774 replies to this topic

[The Satellite]

It all depends on the company licensing the series. I feel like nowadays censorship in English dubs is very uncommon, at least outside of things like Pokemon perhaps, but I don't follow the Pokemon anime (haven't for 18 years holy shit) so perhaps it's gotten better about that. Generally speaking, the worst you get out of translations are maybe mistranslations that might miss the point, or dialogue that gets edited to fit the audience better; not in a censored way, just cultural references/jokes/gags Western audiences probably wouldn't understand.

 

For your One Piece example, it's actually been through two English localizations. The first was done by the notorious 4Kids, who had a monopoly on children's anime for a time. They were the kings of censorship and editing, writing out deaths, painting over graves to enforce this, as well as blood or even an extended arm holding a gun. Sometimes, just removing entire episodes for "questionable content." Then they edited dialogue, some story arcs, inserted tons of dumb gags, and in general they were just a really bad licensing/localization company. This applied to One Piece in probably a similar vein to what you're describing. The only real legacy the 4Kids version has is this opening, which is generally regarded as "so bad it's good."

 

Then 4Kids lost the license and in came Funimation to pick it up. They did things over. They removed the censorship. They kept the story intact. Fans in general were happy about this version.

 

Now Funimation seems to be dominating the English localization industry along with Aniplex. Neither of these do any censorship, though in my experience their main difference is that Funimation tends to "spruce up" the translation a bit to be more relatable to English-speaking audiences, while Aniplex tends to translate things more literally; at least, in their subtitles. I haven't really compared many of either company's shows between subs and dubs. I'd been meaning to watch Kill la Kill and My Hero Academia dubbed, so that would give me a frame of reference; they're by Aniplex and Funimation, respectively.

 

Basically, unless it's a show airing on children's television, you're not likely to run into glaring censorship issues in English dubs of anime, at least of recent years. Going back into the 90s and beyond, perhaps, but anime translations have been treated a lot more seriously lately, to the point your biggest issue is whether or not the English voice-acting will be any good.

[thepsynergist]

Aniplex did an amazing job with Full Metal Alchemist as well as Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood.  The voice actor choices for the dub were spot on.

[The Satellite]

In a bizarre scenario, one of the shows I was watching (Regalia) has been stopped by the studio. Not a whole lot of info, but apparently they're not happy with the show's quality (which could mean anything) and are reworking it, then it will start over from scratch September 1st. Unsourced claims say it has something to do with sound direction and animation effects of some kind. Kind of a shame that it's getting delayed like this; it's not a great show, but it was at least entertaining with cool mechs and mech fights, with story that wasn't exactly intriguing but wasn't complete garbage either. But all the same, it's neat that the studio cares enough to want to tune up the product instead of dumping something they're unsatisfied with on us, so that's a plus.

 

I don't know if I've ever heard of something like this happening before though.

[Naru]

So I started watching Gall Force. I started rarther uninformed and first thing you get is the lack of any guys. Rather silly and hilarious so far and a lot of unanswered question. Also the ecchi is a bit too much for my taste but its refreshing how outdated it is. Hope there will come story worth to watch.

[The Satellite]

Well it's time once again for MIDSEASON REVIEW!!! Except I'll leave out shows that were from the previous season and still running, i.e. Ace Attorney and Re:Zero. And... only three shows this time. Would've been four if Regalia hadn't hit a delay. But anyway, here's what I'm thinking of my shows so far:

 

Handa-kun - "He's adored by all, but he's super paranoid and thinks everyone is out to get him. It honestly reminds me of Sakamoto in a way, if Sakamoto was a screw-up at everything and still managed to improve people's lives somehow." This is what I said about the show back when I made my list of shows I was watching from the season and there isn't much to add. It's generally humorous and I enjoy it. It comes at a perfect time, because I miss Sakamoto, even if the setups and payoffs are generally different.

 

Rewrite - After the extreme sudden genre shift at the end of the first episode, this show returned to something more akin to the likes of Kanon and Clannad, with a main male character developing relationships and learning the stories of a few female friends of his, though the supernatural stuff didn't go away by any means. But that's only a disguise, because a sudden plot twist in the latest episode is proving this show is something else entirely. I... can't say I dislike it. In fact, at this point, I may like this more than either Kanon or Clannad. We'll just have to see how it turns out.

 

Sweetness and Lightning - This show could have easily played the cutesy card all the way throughout with its main little girl Tsumugi, but what's refreshing is that, while she is absolutely adorable and cute, there are moments and situations showing that parenthood isn't always smiles and sunshine, and there are issues and situations that come up that aren't all that fun. It's a fairly "real" type of show, but it's still very good. And now I can actually cook food for real!

[Naru]

So finished part three of Gall Force. Not really good after all, but I enjoy it anyway. Some really big plot-holes though.

[TK8305]

Animes I'm watching:

 

High School DxD BoRn (Season 3)

Dog Days" (Season 3)

Rewrite 

Rezero 

New Game 

Teekyuu 6

[The Satellite]

OKAY, so, to my extreme relief, two shows are down, and the rest end this weekend. I was starting to feel the fatigue of keeping up with these shows, and while most of them I enjoyed, it's nice that they're ending and giving me a break. Except for Regalia, which had that whole hiatus thing and is actually getting back to where it left off as its previous contemporaries are concluding. Interesting timing. Anyway, here's thoughts on the two shows that just ended:

 

Re:Zero - This actually premiered back in the Spring season, and I'd kept hearing about it while watching the other shows. It was apparently really good, so I decided to catch up when there were fifteen episodes out at the time. And they were right, this show is really good. It takes the trope of "kid shot into a video game/fantasy world" and turns it on its head a bit; instead of being an overachieving winner from the start, he actually kind of sucks at everything, and if he didn't have the mysterious power to revive at a previous time after death, he'd have been done for early. Of course, he has lofty goals at first, but they just get everyone and everything into trouble. He has to learn from his mistakes, build his relationship with the people and knowledge of the world, and actually grow if he wants to accomplish anything. It's really good for that, and it's all in all a very good show. My only complaint has to do with the romance in the show, not that there's anything inherently wrong with it except for you're pursuing the wrong girl dammit. *ahem*

 

Sweetness and Lightning - It's cute and deals with real drama sometimes, but by the end I was fatigued by the repetition. Not in the real life stories going on outside the food-making, but the food-making itself. At a point, it was almost starting to feel like the real life drama were just set pieces to set up the food porn, because every single episode had a very lengthy and in-depth segment set aside to them making whatever meal they were making that day. The last episode was a little better I think, since it seemed to have more focus on the characters and relationships than the food, so it went out on a high note I think. Overall, it's a good show, if not a bit boring when it comes to the cooking. And, while genuinely cute much of the time, there were more than a few times it felt like they were trying to force the cuteness.

 

Three more shows to talk about on Saturday.

[The Satellite]

Sweet... sweet damn liberation. It's finished. Let's take a look at the final batch:

 

Ace Attorney - If you haven't played the games, skip it; it doesn't tell the story as well as the games and it lacks a lot of the excellent music, though its one saving grace it recycles the music it does adapt from the first game over corresponding tunes from the second game. Second game's music was awful. If you've played the games... consider it. You'll likely dislike the changes made and how it just rushes right through the cases with poor pacing, but might find some charm in seeing some of the scenes from the game animated. Also the few times it uses the game's music, they're nice remixes. Otherwise, I got some mild enjoyment out of it overall, but it's not really one I can recommend too highly. Just play the games instead, if you're interested in the series at all.

 

Handa-kun - It was overall enjoyable and funny, with humorous characters and writing and situations. By the end though, it just got more than a bit too formulaic, and I wish they'd dismantled the whole "he's accidentally the best guy ever" thing by the end. Also, I wish they'd devoted more to breaking Handa out of his delusional "everyone hates me" spell, which it seemed like they were getting at in one of the later episodes, but instead they stayed the course until the last episode, with a bit of an ass-pull to just instantly pull him out of his shell. Felt like a wasted opportunity. Overall, still enjoyable.

 

Rewrite - I enjoyed this one. I like the characters and the setting, as well as the plot. It's a shake-up from the other Key anime I've seen and it had some other things to appeal to me so that helped. I'd still say it's the best of the three Key adaptations I've seen, but I don't care to expand that number to challenge that notion. All the same, I legitimately enjoyed this one. There's only a couple real downfalls. One is that one of the main girls, who's introduced in the first episode even, never really gets any character development; maybe she was better in the visual novel. The music is pretty standard as well, with no real standout tracks except for one in the finale. About a third of the way in, I'm also a bit confused by a couple of characters' motivations, but I could have just missed a line or two. And the ending... Obviously I can't explain it without spoilers. I'll just say I wasn't expecting it and I'm just completely stunned and baffled by it. ... what the fuck?

 

But I'm glad to be free of this season. Obviously Regalia resumes, but that just has eight episodes. Next season's looking empty. There's only one or two I'm interested in, one being Occultic;Nine, another show from the genius behind Steins;Gate. I hope it will at least be enjoyable.

 

There's also a new Digimon series. I haven't seen a Digimon series since Tamers, so I might give it a shot—

 

The key to the anime's story are smartphone apps that many people around the globe are using. Inside these apps, AI life forms called "app monsters" or nicknamed "appmon" are hiding.

 

... aaaaaaaaaaaaaand I'm out.

[Naru]

I finished gall force not too long ago. Kind of liked it in the end. Through the looping story telling or however you would call such.

 

I kind of liked the first Digimon-season. A few thing were going a bit overboard like the digimon-poo or the overly-evil guys in a childish context. Also liked the first movie. But I don't like how each season completly meant to reinvent itself, only slightly based on the digital world concept, but without giving a slow introduction like in the first season overthrowing you with far too much new stuff from the start. Though that might be unfair since I never really watched the later seasons at all.

 

Actually watching Sousi no Onmyouji (so incredible terrible. typical stuff I can enjoy during my depressive times, but such a poor series. Ohagi-man is first class though) and Re:Zero.

[TK8305]

Finished Rewrite, Rezero and New Game recently.  All very good in my book!  

 

Now I'm on: Amaama (Sweetness & Lightning) and Konobi (The Art Club has a Problem).  Both have been pretty enjoyable so far.  Also rewatching Mahoromatic because I haven't seen it in a long while.  xD

[The Satellite]

So I learned after I went to bed last night that Rewrite's actually getting a second season in January. Maybe that'll shed some light on that... whatever happened in the ending.

[Naru]

(@The Satellite) So I just got some bad news and need some stuff to distract myself from reality. Is it worth to watch re:zero in the not uncensored version? I planned to watch the uncensored version and wait for it, but re:zero is exactly the kind of show that fits my actual mood.

[TK8305]

Finished Amaama and Konobi (Art Club Has A Problem) recently,  

 

Gonna attempt Your Lie in April next and The "Hentai" Prince and the Stony Cat.  xD

[The Satellite]

(@The Satellite) So I just got some bad news and need some stuff to distract myself from reality. Is it worth to watch re:zero in the not uncensored version? I planned to watch the uncensored version and wait for it, but re:zero is exactly the kind of show that fits my actual mood.

It's censored? I never really noticed, but if so, I'd say that it's still worth watching, yes. Be aware that it can get quite gruesome if that bothers you, but I'm a big fan of the story and characters.