What gets me is how 'great' people think certain series are, but when you check them out, they are usually just mediocre.... but then the more I've watched, the more I realize that this term 'great' is most likely in comparison to what's available, which is why a really good series really gets your attention when it appears on the scene, as they are truly rare. Many try, but most fail.... perhaps because they aren't trying hard enough or as seems to often be the case, money is the culprit, as in not enough for this industry. Has anyone seen a good analysis of the anime marketplace for tv, film, national and international? Here in the States, it's mostly Disney feature films, including their acquisition of Pixar (former Disney staff) and the tv stuff, most of which is simple minded kid stuff, same in Japanese anime, but from what I can tell (as I can't stomach watching that stuff), it seems that the difference is more money for the American product line and less characterization... less cute stuff, less depth.
I was watching a series the last week essentially on Atlantis.... I'll look it up: "
Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water", which is the usual elementary-JRHigh boy/girl material atop this chase adventure of this girl with this connection to Atlantis... and other than a couple of points, I was a little surprised to see how accurate the anime got to what is known... from the use of crystals to pyramids, Antarctica, ancient supertech etc. Other than some stupid setup stuff, it was interesting to see this all depicted as it was... Western versions usually avoid any known facts and go for the illusion or delusion favored by the establishment... to distract the sheeple as usual. At least this mostly kiddie anime has some characterization that isn't usually found in American product, which is why those few that do, stand out.. say from Pixar and Toy Story.
In regards to "
Beck", you could see the potential, it's just that a lot of it wasn't executed as well as it could, but from what I read, the manga was more 'true' to the situation.. the film stopped shorter than the series, and the series excluded the whole 2 road tours of Japan before their American breakout... much more realistic... but that
Engrish was so off it wasn't even funny, just odd and distractive... did they really think that was acceptable? was it in Japan? Is it still? Seems the industry needs better bilingual VAs.... but then the whole anime market out of Japan hasn't been capitalised well.... they could be making so much more money... it's like they just don't 'get it'. I've heard some involved say as much... they don't think it would sell, but to make it sell requires actual real investment of money and effort to establish the bi/tri/lingual VA in order to setup the product for immediate delivery on the stream and even sales... That recent dub of one of my favorites, "
Only Yesterday" is a good example... the last song, '
The Rose' needed to be recorded in english by the same singer... she's not that old, and yes it will cost money... but the main problem was the idiot that hired someone with a different english accent to VA the guy... while all the others seem to have American accents... WTF?! And that project was done here in the West... are they all idiots or what? How does some of this stuff get the go ahead??? It's 'inconceivable'! :blink:
Does anyone know how the Beck film version turned out? I'm guessing it's only available in Japanese, so it really doesn't matter... this anime could use a redo... better animation, VA work (as in actual english from supposed english speakers!), cover the whole manga with those band tours of Japan before the American tour.... and I don't know about the manga, but they need to figure out the mix of rock/blues and rap... but this one has some good stuff in there that isn't usually covered.... not sure about the whole Star types shows, is that what
Fuuka is? I really haven't checked that genre out... I did see a live action Korean film on this wannabe rocker that is recruited to be a boy band... it was actually good, as the songs were good... better than most of the stuff here in
Beck, which was the other main problem... if you're gonna do this genre, you really need a good soundtrack to make it believable... the songs have to be good by the end of the show, the tour etc... or at least good enough to pass for hits in the marketplace. Just listend to the preview for
Fuuka, it does sound like the usual JPop stuff that is often used for animes... so would work, but here in
Beck, the songs or song, as it seemed they used pretty much that one rap song the entire time, until the end with the kids 2 songs...
Oh well, Beck could use a redo... one other thing was that I couldn't believe it when that lead singer/rapper was in high school with him... C'mon, he looked a decade older... the animation issue again... and the usual school bullies looking so much older as well... reminded my at times of
Grease... remember that old biker in the original two films? He had to be in his late 30s if not 40s... :lol: :lol: Otherwise, I liked the 'real' feel of Beck... though I don't think that other lead guitarist, even if he did steal that guitar, would show it off on stage... he wasn't stupid.. I know they made it look like that indie American producer was the fault, but the guitarist was using it for quite a long time after his others were wrecked... again, some of those scenes went overboard...
