#is this an English anime dub from 2003?

[hulking-godless-child-beast]

genuine question: what’s the difference between a culinary innovation and a food crime?

I treat frozen potstickers like italian pasta, and I just put pico de gallo in yakisoba and it kinda slaps

[sailormoonandme]

SAILOR MOON COSMOS EPILOGUE MASTER POST

With the release of the Sailor Moon Cosmos movies on Netflix I thought the time was right to reshare some fanfics I previously wrote about what might have happened after the events of the final arc of the Sailor Moon Manga (a.k.a. what the Cosmos films adapt); in particular what happened to Sailor Cosmos and Chaos.

If you enjoyed the Sailor Moon Cosmos films you may well enjoys these too.

Returning Stars a.k.a. THE SAILOR STARLIGHTS RETURN HOME

Summary: A miracle has occurred throughout the galaxy. Every world ravaged by Sailor Galaxia has been reborn, including the Kinmoku star… and its four most fabled citizens.

Shadows of Galaxia a.k.a. THE ORIGIN/FATE OF GALAXIA!?

Summary: Zoloto regards her home planet of Rastaban as trash and its people scum. She yearns for more. For a star worthy of her majesty.

Group Therapy a.k.a. THE ORIGINS/FATES OF THE SAILOR ANIMAMATES! 

Summary: The Shadow Galactica, led by Sailor Galaxia, once scoured the Milky Way seeking Sailor Crystals. Amongst its ranks were five young women who became pretenders to the sacred title of Sailor Senshi. But what became of these women when the shadow of Galaxia was lifted?

Rebirth a.k.a. THE ORIGIN OF SAILOR CHAOS

Summary: There is a place within the galaxy where all things are possible. It is protected by an eternal and ever vigilant guardian who knows all its secrets. But there is one secret that terrifies her. One possibility that could spell the end of all things…

Stripes a.k.a. HOW SAILOR COSMOS BECAME CHIBI-CHIBI

Summary: As the end draws near a lonely woman weeps and loses herself in the past.

The Last Sailor War a.k.a. SAILOR MOONS FROM EVERY CANON TEAM UP WITH SAILOR COSMOS TO DEFEAT CHAOS!

Summary: Gathered together by Sailor Cosmos, Sailor Moons from across the Multiverse (and canons) make a last stand against Sailor Chaos and her army Sailor Moon's old enemies to decide the final fate of the universe!

(Art courtesy of SinJazz)

Sailor Moon: The End a.k.a. WHAT HAPPENED AFTER SAILOR MOON COSMOS!?

Summary: This is shorter/alternate version of 'The Last Sailor War', though it retains the fundamental concept of Sailor Moons from different canons (the original 1990s anime, the Musicals, the 2003 live action show, etc) teaming up with Sailor Cosmos to fight Sailor Chaos. Lovers of the original English dub of Sailor Moon (wherein Usagi was named Serena) might be particularly interested in this story.

The Last Sailor Senshi a.k.a. A HAPPY ENDING FOR SAILOR COSMOS

Summary: The fighting is done. The war has been won…but not for Sailor Cosmos. She is, as she has been for so very long, utterly, and eternally…alone…

[radioactive-earthshine]

im having a great time with Pluto despite not having seen much astro boy (been aware of it obviously just never sought it out) what would you recommend for someone to watch/read after pluto from the astro boy franchise that is similar in tone and content?

Oh boy oh BOY!

If the Pluto anime is your introduction into the Astro Boy franchise then you've been thoroughly acclimated to the most fervent reoccurring themes found within Tezuka's writings and as such a lot of the tone and story telling will be very similar - even if Pluto was written by Naoki Urasawa and not Tezuka himself.

What I personally would suggest for those curious about learning more about Astro Boy and this particular story is to read the Pluto manga (8 volumes) as an accompaniment - the anime is a very good adaptation but some things had to be cut for time (it's inevitable) and the manga was simply better at revealing some things than the anime to give you a broader sense of place that this world takes place in.

From there you have many options before you depending on your accessibility to some of the series below.

NOTE: There is nothing quite like Pluto other than Pluto, but in all versions of Astro Boy you will find the same themes and content found within Pluto but with a different narrative voice.

For the sake of simplicity I am not getting into the bigger Tezuka Star System I'm just focusing on Atom in the most direct way - no this is not meant to be a full complete list of EVERYTHING.

The 1950s Manga

Written by Tezuka himself, where it all started.

Contains all of the original core stories of Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) which were adapted in various media.

Is available in English to purchase and is online.... in places...

Can get shockingly dark and gruesome and I do not have the spoons to list all the Content Warnings possible. Adults will find enjoyment from this series.

Is generally episodic.

Classic golden age sci-fi with themes relevant today still.

The 1960s Anime

Written and worked on by Tezuka himself.

Contains many of the core stories presented in the manga adapted to fit a single episode.

Episodic.

The first two years (104 episode out of 193) are available in English to purchase on DVD (with extras!) - I do not know if the 'missing 89' are available online with subs or if the original Japanese is available with subs out there.

Yes, inevitably the dubs sanitized a lot of the stories and Americanized them - but even so they are worth a watch.

The 1980s Anime

Also written and worked on by Tezuka himself.

Is available in English to purchase, but like the 60s dub, it has been cropped, chopped, and censored - in some ways worse than the 60s series. The DVDs at least do have the Japanese track with subs available.

You can find the 80s Japanese unedited online with subs.

Is mostly episodic but does have a subplot featuring a new character Atlas and his sister Levian.

Contains some of the core stories from the manga but this series is much shorter so some of your favorites might have been dropped.

The 2003 Anime

Tezuka did not work on this series as he was deceased at time of production.

Modern Astro Boy with a more modern lens and modern story-telling expected of anime of the time.

Contains a plot and contains the episodic spirit of the original shows and manga, but the plot is still referenced in modern anime story telling. The main plots being 1.) robot rights being established in a world where they have none despite having "kokoro" (heart) which is basically free will and sentience and 2.) who is that boy anyway?

Many of the most beloved Astro Boy stories from the manga are not present in this series.

American voices dictated the direction of this series from the start even in the original Japanese which is a big negative.

The English dub is heavily censored and altered from the original version - but it contains some amazing performances from people like Dorian Harewood whom I still to this day don't know HOW he agreed to play Dr. Tenma but my god he did an amazing job.

The unedited subbed Japanese version can be found online.

Despite the amount of butchering and meddling during production it is still a relevant part of the Astro Boy collective world.

Naoki Urasawa's Pluto Manga and Anime

You already know of this adaptation but it's a retelling of The World's Greatest Robot, the classic story from the manga and is present in all of the above series. It is also direct commentary about the American invasion of Iraq with some names changed so as to not hurt feelings. I generally suggest to adults to read this and if it connects with them then try on the original manga and maybe see if any of the anime gets their eye too.

A note on Tezuka and his extended works.

An American equivalent to him would be Jack Kirby however he had more creative control with his work, was credited for his creations, and had just about the same amount of influence on Japanese comics as Jack Kirby did with American comics (maybe even to a greater extent). Tezuka was incredibly prolific and is dubbed "The God of Manga" for a reason. Many of his stories all circle around the same themes; war, grief, the futility of hatred and the doom of mankind while also taking on blatant political sides including environmentalism, equal rights, gender rights and even playing with gender and expression (note they are products of their time and some of which are offensive today but for the time were groundbreaking).

If you wanted specific stories from the manga that might be more what you are looking for to refine your search, let me know! I've been needing an excuse to drag them out.

[theheirofthesharingan]

Okay, sorry if this was asked before but I'm curious and I'd really like to learn more. You've mentioned in a couple of posts now that Itachi wasn't retconned. Could you please elaborate further?

Hey! No, this wasn't asked before. I was thinking of making a separate post for this, but procrastination is evil. So, I am one of the 'Itachi was meant to be a good guy/was not evil/had more to him than he let on' people. Watching the anime, it was the feeling that there was more to him. His reveal was along the lines of devastation and shocking for me than surprise. Detailed post is below the cut.

First thing first.

This was Itachi's first look that Kishimoto had planned.

Itachi was originally conceived as the leader of Konoha's Special Assassination and Tactical Squad called the "Anbu", dubbed the Itachi Squad (イタチ隊, Itachi-tai), which would have been a 70-man group divided into four teams, specializing in assassination and other illicit operations. However, this idea was scrapped in favour of the current Itachi working for the Akatsuki.

The above paragraph is from Itachi's wikipedia that cites a couple of interviews as sources. People can't be too blind in their delusion to think the author who wrote the story had no idea what he was writing.

Next is the Naruto Databook that has some fishy things if we look closely. In the first glance it's not very obvious, but after learning the truth it seems very much obvious.

It says, "the ones who know the reason of its downfall are very small". Go back to Obito's words about only four people being aware of the reason of the clan's downfall.

Additionally, Itachi carried out 134 B-Rank missions. Zero A Rank. And one S-Rank. The S rank mission being the Uchiha massacre. It's very fishy that he was given one s rank mission without any A tank mission. Suspicious? We know later on why.

It's also interesting because the first databook was published in 2002 and Itachi first appeared in 2003. If his twist wasn't planned from the beginning this databook is very telling.

Since I mentioned how he looked, here's him in Sasuke's flashbacks for the first time.

He looks far from evil or sadistic. You want to know who enjoys killing for fun? Hidan. Itachi, on the other hand, on the day of the massacre itself, looks miserable and lost.

In chapter 7, he in a haze-like manner he talks about crying. In many English translations it's translated as 'he made me cry' and in many it's this. It's very, very vague, but his statement is complimented by Sakura's question, to which he still responds in the similar way 'My..' Maybe he was trying to say 'My brother', but he instead finishes his speech with 'my goal is to take revenge' etc., Since it's still very early so it might not be the strongest evidence, but a few chapters later in chapter 27, during their fight against Haku, when Sasuke awakens his Sharingan, he has two tomoe in his right eye.

Yes, he might have awakened it this way, but it also suggests that maybe already had his Sharingan and that's why this is 'asymmetrical' awakening? In the later chapters we find out he actually did have his Sharingan he awakened after the massacre.

This flashbacks in chapter 127 most firmly establishes Itachi's twist. The tilted head-protector. Sasuke remembers it vaguely, but he has no recollection of Itachi crying that night, because his mind is still hazy from the "truth" Itachi wanted him to believe. We know later on the significance of this scene.

There are three moments before Itachi was even introduced that give away what we see right after his truth reveal and connect to the chapter 403.

The 'Itachi was retconned' camp also uses 'Itachi was meant to be older (than 13) but Kishi made him younger later on' as an excuse to justify their retcon bullshit.

Kakashi, in chapter 142, states Itachi was 13 when he was made the Anbu captain.

Itachi graduated when he was just seven. Sasuke is the same age as Itachi was when he graduated from the Academy. Itachi is 17 at the time of his first appearance and Sasuke is 12. It is enough to tell lies were spread about Itachi. We, obviously, learn later on why.

Some more obvious hints were his interaction with Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi.

The criminal infamous for annihilating one of the strongest clans refuses to indulge in fight?

He also asks Kisame to keep things low key and not get too much attention. That's an excuse. He's not here to wage war. Yes, later on he does ask Kisame to go ahead. But that's because he's a spy. He cannot let Danzo know he dropped his guard. One single mistake from his side that could unearth the truth of the massacre and Danzo would lay hands on Sasuke. Plus, while he's strong, his opponents aren't just fragile saplings who couldn't stand any blow he or Kisame cast. He knew reinforcements would be on the way.

Kakashi also wonders why Itachi didn't just kill him. Again, yes, the torture was brutal, but they're ninja who are meant to do and endure cruel things. Itachi had to look like he was a menacing criminal reputed to have killed the Uchiha singlehandedly.

So, he completely avoids fighting Asuma and Kuernai, takes on only Kakashi because he's strong and can take it, also has Sharingan. But he completely refuses to go against Jiraiya. Jiraiya may or may not be stronger than him. Maybe they were equal. However, recalling Obito's words again: Itachi devoted himself to fighting Sasuke to death.

Two conclusions come from this:

He didn't want to fight Jiraiya because it would result in a massive bloodbath and killing a leaf Shinobi is out of question for him. He's not a coward. He just doesn't want to fight him.

As we know from later on, he wanted to fight and die at Sasuke's hands only. Killing a Konoha Shinobi or dying at the hands of someone that isn't Sasuke isn't a part of his plan.

This can also be tracked further when Kisame captures the Four Tails.

Kisame most likely knew about Itachi's illness, knew Itachi wanted to die at Sasuke's hands. The reason Itachi didn't fight Jiraiya and Rōshi was most likely the same.

Kisame comments on Itachi's 'lingering affection' towards the village. The Akatsuki pairings' dynamics are quite opposite. Deidara and Sasori love art but have differing opinions on eternal vs explosive. Hidan and Kakuzu represent religion vs materialism (money). And Itachi and Kisame represent treachery vs loyalty. Itachi isn't loyal to Akatsuki, Kisame is.

They also wonder why is Itachi taking the matter of kidnapping Naruto so lightly. He could have done it very easily. We know now that that wasn't his intent and his objective to visit the village was something else.

As popular as 'Itachi knocked on the door before kidnapping Naruto' meme is, the truth is, he wasn't there to kidnap him at all. Replace Itachi with Kisame alone for a moment. Knock on the door? No, sir. Naruto would be half-dead. Or replace him with Hidan and Kakuzu. They're sadistic bastards and would have damaged Naruto in the worst possible way.

Furthermore, when you think of it, he revealed 'Akatsuki are after jinchuriki' years prior to the Akatsuki even began collecting the tailed beasts. It was a message he left because it was important. His job in the Akatsuki wasn't to "pass on the info to the village." It was to keep tabs on them so they don't attack Konoha.

After the massacre, Sasuke's unwavering faith in Itachi despite being put in Tsukuyomi. At first it doesn't seem too much, but we later discover that Itachi used to be a kind and gentle boy. So this bit isn't just Sasuke is blind, but also that Itachi was a kind child before the tragedy happened.

Sasuke's flashbacks in chapter 220 also hint towards Itachi being trapped in the politics of the village/clan. Fugaku is speaking to his own son but the discussion is so intense that he has to activate his Sharingan to convey the message to Itachi.

These are the flashbacks from the chapter #221 that further shed light on Itachi being a spy.

He's the "pipeline between the clan and the village" - a spy. Later Obito says Itachi was callously used for his devotion towards the village, this is an example of his clan doing this to him.

This is Itachi right after being accused of Shisui's murder. He looks in grief, while also processing the news. Once the narrative delves deep into Itachi's story (through Sasuke's eyes) in VOTE1, he continues to look miserable, lost, in pain, and in dire need of help. And once we begin to see more of him before his death, he is quite human. But again, Kishimoto had his whole story figured out by that time, knew what he was to do with Itachi's arc and Sasuke's future there.

In the chapter 224 (during the battle between Sasuke and Naruto), the flashback goes to this moment: Itachi tells Sasuke that he'd be one of the three people to awaken Mangekyo.

This connects to the chapter 385 when Sasuke vs Itachi happens. Sasuke asks him about the third person who had the MS.

_______________

Kishimoto isn't a terrible writer because some people choose to ignore what's written right there or cannot accept happened. Usually the deniers of this are those who question his morality. His morality is never the subject of the debate because Itachi isn't exonerated for his crimes. He's a part of a world that's cruel and violent and his actions align with it very much. The ones who "praise" him have their own bias, and that gives him nothing in return. Characters in fiction always, I mean, always respond to the information based on their morality. When Hashirama praises Itachi, it's because he grew up in the warring era and lost all his family. He learns there's this kid who chose a path with the least damage but at the cost of his life, he's a good Shinobi. Hiruzen also has his bias as well as his guilt. Naruto's praise for Itachi is not only because of stopping a war, but also for loving Sasuke. No one other than Sasuke sees him as a person whether anyone likes him or hates him. He's praised by other Shinobi for doing things that are expected from a Shinobi.

Either way, at the end of the day, Itachi himself doesn't see himself who is worth forgiving, worth loving, worth being remembered. That's his whole arc.

Some things above in the post I took from this thread. Some information I ommited from it, so feel free to go through it, please.

[dvlwablu]

onmyoji related media you can watch (that has english subs)

Behold, my Onmyoji film/TV collection for curious people who've already seen the anime!

The Yin-Yang Master (2001) and it's 2003 sequel The real OGs, the one most people know from Yuzuru Hanyu's SEIMEI free skate routine. Featuring Nomura Mansai as Seimei and Hideaki Itou as Hiromasa, these movies were my introduction to the Onmyoji series as a whole. The soundtrack is a banger, the practical effects are great and you get to see Hiroyuki Sanada ham it up in the first movie! I would say that the first movie is a lot stronger, but the second movie makes up for it by being A Lot Gayer. It even has an English dub! It's easily found on Certain streaming websites or on DVD.

晴雅集 - Qing Ya Ji, aka The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity A Chinese adaptation that REALLY puts its own spin on things; Qingming and Boya are Seimei and Hiromasa respectively, but it's not easy to tell if you aren't already aware of the source material! It's a different take that I love regardless, with beautiful visuals, incredible costuming and impressive sets. It also made me cry like a baby at one point, which is always a plus. It's on Netflix and it also has an English dub.

Onmyoji - Takiyashahime (2020) A TV Asahi drama special that adapts the two-part Takiyashahime novels. It's not 1-1 of course, but it does follow the main plot points well enough (it also adapts Tsuyuko's story as a bonus!) It's got that "yeah this was done on a TV drama budget and not a movie one" look when it comes to the effects, but that doesn't stop it from being enjoyable. You really get a glimpse at novel Seimei and Hiromasa's dynamic in this (they include one of my favourite hirosei exchanges in this and it's SO GOOD) as well as proper Nasty Old Man Ashiya Doman!!! You can watch it on Certain streaming sites.

There also exists a 2015 TV Asahi drama series, but I haven't been able to find it. An earlier 2001 NHK drama series exists as well, but it isn't subbed in English. It is, at the very least, entirely on YouTube! 10 episodes, 45 minutes each. It's a little...weird, I won't lie (they try to make Hiromasa and Mitsumushi a thing which is. Why) but some of the stories are genuinely heartwrenching, which was a surprise to me when I watched it!

[vikenticomeshome]

Carl's Cool Kids and Hardee's Cool Kids Meal Toys (part 2/?)

So, let's continue where we left off.

For November and December of 2003, we get some toys for the Stuart Little franchise. However, these weren;t made to promote the live-action movies. They were made to promote the animated series.

2004

For January and February of 2004, we got some promotion items from NASA. My favorite is "Cassini Meets Saturn".

For March and April of 2004, we get some toys promoting the anime Yu Yu Hakusho. This is interesting to see. The series originally aired on Japanese television from 1992 to 1994. However, the English dub was airing in the U.S. around 2004. This dub started out on Adult Swim, even though some of the more adult content was edited out, and then it later moved to Toonami. It seems like an odd choice for a promotion.

For May and June of 2004, we get a promotion for the 2003 live-action Peter Pan film.

For July and August of 2004, we get a promotion for the Cartoon Network airings of the English dub of Astro Boy. The full set-list with all of the names wasn't archived. But we get pictures of all of the items with a closeup of the treasure keeper.

This promotion is a bit confusing, as Carl's Jr. claims that it was only for September of 2004. Meanwhile Hardee's claims that this was used for September and October of 2004. In any case, we get a set of toys based on the "I Spy" franchise. I'm not sure whether this was promoting a specific release from the franchise.

Only the Carl's Jr site splits the ISpy promotion into two pieces. It doesn't appear that any images from the October promotion have survived.

For November and December of 2004, we get Shrek 2. It looks like these were supposed to be Christmas ornaments.

For January of 2005, we got some toys to promote the film "Racing Stripes". I forgot that this film existed. It was a live-action film of a zebra that is left behind by the circus, taken in by a farm, and set to become a race-horse.

For February and March of 2005, we get some toys to promote the Dreamworks film of the same name. It's the one with the Will Smith fish that creeped everyone out.

For April of 2005, we got "Racing Stripes" again. It's a different set of toys to promote the same film. Was this film a bigger deal than I remember?

For May and June of 2005, we get the Cartoon Network show "Duck Dodgers", starring Porky Pig as "Space Cadet".

For July and August of 2005, we get "TikiMon". I've never heard of this.

For September of 2005, we get "Mucha Lucha". I vaguely remember seeing this series on TV and playing flash games for it back in the day.

I haven't been able to find surviving photos of the October 2005 "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" promotion. This appears to be another case of Carl's Jrs diverging from Hardees as Hardees claims October was more Mucha Lucha.

For November and December of 2005, we get some toys for "A Charlie Brown Christmas". What could I possibly say about this iconic cartoon that hasn't already been said?

2006

For January and February of 2006, we get a promotion for "Loonatics Unleashed". This was that attempt to reboot Looney Tunes into a band of superheroes that ended in disaster.

For March and April of 2006, we get a promotion for one of the most beloved Cartoon Network cartoons, "Codename: Kids Next Door". They did the thing with the acronyms.

For May and June of 2006, we got a promotion for "Yu-Gi-Oh! Down of the Duel". I remember watching the 4-Kids dub of a version of Yu-Gi-Oh back in the day,.

For July of 2006, we get Monster House. I love this movie so much.

And now, we see another divergence in the timeline. Only Hardees got this set of toys under "Kahuna Kruisers". Moana sure looks different from what I remember.

For August and September of 2006, we get a promotion for one of the Scooby-Doo movies. This was "Pirates Ahoy!". I have never seen it.

In another divergence, only Carl's Jr got Halloween buckets for Scooby-Doo Pirates Ahoy. I cannot find promotional images for them, however.

For November and December of 2006, we got a promotion for the move "The Ant Bully". This is the film where a kid torments ants, gets shrunk down to their size, and has to save them from an exterminator.

2007

For January and February of 2007, we get a promotion for "Open Season". I know nothing about this movie whatsoever.

For March and April of 2007, we get a promotion for "Happy Feet".

I have been unable to find surviving promotional photos for the Justic League Unlimited promotion, which ran through June and July of 2007.

For June through August of 2007, we get "Code Lyoko". This is that show where ever character has a five-head. I remember it looked pretty interesting the few times I saw it airing. It was a mix of 2d and 3d segments depending on whether the characters were in the real world or the virtual one.

For August through September of 2007, we got some educational toys from the National Wildlife Federation.

For August through October of 2007, we got a promotion for the movie "Surf's Up".

I'm at the image limit again, so I will need to pick this up again on another post.

[pochqmqri]

In 2003, the first 51-52 episodes of the Detective Conan anime were dubbed into English by Voiceovers Unlimited for the Singapore market. This dub predates Funimation's "Case Closed" dub by a year, and features a different Singapore-based cast. Unlike Funimation's dub, this dub was more accurate, keeping the names (mostly) intact and the setting in Japan. Other notable anime dubs by Voiceovers Unlimited include the "Singapore dubs" of Yu-Gi-Oh! and One Piece.

For a while, only the opening and ending themes to this dub, which were just instrumentals of the original songs, were available on the internet, on Voiceover Unlimited's YouTube channel. In 2021, several of the dubbed episodes were uploaded onto torrent sites. These copies seem to have come from voice actor Joe Murray, who voiced Shinichi and Conan in the dub. Though the episodes were not released on home media, Murray did save a few.

More information can be found on the Lost Media Wiki.

If you look online, you can find where the videos for this dub are. I've also uploaded just the audio of the episodes onto the Internet Archive, since TMS immediately struck me down when I uploaded the videos.

Given that the voice direction and few creative liberties this dub does are...quite interesting to say the least, I've created a short sample of the "best" moments.

[digi-lov]

how do u even start getting into Digimon?? there so much stuff, i dont even know where to begin. like, there is like a hundred shows??? do i start with the first one that came out??

Idk man it just happened??

No, but seriously, don't worry about it! There aren't even that many shows if you ask me. I'll put a list below the cut! I'll list all movies too, so it'll look like more than it really is. Also the dates are the japanese air dates.

Obviously starting with the first season, Digimon Adventure is an easy pick, it also has the most sequels and movies.

But aside from the Adventure related media, all other Digimon Seasons are completely self-contained, and you can just go and watch any! They also all explore "Digimon" and the Digital World in different ways. I personally loved them all.

For the anime I also highly recommend watching the Japanese original. I'm sorry for anyone who grew up with it, but I can barely stand watching the English Dub at all. If you know German though, the German Dub is really good. I still prefer the Japanese original, but the German Dub is at least a translation and not a fan fiction.

The same basically goes for the games. You can just pick any of them up! Also, all Digimon games kind of do their own thing in terms of gameplay and mechanics. There's similarities too, but usually each have their own vibe. A lot of the DS titles do work very similar though!

Anime:

Adventure: Digimon Adventure (Movie) (1999) • Digimon Adventure (Season 1) (1999-2000) Digimon Adventure: Our War Game (Movie) (2000) • Digimon Adventure 02 (Season 2) (2000-2001) Digimon Adventure 02: Hurricane Touchdown!! Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals (Movie) (2000) Digimon Adventure 02: Diaboromon Strikes Back (Movie) (2001) • Digimon Adventure tri. (6 Movies or 24 Episodes) (2015-2018) Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna (Movie) (2020) Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning (Movie) (2023) [Digimon Adventure: (Reboot) (2020)]

Tamers: • Digimon Tamers (Season 3) (2001-2002) Digimon Tamers: The Adventures' Battle (Movie) (2001) Digimon Tamers: The Runaway Digimon Express (Movie) (2002)

Frontier: • Digimon Frontier (Season 4) (2002-2003) Digimon Frontier: Revival of the Ancient Digimon (Movie) (2002)

Savers/Data Squad: • Digimon Savers / Data Squad (Season 5) (2006-2007) Digimon Savers The Movie: Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode!! (Movie) (2006)

Xros Wars/Fusion: • Digimon Xros Wars / Fusion (2010-2012)

Appmon: • Digimon Universe Appli Monsters (2016-2017)

Ghost Game: • Digimon Ghost Game (2021-2023)

Games: Generally known Games in bold, more obscure or never released in the West in small I also left out most Phone and Smart Phone games since they're shut down

· Digital Monster Ver. S: Digimon Tamers (1998) (Sega Saturn) • Digimon World (1999) (PS1) · Digital Monster Ver. WonderSwan (1999) (WonderSwan) · Digimon World: Digital Card Battle (1999) (PS1) · Digimon Adventure: Anode Tamer & Cathode Tamer (1999/2000) (WonderSwan) · Digimon Adventure 02: Digital Partner (2000) (WonderSwan) · Pocket Digimon World (2000) (PS1) > Pocket Digimon World: Wind Battle Disc (2000) (PS1) > Pocket Digimon World: Cool & Nature Battle Disc (2001) (PS1) • Digimon World 2 (2000) (PS1) · Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers (2000) (WonderSwan) · Digimon Adventure 02: D1 Tamers (2000) (WonderSwan Color) · Digimon World: Digital Card Arena (2000) (PS1) · Digimon Tamers: Digimon Medley (2001) (WonderSwan Color) • Digimon Tamers: Battle Spirit (2001) (WonderSwan Color / GBA) > Digimon Tamers: Battle Spirit Ver. 1.5 (2002) (WonderSwan Color) > Digimon Frontier: Battle Spirit / Battle Spirit 2 (2002) (WonderSwan Color / GBA) • Digimon Tamers: Battle Evolution / Rumble Arena (2001) (PS1) · Digimon Tamers: Brave Tamer (2001) (WonderSwan Color) • Digimon World 3 / 2003 (2002) (PS1) · Digimon Racing (2004) (GBA) • Digimon Battle Chronicle / Rumble Arena 2 (2004) (PS2 / GCN) • Digimon World X / World 4 (2005) (PS2 / GCN) • Digimon Story / Digimon World DS (2006) (DS) · Digimon Savers: Another Mission / Digimon World Data Squad (2006) (PS2) • Digimon Story: Sunburst & Moonlight / Digimon World Dawn & Dusk (2007) (DS) · Digimon Championship / Digimon World Championship (2008) (DS) · Digimon Masters (2009) (PC) [Korea only] · Digimon Story: Lost Evolution (2010) (DS) [Japan only; Fan Translation exists] · Digimon Story: Super Xros Wars Blue & Red (2011) (DS) • Digimon World Re:Digitize (2012) (PSP) > Digimon World Re:Digitize Decode (2013) (3DS) [Japan only; Fan translation exists] · Digimon Adventure (2013) (PSP) [Japan only; Fan translation exists] • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (2015) (PSV, PS4, Switch, PC) • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Hacker's Memory (2015) (PSV, PS4, Switch, PC) • Digimon World -next 0rder- (2016) (PSV, PS4, Switch, PC) · Digimon Universe Appli Monsters (2016) (3DS) · Digimon New Century (2021) (Smart Phone) [China only] • Digimon Survive (2022) (PS4, Switch, PC, XBO)

[s10127470]

What If One Piece had an LA-based Dub? (Part 1)

So recently, I’ve been talking with some friends on Discord about One Piece, specifically about its’ English dubs.

And essentially, we feel like that One Piece hasn't really gotten the best treatment when it comes to English dubs.

Like, we already know the travesty that was 4Kids.

But this also applies to their long-standing and current dubbers, Funimation.

This is probably a controversial opinion, but I don't think they were the best choice to dub One Piece.

Like, yes, they are of much higher quality when compared to 4Kids.

But even then….

For starters, I feel like there's a lot of miscasting here. Even among the main cast.

Probably the most obvious being in the case of Christopher Sabat as Zoro.

He just makes him sound way too old. He's suppose to be a young man.

I can't be the only one who thinks that it sounds too much like Piccolo.

And finally, I feel like Funimation's dubbing is a bit too…..straightforward (if that makes sense).

After rewatching the 4Kids dub, I've grown a sense of appreciation for it.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still not that good.

But I feel like there’s some elements that they do better than Funimation.

In contrast to the Funimation dub, a lot of the performances have a little more life and energy to them.

Even if they're not all that good…..

One thing I really like is that many of the characters have accents, which just feels right given how the whole premise of the series is about traveling the world..

This is made even better when you get remember the Netflix adaptation, which gave a lot of characters accents, including the main ones!

Plus, 4Kids is just much better at handling the frequent comedic and silly moments.

Hell, why do you think this scene blew up in popularity?

Plus, they did a slightly better job at translating some scenes to English and not having them come off as a direct, one-to-one translation.

It's a little hard to explain, but essentially they keep what was said in the original Japanese version and kinda give their own flair to it.

But with this discussion, being the idea man that I am, it gave me the idea of an alternate timeline.

One where One Piece wasn’t picked up by 4Kids or Funimation.

But instead, it was picked up by Viz Media, who would commission an English dub out of the voice acting capital of the world: Los Angeles, California!

I feel like this alternate timeline would not only give us a much better dub than the other two, especially 4Kids.

But also do the franchise a LOT of favors....

If you know One Piece, you'd known that the series had a hard time catching up in popularity in the West.

It was 2000s. The decade was all about making everything cool, hip and edgy.

And anime was one of the prime contributors to this trend.

Plus during that time, a lot of anime fans had this stigma against Western animation, seeing it as nothing but kiddy shit.

These people are the one of the reasons why we have crap like this.....

And since One Piece is famous for having an incredibly cartoonish art-style and world, it did not do it any favors.

Made even worse with the 4Kids dub, which infamously kidified the anime to absolute HELL.

However, I feel this dub would counteract that.

The dub itself would premiere on June 2nd, 2003 on Cartoon Network as part of Toonami.

And although the would probably have some censorship, it would be NOWHERE near the level of 4Kids.

Plus, from what I've seen, anime that aired on Toonami was able to get away with a lot more explicit content due to it's clear aiming at older audiences.

For the East Blue Saga, the dub would air new episodes every week, Monday through Friday.

That's what we're gonna be covering for this part.

As we go through each arc, I'll be sharing my voice choices for the major characters in each of them.

So without further ado, let's set sail!

Romance Dawn (June 2nd-June 4th, 2003):

Starting off this showcase we have our main star the future king of the pirates himself, Monkey D. Luffy!

When thinking of a voice for Luffy, I wanted him to still be voiced by a female.

And one of the major female VAs, I've come to a tie on who would be good voice for Luffy.

And that tie is between Colleen O'Shaughnessy and Kari Wahlgren.

Between the two of them, I think their voices both perfectly fit the type of voice Luffy would have.

Pretty goofy and silly while still being able to do the more serious and emotional moments well.

And while you can still tell they're a woman, they're still able to convincingly sound like a boy.

I think the coolest thing about this choice would be that in the case of Kari, this would be one of her earliest voice acting roles, as she entered the realm of voicework in the prior year of 2002.

And about a year into her career, she would find herself becoming the official English voice of one of the most famous and revered protagonists in anime/manga history!

Next we come to Koby, who would be voiced by Pamela Adlon.

Oh yeah, let’s talk about that real quick.

In contrast to other anime dubs, this one would primarily feature voice actors typically found in Western animation.

I feel like this would make One Piece stand among the crowd, and it kinda fits since the main character himself does draw heavy influence from the Golden Age of Western Animation.

As for why I choose Pamela, especially since Koby pre-Marines was shown to have a whiny sounding voice, was because I was coming at this with the knowledge of his post-Marines look.

I’m not a fan of how the Funimation Dub gave him a new voice after we were reintroduced to him, whereas the original Japanese version kept his voice actress.

So I wanted to do the same thing they did.

I feel that Pamela was the best option.

She’s known for having a noticeably deeper and hoarse voice when compared to most female VAs.

Hence she’s famous for voicing a lot of male characters, particularly boys.

As for her performance as pre-Marine Koby, it would be pretty similar to her performance as Otto Osworth from Time Squad….which is funnily enough, a Cartoon Network show.

Now we come to Alvida, who would be voiced by Wendee Lee.

And yes, she would voice both forms of her.

Her original fat form, and current slim form.

Now we've come to the second member of the Straw Hats, Roronoa Zoro!

He would be (at least for now) voiced by Ben Diskin.

His performance would be sound like a slightly more serious version of, and I can't believe I'm actually referencing this guy, Ban from The Seven Deadly Sins.

One cool thing about Ben voicing Zoro would be that he would bring a lot of authenticity to the role, since he would've been around Zoro's age at the time of dub's release (20-21 years old).

Also, this would really funny to think about since around this time, Ben was voicing Numbuh 1 and 2 on Codename: Kids Next Door, another Cartoon Network show.

Rika would be voiced by Kath Soucie, essentially sounding like a slightly older Lil Deville from Rugrats.

Helmeppo would be voiced by Jeff Bennett, who would definitely sound like the recent gay shipping icon as of late, Bradley Uppercrust III.

Like, you can't tell me that his voice wouldn't fit Helmeppo like a glove.

And in just you don't believe me, here are some clips to prove my point.

Next we come to his father, Axe Hand Morgan, who would be voiced by Jim Cummings.

And for his role, Jim would definitely use his serious voice that he uses with characters such as Mister Moloch in Project G.e.e.K.e.R. and Hernán Cortés in The Road to El Dorado.

Now to come to Red-Haired Shanks, who would be voiced by Steve Blum doing a Cockney accent.

Yeah, he's basically gonna sound like a swashbuckling Spike Spiegel.

Which actually sounds pretty cool....

As for the rest of the main Red-Haired Pirates.

Benn Beckman would be voiced by Wally Wingert.

Lucky Roux would be voiced by Bill Fagerbakke.

And Yasopp would be voiced by James Arnold Taylor.

And finally, we have Higuma, who would be voiced by Rob Paulsen.

Orange Town (June 5th-June 10th, 2003):

First start off come to the third member of the Straw Hats, Nami.

Nami would be voiced by Kate Higgins.

Who weirdly enough, when it comes to LA voice fan-casting for One Piece, she's always the one to get picked for Nami.

And I can totally see why.

She would definitely fit the character.

Next we come to the big bad of the arc himself, Buggy the Clown.

Originally, I was gonna have Mark Hamill voice him.

But I figured that would've been too easy and too obvious.

So instead, I decided to choose Steve Blum as the voice of the character.

His performance would be pretty reminiscent to that of The Green Goblin in The Spectacular Spider-Man, but a little more silly sounding.

Even his laugh would be pretty similar to Gobby's.

Plus, Buggy's casting choice is pretty funny to think about since as I mentioned earlier, Steve would also be voicing Shanks.

Which would make Buggy's pure adulterated hatred for him even funnier.

As for his main crew members.

Mohji would be voiced by Liam O'Brien, essentially using the same voice he used for Zazz in Sonic Lost World.

Cabaji would be voiced by Yuri Lowenthal, using an Eastern European accent.

And Ritchie would have his vocals provided by Frank Walker.

As for the one notable characters of this arc.

Chouchou would have his vocals provided by Dee Bradley Baker.

And Boodle would be voiced by Tom Kane.

Who was also voicing Professor Utonium on The Powerpuff Girls around this time.

Syrup Village (June 11th-June 24th, 2003):

First we have the fourth member of the Straw Hats, Usopp.

Just like with Luffy, I have two VAs in mind that could voice the God himself.

James Arnold Taylor and Jason Marsden.

Both of them would strike that perfect balance of being able to sound silly while knowing when to take it seriously.

Also, if JAT was voicing Usopp, he would essentially sound like a younger version of his own dad.

Kaya would be voiced by Tara Strong.

The Usopp Pirates would be voiced by Grey Griffin (Ninjin), Colleen O'Shaughnessy (Pilman), and Nancy Cartwright (Tamanegi) respectively.

Jeff Bennett would also be voicing Merry.

Dee Bradley Baker would also be voicing the big bad of the arc, Kuro.

Jango would be voiced by Phil LaMarr, who would doing a what could be best described as a knock-off Michael Jackson impression.

Which, let's be real, would fit the character perfectly.

Phil would also be pulling double duty as Siam, with the other half of the Nyaban Brothers, Butchie, being voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.

And finally, we have Gaimon, who would be voiced by Charlie Adler.

Baratie (June 25th-July 10th, 2003):

Starting this off we have Kuina, who would be voiced by Grey Griffin.

Shimotsuki Koushirou would be voiced by Phil LaMarr, essentially using the same voice he uses for Samurai Jack.

Now we come to Johnny and Yosaku.

Johnny would be voiced by Nolan North, while Yosaku would be voiced by Mikey Kelley.

So essentially we have Raphael and Michaelangelo tagging along with the Straw Hats.

Finally, we've come to the fifth member of the Straw Hats (and the last one as of right now), Sanji.

Sanji would be voiced by Josh Keaton.

And just like with Ben as Zoro, Josh would bring a lot of authenticity to his performance (given that he would've been 23-24 at the time)

Also, we all know how Zoro and Sanji are rivals.

This would be funny to think about since this wouldn't be last time Ben and Josh would voice a duo of rivals.

Zeff would be voiced by Clancy Brown, essentially sounding like a slightly more serious Brooklyn version of Mr. Krabs.

We would also have John DiMaggio playing double duty as both Don Krieg and Fullbody.

Ghin would be voiced by Crispin Freeman.

Patty and Carne would be voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson and Tom Kenny respectively.

Pearl would be voiced by Jess Harnell.

And Hawk-Eye Mihawk would be voiced Lex Lang, doing a French accent.

Arlong Park (July 11th-July 31st, 2003):

Starting this off, we have Arlong himself, who would be voiced by Fred Tatasciore, which will be really funny to think about once we get to you-know-who.

As for the rest of main crew.

Kuroobi would be voiced by Doug Erholtz.

Hatchan would be voiced by Bill Fagerbakke.

And Chew would be voiced by Jeff Bennett

Nojiko would be voiced by Michelle Ruff.

Genzo would be voiced by Cam Clarke.

Bellemere would be voiced by Vanessa Marshall.

Which would be really weird to think about since she was on Cartoon Network's latest original series at the time, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, voicing this guy....

Well I'm pretty sure I just ruined Bellemere's death for most of you now since it's hard not her with the voice of Irwin now......

Anyway, Nezmui would be voiced by Tony Oliver, essentially sounding like an evil version of Lupin III.

Or how he was in the original manga....

And Moomo would have his vocals provided by Frank Welker.

Buggy's Adventure (August 1st-4th, 2003):

I don't really have anything to say for this one except that it will be part of the dub.

Roguetown (August 5th-12th, 2003):

Starting this off we have Smoker, who would be voiced by James Arnold Taylor, essentially sounding pretty similar to Walker from Danny Phantom, but without the Southern accent.

Next we have Tashigi, who would voiced by Karen Strassman.

Daddy the Father would be voiced by Jeff Bennett.

Five-Alarm Carmen would be voiced by Candi Milo.

And finally, we have Dragon, who would be voiced by Dave Wittenberg.

Well, that's all I have for now.

It's not the most detailed post I've made, but I thought it was fun to do.

Plus, I always like to showcase by knowledge of voice actors.

Which speaking of, I'm not sure how this post will do since I'm not sure how knowledgeable of voice actors any of the potential viewers are.

But hey, I'll just have to wait and find out.

Anyway, let me know what you think about this alternate timeline I created.

And for the two choices I had for Luffy and Usopp, who do you think would be the best choice for them?

And finally, I really hope @mysticalchildsuit actually likes this post since the last time I made a post about One Piece....they were.....

[ravenatural]

Fucked up the poll length before so here it is again

The ones with a / between two titles is for series where the official english dub has a different name from the source language

[shinigami-striker]

September 2024 Birthdays | Sunday, 09.01.24

Here are the upcoming birthdays in the month of September 2024 down below:

Sunday, September 1

Dave Wittenberg (voice of Kakashi Katake in the English dub of the Naruto anime and its video game tie-ins since 2005)

Monday, September 2

Faye Mata (voice of Aqua in Konosuba: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World! and Ling Xiaoyu in Tekken: Bloodline)

Keanu Reeves (official voice of Shadow the Hedgehog in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024 movie) premiering on Friday, December 20, 2024 in North America)

Tuesday, September 3

Khoi Dao (25th birthday coming soon) (voiced Mauro Abelard in the 2021 video game, Shadowverse: Champion's Battle, which is based on the 2020 anime of the same name)

R. Bruce Elliot (current voice of Captain Ginyu since the 2010 release of Dragon Ball Z Kai through Funimation)

Wednesday, September 4

John DiMiaggio (voiced Bender in Futurama, Bobo Haha in Generator Rex, and Jake the Dog from Adventure Time)

Morgan Lauré Garrett (voiced Shiki Misaki in The World Ends With You: The Animation and Nadeshiko Kagamihara in Laid-Back Camp)

Thursday, September 5

Max Mittelman (voice of Saitama in One-Punch Man)

Friday, September 6

Idris Elba (voiced Knuckles the Echidna in both the Sonic live-action movies since Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022 movie) and Knuckles the Series)

Robin Atkin Downes (voiced Gary in Regular Show and Emperor Nefarious in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart)

Tuesday, September 10

Amanda Celine Miller (voiced MAGES. in Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory in 2013 exclusively for the PlayStation 3 console)

Thursday, September 12

Shelby Lindley (voiced Tsumugi Kotobuki in K-On! and Ram (White Sister Ram) in the Hyperdimension Neptunia video games since 2012)

Friday, September 13 (Friday the 13th)

J.G. Quintel (creator and voice of both Mordecai and High Five Ghost in Regular Show)

Saturday, September 14

Kazumi Evans (35th birthday coming soon; voiced Rarity in both My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and My Little Pony: Equestria Girls and Rouge the Bat in Sonic Prime)

Sunday, September 15

Ben Schwartz (voiced Dewey Duck in DuckTales (2017 TV series), Leonardo in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Sonic in the Sonic the Hedgehog movie series since 2020)

Colleen O'Shaughnessey (voiced Jazz Fenton in Danny Phantom and both Miles "Tails" Prower (since 2014; replacing Kate Higgins) and Charmy Bee (since 2010) in the Sonic the Hedgehog video games)

Scott McNeil (voiced Wolverine in X-Men: Evolution, Guts Man in the English dub of Mega Man NT Warrior, and Voltar in League of Super Evil)

Tuesday, September 17

Charles Martinet (voice actor; former voice of Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Toadsworth in most of the Super Mario games between 1992 and 2022) (succeeded by Kevin Afghani starting with both Super Mario Bros. Wonder and WarioWare: Move It! and onward since 2023)

Friday, September 20

Sarah Natochenny (voiced Ash Ketchum in the English dub of the Pokemon anime between 2006 through 2023; replacing Veronica Taylor)

Saturday, September 21

Erin Fitzgerald (former voice of Noire/Black Heart in the Hyperdimension Neptunia video game series between 2011 through 2016; replaced by Erica Mendez since the 2017 release of Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online due to complications with the SAG Contracts at the time)

Sunday, September 22

Michelle Ruff (voiced Tsukasa Hiiragi in the English dub of Lucky Star and Crimson Viper in Street Fighter 4)

Wayne Grayson (50th birthday coming soon; voiced Michelangelo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series) between 2003 through 2009)

Monday, September 23

Shannon Chan-Kent (voiced Pinkie Pie in both My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and My Little Pony: Equestria Girls & Amy Rose in Sonic Prime)

Wednesday, September 25

Mark Hamill (voiced Skips/Walks in Regular Show between 2010 through 2017)

Friday, September 27

Alicyn Packard (45th birthday coming soon; voiced Mistress Death in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite and Hinaichi in the English dub of The Vampire Dies in No Time)

Debi Derryberry (voiced Jimmy Neutron in Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and formerly Coco Bandicoot in several Crash Bandicoot video games between 2001 and 2021)

Jad Saxton (45th birthday coming soon; voiced Itsuka Kendo in the English dub of My Hero Academia and Chika Fujiwara in the English dub of Kaguya-sama: Love is War)

Saturday, September 28

Celeste Perez (voiced Rin Shima in Laid-Back Camp)

Monday, September 30

Lacey Chabert (voiced Gwen Stacy in The Spectacular Spider-Man and Zatanna in Young Justice

Stay tuned for more next month (October) and enjoy the rest of your September! 🍂

[heavenboy09]

Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊  To The Most Amazing Chinese American Actress On The Planet

Born On December 2nd, 1968

Lucy Liu was born in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens.

She is an American actress. She has received several accolades including a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Seoul International Drama Award, in addition to a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award.

Liu has starred as Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal (1998–2002), Alex Munday in two Charlie's Angels films (2000 and 2003), and Joan Watson in the crime-drama series Elementary (2012–2019). Her film work includes starring in Payback (1999), Shanghai Noon (2000), Chicago (2002), Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003), Lucky Number Slevin (2006), Watching the Detectives (2007), The Man with the Iron Fists (2012), and Set It Up (2018).

She voice acted as Master Viper in the Kung Fu Panda franchise (2008–2016) and Silvermist in the Tinker Bell series (2008–2014). Her other voice credits include Maya & Miguel (2004–2007), Mulan II (2004), as well as the English and Mandarin-dubbed versions of Magic Wonderland (2014) and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013). She also voiced Callisto Mal in the Disney-animated film Strange World (2022). Most recently, she starred as Kalypso in Shazam! Fury of the Gods and directed the Disney show American Born Chinese.

She is Very Well Known for Her Iconic Roles in Various Films & Several TV Shows Over The Years

From Charlie's Angels, To Kill Bill, To Kung Fu Panda,  From Ally Mcbeal,  To Elementary. 

She is also a Critics Choice Awards & a few other Award winning Awards

She is A All Asian Magnificent Work Of Art & is a Talented Artist 🎨 herself on her spare time of course.

PLEASE WISH THIS MAGNIFICENT ASIAN 🇭🇰🇲🇴💛 AMERICAN ACTRESS OF PHENOMENAL ACTING A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊

THE 1

&

ONLY

MS. LUCY ALEXIS LIU🇭🇰🇲🇴💛

HAPPY 55TH BIRTHDAY 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 TO YOU MS. LIU & HERE'S TO MANY MORE YEARS TO COME

 

#LucyLiu #CharliesAngels #KillBill #KungFuPanda #Elementary #StrangeMagic  #ShazamFuryOfTheGods

[sorenblr]

I've been going through my 4kids nostalgia phase and recently rediscovered Shaman King and its FMA brotherhood remake. I know its probably way after your time, but do you have a history with it and/or do you have any thoughts on it from either a personal or a mythological standpoint?

Way after your time? How old do you people think I am? Anyway, I've read the manga, watched the 4Kids dub etc., even played the completely serviceable Aria of Sorrow clones that were released on the GBA. I have a lot of fondness for the original series, especially the early chapters, which are rendered in this lovely style that was dominant from about 1998 to 2003. You know, early One Piece, Ravemaster, Law of Ueki etc. The high foreheads and chunky hands and almost squarish eyes. It quickly went out of fashion and is now only an artifact of that generation's juvenalia, but I really adore it. And Takei's linework in that period is phenomenal. I have very fond memories of reading the short-lived English Jump serials and opening up to the Faust arc and thinking to myself, wow. It's badass how that guy looks.

On the other hand, it operates on the Kinnikuman principle of world tournament racial dynamics, so it's understanding of myth is filtered through this parade of cultural and ethnic stereotypes, and a lot of it is 'playful' or at least deliberately unserious. And then there are characters like Chocolove who are so racist that both the localization and subsequent anime adaptations have been running damage control ever since. I assume that would be a hurdle to modern audiences, this not neccesarily ill-intentioned but very clueless replication of stereotypical imagery from imported media. On the flipside, there's an Italian guy who compels the Archangel Michael to transform into a 1992 Ferrari Testarossa.

Anyway, it's cool. I like that everyone gets stronger by going to hell. They fucked up by introducing numerical values as assessments of individual strength. You should only be able to defeat your opponent by deftly reading the flow of their 'ki' or some bullshit, not by leveraging the basic principles of arithmetic... like how a fucking nerd would do.

[dropintomanga]

Initial D - The First Stage to the Overall Magic of Anime and Manga

Seeing this display at my local Kinokuniya Bookstore branch made my day and got me reminiscing.

In the early 2000s', I was still in my phase of consuming everything Dragon Ball. I followed Dragon Ball GT at the time and knew it ended around 1997. Since simulcast streaming wasn't a thing, I had to rely on Chinese-dubbed VHS tapes to rent for all the episodes.

When watching one of the final episodes of Dragon Ball GT on a tape I got, there was a trailer (which was actually the opening) for another anime that played before the episode. It wasn't for a Shonen Jump series and I heard some really cool-sounding techno music.

That opening began my journey into a series that highlighted what anime and manga was really like outside of American marketing - Shuichi Shigeno's Initial D.

For those who don't know, Initial D is about a young man named Takumi Fujiwara who gets himself involved in the mountain street racing scene. He drives a car that isn't suitable for street racing, the Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno. The car lacks horsepower and speed, but Takumi is able to utilize amazing drift techniques to make up for it. While reluctant at first, Takumi gets pulled into a race when a street racing team called the Akagi Red Suns challenges Takumi's local team. Takumi beats one of the Red Suns' top members and he slowly becomes a legend as he encounters more street racers who want to challenge him. The manga lasted 49 volumes, had 6 anime seasons in 16 years, and a Hong Kong live-action movie adaptation of the manga (which I appreciated as a Cantonese speaker) was made in 2005. The series also inspired a good amount of people all over the world to get into Japanese cars due to every car featured in the series existing in real life. It did not hurt that fans loved the Eurobeat music that played in races throughout the anime.

As you can see from the photo I took, Kodansha USA decided to re-release the entire Initial D manga in a 2-in-1 omnibus print format for a newer generation as the original English manga release by Tokyopop in the mid-2000s' left a lot to be desired for translation reasons.

After watching the OP teaser in that one tape of a DBGT episode, I decided to watch all of the First Stage season of Initial D in Cantonese Chinese on VHS. I became hooked. I absolutely loved the music. I appreciated how analytical some of the characters were. Even though I didn't understand a lot of the conversations being had due to my Cantonese not being good enough to talk about vehicle intricacies, I had the help of Initial D fansites to summarize things. I became obsessed when the manga was ongoing at the time to see who Takumi was facing. Fansites helped to bridge the gap.

Speaking of fan-related material, I learned about yaoi/boys' love through Initial D. I saw many fanfiction sites about the relationships between the major male characters. In a sense, I got to see why sports-like series appealed to female fans way before the current sports series boom we have now.

Initial D also helped me get close with my dad. He actually watched the anime with me. During the years when I was so depressed, my dad always spent time with me. We played a lot of basketball, talk sports, and watched Initial D together. It helped that he was into car culture, so he helped explain a few things to me about certain cars.

One more thing Initial D did was that it got me to go to my very first anime convention in 2003. It was the Big Apple Anime Fest and the Third Stage movie was screened. While I watched the Third Stage movie before, it wasn't dubbed in Cantonese. This time, I got to see the full film with English subtitles. I stayed for the 7:30pm screening and was excited with so many fans around me. The convention was also where I finally got to connect with a friend who lived in the same area as me. I still talk to and hang out with them today.

While Dragon Ball got me into anime in the first place, it was Initial D that got me to expand my worldview about anime and manga. The series gave me a glimpse of the other anime/manga communities out there. I got a first glimpse into series that weren't mainstream yet loved by passionate fans.

When both the Initial D manga and anime ended in the 2010s', my anime/manga interests were in a different place. But I still enjoyed Final Stage when it came out because I got to see Takumi grow immensely over time and the payoff was good. The final battle felt like two very similar individuals trying to impose their superiority over one another. It was a perfect way to end Takumi's story, given that almost all of his opponents were different from him.

I know Initial D isn't talked about as much as Dragon Ball or Sailor Moon in terms of impacting people's lives, but it has done wonders for me in genuinely seeing what the world of anime/manga fans was like outside of the usual fare. I know I'm not the only one.

So I want to say that if the super-mainstream anime and manga series aren't your thing, it's okay. There will always be something that will catch your eye and maybe change your perspective for the better. And maybe it will find you a community that you love being around and help you grow.

To quote one of the Initial D opening songs sung by the group, m.o.v.e, let's move into the brand new world and let's dive into the brand new trip.

For more perspective on Initial D's impact on its fans and car culture, this post from a car enthusiast is worth a read.

[jessicadstone]

R.O.D THE TV Episode 26 | Epilogue (2005)

I was just planning on cutting the scene with Junior getting his hair cut by Michelle (because cuteness and an adorable fan art I came across brought back some good memories), but I really love the whole finale. Why the heck not? They all deserve happy endings... except for Joker and Wendy (sorry not sorry!). I can't believe those two aren't rotting in prison.

R.O.D the TV is an action/mystery/sci-fi anime series that aired from 2003-2004 in Japan and 2004-2005 in the U.S. (G4TV's Anime Unleashed block). The show was animated by J.C. Staff and Studio DEEN. The versatile Taliesin Jaffe was the ADR director for the English dub, which was produced by Jonathan Klein, Kevin Chu and Reiko Matsuo. ADR production was done at New Generation Pictures. The DVD release was licensed by Geneon Entertainment, Inc. (now expired); I think Aniplex of America now owns the rights.

There is also a manga starring the Paper Sisters titled Read or Dream, though it shares very little similarities with the TV series, apart from following the sisters. VIZ released an English translation after the show aired in America.

While not a super popular show like One Piece or Fullmetal Alchemist, the English dub of R.O.D the TV was praised and won several ADR awards by DubReview.com.

Rachel Hirschfeld (who was actually 12 like her character) starred as the super-powered, pink-haired lead, Anita King while Hunter MacKenzie Austin and Sara Lahti also starred as her equally super-powered, quirky sisters, Michelle Cheung and Maggie Mui. The Paper Sisters, as they're known, adopted each other, which can explain the different last names, though they were also named after the famous Hong Kong "action trio," Anita Mui, Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung.

A 14-year-old Jessica D. Stone, of course, was featured as Anita's "friend" and/or "boyfriend" (depending on fan theories), Junior. Because she was still working under Disney's contract for the Playhouse Disney/Disney Channel series, Stanley, she used her initials "J.D. Stone," which was suggested by her agent and which made it easier to get cast as boys for anime dubs.

[docgold13]

Profiles in Villainy

Orochimaru

The legendary Sannin, Orochimaru, grew up an orphan and was taken in as a pupil of the future Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.  An exceptionally bright and extremely skilled student, young Orochimaru's morbid fascinations unsettled his fellow students.  

As a young adult, Orochimaru distinguished himself fighting with tremendous valor and guile during the Second Shinobi World War.  He and his peers, Jiraiya and Tsunade, were offered the title of The Konoha's ‘Three Legendary Shinobi’ in recognition of their service in winning the war.  Orochimaru would go on to fight in the Third Shinobi World War, with his performance in the war being so great that he was considered as a candidate for Fourth Hokage alongside fellow war hero Minato Namikaze.  

Orochimaru would go on to abuse the privilege his esteem had earned him so to conduct secret and unethical experiments.  He sought to gain immortality so that he might live all of the lives necessary to accomplish his task of learning all knowledge. After being caught performing illegal experiments, Orochimaru defected from Konoha rather than be persecuted for his ambitions. Enraged, Orichimaru spent years plotting the village's destruction. 

He staged an attack on the village wherein Orochimaru succeeded in killing his former mentor, The Fourth Hokage. He was severely injured in the battle and forced to flee.  He then plotted to transfer his life essence into the body of Sasuke Uchiha so to fully recover from these injuries and continue his work.  Sasuke was ultimately able to break free from Orochimaru’s sway and he killed the serpentine villain.  

Orochimaru managed to facilitate his own resurrection, but the experience had altered him and he began to rethink his strategies for gaining all the knowledge he sought.  He even ended up choosing to aide the Allied Forces rather than fight them during the Fourth Shinobi War. 

Following he war, Orochimaru created a cloned son whom he named Mitsuki.  He entrusted this son to Konohagakure to be trained in the village alongside the children of his former adversaries, Sasuke and Naruto.  

Actors Kujira, Yuriko Yamaguchi and Mayumi Yamaguchi provided the voice for Orochimaru in the original anime (with Steven Blum, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Doug Erholtz voicing the character int he English language dub).  The villain first appeared in the twenty-seventh episode of the Naruto anime, airing on April 2nd, 2003.