< snip Innagadadavida >
First off, let me say that I appreciate your candor, honesty, and the way you present your arguments. What you've presented is far and above beyond some of the other criticisms I've seen/read/heard regarding our take on FUNimation's production of
Kai. Unfortunately, I think you're falling into the same trap as many of them, even when you present it so well --
you're making things up to argue against. I'll get to that in a second.
One thing that's been irritating me in many responses to reviews of
Kai thus far (not exclusively our own) is how fans of FUNimation's English dub seem to not want comparisons drawn to the original version of that dub (1999-onward, primarily). Somehow, with FUNimation moving into a new direction with their treatment of the franchise (hurray!), they feel that these comparisons are almost null-and-void, and regurgitating some of ye' olden points is counter-productive to reviewing the new product.
I call bullshit on that.
With FUNimation now
time and
time and
time again comparing and contrasting their new production of
Kai versus their old production of dubbed
DBZ in their marketing, it's clearly an open invitation for fans to do the same. Don't misunderstand -- it was
always appropriate to do so (it allows you to place things in context, which is a huge aspect of "reviewing" anything), but now more than ever the production company is seemingly welcoming it.
If it allows me to better describe how this product is different (whether that's "better" or "worse") than a previous one, yes, I'm going to recall past shenanigans. It's worth it.
Here's where I wrap it back around to your unfortunate situation -- you make things up so it's easier to argue against us. You've declared that I am against all dubbing and am never satisfied with FUNimation's products. Both of these are false statements.
I'll be honest -- it's a really fucked-up position you put me in when you make accusations like that. As I've described on the podcast a couple times, it's like being backed up against the wall and being forced to say "I'M NOT RACIST! SEE, I HAVE A BLACK FRIEND!" I should not (
and will not) counter-balance each and every single little claim I make about FUNimation's English dub by saying, "The whole 'Yajirobe-sounds-like-Kuririn with Mayumi Tanaka thing wears a little thin". I should not have to keep a list of negative things I've said about Japanese products to point over to every single time you want to dismiss a criticism I make about FUNimation's handling of something in hopes of you then seeing it as more "balanced".
Yes. I've said
plenty of negative things about Japanese products. About the voice actors. About the composers. About the animators. About the marketing. Yes, we've even "dwelled" on them (as you've phrased it) before. Part of the reason why we did not discuss the "content" of
Kai (the pacing, the edits, the soundtrack, etc.) in this podcast episode was because
we've done it before and have dwelled on it to excess already -- which, by the way, we stated right there in the show right before the product review (
RECAP: I really don't like Kai).
The problem is that FUNimation dub fans (here's where I toss that term "loyalist" into the mix) choose to
ignore those statements because it makes me very difficult to argue against. Granted, some of these readers may be coming to the table with us completely fresh and have no clue that we are happy to point out the flaws with any product, regardless of origin. I don't expect them to know each and every last thing I've ever said. You,
Innagadadavida, know better, and it's a shame that you tip-toe around that fact. You almost make up for it by halfway acknowledging some of the complaints we've had some problems with Japanese products, but then go on to ask for endless clarification on some off-hand comments about how FUNimation's version need some work.
Well, the fact of the matter is that we're not here to cover FUNimation's English dub over and over and over and time and time and time again. We really focused on it here just this once, since we had already covered (far too in-depth) everything else about what this release is. That's not who we are, that's not our audience, and that's not something we're interested in doing. Also, you don't want to hear what I have to say about stuff like that -- you'll just get more angry, since I would in a very calculated fashion point out what I feel the flaws are, how they work against the show, and why there is incompetence and/or ignorance behind those decisions (as well-meaning and best-intentioned as they may be).
If we do something like that, we also just invite the "DUDE, GET A LIFE. STOP TALKING ABOUT IT IF YOU HATE IT SO MUCH!" comments -- and I agree entirely. It's not worth it to do something like that, since we'd just be simultaneously preaching to the choir and alienating people from content that they otherwise might find some value and worth in.
The fact of the matter is, we
*all* said that FUNimation's treatment of
Kai was really good. All of us. We pointed out
why we think it's good, and
how certain things are respectful of the source material and really "get" it. I think quantification of qualification is bullshit, but
Hujio even gave the darn thing a "B" in
his written review -- last time I checked, that's
really good. If you want to ignore all of the (very well substantiated) praise and harp on the (very well substantiated) criticisms, then our reviews just aren't for you. And that's fine. What you're looking for is probably just a basic summary of the product that isn't for a super-fan (here's
Anime on DVD's review).
Well, as you've noted, we're super-fans. We're going in-depth. We're tearing the dumb thing apart. A lot of people aren't used to that, and immediately assume that a long wall of text or long podcast means "OH MAN WHY CAN'T THEY JUST LIKE THINGS?!"
Must be some maintenance thing or something... But it's still there in other threads. The option to attach a signature isn't available in the post options when posting in that thread, so for whatever reason sigs seem disabled in this thread....
). But I find it interesting, that time and time again, no matter how much good FUNimation will give, the hosts of this podcast are never satisfied. They always look for and dwell on the negative. And when there's nothing to complain about, it's always seems like an "it's about time" or "they'll mess something up, just wait." Take for example, the American Dragon Box. Obviously you love the product, but you guys spent a large portion of the episode covering your dissatisfaction with the trailer.