AnimeonDVD/Mania's take on the trailer:

MajinVejitaXV · Post by **MajinVejitaXV** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:58 pm

http://www.mania.com/mumbling-kitsune-w ... 11787.html

Okay, so we've seen many articles from sites about the trailer. Some poor, some well-written. This one I agreed with almost entirely. It raises some of the more unintelligent points and blows them away (Goku not being Asian for one) and then proceeds to bring up the more understandable problems. It also makes a point of saying it's just a trailer and tries to keep a somewhat positive mentality.

What do you guys think?

-Corey

jjgp1112 · Post by **jjgp1112** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:06 pm

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Post by **VegettoEX** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:14 pm

I've pretty much written this site off in recent memory, but I agree with a lot of what's said in this article (which goes along with what I said on the most recent podcast, such as the "Goku isn't Asian" comments).

My only argument comes with this statement:

Nadia Oxford wrote:In the movie's defense—Journey to the West is a serious tale that Toriyama decided to put a humorous spin on.

Clearly written by someone who's never actually read Journey to the West, with a speaking monkey that pees in the jars of monks just because he finds it hilarious.

Raki · Post by **Raki** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:21 pm

It's a decent article. Not much in the way of substance, but I do agree on the Chatwin "not being ready" thing. They should have at least kept Goku's mentality in the movie.

MajinVejitaXV · Post by **MajinVejitaXV** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:25 pm

VegettoEX wrote:I've pretty much written this site off in recent memory, but I agree with a lot of what's said in this article (which goes along with what I said on the most recent podcast, such as the "Goku isn't Asian" comments).

Yeah, since the merger with Mania.com, I've pretty much stopped visiting AnimeonDVD entirely. The quality of the site seemed to dip quite a bit, not to mention it always crashes IE at my work when I tried to view it on breaks.

And yes, though I didn't post in the comment thread, the podcast included a well-stated interpretation of the trailer too ;p

My only argument comes with this statement:

Nadia Oxford wrote:In the movie's defense—Journey to the West is a serious tale that Toriyama decided to put a humorous spin on.
Clearly written by someone who's never actually read Journey to the West, with a speaking monkey that pees in the jars of monks just because he finds it hilarious.

I found that amusing too, hence agreeing with it almost entirely

-Corey

Chuquita · Post by **Chuquita** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:25 pm

Also agree that Goku's personality should not have been altered; because that is THE THING keeping me from giving this movie a chance.

As far as I'm concerned Chatwin's just playing some guy who happens to share the same name.

If I wanted to read about a main character who was "not ready", I'd go read something else.

MajinVejitaXV · Post by **MajinVejitaXV** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:26 pm

Chuquita wrote:Also agree on Goku's personality; because that is THE THING keeping me from giving this movie a chance.

If I wanted to read about a main character who was "not ready", I'd go read something else.

Or watch something else. Like any teen drama on The WB ;p

-Corey

Sun_Wukong · Post by **Sun_Wukong** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:46 pm

Chuquita wrote:Also agree that Goku's personality should not have been altered; because that is THE THING keeping me from giving this movie a chance.

As far as I'm concerned Chatwin's just playing some guy who happens to share the same name.

Same with me, I wouldnt mind the movie so much if the powers that be payed the slightest attention to the characters's mannerisms and personalities.

Like Id be all up for Chow Yun Fat playing Roshi, if he was actually playing Roshi.

Acid_Reign · Post by **Acid_Reign** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:59 pm

This article was a bore—I only skimmed it. It doesn’t offer any new insights; just reiterates over some odd paragraphs the differences between the trailer and the animé which everyone who has seen them is already aware of. It doesn’t even take a firm stance on the issue, opening with “What’s wrong with the live-action movie?” and ending with ambiguity: animé rarely translates well and you can’t please everyone. How many times have we heard that, exactly? How is that even relevant to the case that the producers may have gotten some things wrong? This reads like a wannabe-newspaper piece. For an animé columnist the author seems to only have a passing familiarity with the franchise anyway.

Post by **VegettoEX** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 6:02 pm

Acid_Reign wrote:This article was a bore to read. It doesn’t offer any new insights; just reiterates over some odd paragraphs the differences between the trailer and the animé which everyone who has seen them is already aware of. It doesn’t even take a firm stance on the issue, opening with “What’s wrong with the live-action movie?” and ending with ambiguity. Animé doesn’t translate well and you can’t please everyone. How many times have we heard that, exactly? The author seems to only have a passing familiarity with the franchise anyway.

To be fair to the author, their audience isn't really DB fandom. The site (especially post-merger/acquisition/whatever) is much more general, and aimed at people who haven't actually read/heard any of these arguments (and possibly haven't even seen the trailer).

MajinVejitaXV · Post by **MajinVejitaXV** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 6:07 pm

Acid_Reign wrote:This article was a bore—I only skimmed it. It doesn’t offer any new insights; just reiterates over some odd paragraphs the differences between the trailer and the animé which everyone who has seen them is already aware of. It doesn’t even take a firm stance on the issue, opening with “What’s wrong with the live-action movie?” and ending with ambiguity: animé rarely translates well and you can’t please everyone. How many times have we heard that, exactly? How is that even relevant to the case that the producers may have gotten some things wrong? This reads like a wannabe-newspaper piece. For an animé columnist the author seems to only have a passing familiarity with the franchise anyway.

Eh, I'm not saying it's reinventing the wheel here, I just thought it was a fairly intelligent piece from a well-known site that has typically shunned DragonBall (Z) in general. It was better than the fluff pieces I've seen, and certainly better than the completely idiotic "lawl Goku isn't Asian = wrost movie EVAR" pieces.

As for the ambiguity at the end...eh, I understand why they wouldn't want to box themselves in. It's extremely unlikely, but they may have just culled the absolute worst of the movie for the trailer and the movie might be good. Again, extremely unlikely.

I just found it amusing to see them comment at all, frankly ;p

-Corey

Acid_Reign · Post by **Acid_Reign** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 6:09 pm

VegettoEX wrote:To be fair to the author, their audience isn't really DB fandom. The site (especially post-merger/acquisition/whatever) is much more general, and aimed at people who haven't actually read/heard any of these arguments (and possibly haven't even seen the trailer).

I understand that, but the quality of the article is lacking irrespective of the intended audience.

MajinVejitaXV wrote:I just found it amusing to see them comment at all, frankly ;p

Ah, yeah. Well, I’m not familiar with them. I knew of AnimeOnDVD when it was called that but I never read any of their articles.

I guess I’m just waiting for an article that’s a little more comprehensive than this… I feel as though the majority of English-speakers are only familiar with the dub and that even an ostensibly legitimate critical comparison between the movie and the “original” will be seriously flawed. I may do one myself, when the movie actually comes out, because as much as I admire Roger Ebert, I’m certain he’s never seen nor read any Dragon Ball.

Kanzenshuu

AnimeonDVD/Mania's take on the trailer:

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