Anime to Beat The Heat With +Contest Update

Greetings and salutations my fellow anime fans and friends! This month has been so blindingly hot that your blogger host has occasionally found himself half dead! The rest of the time I was either running family errands or becoming a bit addicted to Funimation's website. (Some Summer vacation, I think I'll have more free time when I go back to law school!)

Anyway, seeing as how most of us are likely suffering in this heatwave (wow, just a few months ago we were having record cold) I thought it wise and prudent and reasonable and some other words that make it sound like this post is more thought out than it really is that I should make a list of a few anime series that I think can help you beat the heat!

After all, if you can't use anime to make your life's problems more bearable, what's the point of watching it at all?



First up is Kanon!

Before you even finish the first episode, you'll feel cooler thanks to the heavy emphasis on snow as a motif! Virtually every outdoor scene is fluffy white with sparkles of ice. If you imagine yourself as the characters, you'll feel cooler in no time flat.

Imagine eating ice cream with Shiori outside in the snow. The real world may be blazing hot but Kanon's world is nice and cool. Every gentle breeze carries a nostalgia for the winters of your past and each girl is a soothing balm to the soul.

Of course, you may end up crying, but that's the price you have to pay for snowy winter in July!

But if Kanon's not your cup of tea. . . .



How about a hefty dose of Kamichu!

Yurie can teach you all the ways to relax and veg out in the heat! From helping adults rediscover their summer memories to curling up on the floor for a nap, Kamichu is the series where a student goddess can teach you all about living your life lazily.

Join in on a beach trip that's more than the usual fanservice-filled beach episode, take laziness to a whole new level and spend some time with a sweet goddess-in-training.

Kamichu is a series that reminds you not to go outside and die of the heat. Don't forget to make a donation to Raifuku shrine though!

Of course, sometimes summer heat can be worth the trouble. There are hot springs and beaches and even public baths that are well worth visiting. So maybe you'd like to head out in the heat with. . . .



the girls of UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie!

Let Valkyrie take you on a tour of the best bath house this side of Tokyo! Join Sanada for a great hot spring bath after nearly freezing to death! Don't allow Laine to drive you to the beach but enjoy a day there after taking your own vehicle!

If there's one thing the cast of UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie knows, it's how to enjoy themselves on a hot day. Of course, fanservice here isn't remotely optional and you will probably be required to see some flashy transformation sequences. Maybe this is what summer is really all about?

So that's a few anime to help you beat the heat! Hopefully, we can all avoid dying from this heat wave that is making all of us realize the horrors of our local electric companies jacking up rates during the summer months! (Yes, they commonly do this and no the extra cost isn't just from your air conditioner.) Make sure you drink lots of water (soda and tea can dehydrate you!) and you stay out of the sun as much as possible. If you start feeling dizzy or disoriented, get to a shady place or inside, drink water and have it poured on you! Watch out for your older relatives and little kids. They're especially vulnerable.

Contest Update: I've decided to extend the entry deadline AGAIN for the Top 5 contest as I can currently decide the winner with a coin toss. (Maybe this was a bad contest after all?)

If you do want to enter, please use this

Contest Entry Link!

Join me next time, same blog channel, same blog idiocy!



Bye-ni!

Return of the Heretic

Sorry all for the long absence. First it was my Legal Writing assignment (80% of final grade) and then studying for and taking finals (several being 100% of final grade) and then I packed up and came back home for the summer. Yes, I returned home to a house that isn't air-conditioned on account of my mother not being able to afford it and the power company being a bunch of lying, cheating, evil and cruel jerks who send out employees to read meters when then just put down whatever the year before's reading was and leave. (Aside from a signed confession, we're quite sure we've enough evidence that anyone, except the power company reps who INSIST that mistakes NEVER happen, would believe.)

Of course, none of you are interested in my trials and tribulations.

Sadly, this post is mostly that kind of chatter. I got a late start on it due to a power outage yesterday and today being a "run around with my Mother and take care of things" day.

Well, I got a new phone out of the deal. Once the rebate check comes in, it will only have cost like $10. (I can't find a belt holster I like though.)

So enough about me, let's talk about this blog. Some of you have surely wondered if this blog was dead.

I hereby assure all of my readers (God bless all of you or if you'd prefer may Haruhi bless you) that I fully intend to keep up this blog and get back to posting my thoughts on things. I make no claim to know any deep secrets or to have any special knowledge but I do love English dubs and I do worry deeply about the legal anime industry. While others may worship at the alter of digital-only subs forever, I never will.

Also I'd like to do more contests in the future but for now, the current one will be it for a while due to financial strains. (I have to get my own anime before I can get anime to give to you for free!) However, there will be a second Strike Witches contest when the second season comes out. Same deal as the first one when the time comes.

As for now,

please enter the current contest

if you have any interest in any of the series or if you don't want them for yourself, enter if you know someone who'd like them. Currently I can flip a coin to decide the winner. Go here for contest details.

Finally, I'm going to try and post more because I'm seriously falling down on the job! I'll post again before Monday about some of the current dubbing plans, promises and possibilities.

Bye-ni!

Funimation Commentary +_+

Dubs and the hope for a better future, these are what all living things need.

And maybe some more free time. I've been swamped lately. I've taken a few short breaks to surface the web or post a comment but haven't had a long break to blog lately. (Who knew law school involved so much actual work? Perhaps I should reconsider the ministry.)

So there's been some fun news about English dubs that I'm sure you already know because you probably read the same news articles I do. Of course, you wouldn't be coming to this blog if you didn't want to read someone else's opinion on those reports! I have a duty to satisfy my readers! I must find something worth adding to the conversation, even if only to provide a cheap laugh at my own expense.

First, lets talk about Funimation: As you know, the company has been sold by Navarre to a group of investors for an all-cash bargain price of $24,000,000. Gen Fukunaga, known to those who work under him as "Lord of Nightmares Fukunaga"* lead a group of rich investors in taking Funi off Navarre's hands. Navarre will continue to handle distribution.

So what exactly does this sale mean for we the anime consumers? Will this buy-out mean the dawn of a dark age or a new era of glory? Well, that's largely in Gen Fukunaga's hands if you ask me. Given how cunning he is, I expect Funimation will remain strong post-sale. According to Robert of the Anime Corner Store:

Gen really is the smartest guy in the room in the R1 Anime biz, and is one of the few people who has actually gotten rich from it. He put together this little Anime company with the help of a some private investment money, built it up with the help of his family connections in Japan, and sells it a few years later at the top of the market to Navarre for $142 Million, and then (with the help of a little more private investment money) buy's it back from the same now debt laden company six years later for $24 Million - 17 cents on the dollar - and got to run the thing the whole time. Unreal. In the end, Gen had to round up a group of investors who could easily afford to loose a few million.

Robert notes that Navarre's corporate commentary shows they've lost their taste for the R1 anime industry and see it as a big waste of money. Frankly, I'm neither surprised by that nor am I willing to disagree with them. Thanks to the "anime should be free!" crowd, the bad economy and a general unwillingness by many fans to just be nice and open-minded, the R1 industry is in decline.

I do think the fact that Gen Fukunaga still wants to be a part of the industry is a good sign though. I also expect that we will see many more deals like this one in the future.

That's right anime lovers, because of all those people who love anime too much to pay for it, we're going to see more "based on X" productions for profit. Nothing wrong with that necessarily but I think we're all too familiar with the failures that have happened. Even decent efforts have often suffered from a severe case of they just didn't care.

On a better note: Funimation has gotten additional rights to Fractale and Freezing! That means we're going to see them get DVD/Blu-Ray releases, which also means English dubs will be made for them!

So long as Funimation doesn't change their "no sub-only" policy following the sale, which I don't expect them to do, we can look forward to these two series and more. If the policy does change, I think it will signal the end of English dubs in R1 because the biggest brain and pocket said "nah, not worth it."

Anywho, Fractale and Freezing dubs are expected. I haven't had a chance to watch much of Fractale due to working on my legal memo but what I've seen was interesting. A bit odd but interesting.

Freezing has my attention more at the moment. I do enjoy bloody battles and fanservice sharing time and space. Plus I find the heroine Bridgette L. Satellizer to be just awesome. Her character design and personality just push my buttons in all the right ways. Plus I love the core plot of invasion and desperate struggle. I love stories where humanity has to fight against terrible odds since it tends to result in scenes of sacrifice that display the best traits of the human species: love for others, willingness to fight and die for higher ideals and the lives of others and the sacrifice in general.

My inner cynic must be suppressed at all costs, lest I lose faith and do things that would only get me on the nightly news broadcasts. (Don't worry, I won't blame anime. It'll totally be society's fault! ;) )

She doesn't do VA work very often but I'd kinda like to hear Alese Johnson as Satellizer in Freezing. Anyone want to voice an opinion on that one?

A few other issues with Funimation you may be thinking about:

First, we've all probably taken a moment to feel some emotion over the legal headache 4Kids is in. Amazingly, I can actually make some sense of the legal jargon popping up and I can tell you that, at least from what I'm reading, 4Kids's only hope is that they drafted a really good contract and that there's no evidence they planned something like this from the start.

Also, for those concerned, nothing I've read would suggest a strong case against Funimation for their role in 4Kids little fun and games. I haven't seen a link to the actual documents filed with the court (which would be REALLY informative and nice to see) but the cited Hollywood Reporter would seem to suggest that 4Kids is the bad actor here.

4Kids conspired with Funimation to fraudulently hide from Plaintiffs more than 45% of the total income Funimation paid to 4Kids from the sale of the home videos," the complaint states.

Allegedly, 4Kids not only licensed YGO, but also several other Japanese animation series it didn't own. Under the terms of this supposedly secret deal, which allegedly included a strict confidentiality clause, 4Kids didn't have to do much besides perform certain marketing services. It was Funimation's job to produce and distribute the series, and for this right, Funimation paid a $1.3 million advance and gave over nearly $4 million in a service fee, which was allegedly then hidden from the plaintiffs.

Emphasis added my me. This is the part that I think is the reason we're not seeing Funimation already being sued considering they've got a lot better pocket to go after considering 4kids has gone the route of Chapter 11. (They'll still die but now their creditors are humped along with them.)

Since Funimation doesn't appear to have had any contractural obligation to inform anyone of anything they paid 4Kids. I'm not seeing anything so far that even says they knew 4Kids was pulling the wool over the Japanese owner's eyes. A confidentiality clause isn't exactly an unknown thing in contracts, in fact it's standard boilerplate for some types of contracts. That clause alone does not a "conspiracy" make.

Again though, without seeing the actual complaint filed and such, I'm unable to really analyze the matter. Anyone got a link to the court filings?

Another issue I wanted to mention to everyone: Funimation's charity auctions for Japan are nearing their end! I don't know if they are planning more but now is the time to bid on some sweet English dub VA sigs! (I'm eyeing one particular item myself.)

Last thing I wanted to talk about is Strike Witches is getting a DVD/Blu-Ray combo release soon and Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts will also come out dual format with a fraking ton of extra content! The LE's got the chipboard art box, Right Stuf will throw in a bonus gift with purchase and on the discs will be:

Special Features: Mission: Impossible: Baka Preview, Baka-Only Cross-Dressing Contest, Mission: Impossible: Baka Mission 01, Mizuki Himeji Girls' Meal, The King Game in Fumizuki Academy, Special Christmas Footage, Promo Videos, Original Commercials, Original DVD Spots, Textless Opening Song, Textless Closing Songs.

Dang that's a lot. You all know how much I love Strike Witches so I'm actually going to double-dip on that one! (Well, actually first dip as I got the first DVD set from ANN for review and thus it was free.)

Now I leave you blog readers with these parting links: Alter's Shirley Yeager figure, Alter's Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke figure and a sweet figure of Katejina Loos!

Why Katejina you ask? I say, why not? Her English VA in Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2 is Nicole Oliver and she's AWESOME as her. God I love her line after you shootdown 1,000 enemies in a mission. DWG2 is a highly addicted game for me, I've got over 200 hours play time on it! (Yes, I know, I should get more sun and be more productive with my life.)

Well, that's it for this blog post. I've written this a bit late at night so please forgive any typos. I may clean it up later.

Bye-ni!

Richard J.'s Top 5 Contest plus Bonus

Okay, after a minor delay due, I hereby fully and officially open this contest! Here is your chance to enter the Richard J.'s Top 5 Contest and to get your choice of bonus: a new release from what is available at Robert's Anime Corner Store or your choice of where I donate $50 for the charitable benefit of Japan! (Yes that is a bonus too, you get to make a donation by proxy! That's good for your karma!)

Just to make it clear, here is the list of series again:

The winter drama Kanon, the mecha experience RahXephon, the action-packed Gunslinger Girl, the wild sci-fi adventure Outlaw Star and the moving but controversal Koi Kaze.

This contest, click here to enter, will take entries until the July 4th. There are several reasons for this long run time.

First, I want there to be plenty of time for people to enter. Second, I want more time to get my computer issues worked out. (I miss Photoshop.) Third, this way I won't have to worry about shipping the prize to the winner until I'm back home where I can deal with postal workers I know and trust. It's also when the last contest ended so there is symmetry.

Here are the basic rules:

Although highly unlikely, I reserve the right to cancel this contest at any time. This contest is open to any person with a mailing address, prizes will be shipped anywhere! Winners' names will be posted here at Blog Of A Heretical Dub Lover but mailing addresses will be provided only to professional postal staff of my choice. No one else will be told.

Winners' addresses and E-mail addresses will be erased once the prizes have been shipped. Non-winners' names, E-mail and mailing addresses will not be given out to any one and will be erased when the winners have been confirmed. Non-winners will not be contacted, spammed or harassed in any way. I am not interested in ordinary humans! I reserve the right to retroactively add new rules in the unlikely event that they become necessary.

One entry per person/mailing address. Prizes will be box sets of contest insitigator's choice.

Click here to enter and have a chance to own the series I consider to be my personal Top 5 and get a chance to either get a 6th series box set or the chance to make me donate money on your behalf to a charity of your choice to benefit the Japanese people suffering after the earthquakes and tsunami! Personal gain or altruism, which will the winner choose? (I'll never tell.)

Just like last time, I will post winner's names and if any winner wants, I'll post their comments on the contest or anything else. Also, as always, I welcome ANY comments, even negative ones. I will never delete a comment that I disagree with. Only Spammers will be deleted!

Contest Entry Link!

Bye-ni and good luck!

Contest Titles and Question

Hello bloggies and welcome to the contest title listing post. Here you will find a list and as I'm currently on my laptop sitting outside a classroom waiting for a speech, I'll have to get back to you with the contest rules and entry link.

For now, please consider these titles my Top 5 (not in any particular order.)

Kanon: This series focuses on Yuichi Aizawa and his return to the city he spent time in as a child. As he reconnects with girls from his past, Yuichi must deal with both the supernatural and the promises he made then and now. Kanon is about friendship and love and the power of those promised bonds. It is a series I consider to be a true masterpiece of anime and while some will dismiss it due for being moe or based on a visual novel, I think the overall message of the series is too important to ignore. It has one of ADV's most acclaimed English dubs performed by a cast of fan-favorites. Kanon should be a part of every anime fan's collection in my opinion. So here's a chance for you to get it as part of my Top 5 giveaway contest!

Outlaw Star: One of Bandai Entertainment's best series, Outlaw Star is a thrilling space adventure with a great cast of characters and a surprisingly deep plot. While some mysteries are never solved, the central plot of the Galactic Leyline and the purpose of the Outlaw Star itself comes to a powerful conclusion. Outlaw Star's English dub features a number of great performances by the VAs, some of whom you won't hear often or at all in recent productions. It is a classic and a wonderful gateway anime for luring new fans to the anime side!

RahXephon: Some claim this series to be superior to EVA, others say it is not but few if any call if anything less than darn good. Personally, I consider it to be one of the best series out there that merged mecha with epic plots and god-like powers. RahXephon has a rich tapestry of a plot which encompases multiple generations and temporal mechanics plus deep emotional bonds of love and hate. It is powerful series with fantastic battles and considerable plot twists. RahXephon is a series that demands multiple viewings to fully grasp the nature of the character relationships. Get it in this contests and bask in understanding!

Gunslinger Girl: This was my first intentional anime purchase and it convinced me that anime fandom was my destiny. In this story, follow the girls of the Social Welfare Agency and find yourself asking hard questions about their situation. Enjoy the beautiful animation and hauntingly lovely music. Gunslinger Girl can be a hard series to watch at times but it is an amazing anime. The English dub is one of Funimation's finest productions and a powerful action-drama. Add Gunslinger Girl to your collection by entering this contest!

Koi Kaze: What does it mean to fall in love? Koi Kaze explores this question with a twist as it delves into a relationship between a brother and sister who steadily grow closer. The series is controversal and portrays a very difficult subject matter with a degree of honesty and seriousness often lacking in other productions. Koi Kaze isn't a series for casual fans and many anime fans will never see it. Yet this series is one of the best if not the best anime that Geneon Entertainment released before fading away. The English dub features performances that are worthy of critical acclaim and are heart-wrenching sincere. From my contest to your collection, let Koi Kaze into your heart!

So that's the list for the Top 5 contest! Please comment as you see fit about them! I'll be posting the contest rules and entry link in a separate post later. My computer's hard drive died but I've got another in my desktop now. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to re-install or get around a lot of computer red tape to get Photoshop back up and running or get all of my info out of it. Plus my Spring Break was less break and more "run around helping my family to get things in order or face financial disaster" so I've actually got more free time now that I'm back in class than I did then. Yeesh.

If it weren't for my commitment to this contest, I'd not do it at all as it will mean I don't have as much for my own collecting.

Of course, I'm sure this contest will be a dissapointment to some. The titles are older and the genres not very consistent. That being the case, I offer two special options for this contest to the winner! The winner will get their choice of a special bonus!

The winner of this contest will have the right to choose between a new and available title of their choice, order of title to be made through Roberts Anime Corner Store, or a $50 donation to a charity of the winner's choice that is working to help the Japanese people! In other words, you can choose between a new and available anime in addition to my Top 5 or you can choose to have me donate $50 to charity for the Japanese!

Comment on this bonus and let me know if you think it's a good idea. Until later, I'm Richard J. signing off!

Bye-ni!

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties

I apologize for the lack of posting lately. There's been a perfect storm of legal writing and exam studying combined with severe technical difficulties. Hopefully, I should have some of this resolved by week after next.



Maybe.

You see, the problem is I do my blogging on my desktop computer which is, unfortunately, reaching the end of its life. To keep from losing it entirely before I can ready a replacement, I'll be doing almost everything off of my laptop. So please understand that for a while after this post, my blog posts will lack pics (no image editing software on the lap) and may be a bit less complex than some of my previous blog posts.

However, I'll try to blog a bit more to make up for it.

Info on the contest, entry E-mail link and list of titles in the package will be made public March 14th. Since my Top 5 may not be to everyone's liking, there will be a special bonus that I'm sure will make the contest appealing to more folks.

What will that be? Eh, you'll have to wait and see! (Yup, I'm a terrible tease.)

Bye-ni!

Update and Poll

Hello everyone! I have returned from a combination of winter break laziness and first week back at law school mental breakdown! Richard J. here to try to get things going again on this blog. (Wow, I have GOT to stop doing this whole disappearing thing!)

Anyway, let me explain myself. At first I was on break. . . .



Oh the joy of sleeping in late, eating home-cooked meals I didn't have to cook myself and just being lazy in general. I played games and watched anime and read manga and relaxed HARD. I spent lots of time with my family, talking about all kinds of things both serious and light-hearted. I helped clean up a building (urgh) and cleaned a little in my room (yah!) and then I just sort of went into hibernation for the last week of break.

Seriously, I basically did nothing for the last week but eat and sleep.

It was bliss. Of course, I meant to do some blog posting too but, well, like I said I got pretty lazy.

Then, my winter break ended.



I figured I was relaxed enough to be ready to deal with the rigors of law school once again. So I drove up, unpacked and got ready for the start of a new term.

Sure, I was a bit nervous because I still didn't have some of my books (slow delivery is slow) but I wasn't too worried. I mean, I've done this sort of thing before. Last term wasn't so bad in the end. I even did pretty darn good on my finals! (High Bs and an A.)

But then classes started.

I wasn't mentally prepared after all.



Yeah, it was kinda like that.

I didn't freak out in class or anything but my stress levels shot through the roof. I started drinking to mellow out. A bottle of wine was gone in less than a week and I usually drink so little and so slowly that a bottle of wine lasts nearly a full month.

Obviously, I was a bit nervous.

Then things started to pull together as the week went on.



My books came in, my family helped me to get one of them from a special "first come, first served" deal after finding out the one I ordered was wrong and they even came up to visit yesterday.

I'm feeling quite a bit more mellow now about this term. Ah, I think I can manage this after all. Hey, if I could make it through the first term and pull off those grades, then this shouldn't be too much worse, right?

So that's how I came to be in a good enough mental state to start blogging again.

To make it up to everyone for being gone for so long, I'm doing another contest! I want your opinions though! So take some time and do this poll for me.

What Prize Should The Next Context Have?

I'm going to be quite busy this term but I hope to be able to post enough to please ya'll!

Until the next post, please vote in this poll and comment if you want! Future polls will be widgets but I wanted to confine this one to this post to make sure it gets attention.

My plan is to give away some anime and I need to know what method to my madness you'd prefer!

Until next time bloggies!

Bye-ni!

*Edit: I just want to clarify: Yes, I meant "contest" and not "context." I'm not sure if changing the title will foul up the polling so I'm leaving it that way. (Thanks to bal-anime for putting me on notice!)

Merry Christmas in 2010!

I know you'll probably read this late but I just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

This is an important time of year, where people take a moment to hopefully get past the consumer mania and remember family and loved ones. This is a time for couples, for children and for friends! Take a moment and remind someone you care about that they mean a lot to you and your happy to have them in your life. Far too often, we neglect to tell people how we feel about them because we think they already know.

From someone who struggled with severe depression for years: no, they don't know. They believe sometimes but until you make it clear, they don't know and they doubt. So tell your parents you love them or your spouse how glad you are they said yes or your children how special they are or just a random buddy that they can be pretty cool sometimes.

And remember that Santa isn't just a cute girl with blue hair who bring kids toys, she's also a symbol of humanity's collective ability to suppress the worst parts of ourselves to bring joy to others. Santa is a symbol of our ability to be selfless. Don't focus on the buying or the getting; the season is all about the giving.

Also, forget about that image of a jolly elderly gentleman as Santa. That guy retired a few years back to pursue his mining hobby more seriously (what, you didn't know that was where the coal came from?) His replacement is a lovely and refined young lady.



See?

All last night, Santa went around the world at Mach 100, using her incredible lock picking skills to enter houses and leave gifts. Of course, she's got a lot of helpers too! Her army of elves!

Santa's elves worked for hours that became millenniums last night, just to bring joy the world. It was exhausting work!



Fortunately, good Otaku know to treat Santa's elves with kindness because Santa and her elves are wonderful and sweet!

Also, Santa has been known on occasion to, when sufficiently angered, unleash a horde of living nutcracker soldiers that marsh endlessly and fire armor piercing candy canes.

Some still live today who witnessed the Great North Pole Civil War wherein the previous Santa launched a dashing counter-offensive against an entire squadron of Reindeer equipped with heat-seeking eggnog rockets with just himself, 3 nutcracker soldiers and a ninja. (Needless to say, Santa won that fight but the mysterious Mr. X continues to battle to turn Christmas into X-mas! Fight him wherever you can!)

Santa fights to keep Christmas as more than just a day where the retail stores bask in the glorious profits that make it possible to keep millions employed and feeding their children. Santa fights to make sure everyone remembers Christmas is really about giving and bringing happiness and acceptance to all of humanity, regardless of religion or anything. Only a kind heart is needed to enjoy the special happiness of giving to make other's happy!

Though the getting can be pretty sweet too.



I got the first set of G-Gundam! Did you get anime too? If you did, please post about it!

If not, is there something you'd like to share about Christmas in 2010? A happy moment with someone important to you? A special gift? Please post if you want to.

Remember, the joy is in giving and spending time with those you love but most of all, it's in spreading the happiness inside you to all the good people of this world!



Bye-ni!

Sustain the Industry Video! First Vid EVER!

Okay, now that midterms are over (hurrah!) I'm back to hopefully entertain you here at Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover! I'll post several things to make up for the long drought but up first is my first forray into YouTube land!



Yes, I decided to make a Sustain the Industry video like I talked about before and try to get in on Robert's special deal before it was too late. I actually planned to do this a while back but, well, midterms, studying, activities and general malaise kept me from getting to it.

Better late than never, yes?

I'd love to hear your comments about this video. Do you think I did an okay job? What did you like or dislike? Did I go way over the top with Windows Movie Maker?

Well, short post is short. Let me know if you'd like to see more videos on this blog from me.

Bye-ni!

Need a Replacement Photo Host.

Hey everyone! Richard J. here to navigate the blogosphere with all the care of a drunken Congressman a stimulus bender! Viva la spending other people's money!

After having a second issue with Photobucket, I've decided that I really should just avoid the irritation of dealing with them getting worked up over content. So, for the sake of ease of use on this blog for future reviewing or posting about anime that might be a tad ecchi, I need a new place to host photos so I won't have to deal with images being removed for violating idiotic terms of use!



Really, even drawings are a problem? What the heck is this world coming to?

Anyway, if I'm going to be able to show the cover for the DVD of Kanokon volume 1, I've got to get different account.

So can anyone help me out here? Let me know if you have any good suggestions!

Bye-ni!

Blog Update: My Time Management Skills Suck!

Hello everyone! Despite how it may have seemed, I am actually alive and kicking. I just have the worst time management skills of all time. My ability to to schedule and to keep a schedule is terrible.

Here I am at law school and half the time I don't even do all my reading and such for class because I can't seem to make myself keep to a schedule. Sadly, this is a life long problem and it will probably never improve. Well, maybe I'll get better when I join the military. A JAG officer probably needs to be disciplined right?

Anyway, today I make a vow to you my followers (and I'm grateful to all of you new followers!) and that vow is that I will try to maintain at least a 2-3 blog posts per month average from here on out. I'm actually a bit disgusted with myself for letting this blog lay fallow for so long. So I'm going to try and get my act together from here on out.

Now, lets talk about something cool that's going on in the anime fandom world!

Robert Brown of the Anime Corner Store, to promote the recent fan movement to "Sustain the Industry," is offering a $25 merchandise coupon for customers who put up their vids and show they bought from RACS. Details here.

Can I just say, I admire the person who came up with this idea of promoting the industry. It's a true act of positive effort to improve the rather bad situation anime fandom is in. (And the more gets sold, the easier it is to justify the costs of an English dub!)



If any of you have bought from RACS recently or plan to buy from them in the near future, you might want to take advantage of this. (Who knows what videos might show up.)

By the way, a minor update since I'd previously mentioned I'd be writing a review for Kanokon for ANN and for the stream of Strike Witches season 2. Theron Martin decided he did want to review the first volume and he has obvious seniority, so my review got rejected. (Sad panda.) However, I'll be writing reviews for the next volumes when they finally get out. In the case of Strike Witches season 2's streaming, as it turns out I can't review both that and the DVD release. So, in order to be able to review the English dub for season 2 as well as season 1, I've opted to wait.

In the near future, I'm going to try and find out about some other series I'd like to review that are coming out soon. (Hopefully, Zac will be receptive.)

Last thing, on a personal note, my family's income has dropped significantly and things are tight. Still, we've got a little discretionary funds so I'm still able to buy anime/manga on occasion. I've just got to keep my electrical bill low, not have cable/satelite and take advantage of every damn coupon I can. I can't even eat out more than about once a month. Basically, if we could just sell some property so we're not being strangled by the taxes (they doubled when the economy tanked, thanks very much government leeches!) and at the right price, we might actually be okay even with no one really working right now.

Anyway, law school isn't quite as hard as people made it out the be (or I'm not working as hard as I should) and I'm feeling surprisingly good about my life right now. Not great, since I have no real social life but okay.

All things considered, just being alive is something worth grateful for right now.



Bye-ni!

Embarrased About Being Gone So Long.

Richard J. has returned, now with 3 times the stain fighting power!

After a whole lot of soul-searching and talking with my family, plus a bit of number-crunching, I've decided that my life is still worth living (more or less) and that my plans for the future can still work out. Although things will likely be much harder unless the real-estate market picks up.

Still, I feel like I've got to move on with my life and stop letting myself be held down by my family's issues. I can't fix them and they aren't something I should have to take responsibility for.

So I'm back. I feel a little embarrassed and nervous about how long I've been away from this blog but I hope you'll once again join me.



My next post will be made from the city of Macon in the state of Georgia, one of the 50 great United States. I'll be attending law school starting next week (mandatory orientation) so I don't know exactly what my posting schedule will be.

However, you can rest assured I will post. I've decided to live my life as well as I can from here on out. I intend to get my legal education, join the military as a JAG officer and then stay in until I qualify for full benefits. (Hopefully as a full Colonel or a General. Quite possible for a JAG officer.)

In between, I hope to implement certain plans involving anime and money that would likely never make me a dime but would make some people happy. My plans require both money and legal paperwork plus a slight faith in fandom. Who knows if I can ever take the initiative and make my desires a reality but no one profits from never trying. (Okay, some people do, but I don't want to be a serf to the federal government.)

In the next few weeks, I'm going to learn whether or not I'm really cut out for the legal profession. Hopefully, I'll make some friends and enjoy my 3 years of legal learning. Otherwise, hey, I can always cash in my chips and try another table. I don't really care what I do as long as I do something that gets me the future I desire.

Bye-ni!

On Break To Be Miserable.

I hate to do this but I need to take a short break, a few days, to try and improve my mood. Unfortunately, today my family got pretty much the worst news possible short of people dying.

Basically, the main income earner of my family will soon be completely out of work and possibly in prison. What for? Essentially, for taking on a client that turned out to be a con-artist and trying to collection on a debt while doing it. Got to love our "justice" system.

Well, things are very bad right now and my family is going to lose a lot. We're desperately trying to see what property we have that can be sold and if there are any other resources we can tap. In other words, we're about to drop a few rungs on the taxable income ladder.

I need a few days to sort myself out. I'm trying not to be completely depressed or outraged because depression and rage are pretty useless in a situation like this. Right now, I've got a lot on my plate. I'm entering law school soon on nothing but loans and moving away from home again, I've got to try and figure out how to pay those loans off once I graduate (military service seems like a good idea right now) and frankly I'm just exhausted. I've tried to keep myself busy here and otherwise but I'm just tired.

One of the very few bright spots in my life right now is that Zac over at ANN accepted my offer to write reviews for Kanokon and he also offered me the chance to review the stream of Strike Witches season 2 after a few more episodes air. So, at the very least, I may have a small bit of income from that.



I feel very blessed and lucky to be able to write for a professional website like ANN but I also want to keep doing this blog. Tomorrow I'm going to be going to where my future law school is to try and determine how to move my stuff to where I'll be staying. It's going to be a long but hopefully a happy day. Maybe I'll feel like posting more on Hetalia: Axis Powers tomorrow night! (By the way, today was France and they picked the awesome J. Michael Tatum to voice him. He's great.)

I just hope I'll feel a bit better sooner rather than later. I've been clinically depressed in the past and I don't want to go back there.

This experience has taught me a valuable lesson though. Possessions are nice but in the end, it's the people you really need. Even if my family loses everything and becomes homeless (very possible, we were almost there once before) I hope that I can keep that truth close to my heart.

Bye for now my followers and friends. I will try to pull myself together soon.

Hetalia's England Revealed: Scott Freeman.

Cavort with a unicorn while listening to the clip here!



Another day, another English dub update from Funimation regarding Hetalia: Axis Powers! Today it is England and I am late, due to worry over family problems and sheer ill feeling.

I'm still not as knowledgeable about this series as some so remember to take any opinions I give with a grain of salt! (Indian sea salt naturally.)

No Hetalia World Buffet today, just a great clip for inducing laughter.

So lets dig into some strange English cuisine and talk about Scott Freeman, the English VA chosen to voice England! First, let me say that although he's done a fair bit of work, I've never really noticed him before. Where have they been hiding this guy? An excellent accent that gives off an English professor sort of feel. (I was worried they might got for something a bit too Cockney.)

Scott Freeman's England comes across as very friendly and fun. This clip is so far my favorite as it is just plain hysterical in my opinion. There's just something about listening to a nation that sounds so normal and professorial suddenly start practically melting into a moe fit as mystical creatures appear. It doesn't look like Scott Freeman's had any major roles before England and my only question is why. He handled this clip wonderfully.

I like how this clip references the considerable depth and scale of English folklore. There are so many fascinating creatures of myth that were first talked about in England, or perhaps when speaking of such things we should use the more fanciful name of Albion for the nation? It's just so much fun to see a series make that cultural trait a major part of the character. For some odd reason, this bit of history is frequently ignored in favor of English characters being depicted as somehow snobbishly above such beliefs.

The clip also manages to make a quick reference to England's historical habit of fighting with people a lot. Colonial expansion was at one point a very major part of England's foreign policy. It would in fact be fair to say that it was the sum of their foreign policy for a time, leading to both unfortunate tragedies and wonderful boons. (The birth of America is a boon in my mind, regardless of what some delusional pundits will say.) Of course, England had plenty of problems at home too with internal disputes and such but they've kept going. England's had a rather colorful history and it's interesting to see the nation depicted here in a light-hearted way. I very much enjoyed it.

The accent choice was very fitting, very acceptable. Very English. My opinion is that once again Funimation has tapped a name we haven't really heard much of before to shine like a newly discovered jewel. Two thumbs up!

Now, tell me what you think of followers of mine! Did you like Scott Freeman's England? Did you like seeing legendary creatures? Did you like the brief moment with another nation? Did you comment yet?

After this week, my family's very unfortunate problems will be resolved one way or the other (pray for our salvation please) so hopefully I'll be in a better emotional state soon. That way, I can blog more and in a more timely fashion. I'm trying to stay calm and sane but really I just want to go lie down and sleep for a month or maybe just cry for a while. I can't though because I'm supposed to be the strong one.

Sorry to mix a personal message in with this Hetalia: Axis Powers English dub commentary but I'm just a bit worn out. I just hope things will turn out well for my family as if things go badly, it's going to be very bad. Like "oh look, we have no steady income and we're having to sell everything to pay our taxes and bills" kind of bad.



England does not approve of cruelty to pixies.

Bye-ni!

4th of July Message and Strike Witches Contest Winners!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

I hope that you've taken time today to remember the sacrifices made throughout the history of this country, the lives lost on all sides, so that you can have the freedom to pursue your own happiness without fear of your life or liberty being taken from you by the whims of aristocracy. Please know that what we were born with is not guaranteed. Only by recognizing threats to our liberty and defying those who would impose their will upon us, can we as a nation retain our sacred rights. The wisdom of our founders should help to guide us.

Soldiers, thinkers, the wealthy and the poor, we have always tried to come together in times of crisis and suffering to bring a light of liberty into the darkness. It is my most solemn wish that we may see this nation through it's current time of troubles.

May we shepherd the state toward a rebirth and bring our nation back to a time of prosperity, liberty and true hope.

Thank you for your support of this blog. There are many places in this world where having a free-thinking blog leads to prison. Remember the simple truth that you were created with the right of free-will, the right to choose a path of your own making and to be secure in your possessions and body against the undue whims of rulers. I ask that you take a moment to think of the liberty you were born with and remember that many people have died in our history, men and women, educated and not, wealthy and not, of all ages, creeds and races, that you might have your inalienable rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

And that is all the seriousness from me you'll have to deal with for a while! (I hope.)

Today being the 4th of July, we've reached the end of my Strike Witches contest! The names of all the contestants were written down on pieces of paper and mixed thoroughly in a box before being drawn, so that the winners would be chosen at random! The date of the contest's end was intentional though, as the overall goal of the witches in the series is to defeat the Neuroi and liberate the conquered European lands.

Will they succeed? Will you enjoy finding out? Does the show deserve the criticism it gets? It's time for 3 lucky winners to learn those answers!

Those winners are:

Dana Staab

Matt Ryan

Jacob Gehman

Thanks to everyone who participated. Although you did not win your own set of Strike Witches, I hope you will consider buying this series for your collection and that you will continue to support this blog! Perhaps my next contest will be luckier for you.

For now, Bye-ni!

Resting But Thinking. . . . SW Contest Update

Hello everyone! Richard J. here (no, really, I'm alive!) While my will to blog has been poorly affected lately, it's not like I haven't been thinking about what to do here.

Articles, reviews and general silliness on my part have all been planned. I'm hoping to also catch up on some things I'd planned to do in the past and just plain forgot to do. Basically, I'm going to try and start getting my act together more over the next few days. However, for a little bit longer, I'm going to try and rest myself up.



For a while now, I've really been feeling down and worn. Sometimes I felt up and worked on this blog or posted on Mania.com's AoD forum or ANN or Funi's blog. Mostly, I've been really wasting time doing nothing of great significance. Well, I am taking swimming lessons but those are more tiring and a bit stressful. (I've been playing mindless games and over-eating a lot. Depression repression.)

Well, if I don't start doing something I'm going to go completely nuts. The heat is terrible, the family finances are barely holding up and a family member is in serious trouble that just won't go away. It's just so nice when people are punished for obeying the law and doing their job. (Yes, I'm quite bitter and damned angry. The unfairness is disgusting.)

I realize though that nothing is going to change unless I choose to act. It's a small step but I can at least re-organize my room and do more on this blog right? Those aren't Herculean tasks right?

So look forward to more from me. I'm still here.

And so is my contest! (Ooh, mood whiplash!)

When Strike Witches was licensed, I felt a personal call to anime fan duty. I openly supported the show because I thought it sounded interesting and vastly different from many of the shows being licensed at the time and, in a twist worthy of a pretzel, an off-hand comment about ANN's review staff not being capable of a review that didn't insult Strike Witches' fans, I received an offer from Zac of ANN to review it.

Now, for the price of FREE, you can own this series that I thought was pretty damn fun. Go to this blog post for details, click here for my ANN review or go ahead and enter the contest here! (Just give me your name and address please!)

Every entry counts! Even though you can't all win, you're all very important to me for having entered!

Bye-ni!

Fan Love Vs. Fan Hate.

Watashi no namae wa Richard J. and this is Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover, the place to spend a few precious moments of your life knowing you're somehow making the world a better place for English dub preferring anime fans! Today I bring you a bit of my thoughts on two competing aspects of fandom. Fan Love and Fan Hate!



I apologize in advance for the gratuitous use of TV Tropes linkies. (It's their fault for being so infinitely linkable. And addictive.) Please note, this is not intended as a rant.

So lets begin with a basic premise on my part: I believe that fandoms live and die by their willingness to adapt to and absorb new fans. Most fans lean toward the casual side of things and, over time, many fans who start young will age and leave the fandom entirely. Therefore, new fans must be found and encouraged to join the fandom community (or at least indulge privately) to maintain the fandom's overall numbers. (Any organization that suffers numerical attrition over time will eventually cease to exist right?)

Now let's talk about Fan Love and Fan Hate in detail.



Fan Love is something that's actually rarer than you might think. Some fans are very easy to please and make squee in joy. These fans are generally warm, friendly and typically a bit more open-minded. Anime fans of this type will gush over a series in a way that almost makes you wonder if they've had a bit too much sugar while you wish at the same time that you could be that happy while watching the same series. (Or any series if you're jaded enough.)

These fans are generally newer fans, not yet driven to cynicism by the constant flame wars and debates. (Subs vs. Dubs, lolicon and "is X genre ruining anime forever!" threads can kill these precious fans' very souls.) These fans get blasted by the Internet backdraft caused by both fans who treat anime far too seriously and fans who are filled with Fan Hate. Newer fans especially can feel very intimidated by the ostensible authority or power of older and "wiser" fans who more or less tell them they are morons for liking a show/genre/trope that is "obviously cliche" and "terrible."

Fan Love dies as a direct result of intimidation and massive pressure to stop enjoying something. Further, fans who like shows that are more niche or just different from the acceptable mainstream often encounter the problematic phenomena of loving a show that has a Love It or Hate It nature. In this scenario, a new fan filled with anime love finds a show and thinks "wow, I love this! I want to share my feelings with other fans because this show is just so awesome!" They go onto a forum or even start a face-to-face conversation with another fan they know. The result: They learn that the show is very polarizing and are assaulted with Fan Hate for loving the wrong thing. This is especially likely with certain types of shows.

Do you love guilty pleasure fanservice series? You're a pervert! Do Yaoi/Yuri tales make you squee? You're an annoying fangirl/fanboy! (This happens especially with Yaoi fans due to the larger fanbase spawning more bad fan examples.) Did that show with cute young girls make you smile? Prepare to be called a pedo! The scenarios are endless and new fans are often not prepared to deal with the sheer blast of Fan Hate they can get.

Finally, Fan Love sometimes results in fans actually liking an anime or a character in an anime for the same reasons as the Japanese. This might sound like a good thing but sometimes it turns out that other fans from your culture/ethnicity/whatever hate that anime or character because of those Japanese loved aspects. (The Trope Site's Anime/Manga examples include several characters I personally adore.)

Fan love can go way too far and become obsession as well, resulting in the more serious Japanese version of the Otaku rather than the "another word for anime fan" version used in the USA. Fan Love can occasionally, especially if the fan has low self-esteem and a high degree of Fan Hate exposure, result in becoming a hikkomori. Yes, you really can send some people into deep depression and isolation just by being mean to them. Straws and camel's backs, you feel me?

Despite all the issues, Fan Love is a necessary part of the fandom. Without fans who gush over a series or just promote the hell out of it, newbies can feel very alone in their likes and dislikes. It's fairly easy to go to any anime forum and find Shonen fans but you're going to have a much harder time with some genres. Specific series can be hard to find fellow fans of too if they are niche, old or just different. Naruto fans are everywhere buy how many Koi Kaze fans do you know?

Fan Love provides an endless source of new possibilities for fans, giving fans a chance to re-consider a show that reviewers have trashed or re-discover their own Fan Love. Sometimes fans become jaded by repetition or just get bored with their favorite genre/shows and Fan Love brings them back in. Fan Love can also provide a new perspective if everyone else is complaining about shows they've never even seen before or English dubs they've never heard.

Fan Love is good and needed for anime fandom. I Believe that Fan Love is lacking right now and that fans have become very cynical and often quite harsh in their way of thinking. There's so much doom-saying and bad-mouthing right now, with many fans often posting about how the latest anime season is "the worst ever" every time a new season starts. How does this make fans who like the new shows or old shows being slammed feel? Doesn't the overly negative nature of Fan Hate make fans feel unwelcome in the fanbase? If those fans are new fans or fans who buy a lot, wouldn't the negativity hurt the financial future of anime?

I believe it can and does. So let's talk about Fan Hate, what it is and how to push back with love! (Oh boy, I sound like a motivational poster or something.)



First, Fan Hate often flows from Hatedoms. Essentially, the number of fans who despise something grows enough to coalesce into a faction which attempts to purge all who disagree with them through a combination of constant complaints and sheer vitriol. Have you ever had the experience, as I have, of a Sub Elite responding to your "I love this dub" comment with "you're a racist because you don't watch in Japanese?" This is the kind of insanity that I think of as Fan Hate. It's nonsensical and extreme.

TV Tropes has a nice list of specific forms of Fan Hate and irrational stupidity here. Read it and then go on a forum, try to catch all the types! Fun for fans of all ages, flame protection recommended. (No, seriously, read that list.)

For those who don't won't to read the list, I'll quickly go through a few favorites from it. One type of Fan Hate I've seen a lot comes from the Anne Titlement type of fan. This fan complains about how their kind of shows aren't being made and another kind of show sucks because it's not what they like or want to see made. (Every moe fan should recognize this kind of fan.) The anime fandom is crawling with this variety of Fan Hate, which involves berating fans for being fans. A subset of this type of hater is The Barney Execution Squad. This is when a fan hates a show that clearly isn't intended for them at all! It makes little sense for a fan of serious seinen drama to rail against the evils of fluffy shoujo comedy right? Not all anime is intended for all anime fans.

On that note, Hentai is not for children so don't complain about tentacles being inappropriate for children under 3 to play with due to being a choking hazard. (Warning label joke or horrible statement? Discuss.)

Another Fan Hate spewer is The Willfully Blind: this group of fans refuse to recognize potential strengths of a work or anything positive about it. Fan Hate from this type will accentuate the negative beyond what might be considered rational, going as far as to outright ignore anything else in the anime. You might not recognize this kind of Fan Hate at first because sometimes the hater has a point. However, just because they hate the Tsundere female lead doesn't necessarily mean the show is all about women beating on weak men. Perhaps the series even directly addresses the very issues the blind hater is pissed about but they refuse to acknowledge it. The Willfully Blind can also be found dispensing Fan Love but the Fan Hate form tends to be tenacious and damaging to fandom. Expect this guy to show up frequently on threads and remind everyone how much he HATES THIS SHOW/GENRE/TROPE.

The most extreme form of Fan Hate comes from The Crusader. This fan hates something so much they actively seek to attack it at EVERY POSSIBLE OPPORTUNITY. These fans are obsessed and will point out why they hate something constantly, often derailing threads over it. A frequent result of this actor's efforts are Fan Hate heavy mini-flame wars that break out in threads that originally had little or nothing to do with the subject being vigorously debated. (A poster constantly mentioning how they hate something in most or all of the posts they make is prone to Fan Hate of this kind.)

The Fan Dumb in Fan Hate is nearly limitless. Having a divergent opinion in and of itself can trigger reprisals, even in a Fan Love heavy fandom. This is when consensus reality meets fandom in a horrible event called Fandom Heresy.

Anime fans consider certain aspects of fandom to be universal and you will get Fan Hate blasted if you disagree! Don't like Cowboy Bebop? Do you think Miyazaki is crap? Depending on the site, do you like English dubs, dislike fansubs or think lolicon hentai is free speech? (Okay, I admit, that last one is pushing it for most fandoms period but drawings [u]are not[/u] the same as pictures of real children.) If your opinion isn't the same as the majority, you might be in for a Fan Hate pile-up. The problem here comes from having an opinion that tends to be extremely rare period. Fans aren't too likely to hit this one, unless it's the classic and can we please stop fighting over it Sub vs. Dub debate.

Fan Hate can push new fans away, make old fans weary and just make the entire experience of joining a fandom more trouble than it's worth. I can honestly say that I got lucky and joined the anime fandom at just the right time and ended up feeling quite welcome. Nowadays, the Fan Hate is so severe and fans so focused on what's streaming now (legally or illegally) that I often wonder if I'd have even become a fan if I were getting into anime in recent times.

Fan Hate punishes anime fans for being fans. It makes a fan, who may already feel unwelcome in other fandoms due to liking anime, feel even more unwelcome. Fan Hate is unnecessary too. A negative opinion doesn't have to be cruel or hateful!

Example, a Dub Fan posts "I really loved Haruhi's VA! Wendee Lee was just great!"

Reactions: -Sub Fan: "Actually I prefer the Japanese seiyu Aya Hirano over Wendee Lee. Haruhi's just a cool girl in any language though."
-Sub Elite: "Wendee Lee sucks, she can't act at all. No dubber can. Aya Hirano rules!"
-Crusader: "Moe blog Mikuru ruins the show. I hate moe. I want it banned."
-Anne Titlement: "Why couldn't Kyoto Animation have made more Full Metal Panic instead of that crap show!"
-The Willfully Blind: "That Haruhi show is terrible! The episodes are out of order! That's just stupid."

One of these reactions is negative but not an example of Fan Hate. Pretty obvious right?

Fan Hate can have beneficial effects when it's toned down a notch or three. It can encourage variety in a fandom and it can help people avoid shows they wouldn't like anyway, though due to The Willfully Blind and people complaining about shows they don't watch that can also backfire. Fan Hate can discourage some of fandoms negative aspects by constantly reminding fans to avoid sterotypical/bad behaviors and to think outside the genre. Still, Fan Hate tends to be a destructive force that makes new fans feel unwelcome and old fans cynical.

Counter Fan Hate with Fan Love! Don't be afraid to gush about a series you love and try to be polite and inviting with all fans, especially new ones. Treat questions and comments with respect, even if you disagree. Remember, having a different opinion doesn't make the other person wrong, it just makes them different. (Yes, even if you really can't grasp how they can feel that way.)

Fan Love builds the fandom and Fan Hate tears it down. Remember and go in peace.

Bye-ni!

Personal: Okay, I'm Hopeful About Non-Anime Troubles. . .

First, let me inform everyone that I have a much more positive opinion of the situation my family is in. The situation hasn't actually changed. I wish it would but right now, the potential for total screwage is high.

I'm feeling hopeful because A) I'm a masochist when it comes to hope and B) I just can't accept that my family could be screwed for literally doing nothing illegal, immoral or even unusual. I won't go into details but this situation is quite literally due to abject and wanton mistake-making. My family could lose a lot over a misunderstanding. (I mean, crap, even the con-artist liar who put us in the situation says we're not a party to his dirty deeds. Trust me, that's like a biblical miracle.)

So, basically, I choose to think happy thoughts.

I just wish Funimation were providing me more of them.

That segue, poor as it was, brings me to point numero two: While I plan to continue to buy from Funimation, their recent choice to license Baka and Test as well as Dance in the Vampire Bund has been severely tainted by their further choice to censor the later.

Now, I'm not going to go through some long rant about censorship and why it's wrong or how I blame the abuse of the police powers of government by all sides for this paranoia-induced madness or that I think naked loli Mina is fine. Frankly, I'm sure anyone here who has read anything I've ever posted on the subject of lolicon knows where I come down on censorship issues. (For those that missed the epically long posts that probably made me sound "creepy," I am a strong supporter of freedom of speech.)

Instead, let me bring up a financial point, since people love to hit me with them when I talk about English dubs (ignoring that I rarely if ever question the financial wisdom of not doing them as a short-term issue.) A poll on Mania.com's Anime on DVD section seems to shows that a LOT of people are saying "no thanks" to censored DVDs.

That includes me. I might actually buy sub-only Hell Girl because I LOVED in Japanese before I got to love it even more in English. Very rare for me.

My question to all is this: how many censored anime, especially ones that are CLEARLY aimed at audiences that will not appreciate the censoring, actually do well in terms of sales? Isn't this rather like shooting yourself in the foot before starting a race? While I can appreciate that we live in an atmosphere of paranoia, I fail to see why this particular series' content is suddenly too much. I mean, the manga comes out unedited and no one's freaked out yet.

Frankly, I feel rather like the judge in a recent case involving religious banners in school. A hypothetical student isn't enough to make a case for taking down things that have been hanging for over a decade and are quotes from founding documents. No one has actually objected here. Funimation is preemptively acting.

You know, proving the fansubbers RIGHT isn't a good way to beat them. The claim that official releases censor anime is classic and ubiquitous. Now it will receive a true example. Since Funimation always does an English dub, (though can sub-only be far behind now that they're breaking the biggest rule of all?) they're vastly increasing the chances of losing money on this series.

Will some buy it despite the censorship? Sure, some people will always buy. The question isn't will they buy, the question is, how many will think twice before buying again? How many will hesitate to buy other releases because they don't want to support a company that censors?

I can tell you right now, in light of what happened with Hell Girl, I've decided not to buy any future releases until I know that any additional seasons are licensed and dubbed as well. I was already upset to lose out on more Big Windup. I'll finish what I've already started and I'll give whole series releases a chance but no more of this buying in hopes of getting more licensed stuff. I've been burned a lot on that.

Plus, from here on out, I effectively have no budget for buying anime anyway. Yup, I'm officially in Penny-Hoarding Mode Mark II! My family may lose all income so my anime budget has officially been re-classified as my food budget pending future events. That is the one benefit of being potentially totally screwed: you can protest an anime company's decision by not buying their products without any remorse because you can't afford them anymore anyway!

You know, I think I want to cry about that but I'm too frustrated and tired. The amazing thing about having so many bad things happen over the years to my family is this just feels NORMAL to me. It literally felt strange to me earlier in the year when I felt happy about how my life was going.

It's possible my family's situation could be resolved happily around the end of the month so perhaps I'll be able to feel that odd sensation of being content again. If any of you are religious folks like me (yes, it is possible to be religious AND an anime fan who thinks lolicon is protected by the 1st Amendment, I just apply my principles uniformly rather than being a hypocrite like some false prophet types out there) and you feel okay with praying for a stranger, please pray for my family, especially my father. If justice isn't dead and buried, this mess should be resolved in our favor.

If not, we can largely kiss our normal lives goodbye.

Bye-ni. I'm not giving in yet!

Personal: I May Be Out

Well, after I rallied my faith for that last post, things just went straight down the toliet for me today. First the disappointing Hell Girl license by Section23 and then, literally minutes after I finished venting a bit about it, I found out that my family is in serious trouble.

I have a warning for everyone out there: do not ever do any kind of work for, associate with or in any way that involves money connect yourself with dishonest people. Thanks to a con artist, my family may now end up in complete financial and social ruin.

Normally I wouldn't share something this personal with anyone even in such a vague way but, hey, if everything is FUBAR anyway, why not? Since the situation is ongoing, maybe it will get resolved in a way that doesn't destroy my family completely but for right now, the government is threatening us and likely our business is just history.

So, while I still intend to try and stay a part of fandom, I may be forced to leave it due to not having any extra money for it. I may have to give up on law school but I've decided to fight for that as much as I can.

Just don't trust people that don't deserve to be trusted my friends. It's not worth trusting anyway.

Bye-ni. I hope this won't be the last time.

Thanks and Dub Fears!

Hello everyone! This is Richard J., blog navigator, English dub lover and a sufferer of Anime Bipolar Disorder (ABD for short.) This blog has done what I never believed possible when I started it. It has broken double digits for followers!

HUGE THANK YOU!

Uh, for my female readers, forgive the Hazuki service. I really couldn't resist using this image as part of my thank you. (Freud would likely have quite the explanation for this.)

Anyway, I'm very grateful to you my readers! Your faith in me and in English dubs moves my heart.

Now, onto some business. You've probably wondered why I haven't been ranting or at least mentioning sub-only decisions and new companies making them. The reason is I really do want to try and keep this blog somewhat positive/happy.

Still, something does need to be said about NIS America getting into anime licensing. (Old news is new to someone right?)

I was going to post a really insulting pic but instead, let me talk instead more about my fears and also my love for a bit. (This will be a LONG POST.)



This is what I fear is happening.

Sub fans get what they want but for dub fans, we get, at best, only a fraction of what we want. I'm not really all that affected by the NIS licenses as I've not seen the shows but for fans who prefer English dubs and watched their licenses in Japanese, they're left in a bad place. Either they buy now and hope the get the chance to double-dip for a dub later, as some Dokuro-chan fans will soon be able to or they just don't buy it at all.

The sub fans and fans without a strong preference don't have to worry much. They have legal DVDs and subs. For the fan who prefers English dubs however, the options are spend now and hope you can spend again in the future on what you REALLY want, don't buy it at all and risk never getting a dub made in the future or just buy it as is and learn to live with not actually getting what you want out of the release.

The anime market without English dub fans is undeniably smaller and potentially less healthy. How do the companies hope to grow or even thrive on shows that have small audiences and lack a key marketing tool, the English dub, the only part of the release that can't easily be obtained online for free! The more mainstream audience is largely cut from the equation in this model. Plus price-wise, subs are beginning to go up in the cost to fans! Bandai Entertainment already charges more for Hayate and several other shows than Section23/Sentai/Fragment of ADV does for whole sets. NIS America also plans to charge "premium" prices: Toradora is planned to come out at $60 for a half season set if I have my info correct, approximately the same as the high range for Funimation's half-season sets. Many of Funi's sets come out for less though, they have several in the $30-45 range and a very few have started out at less. I think we all know that everything they release is bilingual.

Anime in Japan is also becoming more mainstream-oriented, though moe-haters won't admit it. Anime based on successful novel series, games and such are increasingly becoming the norm. This has the potential to greatly increase licensing costs.

I'm not angry at NIS America. I hope they'll be successful and start dubbing. At the same time, I'm not going to praise them for a job that to me and some dub fans is only half-finished. Fans talk up a good line for LE items but they've already failed in R1. The biggest problem the market has right now is the recession, the second is illegal piracy with both fansubs but most especially bootlegs and third is a failure to recognize who their real consumers are. We English dub fans are the real buyers.

We are not the enemy to sub fans. We are their allies! We want anime to be licensed, to be dubbed and to succeed!

I love English dubs.

I know, you're thinking "well duh" but when I say I love them I really mean something special by it. Ever since I was a about 4 or 5, I've watched cartoons. All of my life, I've loved the medium and never once did I think I should "grow up" or whatever. The voice of an animated character IS that character to me. When I watch an anime in English, I connect with that character.

I share her struggles, I hope for his success and I fall in love with them all.

It doesn't matter to me if it's a mecha drama like Evangelion, a harem show like Shuffle, a mind-bender like Noein, a girls with guns drama like Noir or the truly epic magical girl show that redefined the genre like Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. When I listen to an English dub, I fall in love with the characters and for however long that show lasts, I live alongside them on their adventure, sometimes wishing it would never end.

I can look at a show objectively after I've watched it but while I'm watching it, I try to just love the characters. To do that properly, I need an English dub.

So I can't hate the corporations for trying to do what they mistakenly believe is the profitable/right choice. I don't hate sub fans for having a completely different viewpoint than I do.

But I won't buy sub-only DVDs. I love English dubs. Without that special spark, I just don't enjoy a series as much as I could.



This is how I feel. I love English dubs. I want to fall in love with the shows NIS America has licensed, I want to love Sentai's line-up and Bandai's series too! I want to love Nozomi's and others as well but to do it, I need my English dubs!

My heart belongs to the VAs who bring the characters to life for me as a person who lives and thinks in English! If I were Japanese, I'd love the Japanese, if I were French, I'd want a French dub. I want to share my love with NIS America but they have to show me the love first.

Hope I didn't freak anyone out with this one. ;) Also, thank you to Cliff who inspired a few parts of this post.

Bye-ni!