's got about as much detailed exposition as Darker Than Black has in its later episodes (not to mention many other anime with expository beatdowns - and that's many of them), but Liar Game makes a lot more sense than DTB and is way easier to understand. No confusing sci-fi weirdness. Don't worry, the show is formatted so that the average viewer can understand it. Maybe you should check out the first episode some time and see if it takes your fancy.
This is probably a foolish question, but is Fullmetal Alchemist any good? How violent is it? I read somewhere that it was really violent, but I want to find out for sure. I'm 13, and my brother is 12. Is it appropriate for us?
It's very good. I'd rate it as suitable for 15+, personally (I think that's its official BCC rating too). There's quite a lot of fighting scenes and blood, but nothing sexual (asides a little clothed boob grope in the Psiren episode in the first series) and the language is mild, so just base it on what you'd usually be OK watching. It doesn't matter if you watch the original series or Brotherhood - the latter is a retelling of the former (the original series went off on its own long story arc, whilst Brotherhood closely follows the original manga), and they're both all kinds of awesome.
I'd say thats a pretty fair evaluation, Raylax. Its rated TV-14 here. It's not violent that much but when it is, it's somewhat graphic. But it's a great series, and I prefer the Brotherhood version (but seeing both is recommended.)
As for Crying Freeman, I finished it over the weekend and I didn't really care for it. There are 6 episodes and after the first 3 which were decent, it was like the show making sense or having anything close to a decent, believable story was dropped in favor of just filling it with violence and near-hentai levels of random sex and nudity. I can't really recommend the series as a whole, unless you want to view it as a B-movie kind of thing.
[21:14] pixelman: I blame fheblackdragon
[21:15] pixelman: That's not an f by the way, it's a fancy t.
[21:15] Objection: Tales of Graces "fancy t"
[21:15] Objection: Tinal Tantasy
[21:15] theblackdragon: lol OB
[21:15] pixelman: OB knows what he's asking about.
I'd say thats a pretty fair evaluation, Raylax. Its rated TV-14 here. It's not violent that much but when it is, it's somewhat graphic. But it's a great series, and I prefer the Brotherhood version (but seeing both is recommended.)
As for Crying Freeman, I finished it over the weekend and I didn't really care for it. There are 6 episodes and after the first 3 which were decent, it was like the show making sense or having anything close to a decent, believable story was dropped in favor of just filling it with violence and near-hentai levels of random sex and nudity. I can't really recommend the series as a whole, unless you want to view it as a B-movie kind of thing.
I too agree with Raylax's assessment. Such a good story, too. It helped me get back into anime after I had dismissed it as a bunch of childish bunk.
And funny, I just read an article on Crying Freeman, and they discribed it more or less the way you did...and honestly, it doesn't sound like something I'd enjoy. Thanks for that, man.
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