Ms. Answerman
Freaky Friday
by Rebecca Bundy,
I know all of you have heard of or participated in the age-old debate
on editing anime series for American TV. No amount of complaining will change
the fact that broadcasting companies must abide by the stringent rules that
exist to protect younger audience members from things they ‘shouldn't’
see. I always believed that it was the parent's responsibility to monitor
what their children watched. As of last Sunday, I've changed my mind.
Parents should not be responsible for what children watch, since it's
obvious that some parents don't care. Zac and I went to watch American
Wedding last Sunday. This movie has an R rating for a reason, but it became
obvious that some parents ignore this warning. Two different families brought
their 10-year-old sons into the theatre to watch a movie based completely around
sexual humor. Perhaps these families were only the exception to the rule, but
even then it's obvious that some parents just don't care about what
their children are exposed to. Does this mean we should simply accept the edits
made in certain shows? Hardly. But I think we should all complain less about
them. They're there to try and do a job that some parents refuse to do.
On that lovely note, onto the questions!
Answerman,
Ok I have some questions.
1)I saw an anime on the international channel and I missed the beginning of
it. It had two characters named Filia and Lina, I didn't get the rest of the
names.they were trying to getlike the ultimate weapon or something lie that.
It was in subtitles. do u know the name of this show? If not that's fine. I'm
thinking that it is Fire Emblem, but after, lookin gup the characters then I
began having some doubts about it. Could u clean this confusion up a little
bit? or try.
2)What exactly is Manga? I have seen people use it on sites and I'm clueless
on that.
Luinedhel
1) The name of this anime is Slayers Try, not Fire Emblem. The DVD
set is available from Central Park Media, from any major retailer.
2) Manga could roughly be translated as Japanese ‘comics’ and would
be the easiest way to define this term. Using this definition is akin to comparing
anime to cartoons; it's acceptable when in the company of people not familiar
with anime, but will get you killed if you mention it around other anime fans.
Many American comic artists believe that the growing demand for manga is due
to the style of art, resulting in a recent flood of ‘manga-like’
series that try to duplicate this style. Imagine someone trying to imitate Monet
because ‘he makes pretty paintings that people like’, and you'll
understand how foolish it is to believe manga is nothing more than the art.
In Japan, manga series are released in monthly anthologies (like Shonen Jump
over here). When enough chapters have been released in these anthologies, they
release a tankubon or graphic novel that averages 200 pages worth of material
for a low price. In America, graphic novels sell for $10-15 a pop. Compared
to the US ‘equivalents’ that cost $4 for 22 pages, manga offers
US audiences more for their money. It also offers a wider variety of genres
for different ages and both sexes, emphasizing relationships and plot instead
of big breasts and bulging muscles under spandex uniforms. Lastly, manga is
an accepted form of art in Japan for all ages while US comics are only considered
an acceptable past-time for pre-teen/teenage boys.
3) Fire Emblem has been licensed by ADV and released in VHS form only; there
are no plans as of yet to release it to DVD.
Heyo,
I am a very large fan of the Patlabor TV Series, having purchased an HK
box set and every NA DVD release. I was wondering though, why is it that
Central Park Media has only released 6 DVD's in 2 years? Most anime
companies can release a whole 26 episode series in under 8 months,
however CPM is proceeding very slowly with their releases of this great
series, and each dvd doesn't contain that many episodes.
Has CPM stated recently their reasoning behind this? Is it a licensing
issue, act of god, random fluke? I need to know before the last disc is
released and I'm an elderly man of 202.
It amazes me how many people complain about the speed that companies
release their favorite series. First, the ‘average’ time it takes
to release a 26 episode series is 9-12 months. Second, CPM is not ADV. CPM is
one of the smaller ‘major’ distributors and they do not have the
resources to pump out their series as quickly as others. Don't worry,
they'll have your precious Patlabor series out before you have to use
reading glasses for subtitles.
Hey Answerman/woman/cat. I know you get tons of questions each week so I'll
try to keep this short. This is my first time writing to you so I hope it gets
posted.
1-I saw that Astroboy 2003 is being picked up by the WB for broadcast. Will
they also be handling the DVD release? Or is another company (ie: Pioneer, ADV
etc) going to handle distribution? Seeing as how DVDs released by the Fox network
in the past were horrible, I can't imagine the WB would do much better. However,
since they released Pokemon through Viz, maybe they'll do the same for Astroboy.
2-Also, is there any news on a stateside release of either The Boy Who Saw The
Wind, or A Tree of Palme?
Thanks for your help
Panny
1) Nothing is known about who will handle the new Astroboy series on
DVD, since the series is still airing in Japan as we speak. Most likely, the
WB will not handle the DVDs since they deal with broadcasting only.
2) There are no plans to release either of these titles as of yet.
Dear Answer Person
In the latest issue of Newtype USA, the last page of the Full Metal Panic! manga said that it would be ending. I know many fans will be upset, but I am excited. Back when Newtype started being sold, I e-mailed them asking whether Five Star Stories would ever be appearing in the US version. They responded saying they would like to eventually put FSS in, but for now were runnig nFMP. Now that FMP is over, will Five Star Stories take its place? And if not, do you know what will?
Jon Geier
Newtype USA has yet to announce which series will replace Full Metal Panic. They normally publish a list of contents on their webpage (www.newtype-usa.com) before the issue hits the stands, so check their website a week or so before the next issue is released for your answer.
Dear
Anserman/Woman:
I've been wondering something about anime based on manga— specifically, who
decides, and based on what criteria, which manga series are animated? For instance,
Yami no Matsuei and Fruits Basket have each warranted anime series, and both
of these manga series are almost always on the best-sellers list when a new
volume comes out; however, Hana Kimi, which runs in the same magazine and is
also always a best-seller, has not been animated. What is the reason behind
this, if any?
Thanks very much ^__^
Saturn
There are countless reasons that certain manga find their way to the TV while others never make it past the page, and these reasons change depending on the series. Popularity is only one factor in the decision making process. If a studio wants to animate a certain series, they have to gain permission from the mangaka and/or the publication that serializes the manga. It's possible that a mangaka doesn't want a lot of hype behind their work, or they want a lot of control in the creation process of the TV version and the studios can't/won't comply with their demands. The popularity of the mangaka and their previous works factor in, as well as the popularity of the manga's genre. It'd be impossible to pick the brains of animation companies to know why they passed up Hana Kimi and instead chose Yami or Fruits Basket, but you can be sure that there were reasons behind their decisions. Besides, it's never too late. Hana Kimi might have a show at some point in the future.
Hi answerman,
I just got done with the samurai deeper kyo series. I won't spoil the
series by telling EVERYONE the ending but my question is.. is there a second
season in the works.. or in thought?? Thanks
Andrew
Nope, there are no plans to create a second season of Samurai Deeper Kyo. Tokyopop has recently started releasing the manga series, which will run for 18 volumes, so you'll have an outlet for your addiction through the manga. I believe the first volume just recently became available, so you're in luck on that front. The manga isn't exactly like the anime by any stretch of the imaginaiton, so you'll have new stories to read. Do yourself a big favor; buy the Media Blasters release for the anime. They really went all-out to please the fans (even those of you who just love to complain about things like cardboard thickness), and it'd be a shame if you just kept your fansubs instead of supproting a show you obviously love so much. So many fans these days "love" anime and yet refuse to actually help it grow by purchasing it; do the right thing, man! Buy the show!
In the ending credits of the last episode of RahXephon, there's the english words "GAINAX." As far as I know, studio Gainax had nothing to do with RahXephon (say for the NGE comparisons), so why would BONES have that in their ending credits?
Gainax is a production house just like any other studio and occasionally are contracted to do work for various series. They did some animation for RahXephon, that's about it.
On a whim (and waiting impatiently for a relative in Japan to send me a CD of
TM Revolution and their "Invoke" song from Gundam SEED), I went into
WinMX and did a search on Gundam songs, hoping to possibly find more songs that
I could eventually buy CD's of.
I noticed that TWO-MIX is cited as being the main artists for Gundam Wing, yet
songs like "Love Revolution" and "Just Communication International
Version" are noted as songs being in Gundam Wing on these file sharing
sites, yet upon checking my DVD's, I can only make out Just Communication (in
Japanese, not English) and Rhythmn Emotion in the entire run, plus Last Impression
and White Reflection for Endless Waltz.
Now my question is are these sites wrong in labeling, or did someone leave out
a whole plethoria of songs from the Gundam Wing Series?
K.K.
Thanks to Matt for writing in and clearing this one up for us:
The following songs were actually used:
JUST COMMUNICATION was the 1st TV show opening.
RHYTHM EMOTION was the 2nd TV show opening.
WHITE REFLECTION was the song inserted into the OVA version of Endless Waltz.
LAST IMPRESSION was the song inserted into the movie version of Endless Waltz.
The B-sides on the singles were as follows:
JUST COMMUNICATION c/w SECOND IMPRESSION
RHYTHM EMOTION c/w ENDLESS LOVE
WHITE REFLECTION c/w BURNING
LAST IMPRESSION c/w JUST COMMUNICATION TYPE II
However, none of those B-sides were ever actually in the show at all.
So, beyond the four songs that were actually in Gundam Wing, and perhaps the B-sides from the singles they are from, any other labeling of a TWO-MIX song as being from Gundam Wing is simply error. It's a commonly made mistake; it's been going on for years. I remember downloading TWO-MIX songs on Napster that were labeled as being from Gundam Wing, and we all know that Napster hasn't been around for a while now. Largely, people really do just add "Gundam Wing" to the names of random TWO-MIX songs, for whatever reason. I can't explain it, but it happens a lot. The four that everyone knows definitely were the only ones to be in the show/OVA/movie, though.
Thanks Matt!
On the Evangelion note... I just LOVE Eva mangaka/chara designer
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's artwork! He's even not half bad with story, to
boot... I've heard he's done other projects, but what ARE those other
projects? Has he done work for or on any other manga other than the Eva
manga, or plan to in the future?
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto has a large and impressive list of projects he's contributed character designs to. A few of his major works include .Hack//Sign, FLCL, Evangelion, Nadia, and Wings of Honneamise. He also released an art book called Der Mond that highlights some of his work along with original illustrations done especially for this book.
I know, of course, that the Sailor Moon anime was insanely edited
left and right (though now we have that nice, uncut subbed version of the
first two seasons - woot!)... and I've noticed that names of characters
and such were changed in the manga's English release, but I've also heard
that certain scenes were even CUT! I've heard rumors that the cut scenes
involved something like Haruka and Michiru laying in bed next to each
other or something... this sounds weird to me, but knowing the changes
already made to the manga in its English release, I just had to ask if
said rumors were even remotely true.
It's always possible that scenes have been removed from the English release, but since I don't own all the Japanese and English manga I can't check this out myself. Other manga series have been edited before for content (such as the removal of blood) so it's not unheard of. The scene you're wondering about could've been toned down by editing the dialogue (they are ‘cousins’ after all, it's not like they'd be doing anything in the bed) or the people who started the rumor ‘remembered a scene in the original’ that didn't exist. Anything is possible.
This concludes our Q&A time. Until next week!
