Forum - View topicNEWS: Precure, Digimon 02 Added to Direct2Drive Downloads
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WhtHawk
 Posts: 25 |
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Alais, us Mac users are given the cold shoulder. I have a serious problem with the information posted on the website so I doubt I would use them anyway. If MLB and Microsoft can't get DRM right and keep their servers on-line, I don't know that I can trust any site that does not include an obligation to provide the ability to remove all DRM restrictions in the event that the company or server were to cease business.
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GATSU
Posts: 15306 |
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Conan: One Piece would have never done Naruto numbers, but it would have done significantly better than it did under 4 Kids.
firecrouch: That's kind of the problem with Toei in general. They don't seem to have synergy with their international divisions, even though they pay their own money to set up shop around the world. Also, I think what Conan meant is that they were disappointed that OP got clobbered by Naruto, when they were expecting OP to be their break-out hit here. DBZ doesn't count, since they weren't actively promoting it or their company. |
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firecrouch
Posts: 125 |
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I don't know much about how Toei Animation operates internationally, but from what I've heard about them that seems reasonable. They're a big company that's been around for a long time so I imagine that when it comes to international markets, as interested in them as they are, they're kind of conservative about them. Their international efforts seem to be only as big as how well they can get their properties on T.V., which is their most basic function, otherwise they just put in the bare minimum effort. As for "One Piece", I do know Toei Animation was a bit frustrated that "Naruto" was doing better than "One Piece" back when "One Piece" was with 4Kids. In 2006 at Anime Expo I talked to VIZ rep who told me that Toei Animation asked companies all the time why "Naruto" is more popular than "One Piece", they would always give them the same answer but Toei Animation wouldn't listen. Now that they're partnered up with FUNimation I think they're more understanding. "One Piece" has been doing gradually better since FUNimation started working on it, and I imagine the only people Toei Animation are frustrated with are the people that run Cartoon Network, who the fans of the show and FUNimation also seem to be frustrated with. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14761 |
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Well, someone posted some screencaps of PreCure.
Here's what someone else had to say about it: Vista users take note: This file won't work with WMP11. Well, at least it didn't on mine. S'okie. I keep an XP VM around for just such occasions. 5 minutes later, I'd stripped the DRM off the file and sent it back to my Vista HTPC. 640x480. Ya know, when I saw your screencaps, I just figured something wasn't configured right. My apologies. They really did screw it up that badly. The thing is it looks like a bad capture from a bad analog source. If I hadn't seen the digisubs from a couple of years ago, I'd have assumed this was a cap from a third generation VHS fansub. I could swear I saw NTSC scan lines in some of this video. The worst of it is, that they had a better digital source than the fansubbers did. When the screen isn't crawling with their laughable attempt (or lack of an attempt?) at deinterlacing, there isn't any serious macroblocking to speak of in the low-motion scenes, and the colors and gradients were pretty solid and consistent. At least they were when they weren't crawling with compression artifacts. I expect to see a rainbow for the "Pretty Cure Marble Screw". I don't expect to see it crawling up the sides of black linework. Also, whoever did the encoding for this episode ran it trough an unsharp-mask filter. And then a sharpen filter. With thresholds set up WAY TOO HIGH. I can see the classic "halo" around the lines. In short, the default settings for WMV encoding would have done a better job. Someone had to DELIBERATLY screw this up. Given that this is Toei, I think it's pretty obvious who screwed the pooch! 
I'm not bothered by the subtitle timings. (But this is Pretty Cure we're talking about. It's not exactly straining my Japanese language skills.) The translations are reasonably accurate, if a bit stiff in the translation. The translated script could have benefitted from an editor. Also, the AUDIO was horribly compressed. I could hear compression artifacts, and there were several points where the audio either dropped noticeably in volume, or actually CLIPPED. Really, there was no excuse for the quality of this encode. Compared to the BOSTTV release of "Tower of Druaga", this looks less than amateurish, at twice the resolution, and twice the file size, with not even half the quality. I'm going to waste another $2 USD and grab a file from another company. We'll see if this is a Toei issue, or a D2D issue. |
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firecrouch
Posts: 125 |
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I kept trying to freeze-frame the moments of pixelation and distortion every time they came up in my "FOTNS" episodes but they went by too fast, making me think it wasn't that. Now I'm starting to think otherwise after seeing these screencaps. If the download sales are low I hope the people putting these up can go to their bosses in Japan and convince them to get some higher-quality encodes.
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GATSU
Posts: 15306 |
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firecrouch: I'm still not sure why Toei expected OP to be big here, when it's neither Yu-Gi-Oh nor DBZ. And if that's what they wanted, they should have gone with a company which had a plan, not just a company which rubs two rocks together.
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GaryPotter
Posts: 65 |
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The whole reason I mentioned the Odex English dub is because it's a pretty good dub. If Toei is serious about releasing Precure here in the states, they could just import that version and save themselves a lot of money.
As for Naruto and One Piece not being as big as DBZ, that's actually CN's fault. What many people seem to forget is that DBZ was a huge hit because it was played in the WEEKDAY AFTERNOON TIMESLOT. There, it was able to quickly gain an audience and was able to expand it very rapidly, simply because it was more accessable. Naruto and One Piece were only shown once a week, at nighttime. That's not the way to make something a hit. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15306 |
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Gary: Actually, DBZ did well in crappy timeslots. And Naruto is a hit, in spite of its slot. So OP is just not popular here. There's nothing wrong with that, since it does well enough for Viz to continue it on a regular basis, and not on a limited one, like Bastard!!! or St. Seiya.
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ConanSan
Posts: 1818 |
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Wow, it looks like they might as well not have bothered.
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firecrouch
Posts: 125 |
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Why wouldn't they expect it to be a hit? It's huge in Japan and it's done really well almost everywhere else it's released. And 4Kids had a plan, just not one that worked for "One Piece", it just wasn't marketed for the right audience and in the right time-slot. Toei Animation went with 4Kids because they thought, "Hey, POkemon was the most successful release of an anime in the U.S.A., 4Kids did it, let's give One Piece to them." Of course it turned out even worse than even alot of fans predicted. |
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britannicamoore
 Posts: 2618 Location: Out. |
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Ouch, and i really wanted to own these. it makes me sad.
As for the One Piece discussion, I can almost agree on the One Piece front, if they had of shown it with Naruto back to back and with a good dub. Considering Toonami can somehow swing a PG-14 movie during their slots filled with blood, guns, and Satanic imagery, I'm certain they could have put on One Piece. |
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firecrouch
Posts: 125 |
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"One Piece" actually started doing better once FUNimation took over. It hasn't really become more popular, "One Piece" has still cemented itself in terms of popularity with it being around for a few years, however the DVD sales have apparently been very good according to FUNimation reps I talked to AX this year, they seemed very pleased. The ratings on Cartoon Network started to gradually increase once the episodes dubbed by FUNimation started to air, however Cartoon Network took it off because it didn't become a hit right away once FUNimation's episodes aired. There's actually a rumor that Nicktoons Network is interested in it now.
And GaryPotter, I don't know how good the Odex dub is but I've seen an episode dubbed by Toei Animation at Anime Expo 2007 that was a pilot for American T.V. and it was pretty good. That's an English dub I'd like to see. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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One thing I can say for sure is that that guy's life must be totally awesome. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15306 |
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firecrouch: OP does well in other countries, because it appeals to certain audiences there[I.E. Older anime fans] who are more niche here. Also, I wouldn't call dumping OP at a crappy time slot and giving it a rap song a "plan". As for Pokemon, it's a totally different show specifically meant to sell toys.
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Josh7289
Posts: 1252 |
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Does Digimon look and sound as bad as PreCure?
Zac, stop trolling. |
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