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The Resurrection of Answerman


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Lucca_Ashtear



Joined: 07 Oct 2007
Posts: 68
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:13 am Reply with quote
Anything comprehensible I had to say in response to this week's answerman was lost the moment I saw that photo. Too adorable!
It's great to hear stories like the one Matt wrote in. I can only hope more people will become inspired to support the industry, in whatever way they can.
Glad to see you back at the column (I know it hasn't been that long but it sure feels like it).
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sena_h_dei



Joined: 18 Feb 2008
Posts: 32
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:20 am Reply with quote
"My hope is that shortly after this photo was taken, the cat rode the deer."

Shocked I'm so sorry, my mind must be switched to pervert mode right now because I thought a very naughty thought after reading that. Embarassed
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britannicamoore



Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2618
Location: Out.
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:22 am Reply with quote
AH! ZOMBIE!

Why more fansub questions? Twisted Evil

Way to go matt, suck up much?

My take on the American anime fandom? It's full of people who need to apparently, quit their jobs/school and become full time preachers.

You've got the ministery of Thou shall not take any at all never. Their temple dues are $100 a week.

Another is Anime is as free as Japanese Moses. They don't play bingo, they just use it to keep their den of evil together.

And then finnaly, on Sunday you can enjoy a pancake breakfast at the Ministry of "Borrow from your neighbor now, but returnifth with double." Don't worry if they take your syrup. They'll bring it back refilled....eventually.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:34 am Reply with quote
I wonder where the fake Answerfan question went to. I was hoping that you would use "Does Anime tie you up?" That would have been comedy gold.

I never watch harem Anime, because they are nearly universally portray both the females AND the males in a unrealistic, shallow light.

That is actually not true. I watched episode one of Love Hina at a friends house, and that was that.

I have watched some horrible fansubs, with basic spelling mistakes in English. I will admit that the DVD translations are - on average - better than fansubs. But accurate translations are not the reason why I watch fansubs in the first place, so it does not bother me too much.

I was not very impressed with the Animatrix, but that might be due to high expectations. I just feel that it was not the best vehicle to introduce non-fans to Anime. But that is only my personal opinion.

I am happy that Matt has been reformed. Greg Ayres must be a persuasive speaker. My only wish is that Matt does not hunt me with a pitchfork now that he is on the side of truth and justice.

Flake seems weak, with a comment that could have been taken out of context. Are you sure that that was the entire letter? I am not implying malicious intent, but it does seem weird.

Nice picture. Cute.

As for this week's Answerfan question, since I live outside of the United States, I have nothing I can really say. Quite an exclusive question, is it not?
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Joe Mello



Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 2251
Location: Online Terminal
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:46 am Reply with quote
Quote:
For once, I'd like to see a harem comedy or a shonen romance have a male character who starts out being a pathetic loser and learns that in order to actually attract an adult woman you have to bathe, pay attention to your wardrobe, learn social skills, stop being a social leper and actually become a functioning, normal adult, rather than suggesting that some day a buxom alien girl with little knowledge of human sexual behavior will fall into your lap and find your toxic personality charming and sexy.

I, too, would love to see an animated Train Man, but I think that franchise has run its course.

I'm not afraid to admit I watch some harem shows, but my choices are ones where the guys have spinal columns (eg Tenchi, Zero no Tsukaima, etc.).
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LightYagami



Joined: 02 Apr 2006
Posts: 257
Location: around the midwest
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:51 am Reply with quote
Letting fans have their way 100% would be a bad idea. Point and case, I recall zac saying back in the August 10th, 2007 edition of Answerman:
Zac wrote:

Secondly, if you're going based on what people say on the internet, most shows would have incredibly generic happy fan-wank endings if the fans got to decide how the show finished up. Inuyasha had a crappy "ending" (well, to be fair, the show didn't end, it stopped), but if we'd had a committee of hardcore Inuyasha fans determine the show's outcome, Inuyasha and Kagome would get married while Naraku and Sesshomaru had sex in the parking lot. In fact, I'd wager most shows would end that way. It's not that fans can't be creative - I've seen some fan suggestions for alternate endings to shows that sounded pretty good on paper - but design-by-committee almost never works, especially when you're talking about screenwriting. It's how most soulless Hollywood family films are made, you know.
Needless to say thinking about an extremely hardcore fan of Inuyasha wanting it to end like that just makes me shutter especially in regards to Naraku and Sesshomaru.

[EDIT: Fixed quote and url tags. Though for the life of me I can't figure out why the url tag didn't work, especially since I retyped it the exact same way.~Zalis]
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Splitter



Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 1276
Location: Knockin' on Heaven's Door
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:53 am Reply with quote
Congrats to Sir Matt. I'm in the process of weaning myself from the world of fansubs ATM so I fully applaud his efforts. If he can do it, I know I can too.

@Sir Rednal: *checks Yucie off of the lists of shows I don't need to watch anymore*

Thanks, jerk.
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Ai no Kareshi



Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 561
Location: South Africa
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:19 am Reply with quote
Welcome back.

I'm in 100% agreement to the response on the quality of fansub translations. As someone who has a pretty solid understanding of the Japanese language, I am quite annoyed when people praise fansubs for doing a better translation job, as if they would know. Admittedly, I haven't watched many official subs myself, but I sincerely hope they are better than some of the fan translations I've seen out there.

Love the cat. Anime catgrin
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kira uzumaki



Joined: 08 Feb 2008
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:28 am Reply with quote
what does he want a cookie or something
i know i spend more on anime then that guy does a year
but you cant exactly buy everything that you want to watch at the moment
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8458
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:29 am Reply with quote
Romantic comedy "harem shows" have bland, lame male leads who are bad with women for one simple reason - "insert self here". It lets the viewer impose himself on the character. And also, if it were some charming, charismatic lead, it wouldn't be a comedy. Competency isn't funny. Comedy comes out of awkwardness and insecurity. Nobody would have enjoyed reading about Arthur Dent in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (not to compare that with harem anime) if he were self-assured, confident, and brave. That's not funny.

Not to say that harem comedies are funny any longer, but that's because they've overworked the genre. Or maybe the best way of putting it is, once you've seen one or two of them, that's it. You can only rework the same joke so many times before it stops being funny. The best way of fixing it is by not flooding the market with harem comedy titles and to find a unique spin on that situation to work with. Otherwise, as a fan, stop looking for new territory in these titles and move onto another genre.

I think Rednal's comments were probably the most thoughtful thing I've ever read in the Answerfans section. Did you send in a ringer, Zac?
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DRWii



Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 636
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:45 am Reply with quote
On the subject of fansub translations: While I certainly can't say anything about the translations themselves (little vocabulary, less grammer), I think that the way a certain translation is phrased is important; there's a reason I still have those "Haruhi" fansubs even after getting the DVDs ("Future Men"? WTF?).
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar


Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 16935
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:01 am Reply with quote
Quote:
I know you're a cynical bastard,


Wow Zach....feel the love heh. Very Happy

Personally I'm looking forward to the Batman Gotham Knight dvd. I loved Batman growing up regardless of the medium used so that alone will guarantee a viewing. Plus I think this could be beneficial for anime. I mean the industry is struggling right now and regardless of what you may think of Hollywood they do have money to throw around. If this is successful perhaps more companies in Hollywood would be willing to invest and anime and co-productions. That would certainly help the industry in terms of financial woes potentially. I know many will be opposed to this but with the direction the industry is going now would you prefer co-productions or nothing at all period?
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Dargonxtc



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 4463
Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:01 am Reply with quote
Quote:
My hope is that shortly after this photo was taken, the cat rode the deer.


Really, is that what you were thinking when you looked at that? I was thinking, "OMG that deer is going to get spooked and bust through or turn and kick through that glass. SAVE THE CAT!"



Also I thought the comments on Yucie were right on. Although I think I really started liking it from around episode six on. The series even in it's "fun" times can actually be quite touching. The effect of the end was probably greater due to the fact that you grow with the characters, as they do. So it is totally believable when they get all serious.

Splitter wrote:
@Sir Rednal: *checks Yucie off of the lists of shows I don't need to watch anymore*

Thanks, jerk.

Although I agree with what he wrote, it is a pretty big spoiler.

So I'm sorry for you. Crying or Very sad
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8458
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:02 am Reply with quote
DRWii wrote:
On the subject of fansub translations: While I certainly can't say anything about the translations themselves (little vocabulary, less grammer), I think that the way a certain translation is phrased is important; there's a reason I still have those "Haruhi" fansubs even after getting the DVDs ("Future Men"? WTF?).


So the Haruhi subs have a few over literal translations and you condemn them completely? Literally, "mirai-jin" are "future men". Obviously she means "time traveller", yes, but it's still accurate. So is Kyon saying that he has a pony tail moé. Strangely enough, many professional subs are too relaxed with translations, but the Haruhi ones were the opposite, a little too literal.

I'm reminded of the Zeta Gundam boxset "dubtitles", where when Rosamia sees Kamille, she says "nii-san" and the subtitle reads "Kamille". She's referring to Kamille, yes, but it's more important to convey that she's calling him her brother, which is what she was literally saying.

Then again, with the liberties fansubbers take with their translations, it's difficult for anyone who doesn't have working knowledge of the Japanese language to gauge the accuracy and spirit of subtitles. I tend to view professional subs as generally more accurate, but I could be wrong.
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LydiaDianne



Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 5633
Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:14 am Reply with quote
Psycho 101 wrote:
Quote:
I know you're a cynical bastard,


Wow Zach....feel the love heh. Very Happy


Yup, Matt is on ANN alot! Very Happy

Splitter watch PPY anyway, it's lots of fun. Even if the jerk ruined the ending for you.
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