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Ask LadyCat
"Yeehaw! Jester's dead!"
OK, so I had fewer technical questions than I thought. But there are a
bunch of interesting queries this week, so read on!
From Ask Faruc:
Hello!
I just recently started reading animeondvd.com since only recently I've
really had the money to buy DVDs, so I might be asking questions that have
been asked before. I apologize if that's the case! ^_^;;
Anyway, this is what I would like to know:
1) Why exactly WOULD anyone WANT to see Turn-A Gundam on DVD when there are
SOOOOO many better Gundam series from the original Universal Century timeline
that aren't on DVD yet here in the U.S.? (Ok, that one you might not be able
to answer, and I was mostly being obnoxious since I'm a fan of the old-school
Gundam series.)
2) (This one is a real question!) What's the deal with the opening
animation of Trigun being cut??? Is it THAT difficult to keep the one
different scene each opening on the disc if there aren't more than four
episodes per disc???
3) Is there any benefit to getting the Japanese DVDs over the region 1 U.S.
releases? By this let me offer an example. I have Tokyo Babylon on DVD, and it
irritates me that the American credits are shown regardless of whether I watch
it subbed, dubbed, or in raw Japanese. I *HATE* seeing shows I really like
butchered by the American companies that release them here, and almost none of
the American companies do professional, satisfactory jobs in translating,
subbing, and releasing the shows I like here in the U.S. When I buy American
anime DVDs, I ocassionally like to watch them raw just so that I don't have to
see how badly they sometimes mess things up. Are there any reasons I might
want to consider getting the original Japanese DVDs over the U.S. releases and
watching them without subtitles??? Or is Tokyo Babylon just one of the few
where they really messed up??? It is a pretty old DVD.
4) Am I just being too picky? Is it wrong to expect a company that is doing
something for profit and charging me for their product to do what it is for
which they are charging me correctly? Or should I just take the fact that
commercial releases are looking more like fansubs these days up the ass and
squeal like a piggy while I'm at it?
Ok, that last one was a bit sarcastic also... I'm a little bitter about the
fact that DVD is supposed to be a superior media and yet the effort being put
into producing anime DVDs for the U.S. is seeming rather inferior compared to
the effort that even some fansubbers put into making SVHS and VHS masters of
some series.
Anyway, thanks for your time! ^_^
You know (actually, you might not have, but that's OK. :-) ), that you can
look through all my old columns in two different places:
my site and the
archive on this
site
So, on to your questions. I have no idea why they cut those scenes from the
Trigun opening. There could be tons of reasons. The only valid on I can think
of is that those few seconds of footage weren't included in the domestic
licensing package. It makes no sense, but that's the only legitimate excuse
that I can think of. I hadn't heard anything, but if there was an actual
reason that was ever officially announced, let me know.
I don't know that there's a benefit per se to buying region 2
imports. Some people prefer them, as they are getting exactly what the
Japanese anime buying public is getting. The downside for me (being the
financially bereft kitty that I am), would be having to buy the region-free
player, and then paying to import the discs. So, I pretty much stick to
domestic releases. If you feel that the American companies are doing a lousy
job with the releases, you might want to consider importing region 2 discs.
You might also want to send an email or two (only polite ones, please) to the
companies to let them know what they're doing wrong and how they can improve.
But, it does bear mentioning that on the whole, releases are getting better
all the time. So, it's really up to you if you want to buy imports or not.
And, to your last question, it depends on what you call "doing a release
correctly". I'm sure that, for the most part, these companies do feel that
they are releasing the shows in the best manner possible, at the time of the
release. Looking back on some titles, they can see their mistakes, and usually
try to fix them. And, you have to remember that they're doing the best with
what they're given. Sometimes they only get to license the lame extras, or
they get the bad master, or they don't have the money and/or time to fix sub
problems, bad dubs, or any other glitches. Not an excuse, but sadly, sometimes
the truth.
And yes, I do think you're being picky. :-) But I think we all are when it
comes what we want to see on DVD. You also need to remember that DVD is still
a relatively new technology. I mean, think about how many anime DVDs came out
last year. Part of the problem was that there were very few pressing plants,
so companies had to book times to press DVDs. And who knew that this would
catch on? ;-) I think that companies are mostly hitting their stride with
figuring out how to make/use/market DVDs. From here on out, things should only
get better when it comes to handling anime releases.
From bremmi:
I tried to look through all your old columns before asking this, I promise!
In most animes involving any kind of older Japanese culture, you inevitably
see the "water thingy." What appears to be a semi-hollow tube of bamboo(?)
that stands at an angle. Water flows into it at the top, and when it gets full
gravity pulls it down and it empties the water, and when it flips back up the
back end hits solid ground and makes a "thump" noise.
Anyway, what are those called? And do you have any idea where they can be
purchased (on the web, or even some kind of hardware / specialty store) ?
Thanks for your help.
Well, here's where you
can get one.
They're calling it the "Deer Chaser" or " Shishi-Odoshi" fountain. There's
a little bit of an explanation of the history of the fountain on the catalog
page. I'm tempted to get one myself. I need a stress-reliever.
From Ernst Hammann:
Hello Ladycat,
well, I'd like to ask about one thing that has been annoying me for some
time: every (western) anime-producer gives in the credits the names of the
japanese and english voice actors. Every one but PIONEER, who give them only
in summary so you can never find out who did which character. Do you happen to
know why they do this? And how to get a complete list?
Thanks
I've heard two things about this. The first is that Pioneer is not allowed
(according to their license) to show anything other than block-o-credits.
Which would kind of make sense when combined with the second thing I've heard,
which is that the seiyuu technically "own" the character in some cases, so the
English VA cannot have their name associated with the character name.
The one thing that has always bothered me about the second theory is that,
if that were true, it would seem that Pioneer seems to be getting the brunt of
shows with seiyuu that own characters. So, it seems to me that Pioneer's
probably just not allowed, contractually, to show characters' names with the
English VA.
If there's some other reason that I've not heard, or I'm totally missing,
let me know.
Now, how to find out the actors' names . . . You can check the Internet
Movie Database, or IMDB. Grab a name or two
from the block-o-credits (or the character name), and type 'em in. This
usually works. There seem to be more characters listed from hugely popular
shows, like Tenchi for instance. Remember that the IMDB is based off of
submissions from fans, so whatever's listed is whatever's been submitted. And
don't forget the other resource you have: other fans. You can always post
something in one of the forums, and someone is uaually able to give some sort
of feedback.
If there's another actor database out there, I'd be really interested to
hear about it. Drop me a line if you know of anything else.
From Lord Spacy, Duke of East Moonland:
Uh, hi... (gets a nosebleed)
I have (or will soon get) a Creative Labs DVD drive with a Dxr3 decoder
(for great progressive video.)
Can I connect the Dxr3 to a projector and get a progressive-scan display?
Only composite and S-video connections are listed in the product description.
I know that displaying the movie on the monitor is progressive-scan (by nature
of the monitor) but how about on a digital TV or projector? I'm sorry if I
sound vague, my powers of description aren't well developed (read: they suck)
but do I need to buy something to allow progressive-scan output to a
projector, or can I do it with what I'll get?
Here, have a Kleenex. ;-)
I seriously had not a clue about this question, so I posted in the hardware
forum. The consensus was, yes, you could, but you might not want to. You can
head over
here to see the posts.
From Mike Schmitz:
Sorry to bother you guys with this, but I looked for information on this in
the Forum, and couldn't find it.
Two weeks ago, an ad for a consumer electronics store called Soundtrack had
an ad flyer in the Sunday paper. In it was an ad for a Yamaha Home Theater
System (model #YHT23) for $699.95. The ad said the model had:
* "70W x 5 plus 70 watts of big, bold bass from 8" subwoofer with built-in
amp.
* Dolby Digital and DTS built into reciever
* 2-way acoustic suspension satellites and center chanel speaker
* Connects easily to any TV, HiFi VCR, or DVD player
And then this week, the Yamaha YHT23 wasn't mentioned, but they had an ad
for a JVC Home Theater System (model #DSTP230) for $449.95. The specs they
mentioned for it were:
* 500 Watts total power with an 8", 60W powered subwoofer
* Dolby digital and dts JVC Receiver for movies and music
* Works with any TV and HiFi VCR or DVD player
* Connects easily in minutes
Now, I would love to get something, anything really, that would pump out
digital theater surround into my living room, but these two ads have me
wondering. Are either of these "Complete" home theater systems worth buying,
even at that price? The same ad has a pair of speakers that go for the same
price as the reciever and 5.1 speakers combined! Are these complete home
theatre systems underpowered, or just not as good as the other systems that
cost $1,000 plus?
Should I get something like this soon, or should I try and wait for the
prices to come down even lower?
Not a bother at all. :-)
I was debating this myself. Would it be better to get something right out
of the box, so to speak, with components that you might not really like, or
spend the time to hunt down all the right parts?
The answer is, it depends. Your personal home theatre set-up is entirely up
to you. If you're just looking for a starter set at this point, these look to
be a good deal. If you want to spend the extra time (and usually money) to get
a set that you put together yourself, you could do that too. I asked around
the forum (since I have yet to be able to afford a set-up), and got a few
responses. My answer is basically a summary of their (and my) opinions, but
you can check out the responses
here.
Of course, if you wait, the prices will go down. It's just a matter of how
long you can wait. :-)
From Falatka:
Hi Ladycat!
In Helen McCarthy and Jonathan Clements' book, "The Erotic Anime Movie
Guide" (1998, Titan Books, UK) I found evidence of a scene in Urotsukidoji
II.1 or II.2 (it's either around the end of part 1 or at the beginning of part
2, not sure which) that is nowhere to be found on my Perfect Collection DVD
discs!!! I'm starting to get really annoyed by these contradictory bits of
information, and I would be extremely grateful if someone finally set things
straight for me...! All I wanted was a 100% complete, uncut, unmosaicked,
un-anything-ed version of this series and now all kinds of things pop up one
after the other indicating that this DVD set is far from being perfect and
complete. The DVD box that I have treasured since I got it is starting to lose
great chunks of its charm in my eyes. So, I guess it boils down to this
question: who is responsible for the mosaicking and the cut scenes and why did
they do it? The scene in question is supposed to happen after or during the
cop! ulation of Megumi and Kohoki. I'll just type in the paragraph from the
book (I hope this does not violate any copyrights):
"As if the muddle of scene-changes were not enough, we flash back to the
young Munchhausen. In a mirror of the hypnotic suggestion his adult self is
forcing on Takeaki, the schoolboy Munchhausen is disgusted with the hypocrisy
of adults. When he is caught sacrificing pets at his Alpine boarding school,
the authorities refuse to expel him because it might damage the school's
reputation. Instead, Munchhausen is soundly whipped by a blonde Aryan school
mistress, from whom he extracts revenge in a bizarre ritual. When she awakes
from a drugged sleep, she finds herself in a magic circle, surrounded by
burning candles and buckets of blood. As part of the ceremony she is then
raped by an invisible demon, another circumvention of the censor, since the
camera can show its shadow on the wall. The scene conflates power with orgasm,
as the demon's muscular spasms literally tear her in two, a fittingly
infantile denial of her humanity and punishment of her 'crime'."
Now I've watched and rewatched the entire second disc a billion times and I
can tell you there's NOTHING EVEN REMOTELY SIMILAR happening in either of the
episodes! I've considered the possibility of asking Helen McCarthy herself
about this but I was not able to find her e-mail address or anything. So the
"honor" gets to be yours, I guess :). Thanks a lot again for your help!
As far as I've heard, and as far as Chris knows there hasn't been anything
cut. I'm pretty sure that if anything had been cut, we'd have heard about it
long ago. I also didn't notice anything on the Anime Prime site, which I know
Jim keeps pretty up-to-date. Also, I haven't actually seen the series, so I
can't really comment on that particular scene, in regards to anything being
cut.
But I can comment on the mosaicing part of it. That is the way that it was
originally animated. It's a device that started because the animators were
forced to, not something that was added in later, on our side, to cover
anything up. Now, it seems to be rather an artistic choice to draw it that
way. I'm not sure if this show falls into the "had to" or "wanted to"
category, since I don't know when the thinking changed on the subject. But I'm
sure that some of the faithful readers out there would have a little more to
say on the subject, so write in and tell me your ideas.
Addendums: Questions so good, they came back!
The James Bond-esque Series:
From Justin Palmer:
Dear Ladycat,
in reply to Gerado Barhams question about an anime series with a James Bond
feel - going by the reference to "throwing cards", a couple of possibilities
might be that he saw episodes of Dirty Pair (the infamous Bloody Card...!) or
even Cats Eye.
Can't say for certain that these might be the series, but they're the first
that spring to mind. Hope that might help...!
Weiss Kreuz:
I've gotten several dozen emails about this title. This is the "Japanese"
title of the show. There is no translation, in either japanese or English. The
information that I've gotten also indicates that there is no DVD release of
this title, and no plans for it, in either Region 2 or Region 1. No domestic
company has picked this show up yet, so fansubs are currently the only way to
get the show.
Tune in next time for another exciting issue! :-)
LadyCat =^-^=
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