Episode #0205 (17 January 2010)

[VegettoEX]

Episode #0205 (download MP3) (rss feed)
32:14; 64 kbps, mono; 14.7 MB

Episode #0205! VegettoEX and Meri jump into a hodgepodge of discussions. Kaboom joins us to talk about fans that truly do enjoy battle power discussions, we briefly review Ryô Horikawa's voice acting coach DVD, and Corey joins us to talk about everything else! Referenced sites:

• WTF EX Blog @ VegettoEX.com
• Koro-chan Pack: Goku vs Vegeta @ CDJapan
• Koro-chan Pack: Goku vs Ginyu @ CDJapan
• Koro-chan Pack: Goku vs Freeza @ CDJapan
• "DragonBall Kai" Song Collection @ CDJapan
• Uniqlo Licensing Deal @ licensing.biz
• Isamu Tanonaka News @ Anime News Network
• Ryo Horikawa Voice Acting DVD @ CDJapan
• "DragonBall Kai" DVD Vol. 5 @ CDJapan
• "DragonBall Kai" DVD Vol. 5 @ Amazon Japan

Go ahead and grab it. Big thanks to godofchaos for hosting the never-thought-we'd-get-there *two-hundred-five* episodes, now.



Quickly covered a couple things I've been meaning to hit for a while, so hurray for that!

w0rd.

[Herms]

Ha, so Vegetto "Street Fighter" EX doesn't have any other nerdy interests, huh?

It always bugged the crap out of me that even though people have to make their wishes to Polunga in Namekian, Polunga himself never actually speaks in Namekian himself. Is he just that much of a stickler that he won't grant non-Namekian wishes even though he clearly understands them?

Anyway, speaking of series that try to rationalize all the aliens speaking the same language, the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy series has the Babel Fish, a fish that when inserted into your ear conveniently translates every language you hear.

I remember being really nervous at the prospect of the Cowboy Bebop movie having a different English voice cast than the series. That seems like such a long time ago.

[JulieYBM]

Small but neat.

When it comes to replacing casts with dubs, it's not always--or ever, as I understand--a contractual issue. Voice actors are free agents, had Scott McNeil wanted to he could have flown down to FUNimation to continue voicing Piccolo. Sure, it would have been for beans when he could have made more up in Canada, but it's still possible (if not entirely probable). Hell, Scott McNeil has worked for FUNimation outside of Dragon Ball.

I'm not sure what the deal was with the Eva movie dubs, but it might have been a scheduling conflict that caused the need for recasts. It's not like FUNimation's short on good female actors to replace Rei or Ritsuko (disclaimer: I haven't the slightest clue if I got that right, as I don't know much of anything about Eva).

[penguintruth]

Isn't the point of battle powers/power levels the fact that Freeza and his soldiers see ki as a science that can be measured, but the heroes are different and their power cannot so easily be measured? After Namek, power levels are entirely pointless. They only served the purpose to show that Freeza and his minions see things scientifically, within boundaries. Goku breaks the boundaries.

I have to laugh at figures for power levels after Namek, especially into the Buu arc. Why anyone would care is beyond me.

Did Horikawa do any Reinhard von Lohengramm on the thing? Forget the Prince of Saiyans, Reinhard ruled all of humanity!

Obviously tons of people in the Dragon Ball universe have stumbled upon the Babel Fish. I can see Bulma creating some kind of translation device for herself if she needed it. My problem is, with language printed that is in English

Since DBZ never really had a great English voice cast to begin with, and still doesn't, they should change it as many times as possible until it's not awful. But seriously, all sorts of staff and business decisions are made behind the scenes that lead to voice changes. With the Japanese, it's usually very uniform.

Ugh, it's too bad they brought back Spike Spencer as Shinji Ikari for Rebuild 1.0. He's gotten better, but still exaggerates him too much.

[Dogasu]

To answer you guys' question about the pronunciation of Uniqlo...it is indeed "Yu-nee-kloh." It comes from a combination of the words "unique" and "clothes."

Does the Uniqlo store in New York get the nerdy anime / video game T-shirts? The one time I went there, it seemed like they just had the non-geeky ones.

[VenomSymbiote]

Great episode, even if it was a little short.

Happy birthday, Meri! (If a little late...)

Kaboom was on the podcast? Kaboom is into power levels? Kaboom has an accent?

I actually agree with what you guys said about why we American fans have an obession with power levels. The seasons where power levels were relevent kept repeating over and over and over again, so I'm not surprised that we began to think Power Levels are truly essential to the story.

And by the way, Tara sounded fantastic.

One thing I will put out there, they're not speaking English, they're speaking Japanese!

Elitist.

Man, I thought I was the only one who thought that Mike had gone insane with his going-back-and-forth about which seiyuu he liked/disliked for Muten Roshi. Thank goodness Shinobi pointed you out on that. However, I noticed, you didn't actually answer which seiyuu you actually like! So, which is which?

Sweet! This would now be the 6th time my email has been read aloud! (Or in this case, played aloud!) =D

I've noticed that with Geneon-related titles, yes, for the most part the casts are replaced simply because they aren't availbe anymore, which is kinda sad, seeing that any fan of any show Geneon had that FUNi picked up now have to readjust themselves to a new cast. I have gotten the impression though, that FUNi seems to try to, if not get the cast back, at least cast people who can more or less act like the original voice actors.

Will almost infers that this doesn't happen in Japan. Well, we've been talking constantly about it with Kai.

I will admit that Kai completly slipped my mind as far as voice changes occur. However, I almost don't count Kai seeing as how peculiar it's situation is. I was thinking more along the lines of just normal anime that gets put out year after year that don't have voice changes.

[Kaboom]

Kaboom has an accent?

I do?

[CashmanX]

Yes, What I like to call a "Nerdy nasal" accent.

[El Diabeetus]

It may have been a "copout" episode, but, since I'm trying to eventually become a Voice Actor some point down the line. I found the discussion interesting.

The only thing that's slightly annoying about the multiple voice switching is... even with different directors, personally annoys me. Even if it's a different actor. I believe they should imitate the voice... IF they can ACT in it.

I'll add the rest of what I wanted to say when I'm not on the PSP. Damn text-input limit.

[Herms]

I do?

Well, everyone has some sort of accent. There's no global standard way of talking.

[MCDaveG]

Yeah, I must listen to Kaboom:D Friend of mine from music business once said that I'm speaking with Welsh accent (in english of course), but I dunno how it's supposed to look-alike since I'm not Briton.

Yeah, everybody is talking different and it's matter of all languages around the world.

[Xyex]

After Namek, power levels are entirely pointless.

They're not, actually. The comparison between the styles of Earth and Freeza's empire is, obviously, over, but power levels don't just vanish. Assigning numbers post Freeza is really just another means of power ranking, nothing more than going "Well, I say SSJ Vegeta at the Cell games is weaker than Perfect Cell but stronger than SSJ Trunks" except being more narrowed down.

Which is a lot of the reason I like them. I really wasn't that interested in them myself prior to getting into fanfiction. I'd dabble a little, making up lists just to see what I came up with, to see how characters later compared to characters earlier, but after I got into fanfiction power levels became a near god send to me. Seriously. 90% of my story outlines for my fanfics are just power level lists, I didn't really need much else in the old days as my fics were never that deep.

These days my stuff is getting more complex with lots of things happening at once and lots of subplots so I do need actual outlines now, but power levels are still very useful. I can glance at the list, see that character A has power of 500, character B is at 520, and character C at 600, and I know exactly how the fight that I'm writing out should go. It's really great for that and for helping to determine just how much someone has improved between one story and its sequel.

In terms of the series proper, it's a lot like Kaboom said. There's an artistic draw to it. The power levels after Freeza are unknown and, while not really important as specifics, it's something that we can do that contributes to the series itself, even if it's in a small way that doesn't really have much bearing on anything. At least with power levels you're adding something to the show itself, instead of creating something entirely new as with fanart and fanfiction.

[VegettoEX]

At least with power levels you're adding something to the show itself, instead of creating something entirely new as with fanart and fanfiction.

The way you phrase that, you say it as if you're doing something for the greater good of mankind that is leaps and bounds "better" than something as trivial and quaint as little-ol' fanart and fanfiction.

Which is crazy, 'cuz I know you're into that sort of thing.

Voice actors are free agents, had Scott McNeil wanted to he could have flown down to FUNimation to continue voicing Piccolo.

That's not how it used to be. These days? Yeppers. Pre-internal FUNimation cast? Even just that short time ago (haha, 10+ years is recent to me) it was a whole different ballgame in the voice acting field.

[Xyex]

At least with power levels you're adding something to the show itself, instead of creating something entirely new as with fanart and fanfiction.

The way you phrase that, you say it as if you're doing something for the greater good of mankind that is leaps and bounds "better" than something as trivial and quaint as little-ol' fanart and fanfiction.

Which is crazy, 'cuz I know you're into that sort of thing.

Haha. Yeah, I can see how it could come across like that. It's not that it feels better, just more... 'connected', I suppose would be the best way to put it, to the series. I love doing fanart and fanfiction but, at the end of the day, anything I create stands separate from the series, no matter how awesome it ends up being. Meanwhile whatever power level list I devise is a part of the series itself, in a sense. It kind of feels like contributing to the series instead of the fandom. Granted, it's a 'contribution' that has no real bearing or importance in the long run but it's way to delve into the series and to try and further 'flesh out' certain elements of it.

[El Diabeetus]

I'll just continue what I wanted to say in this post:

The only thing that's slightly annoying about the multiple voice switching is... even with different directors, personally annoys me. Even if it's a different actor. I believe they should imitate the voice... IF they can ACT in it.

For example, odds are it would never happen ever. But, let's say an entirely new Death Note special comes out, all new-dialouge, etc. It comes time for the English to come out and Brian Drummond can't come in, but they still wanna get the special out. They need to find a Ryuk, someone who can imitate and act exactly like his Ryuk. I would jump at that chance. I'd base that off of people saying on my DN Fandubs, "Light's voice [insert comment]", I'd ask what about Ryuk? They'd say "OMG, you did Ryuk, I thought it was the official one".

For something like Kai, since it's technically an "all-new" product, most of the voice replacements don't bother me. It's different than Z enough in my opinion to have the exception.

I wanna send in an e-mail about Voice Acting and a Top 5 suggestion. But, I'm gonna wait until after the Daisuke Gouri tribute next episode.

[samuraigundam]

I'm not sure what the deal was with the Eva movie dubs, but it might have been a scheduling conflict that caused the need for recasts. It's not like FUNimation's short on good female actors to replace Rei or Ritsuko (disclaimer: I haven't the slightest clue if I got that right, as I don't know much of anything about Eva).

I never liked the original English dub cast for EVA anyway, to be honest. They just werent that versatile, compared to the Japanese cast.

I've noticed that with Geneon-related titles, yes, for the most part the casts are replaced simply because they aren't availbe anymore, which is kinda sad, seeing that any fan of any show Geneon had that FUNi picked up now have to readjust themselves to a new cast. I have gotten the impression though, that FUNi seems to try to, if not get the cast back, at least cast people who can more or less act like the original voice actors.

I wasnt aware that FUNI had to redub some of the shows they picked up from Geneon. Why would they not use the original recordings? Also, can you tell me which shows are being redubbed, if you please?

I agree that if the new dub casts for these shows can at least match the talent of the original casts, then it isnt that big of a deal.

[samuraigundam]

I wanna send in an e-mail about Voice Acting and a Top 5 suggestion. But, I'm gonna wait until after the Daisuke Gouri tribute next episode.

I would like to read your suggestions.

I am interested in doing Voice work, particularly for Anime, of course. But I honestly have no idea where to start. I've searched online for open auditions, but there doesnt seem to be any, at least not in my area.

I competed in AX idol, at the Anime Expo in Los Angeles last year. And even though they told me I did a great job, I didnt get into the finals. At the very least, their critisism let me know I had potential, which was really the one thing I wanted to know. Its either this, or Private Investigation

[Gaffer Tape]

Holy crap! That "Yamucha Special" joke was a reference to the Sailor Moon S movie, wasn't it? I'm amazed only because I just picked up that movie at a used video store, and had never seen it before. I literally saw that scene less than a day before you made that joke, and I never would have gotten it otherwise! What a lucky coincidence!

[Onikage725]

While I'm not as into the idea of power levels/battle powers as I once was (on account of many over-zealous fans, honestly), I have always liked the concept. I have trouble with people trying to make a list that claims to pinpoint the flow of fights themselves past the Freeza Saga, when the Freeza Saga itself had scouter's shattering because levels were fluctuating and unexpectedly rising too much. You can't assign one number and encapsulate a character's performance, when the character's start off at one level, power up, transform, get tired, become angry or desperate and power up again... it just doesn't work.

However, there's no reason why one couldn't guess a certain baseline level (or, perhaps, a maximum potential). The concept works well in RPG's. You can, at a glance, look at a character's level, HP, and combat stats and have an idea of how they stack up. But in battle, performance fluctuates. Status effects, critical hit percentages, hit and dodge percentages... you can bring down a stronger boss with a lucky dodge and a timely critical, much like in a fighting series like Dragon Ball. As Xyex said, a power level list, if one doesn't take it too seriously, is just attaching a stat to something everyone talks about anyway. By that, I mean general strength comparison. The Kaio-ken, while dealing solely with the modifier and not the end number, works off the same principle.

These types of shows compare strength and levels all the time, as do their fans. From performance rankings, to classes (a la Yu Yu Hakusho), to simply saying "Guy A is stronger than Guy B," it's all the same thing. Power levels just tickle the RPG-lover in me. The same guy who obsesses over imperceptible factors to breed and train his Pokemon team, or make his Lone Wanderer the most badass small guns shooter in the Capitol Wasteland (I like to keep it simple), or... well, did anything I ever did in an RPG... likes that sort of statistical guide. Anyone who's ever rolled a die knows that no matter how the odds look on paper, you can't claim to know how things will be when the dust settles.

That's my 2 cents on it.

Oh, and for languages- I love Farscapes translator microbes. They colonize at the base of the brain, basically google-translating for you in real time. Like the babel fish, but slightly less silly. Slightly.

[Gaffer Tape]

I agree with Onikage in that I'm a big RPG player, so battle powers do tickle me in the same way. Honestly, when I stopped liking it is when it just got too silly in the Freeza arc, and people were making insane leaps and bounds with little provocation. It got way out of hand, and I'm sure that's why Toriyama brought it to an end.