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Geoffrey No Jutsu
Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 6
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 10:46 am
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i definitely would like to see what happens, but bottom-line: this will most-likely not affect the state of anime that is still Japanese-only. that's what we care about most, right? If it's successful, then that's great. most of us still won't watch it anyway because it will most likely be dubbed and have an english soundtrack. anime "purists" or at least those that enjoy the mostly-foreign flair, like myself, pretty much avoid anything that is dubbed in english. as far as an english soundtrack, does anyone remember the first street fighter 2 movie? that's what it's like when english songs are in anime. in a perfect world, the anime would be subbed with a japanese soundtrack in america, and dubbed with an english soundtrack in japan, to maximize the cultural-exchange benefits of such an endeavor. i'm generally pessimistic to begin with, but since most everyone has already voiced similar ideas, i think i'll sit (mostly) quiet and see what happens. however, i REALLY hope that no one licenses NARUTO for US TV anytime soon. that show is TOO damn good for PokéMon-isation.
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Jetto
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 49
Location: Hattiesburg, MS
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 11:36 am
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Hear that sound?
That's the sound of fansubbers' heads exploding....
Seriously though, this is definitely a good thing. If this becomes profitable, you can expect more companies to be looking for this route instead of the traditional route. and, If i can get anime faster, its definitely a good thing.
And if you think that America has no influence on anime, think again. The 2nd Rurouni kenshin ova was produced because of its success in america. Big O II is another example, and let's not forget about the upcoming street fighter alpha 2 movie (i'm sure there are more examples, but those are the only ones that come to mind at the moment).
Anime is slowly becoming mainstream. Get over it. It's going to happen. Come on guys, Kick that elitist attitude to the curb. This will put more money in the pockets of the people who deserve it.
And for the people that think it shouldn't be called anime...Disney movies are called anime by japanese people. Anime simply means animation (and yes, I know the term has kind of evolved, but that's what it literally means).
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herbkir
Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Posts: 251
Location: Michigan
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 12:32 pm
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Smart businesspeople don't meddle with the things that make a deal attractive in the first place. Time Warner's entry into anime means they see a pot of gold at the end of the anime rainbow and are going after it.
Their intention to co-release properties in Japan and USA at the same time means that any "Americanization" will be minor. If a property consistently sells in the USA and flops in Japan (or vice versa), that would mean someone isn't doing their jobs right.
American involvement with Japanese studios isn't necessarily a bad thing. And Time Warner's corporate ancestors had a vital role in making animated fare popular. Remember, too, that Disney's acquisition of Studio Ghibli didn't destroy Ghibli as an anime institution.
The real test, of course, is what properties Time Warner will choose to animate and what demographics they decide to go after. I guess we'll just have to see. (^_*)
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NightHedgehog
Joined: 01 May 2004
Posts: 38
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 12:35 pm
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I'm really looking forward to what comes out of this partnership. There have been several times in the past where American and Japanese animation companies have worked together to make a series. Transformers G1 was one of them, and considering the following (including myself), it shows just how well this could work out.
[quote=Jetto]And for the people that think it shouldn't be called anime...Disney movies are called anime by japanese people. Anime simply means animation (and yes, I know the term has kind of evolved, but that's what it literally means).[/quote]
You deserve a million cookies.
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Tenchi
Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 4469
Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer.
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 12:41 pm
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Twage wrote: | This is extremely exciting news, and to all the naysayers, I would point out-- what are the two anime Time Warner/CN has produced so far? The Big O II and The Animatrix. Both of which kicked massive amounts of ass. So let's give them a chance, eh? |
Yup, Time/Warner's dipped their toes in the funding anime production pool before (they also helped with Steamboy).
This would be the next step up, I suppose, but whatever it is they produce, it will almost certainly be relegated to CN, so I don't think this will bring about a huge "sea change" in the nature of domestic fandom. I doubt this means we'll be seeing adult-oriented Japanese cartoons on the WB Network anytime soon, as anime, excluding the kiddy merchandise franchise stuff, is too niche to attract the sort of audience broadcast networks want.
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s_j
Joined: 18 Oct 2004
Posts: 162
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:43 pm
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American involvement isn't necessarily a bad thing. I personally liked the American remake of The Ring and The Grudge better than Ringu and Juon...(dodges tomatoes from crowd.)
As long as certain pitfalls like 'script by committee' can be avoided, the bigger budget should lead to higher production values. That's not a bad thing at all.
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Stueypark
Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 116
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 3:40 pm
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No they couldn't. By US anti-monopoly laws no company can Create, Distribute, and Exhibit something.
If they create it and show it on their network, another company will have to distribute it.
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Sword of Whedon
Joined: 17 Sep 2003
Posts: 683
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 3:46 pm
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That's theatrical, as in movie theaters, because there is often but one movie theater for an area. On a TV everyone has equal access without going to another location.
If that law was true for TV, then the evening news would break the law.
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Stueypark
Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 116
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 3:51 pm
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Ahhh, but freedom of the press is an explicit constitutional right.
I have heard of the anti-monopoly laws applied to TV before so... we'll have to see.
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Tenchi
Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 4469
Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer.
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 3:57 pm
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If that were true, everything Williams Street produces, from The Powerpuff Girls to The Brak Show, would be against the law.
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Mexicanime86
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
Posts: 135
Location: Dallas, TX
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 4:15 pm
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OK, I've seen what everyone says so here's my opinion:
This is what could potentially make or break anime in mainstream America. It's because it could open alot of people up to a new art form, and i mean real art. Anime has always had a cult following and this will either create another "pokemon-yugioh" or really establish anime as a real form of cultural exhange. I agree with many of you on different points, such as it probably will get aired on toonami or adult swim, which will not help it much, but willl get the necessary exposure. I think that there will be some "americanization" if it will be more of chibi or comedic genre but if its a "melodrama", and i use the term loosely, action-adventure type, then it will get enough purits for it to be successful, depeniding on how high the quality is. Of course there will be an intregration of the 2 cultures, but as was pointed out b4, this can really make an anime to reconed with. I think we should just pray and hope that this will be an anime that will satisfy even the most stuborn purist.
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist
Joined: 31 Jan 2005
Posts: 598
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 4:35 pm
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Nagisa wrote: | Fullmetal Alchemist wasn't even consistently great. And if you look at the larger scope of things, at your more "average" anime particularly from 2004 & 2005, you'll definitely see that animation quality has sunk horribly (especially when you compare it to stuff from 10+ years ago; the average TV series then looked much better than the average TV series now...too much reliance on computers to cut financial corners, methinks). It's not all bad, but the truly well done titles are in the vast, vast minority. |
As someone working in the television animation industry (in the US) I can tell you that the drop in quality in the past 10 years of anime is due to two things, and neither of them are "computers".
1. Outsourcing! Most of the primary animation isn't even done in Japan anymore. They send stuff overseas to Korea just as much as we do. That, and they send stuff to other studios in Japan. Once something is out of the studio, quality is very hard to monitor and consistancy is hard to maintain. Some scenes/episodes in Full Metal Alchemist looked very, very outsourced, while other scenes/episodes got the good directors and the good studios.
2. TV Animation has low budgets!! Ten years ago the anime market had more OVAs and fewer series going on to boot. This meant that budgets were comparitively higher. I always use the "look at Gunsmith Cats versus Noir" example. You can only do so much on a fast-moving low-budget TV series. You can do a lot more in a feature film (Dagger of Kamui) or an OVA.
Geoffrey No Jutsu wrote: | ...pretty much avoid anything that is dubbed in english. ... in a perfect world, the anime would be subbed with a japanese soundtrack in america, and dubbed with an english soundtrack in japan, to maximize the cultural-exchange benefits of such an endeavor. |
This is a really good point - I think that the end of fansubbing would only be if broadcasts were simultaneous in Japan and America and if the American broadcast version was subbed. Then again... people download TV in English all the time...
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SuperOnizuka
Joined: 24 Oct 2003
Posts: 421
Location: When I look At the World- New Jersey
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 4:38 pm
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littlegreenwolf wrote: | Again, I wonder where the heck this view that anything animated with an American contribution will automatically be crap, and can't be called anime. Some people need to get their Japanese only loving heads out of their buts, and open up to the bigger world. Lots of crap comes out of Japan, and lots of crap comes out of America. Together they'll either make collaberation crap, or something that may just be worth watching. |
So true. It doesn't matter if an anime is made in Japan, which probably isn't true anymore being that cels are being outsourced so it isn't technically Japanese, or in America. Either one can produce a pretty bad anime, movie, show, or whatever.
I am not an elitest, so I don't know what goes on in an "elitest" anime viewer's mindset. But I have to say, quit complaining. We only know that WB and the other company are going to collaborate on joint projects.
Somewhat off topic, I am getting kinda irritated when people call other places being influenced by "Americanization/Westernization." Which isn't totally incorrect, they are at a VERRRRRY slow pace. But in that regards, we are becoming "Easternized" as they are slowly adapting to Westernization. The only real cultural influence from America, that has a sheer impact on any country, is clothing. fast foods? Every single fast food corp. from America had to adapt to the foriegn countries' culture and needs. And they don't hardly even serve the food that American's get, in fact they get a better meal!
Our own culture, being very diverse, has been influenced by Asian countries, but I don't hear anyone complaining about "Oh Crap! We are being "Easternized!!'" Count how many Asian resturants that are in America now, the products that you use, the clothes that you wear, the ANIME THAT WE WATCH, etc.
Give a few fifty years or so, China will be the leading country, and I guess I will bite my tongue for saying that we aren't complaining about being Easternized.
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Mohawk52
Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 5:38 pm
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jay saenz
Joined: 10 Dec 2003
Posts: 81
Location: Costa Rica
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 5:56 pm
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I can't tell for sure if this is good or bad until i get more information about the proyect, like the story or marketing goals of this coproduced anime...
Based on the information that the article gave, the only thing we know its that they want to produce a high quality animation... which is something blurry without the details...
Will they use 3D or 2D graphics (the actual trend in America is to produce 3D animation)?
Will they draw hiperealistic characters (like Ghost in the Shell) or will they try a more "anime" style characters?
Other important thing> Which is the target market for this anime? Kids, young adults, anime fanboys or mainstream audiences ...
If they go for the easy money, taking as an example the more successfull animes in America, they will try to create a cartoon like Yugi Oh or Pokemon, based on some adictive game made for the kids that love to collect anything...
In the other hand, if the people on charge try to come out with something more mature, and therefore more riskey, maybe they can produce some sci fi or dark cyber punk anime, aimed to the average american anime fan...
I cannot tell what kind of anime they will go for, but i hope that they choose the second one....
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