Forum - View topicANNCast - Manic Maughan-day
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7580 Location: Wales |
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AFAIK the major chains like Waterstones and Borders (RIP) were supplied by the UK companies. Again AFAIK, since the UK branch of Tokyopop opened they have been including the price in £s on the back of all Tokyopop manga so there is basically no difference between the volumes released in the UK as in the US. Where Del Rey is concerned there is a clear cut difference - UK manga is released by Tanoshimi, while the grey imports have the Del Rey logo. --edit-- (still listening to the 'cast) One of the main reasons Manga is currently so big in the UK is that they are the UK distributors for FUNimation, and since they're the biggest US company at the moment.. |
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Swissman
Posts: 768 Location: Switzerland |
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I watched Redline last year at Locarno Film Festival and although I was lucky to visit a masterclass with one of the masterminds behind Redline and remember how cool the visuals looked on the huge screen of the Piazza Grande and how upbeat the very loud techno-like soundtrack was, after nine months I remember little to hardly anything about the plot. That how thin the plot is. It really is a race car movie, like a frenzy The Fast and the Furious, visually a cross between stylish Studio 4C like art-animation and classic american superhero comics on steroids. It's a cool experience, but it doesn't make you think or anything. And that's ok.
(wondering now if some of the haters of Tom's well-written review will answer here too  )
In defense of Manga Video UK: They were almost the only ones in the early nineties which put out bad anime as well as very good to masterpiece anime at affordable prices. From where I am from, back in the early nineties before Manga Video (and Kiseki, Kaze, ect) you had access to french or italian television and were lucky enough to get a massive dose of cool eighties anime like City Hunter or Hokuto no Ken, albeit in a very censored way, deliberately done to hide the japanese origin of these shows for reasons of quota and penalty, and crudely dubbed for children. Some of those anime you could buy on VHS at the children's section of your local supermarket. Then came Akira and Manga Video. Akira was shown in Germany and Switzerland in small arthouse cinemas and it had immediately a cult following. Those people went on to buy some of the first manga in europe (colored version of Akira, Appleseed, May the psychic girl, Gunsmith Cats, ect.) and supported Magazines like Animeline from France (started in 1992 IIRC) and Helen Mc Carthy's Anime UK (1993 onwards). Of course, before fandom really started to take off, especially in the UK and the german speaking countries, there had to be a starting point where everyone was watching the same thing, and that was very often the output ot Manga Video. In Switzerland, Manga Video VHS started to pop up in Comic stores like in Geneva or Zurich. They were bought by fans like me not only because of the "cool" and "brutal" horror/slash content, but also because, well, there was hardly anything else to buy in the first place. The comic stores I was visiting frequently had some US NTSC imports too, like Urusei Yatsura tapes from AnimEigo, but they were rare and ridiculously expensive, like 70$ a tape (I bought the first VHS of Nadia, Secret of Blue Water, the Carl Macek dub, for 40$, and that one had only *one* 30 min episode on it). Tapes from Manga Video on the other hand were like between 20-30$ a tape, sometimes even cheaper. So what was "great" about buying anime from Manga Video was that one could buy a lot of anime fot not too much money, and among all the bad stuff like Mad Bull or the simply weird oavs/movies like Vampire Hunter D in your purchase, you could get lucky and stumble among gems like the Patlabor movies or Wings of Honneamise. And the dubs of those feature lenght movies weren't bad too. They even dubbed the Rumic World OAVs like Fire Tripper, Laughing Target or Maris The Choujo, anime which never made it to DVD (which is a shame btw). I still have a couple of dozens of Manga Video tapes and although I haven't watched most of them over the last ten to fifteen years, I can't bring it over my heart to get rid of them for nostalgic reasons. I don't now if they have any collector's value nowadays, but I sure do know that they give a great insight to what was then considered "cool" and exciting for the nineties public and that they definitely play an important part in the creation of europe's early anime fandom. |
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ABCBTom
 Posts: 183 |
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I agree with Justin Sevakis that Peter Marinker's Goto is phenomenal, and I'll always have a special place in my heart for Manga UK for that.
Hell, I have a special place in my heart for the "f--- and p---!" line from Angel Cop as well. Also happy to hear a shoutout for Eden: It's an Endless World, woefully unappreciated as ever. Apparently at a panel in California, Dark Horse is saying it's still struggling to meet the sales required to finish out its release. |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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If I agreed with so much as a word of this, I quite simply would never have become a fan of Japanese animation. I found there to be no directrorial or narrative problems whatsoever, and would, quite bluntly, defend this stance with zeal and vehemence if challenged to substantiate it. My reactions did not lead me to believe the edits contributed to any degree of dischordance, I found the choice of music to move me profusely, the fade-outs were a matter over which I considered there to be no faults worthy of mention, and the development of the characters and story —far from being disregarded— were such that they met all my expectations. Heeding your scholarly position, I may still arbitrarily suggest the film is "self-indulgent", though unlike you I would not use such a phrase to signify a value judgement.
And as somebody who has no formal background in such studies, I most definitely do not. Of course, you are at liberty to bear this comparative difference in academic training in mind when taking into account my love for this film. Believe me, I already do likewise when considering your dislike. It may be the case that I am oblivious to the offensive character of the film, and if so I would retract my views in shame. Nonetheless one hopes, nay believes outright, that it is only appropriate to attribute what you declare of the film's offensiveness with your reaction in particular, as opposed to considering such a declaration be a descriptive act of universal applicability. (Unlike film theory, this is a matter with which I can claim firm academic acquaintance.) There are numerous occasions upon which I err towards agreeing with you on aesthetic matters, but the vast, vast divergance in our opinions of Metropolis reinforces my scepticism on the applicability of your presumably-refined judgements to the manner in which I am disposed to respond to cinematic works.
I pray that you keep this in mind. It would be very much appreciated on our end.
Speaking as somebody on a 50 meg fibre-optic line, this is not as bountiful as one may expect.
I had a whale of a time at today's Expo. One just needs to network with others via local online communities.
There has, at the behest of the BBFC (and possibly related to the CJB), already been a clearly pointless cut made to a new anime release over here. Furthermore, by a literal reading of the CJB, the chap selling doujinshi at the Expo today could have been caught red-handed by authorities, had they been so inclined to search for now-illegal material. |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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Yeah, Marinker's Captain Gotoh was great. He really captured the character. |
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Moomintroll
 Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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They're supplied by both. For example, back when Eden: It's An Endless World! was being released in both the UK and US, Waterstones were stocking a mixture of Titan and Dark Horse editions.
The situation with Tokyopop is the same as it is with Viz: some of their licenses include the UK (and have £ RRPs on the back) and some don't. There's not really any great incentive for them to seek extended licenses that cover the UK since they're fully aware that their product is readily available over here (and so long as it's being made available over here by distributors and retailers rather than through direct sales from the license holders, nobody is breaking any laws).
Tanoshimi has, effectively, the same relationship with Del Rey that Viz and Tokyopop have with their UK subsidiaries - they're both imprints of the same company (Random House in Del Rey / Tanoshimi's case). And, as with Viz and Tokyopop, some of Del Rey's titles get an official UK release (under the Tanoshimi brand) and some don't. My point is that none of this makes any difference. Precisely the same books are available to us at precisely the same time for more or less the same cost (depending on the exchange rate) and with none of the format complications (NTSC vs PAL), region blocking or resale problems that relate to anime DVD imports. In other words, I understand why UK anime fans might feel a bit like they're forever playing catch-up with their American counterparts but I really don't see how that applies to manga readers. |
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief
 Posts: 1684 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Thanks for the well-reasoned counterpoint. I understand there are many fans of this film, and while I don't understand their opinions I do respect them.
The reasoning you made in your post suggests that you aren't the sort whose opinions we so cavalierly dismiss. You don't need to have a film degree or have seen a lot of stuff to necessarily have an intelligent opinion; you simply need to be able to think critically and be able to analyze for yourself. Most people are incapable of this, and their opinions are more a pavlovian response to a symbol they identify with, rather than a thoughtful, reasoned reaction. Which isn't to say their emotions about the work aren't genuine, but rather that their relationship with the work is very superficial and not worth engaging with. When this response is challenged, they simply react angrily because they have no deeper reasoning behind their response. I will always welcome and respect opposing views, when made with intelligence and reason. |
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TimMaughan
 Posts: 32 |
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Sorry for delay in replying guys, been busy with London EXPO and over stuff.
It truly is - I'm not that far in but already on track to be one of my all time favourite shows. As you say, extremely intelligent.
Yep, pretty spot on.
Thanks man! The article I was working on is done, and is basically just compiled from a bunch of interviews I did. I think it'll be a good read - just don't know when It'll be published now - is out of my hands! And hope we bump into each other at a con soon!
Ugh, I didn't know that. Certainly puts a nasty taste in my mouth for a film I actually quite enjoyed. My girlfriend is a big fan of it too - but mainly because she loves Tezuka's character designs.
Yeah, I am on Virgin - and like I said on the podcast I usually get about 25meg, so far. The 50 is a theoretical maximum or some BS. But they gave me a pretty sweet upgrade deal as I've been with them for so long so...
There's not that much gore in Akira - just a few scenes. Most of the rest is just some of the highest quality animation you'll ever see. It's such an important film to the history of anime that I really think ever fan should watch it at least once.
I have - loved it. Am looking forward to the edited together (with extra footage I think?) movie version.
I must admit I've not had a chance to look at it in much detail yet - I need to do more research and read up on it prperly. But yes, sounds like nonsense and probably utterly unpolicable. For example look at our still archaic porn laws. Most of what you can easily get on the net here is technically illegal, but there's no attempt to even try and police that.
I'm going to be so mad if they fail to get that finished. After investing so much time and money (I've had to import some volumes from the US, because they've been inexplicably unavailable here - while later ones have?) I'll just feel defeated if I have to finish reading it via scanlations - which I hate doing. Also: BIG THANKS again to Justin and Zac for having me on, and a BIG THANKS to everyone that's given such positive feedback and kind words! 
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agila61
 Posts: 3213 Location: NE Ohio |
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By the way, how can it be said there's been no SF the last few years? So Ra No Wo To aspired to be A Canticle for Liebowitz's Cute Nieces.
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TimMaughan
Posts: 32 |
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I couldn't finish So Ra No Wo To, to be honest. gave up at episode 3 just because it was so slow, and far too focused on the lives of the girls - all of which seemed to be such appallingly predictable archetypes. But maybe I'll go back and give it another go at some point. |
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gartholamundi
 Posts: 316 Location: Gainesville, FL |
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so, is it not the case that UK translations tend to be "more intelligent" ... i.e, take a look at the way the Harry Potter books were "dumbed down" for the American readership. i know this to be a fact, and assumed it was prevalent throughout much of market. i used to live in texas, and my then fiance and her girls were living in Cumbria. i'd read an occasional chapter to them via an old voice-connected computer (i don't even remember the software, it was years ago, before Skype), and they'd follow along in their copy. my fiance used to ask why i was changing the words, and when i protested that i wasn't we started making closer comparisons and found the US versions constantly used simpler descriptive language. so, does anyone know if this kind of thing also happens with manga? |
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Moomintroll
Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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The only UK publisher doing its own manga translations is Fanfare - and that's because they have exclusive English-language rights on everything they've put out. The market here is small enough that it's more cost effective to buy the rights to US adaptations than pay for UK-specific ones. Translations of non-English literature and occasional American "localisations" of British books and films are a different matter altogether but, yeah, they quite often differ from each other quite markedly. There's a fascinating look at the differing US and UK translations of the Danish novel Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow (or Smilla's Sense Of Snow if you're American) here. |
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agila61
Posts: 3213 Location: NE Ohio |
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It is very much chill out theatre ... I only finally started it while going to CR (and again and again) to see if there was any dates so far on the Giant Killing ep2-7, since I liked ep1 despite the older pommie fan of div5 "Eastham" who speaks in BBC-shortwave-ESL English. {EDIT: Giant Killing ep1-4 now up, at same time ep8 went ad-stream and ep9 for anime members.} I am at Canticle for Liebowitz's Extremely Adorable Nieces ep6, and so far the post apocalypse is mostly setting rather than plotline, but somewhere around ep5 and ep6 they seem to think they've got the extreme adorability of the characters established and can start entertaining the idea of perhaps having a plot as well. And I should perhaps mention, for the sake of completeness, that the five "tower maidens" of the tank squadron are meant to be extremely adorable. So while CLEAN may be a fairy bread approach to SF (4 out of 5 dentists advise brushing your teeth after watching) ... but you can't say there have been no SF series recently. Just no really good hotblooded space opera or cyborgs in 2050 SF series. Last edited by agila61 on Sun May 30, 2010 11:41 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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agila61
Posts: 3213 Location: NE Ohio |
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Weren't Harry Potter written in English by that formerly poor and now wealth pommie lady? What do they have to do with UK translations? |
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gartholamundi
Posts: 316 Location: Gainesville, FL |
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yes, they were of course originally written in English, but they were "re-written", in English, for the American audience. in other words, "translated" from a richer vocabulary to a poorer one. and thanks to Moomintroll for the clarification; if there were more UK translations of japanese manga/anime it'd probably be worth it (to me at least) to get the UK versions. |
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