I previously mentioned how much i enjoy Anime. Not only because it differentiates from most other cartoons.
What i mean is that Disney is seemingly always stuck in a rut. Take a look at the stories in the various comics and its always the same. Something happens, Donald gets an idea and the outcome is either him beating the odds and getting a true happy ending or as in most of the case, it ends with him getting the short end of the straw and looses out. Mickey Mouse stories are again always the same. He gets involved in some mystery he has to solve and its always a happy ending, all that changes is who gets behind bars.
As for Batman, Ironman and other superhero stories from Marvel, DC Comics and other publishers that are starting to make it great on the cinema i have no interest in reading. Not only cause i have seen a fair amount of the cartoons on tv and i personally don’t really like how they draw the characters. Its not that its bad, if it was that then it wouldn’t have been so popular, its more a matter of taste.
For me Anime offers an escape from the more normal ways of telling things and it also offers different stories and a more liberated view to cartoons. What all the above cartoons mainly have in common that anime rarely has (at least the once i have read or watched which is becoming quite the amount these days) is that language barriers are not as strickt. Anime allows for swearing and they don’t mind quite the bloodshed every now and then either, cause it is all for the benefit of the show itself.
I hear so much about all these nutcrackers that want to protect kids from foul language, sex and nudity. While i am fine with shielding them a little for sex, as for nudity, blood and foul language i see no reason to shield them as much. If kids get protected from this then they will learn it elsewhere, and i say WILL cause there is no way to protect them from it and neither is there a reason to do so. What however should be a focal point is educating kids in the usage of these words. Using swearwords as any other word is wrong, but if you manage to wack your own thumb with a hammer i don’t see anything wrong with some loud swearing. If we are mad about a situation, its alright to vent some steam, just don’t direct it at someone. If you are annoyed at someone its alright to be mad at them, just control your anger and be diciplined and try to work it so it falls into a positive spin rather than it continuing in a negative one.
I won’t say that Anime does precisely this all the way, but even for its flaws, i would say that it offers to much good for it to have to be changed into something that in my eyes seems like a butchered version of its original self.
What i am getting to here is for the most part how i really HATE how poorly translations are done from Japanese to English (which are the ones i seen as they seldom come in Norwegian, but they aren’t any better there)
personally i learned to watch the shows in Japanese. I don’t know japanese or anything, but i prefer to watch a subtitle. It fits better with the characters own movements but it also looks right (the only exception i can come up with for this is Avatar: The Last Airbender, but then again that is an american anime so not a true anime)
Secondly, i prefer to watch fansubs. (illegal subtitling done by fans and redistributed on the web) This is because a fansub group usually tend to translate much more accurate and create a better result than a licenced company (and that really gives a pathetic impression) and they release right after the initial air date so it comes out quicker too.
Anime has a soul to me that i haven’t seen in Disney stories made in the last two decades (from the 90s that is) The last good Disney stories i can remember are Duck Tales, and the Don Rosa and Carl Barks stories, they where oldschool and had a genuinely unique characteristic that most new cartoons miss althogether. Even drawing style seem to be that of a slacker in the newer cartoons (Kim Possible being a pretty good example i think)
I will admit that Anime is actually rather simple too. After all if you watch a show you will see that they reuse alot of frames and so it seems cheap. This is all true, but its remember the reason for this. Animation cost where cut low as to keep the cost, but the fans loved the way of telling the story like this and so it became something they decided to keep (although not everyone follows this path of course)
if you are wondering what made me write this, its actually something i just watched. It is a show i actually like, but like so many licensed animes get butchered in translation called Yu-Gi-Oh. Not only wasn’t the entire story present in the first episode, secondly the language was so butchered i am surprised that 5 seasons worth of english translated episoded where actually aired. Thirdly it saddens me to think that there must be a whole lot of idiots out there. Not saying there are, but it sure makes me feel like it.
If it was up to me, Anime would be forbidden to be translated from its original language. Subtitled in a different language is all ok, but no altered sounds anywhere. There would also be no censurship on the language and no cut scenes or altered stories for the sake of “young minds” We underestimate these young minds and take away to much of their joy as it is. Thirdly, there would be no way whatsoever i would allow any company besides its creator and initial publisher/producer to license it abroad. it would be done by fans. The only exception to this is those who would agree to use fanbased help to make the show be as correctly translated (in subtitles) as best as possible.
I am not alone on this. I have a huge group of supporters behind me and i am sick of watching coorporate businesses and overprotective adults trying to protect us from a threat that doesn’t exist. The only thing they should be thinking about is making good products and telling their kid what they want to know while telling them why this and that might or might not be bad so kids can see it but understand fake from real.
