Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! [2009-12-11]
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GATSU
Posts: 15573 |
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Don't feel too bad about the Avatar thing. I missed the shortened schedule my local theater had for A Serious Man, so I couldn't pay matinee for it anymore.
 And the real reason dubbed tapes were cheaper was that tapes in general were a pain in the ass to record on and package, because they were very expensive, and the demand was only there for particular titles. So you had to release a cheaper version to get the word out and get your money back. Otherwise, it's pretty obvious why dubs sold better: because they were priced better. That's why the advent of DVD's proven that dubs don't make much of a difference in sales. As for K-On!, I'm guessing it didn't get picked up, 'cus rock-themed shows do about as well as sport-themed shows here. Otherwise, Beck+Linda Linda Linda would be bigger here, too. Hell, I think the main reason Viz is bringing out any of DMC in the first place is because there are some fans of the manga who work for the company.
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Actually, I was wondering about that. This is just utter speculation but maybe there's a fairly notable difference of opinions on what the license should cost. It seems like from the Japanese view, K-ON could be considered one of the biggest TV hits to come along recently. Maybe they're looking for a relatively high sum for it. From a western perspective though, it may be viewed as significantly less valuable. While similar shows appear to have a fairly steady fanbase that will contribute a solid return, it's not one that's going to generate a mountain of revenue no matter how big a show is in Japan. |
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mewtwo
 Posts: 63 |
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I've always found yellow subs to be more readable than white ones myself.
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kushiel
 Posts: 94 Location: Saskatchewan |
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If I felt like committing virtual-death-by-otaku, I'd do the Answerman on Takehito Koyasu. The *moment* in Fushigi Yuugi, it went on for so long I laughed even though it was so dramatic.
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AkiraKaneda
Posts: 61 |
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The comments on anime reviewing were...well, interesting, to say the least.
A couple of bits I wanted to comment on:
Several of us did attempt to create a "Rotten Tomatoes" of anime called the Meta Anime Review Project. It's really rather good and does compile links and review quotes from a variety of sites. Unfortunately, the site's creator has moved on to other things, so the last updates were done around this time last year. However, it is incredibly useful to see what the top anime review sites think of a number of shows, films, etc. I'd love to see it restart, but there's just not the manpower to keep it updated at this point.
Were that this was true. I can tell you from analyzing stats on this sort of thing from review websites that the most-read reviews are almost always the ones for popular shows. You are doing a service for the community to review shows that aren't as well known, but you likely won't be getting more hits. Besides, anime reviewing either is something you do because you get paid for it or because you love it...you find that the number of eyeballs on your work is nice, but it can't be the reason you do it. |
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Gilles Poitras
Posts: 481 Location: Oakland California |
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Other reasons dubs sold well is that video rental chains rarely stocked subs and they were a significant factor in sales. The anime distributors also assumed the market was more interested in dubs and pushed them heavily. In some cases dub sales were not dominant as with Maison Ikkoku which sold so well in subbed VHS that Viz stopped releasing dubs and later had to dub the later episodes for the DVD release.
I the case of Ranma 1/2 the first sub tapes were released 3 months after the dubs, eventually that gap increased so eventually it was a full year and a half between the dub and sub release. Incidentally the first season of Ranma on VHS was actually cheaper subbed as each tape had three episodes for a slightly higher sticker price making the total season costless than the dub. |
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rabrek
 Posts: 188 |
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Ah, those frustrating movie theater moments when the white subs would disappear against light backgrounds. Yellow subs were a sign that someone had put a bit more effort into things. (Of course, white text would have worked fine if each letter had been outlined in black, but this was 30 years ago.) I don't know whether yellow subs are any easier to read, only that I get the warm fuzzies every time I see them. |
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pparker
 Posts: 1185 Location: Florida |
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This was a great resource when I started in anime mid-2007. Your list ranked by score was almost literally my rental queue at the time. Virtually all my early buys came directly from the top of that list. The great thing was being able to go directly to the various reviews. As I established my genre preferences, I relied on it less, and also had to ignore scores for fanservice shows. Quite prudish--some to literally evangelical extremes--were most of the reviews that composed those scores. I found that my tastes overall align with the Japanese more than the U.S. market, so eventually it wasn't as useful. Still, an excellent resource for U.S. R1 fans in particular and too bad it isn't being maintained. With the drop in anime production and R1 releases, I imagine it won't be updated. Still, I hope it stays up, as I do check it still occasionally for older titles when considering a buy.
I never realized just how annoying they were until anime. I understand the reasons for the yellow, but nowadays if I put in a DVD and the subtitles are yellow, I almost always reach back for the fansubs. I stopped deleting fansubs for that reason. Even if they are white, but they cover 20% of the screen and are placed high off the bottom, I'll avoid them. I routinely even reduce the size of softsubs and place them further down on fansubs just to make them as inobtrusive as possible. It's a difference in comprehension, I suppose. Once I'm into a show, I sometimes forget there are subtitles at all, and that's my goal. It's impossible to do that with large yellow subtitles. |
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jenthehen
 Posts: 835 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio |
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Regarding K-On ... I thought it took a LOT longer for anime licenses to be announced (at least for shows that aren't ... new Inuyasha, etc.), so I wouldn't have even dreamed of hearing about a license for K-On yet. I mean we JUST heard about Maria Holic getting a license and that ran from ... January - February.
It seems like *most* of the companies don't like to announce a show until they are at least a couple months away from releasing the DVD's. This will take time ... especially if they are planning on dubbing it (since it WAS so popular, this may be a possibility!) Whoever holds the license may want to make an awesome trailor a la Spice and Wolf and let fans wait before they start pimping it. I could be wrong, though... EDIT: and I personally don't understand the GET IT OUT AS FAST AS POSSIBLE mentality ... yes, I'll admit to watching fansubs of new shows (watched K-On, for example) ... I'd actually prefer if it came out about 5-6 months (or more) from now. because then I don't remember every detail and I can rewatch it on DVD, knowing how much I liked it and relive it. Last edited by jenthehen on Fri Dec 11, 2009 11:25 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Lenks
Posts: 139 |
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Dear Brian,
I love you more for referencing the Smiths. |
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4640 |
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I certainly agree with the idea that some time is nice so one can forget some things and enjoy them over again. However, as Brian said, the R1 companies are in competition with fansubs, so the "fast as possible" mentality came from those who unfortunately aren't as patient and understanding as you. A quick license announcement will hold off the fansubbers that are decent enough to stay away when they know that a show is going to be released here (like it used to be). Of course, it's arguable how well this plan works now that so many peope can't seem to even wait a week for the legal, free streams. |
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Mistypearl
 Posts: 517 |
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Or even announce it practically a WEEK before going on sale like how they marketed Kannagi. I kind of like that though, it gives me no time to grow out of the instant "WANT TO HAVE IT" stage once it finally comes out. |
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Seljuk
 Posts: 139 |
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Amen. For me, if the subs aren't white Arial font, outlined in black, I really just can't read them. I have some minor seeing problems too, so I like the ability to pump them up in size and customize their position when I'm watching them on my TV as opposed to my computer. The ability to customize is key. |
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4546 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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I'd be astonished if K-On! hasn't already been licensed by Bandai, unless there's some kind of bidding war still going on. I'm actually kind of hoping that, if Bandai does have it, they hold off announcing it for a while because it's a series I'd rather buy on domestically-released BluRay than DVD and I don't want any dub-only BluRay disk shenanigans like Kurokami should they release it too soon after the Japanese BluRay release.
Screw the backlash, K-On! is still my favourite anime series of 2009. It may pander, but it panders very well and, unlike Kannagi, there's no annoying out-of-the-blue fourth wall breakage. |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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That's a pity. I've found such a website to be not only very useful, but also somewhat coherent with my own opinion on numerous occasions—primarily because of the sheer variety of scores available for each ranked title. As for subtitles, a few of the Bandai releases I own use white text instead of yellow. I don't really have a preference, provided there exists a sufficient contrast between the text and video. |
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