In that half-awake state after being awake for an hour during the week, I can be a little random. I am even more random from 10-midnight on the weekends. At the same time I can screw myself over. This was one of those things waking up during the week I did a poll. It did very well, so I just screwed myself over. Plus I mean since joining twitter I gained the odd obsession with anime moms. So to be a man of my word, here are the Top Five Anime Moms for Mother’s Day. Continue reading “Top Five Anime Moms”
So, it has been a long time since I did a discussion post, May, to be exact of 2015. I really wanted to mix things up for a bit. I did ask awhile back, like two months ago, although now when this is going up it has been five, on a discussion I should do. Now by the title, it is probably obvious it is that seemingly age old debate on which is better Sub or Dub. Everyone has an opinion on this subject which is better. Personally I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this topic as well. This post has been in the works for several months, it is one I have put a lot of work into so, time to get started.
Not beating around the bush like I normally do, I am just going to come out and say I prefer sub over dub. But, I do not think either is better compared to the other. It feels this is where the real argument on this topic happens. So, I will give my view for both. I will start with dub, just because why not.
I worked on this post over the course of several months. So, some parts are a little outdated, while other parts were added later on. So with all the work I put on this post I really hope you all enjoy.
Thoughts on Dub
Good Stuff:
Dub is an excellent way to start getting into anime. I think that has to be the best thing about it. Dub airs on television and can open people into the thought of watching more anime. That is what happened with me. I ended up watching dub as my main means to watch anime for over the first year of watching anime. It was my preferred method. In all honesty if I got into anime around now of simuldubbing, I probably would still be watching more dub than sub.
Simuldubbing is another great part about it. The processes for dubs have been increasing and it is not as much of a wait anymore. At the same time this is a very limited to shows from just a single company, so there is that slight downside to it.
Despite Simuldubbing, dubs have still been coming out sooner. Some appear on Toonami before an actual release for them has come out. Attack on Titan did this, and a more recent and ongoing example, Akame ga Kill, which I still has yet to come out despite the show being nearly finished airing.
However, the biggest part in it all is you can eat food and look away from the screen without needing to pause the video. I eat breakfast and would like to watch anime in the morning, or drink some water and watch anime at night. But whenever I do go to drink the milk out of the bowl or take a drink of water. I need to pause in order to see what the subs are saying before.
Joking aside, although that was not really a joke, one of the biggest and more likely reason why I like dubs, is that it is usually tied to a physical release. Some companies already do just subs for release, at the same time that is not for all shows and just a select few. Having a dub makes it so much more likely it will be getting a physical release at some point in time. Now I do not know where this comes in for simuldubs, since some take a little longer to come out after getting the dub due to licensing for home video. So, this might change.
Rewatching anime is so much easier. I don’t know why, it is just when I go to rewatch something, more than likely it is in English. Index, Date A Live, Fairy Tail, Kamisama Kiss, and Selector Infected WIXOSS if I rewatched shows more, then they would probably be dubbed too. This is a person preference. But it is still true, rewatching in English can have some fun to it knowing some more lines or getting some jokes that are American based in nature. (This was added later on throughout the two months of working on this post, so references to this will be later on if there are any)
Bad Stuff:
Poor Choice in casting, or “ruining the character” whenever I see a clip for a new dub guaranteed there are a lot of comments on whatever character it is being bad choice for their voice actor. My counter argument for this and it has been proven several times now is you are only judging on a single few minute clip at most. For me it has taken several episodes to get used to the English voices. The Index Dub I actually like. Date a Live dub is really good, but there is just a single voice that I do not think fits the character, that was with only one viewing. When I did my re-review I used dub and liked the voice a bit more. But Date a Live it did take a few episodes to get used to everyone. More recently I obtained Selector Infected WIXOSS, and although at the time of writing this I have only seen 3 episodes dub, it is still too soon to say my thoughts on it. (However after finishing it dub, I do have to say I rather enjoyed it with no complaints for the cast choices) This is something that takes time. People do not acknowledge that and start bashing on it because they are used to hearing a character a certain way.
Cutting or changing lines although sometimes it works, especially in comedies since the humor can be made for a more western sense of humor. But then there are other cases were it does bug me a little bit. Such as how handling of honorifics are handled or the more obvious “Onii-chan” lines. It makes sense since people do not really have that sort of thing here, still I wish there was another way of doing it that would be a little more pleasing. Then, again back to Date a Live, with the wording be more American teenager like. However in WIXOSS I got the pleasant surprise of hearing the word “butt hurt,” which I did not mind since it was fitting for the scene.
Edits on the show itself. This does not happen anymore. This one is also a very tricky one for me to talk about to. Looking at One Piece, although I never saw much of it, it was clear that they edited a lot back when 4Kids had the rights to it. More recently Smile PreCure is getting a dub under the name Glitter Force. It is also going from 48 episodes that are 24 minutes long to 40 22 minute long episodes. There was also the Doremon last year that had edits to be more American. So, here is my counter argument on why this one is super tricky to deal with.
On one hand it changes the show around, it gets ride of the meaning of some things. It makes it much much more American and tries to get rid of the Japanese references that are in the show. However, these are shows aimed at children, with the exception of One Piece. This helps kids get into anime, and maybe this helps them say ten years down the line and they realized how much they hate this fact. Although it does not help kids understand that there are other cultures in the world, it can give them different forms of entertainment as well as have the actual shows be for the audience it was meant to have in a form that they can understand it.
But then there are cases, very hilarious cases such as Ghost Stories. If you know the show, then good for you. There are apparently two dubs out there for it. One of the dubs basically being the equivalent to a 24 minute long abridge series. The lines were heavily edited, and well, I am hopefully putting a youtube video below to show it. I will leave it at that and if you want a laugh, check it out.
Thoughts on Sub:
Good Stuff:
Before anyone says this, it does not matter that it is in Japanese that makes it the original and therefor better. Space Dandy aired almost a half a day in America before airing in Japan. So, with all due respect an excuse like this does not fly with me for something good or bad.
More focus on the show or plot as a whole. Often times when watching a dub it is a fifty percent chance that I might be playing video games and listening to it. Although I would label multitasking as a good thing for dub, at the same time it can take away from the show as a whole. By having the need to read subtitles there is no room for multitasking. The show can be enjoyed to its fullest in that case. (Although series like Monogatari can be very difficult with little to no action)
They come out faster. The one thing that only a single dub has done so far is being able to watching one over the other the same day. Subs you can watch and not have to wait a few months or even a year until a dub are out. You do not have to wait or risk getting spoiled by those around you that you know that watch anime. Of course you still might be spoiled since people watch it even sooner or later on that day it comes out.
It is a great way to be able to watch more. Not all shows get a dub, although more have been getting dubs since I started watching anime a few years ago. More shows come out seasonally, and in total the ones that receive dubs are only a fraction of those. There is even less shows that have dubs over a decade ago.
The voice cast stays the same. I am not sure if I should put this has a good quality, or not. Voice Actors stay the same, for example Goku in the sub has had the same voice actress since it first premiered. In dubs some shows get licensed by different companies, even though they have the same character as a franchise, or a sequel came out after not being out in several years. So voice actors tend to change because of that. One that comes to mind the most being Saber. Dealing with subs you can have the same person do a voice and do not have to deal with trying to get used to a new person. Saber has had a total of three or maybe four now different voice actresses in the dub.
Bad Stuff:
You think you can speak Japanese just by watching subs, you cannot. As much as you would like to admit it, you cannot speak Japanese simply by watching anime. It might help you learn it, but you cannot become fluent without proper study of the language. It really seems like people believe they do, and I will admit I have said I know Japanese, even though it was only like a hand full of words. So unless you can do a few complete sentences and start a conversation from learning by watching anime you cannot speak Japanese.
Going back to the case of Monogatari, if a show is all talk and no action, sometimes it might be better hearing it dub, that was you can do something at the time of hearing it. I do not know how many times I stopped an episode, only to come back later since I got bored. However this is just to a select few series.
Subs, not all shows are licensed for streaming, and there for you need to wait for fans to translate it. This is itself can be a problem, due to the need to wait as well it not being at the standard of one that was licensed for streaming and it is even harder if it is not a major series in that season, although that in itself is rare.
Not understanding the full joke or some sort of scene. Two shows come to mind with this case, Gintama and Aquarion Logos. In the case with Gintama some humor comes from parodies, the other comes from humor in word choice, which cannot always translate well, yes sometimes it can be funny, but it does not always work. Aquarion Logos deals with the kanji and root words. With Funimation subbing it, and I do not like to call companies out on some things, not knowing what the kanji is for the words that show can take away from the experience of the show. Granted with dubs, they typically would have that subbed to be known, but not all subs have that luxury since it would take up too much of the screen. Also goes to lines as well, which is why I have the “People Die if they are Killed” as the feature image.
Although this one is a minor one for me, but personally I was like this when I first got into anime, but needing to hear it in your native language and not having to read the subtitles to know what is happening. I am used to watching and reading the subs now. But for starting with subs it can take a while to get used to and could turn people away.
Overall Thoughts:
I know at the start I said I prefer Sub over Dub. In all honesty after writing this, watching a few dubs, although it was just Date a Live rewatch 5, and rewatching WIXOSS. This is very tricky, mostly because I then saw the preview for Smile PreCure’s dub, or well Glitter Force. Anyway I cannot say I don’t like dubs. I think one reason why I go for subs over dubs is because convenience. It is what people are talking about right away. I do not have to wait for a dub to come out. It is still hard to say. I have not really tried in a while to watch a dub first over the sub. Sure older animation I have. But anything being simuldub I have yet to try it. I may prefer sub and I may have my problems with dub. But dubs are important. I have to accept that and maybe try watching them a bit more like I used to.
If everyone was more willing to accept both and that we all like anime we can then all focus our fighting for waifu wars or what is a better series.
So, what are your thoughts on sub vs dub?
I put a lot of work into this post. Granted at times a reason why it took so long to get out was trying to find time and life got in the way of working on it. This is my longest post to date. So, those that took the time to read it all thank you so very much and I hope you enjoyed. I would love to hear your thoughts as well.
I personally want to do discussion posts more often. I never really did get them sorted out. So, any suggestions for topics you would like to to talk about please suggest them either here or twitter.
This might have taken a lot of time to write but I really do like how it turned out.
Again as always I hope you enjoyed. If you have any thoughts, ideas, or anything you would like to see here feel free to comment. If that does not work try to contact me through social media.
The Reviewer’s Corner has an official twitter, which is here. All updates, polls, and information on posts and future posts can be found there.
If you are a blogger who focuses on anime, manga, or comics and make you blog known feel free to visit the blog roll page and leave a message.
Again, I hope you enjoyed and see you next time.
– Joe
Originally I was thinking of having this open to superhero comics as well, but I already did that in a post a super long time ago. So, I am just going to leave this to manga and anime. It will mostly be anime though. It will probably all be anime though.
An antagonist is a very important role. They are the opposite of the main character, or sometimes they are the same. The hero is only as great as his villain and a villain is as only great as a hero. However an antagonist can be the hero and the protagonist can be a villain. So without further ado, let’s get started, sort of. Continue reading “Top Five Antagonists”
Hello, it has been awhile since doing a Top Five. Before I begin let me just say thank you everyone. Today marks the day (when this comes out) of the one year anniversary since my first post of Top Fives. Now any ideas for future Top Fives please make suggestions. I really like doing these posts and love hearing people’s thoughts on their favorites too. The polls I have set up are to vote for the order of the posts that will be going to February. This is one series of posts I would like to continue doing and hope to continue for some time and having the community involved in deciding future posts makes it a lot more fun.
(I will say this, I am not going to talk about what the series is about plot wise for this Top Five, since this is all about the music. That will be in the next one.)
So, without further ado, as originally suggested by Nick from AnimeCorps, as Top Five Openings and Endings but I am a chronic ED skipper so here are my Top Five Opening Themes.
Number 5: Disillusion by Sachi Tainaka (Fate Stay Night 2006)
I really liked this opening theme. Among my first year of watching anime, this was the very later part. Of the ones at that time the only others that come to mind are Bleach’s first opening theme, which is amazing. Every Fairy Tail opening to that point, which was like 14. But this one I really enjoyed. It is the only one of that time period that I still like listening too and that I remember. The beat ever plays that soft beat that is just so wonderful at the very start after the short shift 30 seconds. But seeing the opening, I have to say Fate/Deen Night has nothing on the UBW. Even if it is the Fate route that was used.
Number 4: Tenohira by HERO (Fairy Tail)
Of all the openings for Fairy Tail, whenever I listened to them on a regular basis, this was the one I would hear the most. I always enjoyed it, even if I did not like the arc. It was filler, but to me it did not have the charm that Hiro Mashima puts into the manga. It really felt like something was missing. Anyway the song, I really loved. It has that beat too it that never stops once it starts that is one thing I love about Fairy Tail’s openings. Whatever it does, it does it right. That is what I always like about it.
Number 3: Memories of the Future by Yuka (Kiddy Grade)
Although this series I started to watch over the summer, this and its sequel are amazing. I did not want to put both from the same franchise on here, But they are both equally amazing. This one has more of the space feel to it and more serious in terms of animation for the series. Which works well. It is just really great. The sequels opening that one is more fun and goes with what is used in the opening for images. The tunes for both are very great and I just really like how they are pulled off. But this one I enjoy just a little more than the second one.
Number 2: Trust in You by Sweet Arms (Date a Live II)
I love this one, so much. Once I learned the actual lines I always get a little teary eyed in what the scene in the opening is Tohka putting her head on Shido. I really enjoy the first opening very much so, but the second opening just has that certain aspect to it that I really enjoy. This was another difficult one to pick between one or the other for the openings that they have. As for the art that is used I do have a small problem, although I like the shots they used and how it is done, the starting point it feels like they made Yoshino too tall. Other than that it is really enjoyable.
Number 1: Super Affection by Minami Kuribayashi, Miyuki Hashimoto, Faylan, Aki Misato, yozuca*, and rino (Carnival Phantasm)
The best opening ever. I mean how can it not be. You get everyone from Fate/Stay Night anime and the nonexistent Tsukihime anime and make them dance and sing in an opening song. So, besides the show being super funny making fun of Type-Moon series, based on a manga by Type-Moon, plus the main reason for claiming Saber as my waifu, plus so much more enjoyable moments and humor that can easily be seen in watching other Fate Anime. There is just a lot this short 14 minutes anime can do. But have a brilliant, catchy, memorable and fun opening makes it my favorite off all. Even typing this up I had it on replay. This I have said on numerous occasions, on twitter that is, it is my favorite opening. If you do not listen to the others, that is fine, but this one please check out.
Honorable Mentions
- Kiddy Girl-And
- Death Parade
- Bleach Opening 1
- All Fairy Tail Openings
- Date a Live
- One-Punch Man
- Fate Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works, both
- Fate Stay Night Opening 2
- Strike Witches
- KanColle
- Testament of Sister New Devil op 1
As I stated earlier, any suggestions for future Top Fives will be appreciated. I would also love to hear your favorite openings as well.
All music belongs to their respected owners andI did not upload the original music to Youtube.
As always I hope you enjoyed.
As I mentioned feedback on what you would like to see for these series of posts would be appreciated. The same goes for any suggestion for anything you would like to see here.
The Reviewer’s Corner has an official twitter, which is here. All updates, polls, and information on posts and future posts can be found there.
If you are a blogger who focuses on anime, manga, or comics and make you blog known feel free to visit the blog roll page and leave a message.
Again, I hope you enjoyed and see you next time.
– Joe
Hello, and welcome to a new series of posts of mine called the Favs. There is one thing that I love about anime and that is as fans we all love different series. We all label series differently. Even the series that we share in common we view differently as well. We have different favorite arcs, different methods of watching or reading the series. So, here is to what will hopefully be the first of many. The First Fav goes to my favorite anime Fairy Tail.
Now, although I will be talking about a series as to why I like them these posts may contain spoilers in certain parts. If there is a spoiler warning will show for a section since a spoiler may be to one reason why I like the series.
The Plot
Natsu is searching for his father, a dragon named Igneel. He is a wizard and part of the guild known as Fairy Tail. With other members, Lucy, Erza, Gray, Happy, and so much more they journey and go on missions of wonder. Be it to fight for their Guild or to stop the Dark Guilds. Later in the series it deals with the Dark Wizard Zeref and the fight to stop him.
Last Viewing
So, this series is ongoing. It is a weekly series with over 275 episodes. Now, as for seeing the early episodes for the series, I have not in a few years. I did see episodes 1-50 twice, once subbed and once dubbed. After that I have only seen all the episodes once. Taking that into account the last time I saw the earlier episodes was 2012.
Why a Fav?
A part of this series being a Fav and my personal favorite anime is nostalgia. Even taking away that nostalgia I would still put it at the number one spot for my favorite anime. Let me break down those two parts then.
Those that have seen this in post before this reason is nothing new. But I only got into anime back in 2012. When I first started I only watched one show, in dub at a time. Then I watched Fairy Tail, got into a lot more series, mixing between dub and sub. Once the first series ended in 2013, I started watching a lot, and I mean a lot of anime on a weekly basis that was ongoing. So, without Fairy Tail, although another series could have done it, having now seen over 400 different anime series is partially thanks to that.
Getting away from the nostalgia, the fights, the characters, and story I just really enjoy it. I mean my description of the plot, might not be the greatest. I am never really good at describing the plot of something that is massive in the span of a single paragraph. The moments between characters, there are just somethings that are always enjoyable. It only gets more enjoyable as time passes on too.
Method: Anime or Manga?
What I mean by this is, do I read the source or just watch the anime. I do read the manga. I started after the Grand Magic Games arc ended. I also started to buy the series as well and own up to volume 16. As time passes I am starting to like the manga more and more. One reason being that I get to know what happens many months before the anime get there. The other being just the art is rather nice, gives me something to look forward to for a short five-minute break weekly to read. I will admit though I have been struggling with the anime in recent months. A part of this could be due to the fact the passing has slowed in order for the manga to advance further or because I already read this part. I honestly do not know, and I am leaning towards a mixture of the two.
Favorite Arc
This one is difficult. I am not just talking about the anime, but the manga as well. The current arc is really good. However it is not done and I do have a few issues with it. Mostly seems like it is happening so quickly.
The other one being the previous major arc, Tartarus. That one was amazing since so much happened in terms of character development. It also really set in motion towards were the series is heading, even if the series happens to be heading towards its finally. Now my only problem with this arc is the anime adaptation, to me it drags on a little bit, and is still ongoing but nearing the end. I personally have not watched Fairy Tail in a while since each episode is a fight and it could be because I saw all of it before. But that is not going to stop me from watching the series all together.
What I don’t Like?
No matter how much you love a series, there has to be something you do not like about it. To me sometimes it does come from the fights in the anime feeling like they are dragging on too long. This became more apparent when the Grand Magic Games Arc resumed after the year hiatus. I mean I don’t hate it. But it really just does not feel as entertaining waiting weeks on end to watch a fight unfold. It was the main reason why I dropped Bleach. But because I like the manga for Fairy Tail, and the previously mentioned nostalgia, I am going to do my best to continue.
Also, although this is a little minor. But I have not really read a lot of long, and I mean several hundred already chapters, for manga. So I do not know how it is when it comes to character development. It sort of feels a little slow for Fairy Tail. But then at times it becomes so apparent that the character has changed. It is like comparing the beginning to where it is now, it is amazing how much the characters have changed.
Little Tidbits
- Fav OP: Opening 12 Tenohira
- Fav ED: I skip ED so there is none
- Best Girl: Mavis, Juvia is a close second
- Fav Fight: Igneel Verses Acnologia
- Fav OVA/Film: OVA 6 Fairy Tail X Rave
So, yeah. I would like to say this series of posts are still a work in progress so any suggestions of what you would like to see me talk about would be nice, since I really enjoyed talking about one of my favorite series. I would like to keep the poll system always running, so the order for post 4-6 will be determined by the votes in the polls, which can be located on the right.
As always I hope you enjoyed.
As I mentioned feedback on what you would like to see for these series of posts would be appreciated. It will take a few posts before a set form and it might change depending on the series as well too. The same goes for any suggestion for anything you would like to see here.
The Reviewer’s Corner has an official twitter, which is here. All updates, polls, and information on posts and future posts can be found there.
If you are a blogger who focuses on anime, manga, or comics and make you blog known feel free to visit the blog roll page and leave a message.
Again, I hope you enjoyed and see you next time.
– Joe
The Reviewer's Corner 