FUNimation US FMA Trailers

[Sonhex]

Originally Posted by Umbrae

Did they change the trailer? When I go and watch it, there is no voice but the narrator.

although it did say it would be airing on Cartoon network october 2004.
...

Yep, looks like they took down the first trailer with Al's voice on it. I'm sure they'll be much speculation as to why , but I wouldn't read too much into it...

Sonhex

[Suikun]

To microlith:
How the hell did you do that?

Seriously, tell me how the hell you suddenly were able to make me out into nothing more than a whiny fanboy in such little time when the vast majority of my large post above was defending the dub and attempting to denounce the baseless bashing that was going around.

*sigh*
Where to start?

Originally Posted by microlith

The average fansub downloading twit on this board who swears up and down that dubs are a "curse" and are horrible "just because they're not Japanese, thus unfaithful to the show" can't speak at all, since their bias is more likely because of the language (whether or not they understand it without subs) and loss of "elitism" they feel comes with watching it in a language that they and others understand inherently. It's the whole "new toy" thing, you don't feel special when other people have the same toys.

This comment seemed geared more generally, but if it was meant towards me - never do I feel any sort of "elitism" by watching it in the Japanese language - my reasoning for watching subtitled anime only is very very simple - too many shows have been ruined due to bad or inconsistent dubbing for me that otherwise are at least decent if not great shows. Shows like Love Hina or Saber Marionette J or Bubblegum Crisis 2040. These are all shows that I initially watched dubbed and just plain didn't like due to the number of awkward pauses, writing, and, in the case of Saber Marionette, inconsistency. It just makes more sense to me to go straight to the version of the show that I've had more "success" with enjoying than to "try" a dub and see if it's as good and consistant as the original version. I don't give a crap if CN broadcast only the subtitled version and suddenly everyone in the world prefered the subbed version to the dub, thus completely taking the "elitism" away. I'd still prefer the original language, and I do not just with anime but every other foreign movie I've seen. Why? Because nearly every English dub, be it a French movie or a Japanese anime, has far too many awkward pauses and line deliveries, that it's just easier to bypass it all and go straight for the original. Elitism has nothing to do with it whatsoever.

Wah. Damn those dubbies getting stuff on TV! This is a pointless complaint, really. You're no more a fan than they are just cause you watched it as a fansub.

AH! There's absolutely nothing I hate more than people putting words into my mouth!
*sigh*

I never said that because I watched the fansubs I'm more of a fan than anyone who watches it on TV, and if I phrased it wrong then that's not at all what I meant - I meant that it pisses me off because I'm already a fan of the show, and I'm one of the people who are going to support the DVDs more faithfully than most people who watch it on TV, and I'm going to do so as soon as they come out. Thus, it pisses me off that I can't get anything in return for that. Let me give an analogy - say you sign up for a wireless phone plan of a brand new wireless phone company, and you're one of the few people that's using their services. Then, all the sudden, they start advertising, and more and more people come along who are able to sign up for this thing, but instead get much much more for their money that what you're getting just because they're new, meanwhile, you, one of the people who helped make the upstart company successful in the first place, get left out.

Okay, that is a highly flawed analogy, but surely you get the general idea of what I mean. Yes, it's a "pointless" complaint that has many flaws, but it isn't baseless, and although I don't expect you to agree with it, you can't just denounce it as completely invalid so quickly.

Because by releasing the DVDs after the show has started on CN, they get a MUCH larger audience out there looking for them. They can also advertise it during the show and sell many more. If they do this, the discs may very well end up cheaper. If they rushed ahead, they would have stuff out on the shelves for too long, and earlier discs would be cycled off the shelves with fans left searching for it.

Fair enough - the reasoning behind it is pretty simple and makes sense from a business perspective. Still doesn't change my complaint, but I do see the reasoning behind their decisions.

Originally Posted by microlith

No, a dub should be judged by those who watch dubs regularly, like the people on "The English Track" forum at animeondvd.com.

Who, in turn, are able to appreciate it on the same level as the avergae American instead of on the level of the anime fan. Dude, serisouly, what's with the adamant "no" here? I wasn't wrong in saying that only those of the average American mindset should be the ones judging dubs because THAT IS EXACTLY WHO THEY ARE MADE FOR. There isn't any debating that - ask FUNimation, Geneon, ADV, Media Blasters; ask whoever you want - they'll tell you that that's exactly why nearly every dub is made. And, isn't it always best that the only people who judge something are the people the thing was made for? Do people on "The English Track" make especially good judges of English dubs due to their ability to search deeper into them than the average American can? Of course! But in the end, they do so with the mindset of the average American as opposed to the otaku.

Dude, I mostly just agreed with your statement - and yet you phrased your initial reply as though I was just dead wrong in saying that dubs should only be judged by those of the "average" mindset - at this point, unless you can give me plenty of valid reasons why I deserved such an adamant "no", I'm thoroughly convinced that you like looking for fights with people just for the hell of it - with people who are, for the most part, agreeing with you. Chill out - not everything has to be turned into a debate.

[Yebyosh]

Just a little question here... (this has been bugging me for far too long).

To those who say they are anime fans because they can only enjoy the Japanese language and not the 'bad' English language, how do you claim to be able to fully appreciate the Japanese language? Most of you do not even understand a word of what they are saying, let alone the full context & meaning of the sentence itself. If its emotions and inflexions, a decent voice actor can pick it up if they were able to see the original itself and express it through the English script.

If you are going to say the subs give you the meaning of what they say, guess what? They can be wrong (and there have been quite a few evidence to show this). Plus you are envisioning the scene as given by the subs. So in actual fact you are not watching the show in the Japanese/Asian mindset but in the English/Western mindset. So what is it about trying to watch the show like a Japanese.

I have expressed my dislike of English-dubbed anime before. But that doesn't mean I would not give it a chance. English dubs would work on anime that are not based in the Asian culture. 90% of the anime produced are in the Asian setting and as such as a general rule, those cases of something lost is there, dubbed or subbed. However the ones that are based in European or Western settings work well in my opinion. Heck I loved dubbed Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs. If they had changed anything from the original Japanese animation, I sure didn't miss it. The voices of Saber Rider (posh English), Fireball (brash youngster, likely American), wild Colt (Texan) and April all worked very well. Even Monster in my opinion would come off better in German/Czech than Japanese.

Why do I bring them in? Because FMA is located in a European setting. Ignoring the honorifics, the culture shown can be any setting in Europe. Amestris is a predominent blend of French & German. It could work as a dubbed anime in a Western language.

Are we watching FMA as an animation bringing a tale of two boys in a struggle to regain what they lost and going through heavy mistakes and trials or a Japanese culture lesson?

[microlith]

A note, Love Hina's dub was destroyed by the Japanese. Production I.G. handled everything relating to DVD production except distribution. Bandai did, however, inform them that sub fans want literal subs and not dubtitles, which P.I.G. fixed.

Now first, how did I interpret this as whiny? Because you don't like dubs yet complain. Let us seek further into this, but hopefully not much further:

I never said that because I watched the fansubs I'm more of a fan than anyone who watches it on TV

But that's exactly how your complaint came across to me.

and if I phrased it wrong then that's not at all what I meant - I meant that it pisses me off because I'm already a fan of the show, and I'm one of the people who are going to support the DVDs more faithfully than most people who watch it on TV, and I'm going to do so as soon as they come out. Thus, it pisses me off that I can't get anything in return for that.

You're whining cause you feel they owe you something, when in fact they don't. I'll ignore the admittedly poor analogy because it's exactly the same as your complaint, and equally baseless.

What you could hope for, and like fans of series in Japan do, is for limited first-printing extras. Thus you can buy right away when it's released and get stuff that later fans won't. Of course, they're under no obligation to do so.

Now for the comments on dubs. I personally feel that FMA will come across quite well in English, because many (if not all) of the concepts contained in it are pulled from European scientific history and design.

Who, in turn, are able to appreciate it on the same level as the avergae American instead of on the level of the anime fan.

Um...

Do people on "The English Track" make especially good judges of English dubs due to their ability to search deeper into them than the average American can? Of course! But in the end, they do so with the mindset of the average American as opposed to the otaku.

Nice contradiction. At the same time they can both search deeper than the average American but yet are unable to look beyond it, and they cannot look at it as otaku. Simply because it's in English and they watch dubs.
The US companies try to make dubs sound normal to people who watch dubs. They try to improve performances so the show is better for people who watch dubs. Just because someone watches stuff dubbed does not mean that they are not an anime fan, or that they are not an otaku. They're as much fans as anyone else except they happen to like watching stuff directly in a language they understand. And they're the people that push for dubs to be improved (a lot of dub fans hated the Love Hina dub as well.)

There are many vocal dub fans. Not as many as there will be people watching it on CN, but enough that they have a voice with the companies and they DO push for better dubs. And it's these vocal, almost obsessed fans (you might call them... otaku) that effect the greatest quality increases in dubs.

Sub fans, however, do not. No dub is likely to please them and as such, the companies do not try. They listen to those who are most affected by it.

Japanese isn't this mystical language with deeper meaning behind every word than any other language. And no one is more or less a fan because they prefer to hear the characters speak in their native language, or in the one it was originally made in.

[Suikun]

Originally Posted by microlith

A note, Love Hina's dub was destroyed by the Japanese. Production I.G. handled everything relating to DVD production except distribution. Bandai did, however, inform them that sub fans want literal subs and not dubtitles, which P.I.G. fixed.

Now first, how did I interpret this as whiny? Because you don't like dubs yet complain.

How is this relevant? For starters, I have yet to make a single complaint about the FMA dub; in fact, I've only offered praise for it (or what little I've seen). Second, my only complaint here is the release schedule of the DVDs... which has absolutely nothing to do with the English dub. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're referencing, and correct me if I am.

But that's exactly how your complaint came across to me.

Then I either misphrased my argument or you misinterpreted it. Or both. My apologies; I made the appropriate correction in my above post.

You're whining cause you feel they owe you something, when in fact they don't. I'll ignore the admittedly poor analogy because it's exactly the same as your complaint, and equally baseless.

What you could hope for, and like fans of series in Japan do, is for limited first-printing extras. Thus you can buy right away when it's released and get stuff that later fans won't. Of course, they're under no obligation to do so.

Yes, I could hope for a limited, first-printing extra. I could also hope that FUNimation release the DVDs earlier to help satiate my want to see what happens past episode 30 as soon as possible.

I never said FUNimation had any "obligation" to release the DVDs earlier. But it sure would be nice if they would. Just as it would be nice if they released some limited edition extra on the first printing.

Here's a fact - FUNimation owes nothing to any person. They don't have to release FMA on DVD with a subtitled version for us fans; they don't even have to release FMA on DVD at all. Hell, they could have just bought FMA up and then sat on the rights for years before doing anything. They have no obligations to anyone whatsoever, and I have yet to say otherwise.
But it's nice that they will release FMA on DVD; it's nice that they do include a subtitled version, just like it would be nice if they did something for those of use who were following the fansubs and released the DVDs earlier. They aren't obligated to, but if they did it'd be nice. Sure, I said something like I was "pissed off" because they weren't... but I'd also say that if they didn't release the subtitled version at all. Just because I'm angry that they aren't doing something that I'd like them to, doesn't mean I think they owe it to me because I realize they owe me nothing. At the same time, though, their goal should be to please fans - both current and future fans, be it dubbies or subbies - as much as possible. They owe nothing to us, but it's just good business sense to please as many as possible. And since I'm a (future) paying customer, that will be part of why FMA becomes a success, I feel complaining about things like these can help FUNimation determine what is and isn't important and thus make better decisions to please more of their customers more of the time.

They may not owe me anything, and I realize this. But realize, Microlith, that you're bringing your fansub ethics into this debate too much where they have no place. This industry is a business, first and foremost. And what is a fundamental part of having good, solid business sense? Pleasing as many of your customers as possible, as much as possible, no matter how wide a range those customers are, in attempt to keep them coming back.

Wal-mart owes you nothing - they don't owe you a brightly lit store or fresh produce or what have you. But they are a business, and should keep those things in mind in hopes of keeping the loyal customers they have. Again, the analogy doesn't match up perfectly (I'm not great at those, if you can't tell) but by now you should get my point. Just because they don't owe me anything doesn't mean I can't hope for something or complain about something I don't agree with.

Now for the comments on dubs. I personally feel that FMA will come across quite well in English, because many (if not all) of the concepts contained in it are pulled from European scientific history and design.

I have yet to say otherwise.

Just because someone watches stuff dubbed does not mean that they are not an anime fan, or that they are not an otaku. They're as much fans as anyone else except they happen to like watching stuff directly in a language they understand. And they're the people that push for dubs to be improved (a lot of dub fans hated the Love Hina dub as well.)

Here's where I desperately failed in my argument; clearly, I phrased things as though I don't think dubbies can be "true" fans, but I'll say now - that was a mistake, and I certainly don't believe so. I don't care if you watch a dub or sub of FMA - a dubbie can be much more a true fan than any subbie. Again, my phrasing was off in my arguments and this is NOT the effect I was aiming for. My bad.

Japanese isn't this mystical language with deeper meaning behind every word than any other language. And no one is more or less a fan because they prefer to hear the characters speak in their native language, or in the one it was originally made in.

See above.

Nice contradiction. At the same time they can both search deeper than the average American but yet are unable to look beyond it, and they cannot look at it as otaku. Simply because it's in English and they watch dubs.
The US companies try to make dubs sound normal to people who watch dubs. They try to improve performances so the show is better for people who watch dubs.

I'll respond to this when I return (have to go)... gomen.

EDIT
****
Okay, to finish my reply...

Basically, this also is a result of the poor way I phrased my argument - when I said that they can't look at it in the "anime fan" perspective, I basically meant they should judge it from the stance of someone open to seeing an American interpretation of a foreign work rather than the "my way or the highway" perspective subbies have. I can certainly see why you'd think I meant that a dubbie cannot be a true fan because that's basically how it came off with my choice of words... but, like I said above, that's not at all what I believe, and that's not at all what I intended to come across in my argument. Trust me - I hate elitists who think that they're preference of watching anime is the only way to be a true fan (and, yes, I've met plenty of dubbies in addition to subbies who think you aren't a true fan unless you watch things their way) and the last thing in the world I want is to come off as one of those nasty elitists. Just because I prefer the original language of something doesn't suddenly make me the God of all things anime as so many anime fans believe - I suppose the reasoning behind my choice of words was more about simplicity than anything else. It's easier to just say "anime fan" than to go to lengths describing something when the term "anime fan" usually carries the connotation of a subbie... but, again, it was a poor choice of words and didn't convey what I wanted. Just replace the offending terms with the description above and that should satisfy this argument (and, knowing you people, give rise to another )

Finally, a simple warning:
So far, it's felt like most of the arguing I've done has been defending myself against (or rather, correcting) words that you've put in my mouth. Obviously, I phrased things wrong which led to more complications, but as a fair warning:
I'm not like the average, whiny otaku. I know I come off as one and make the same arguments other "otaku" do, but I have entirely different reasons for believing so. So, before you just assume that my reasoning is exactly like all the other whiners out there with the same, simple-minded, "anime companies and fansubbers owe me the world" attitude, think again! I may have similar opinions to them; but my reasons are entirely less "convienient" and "typical"... so, please, keep this in mind before you attempt to reply to something under the assumption that I think like everyone else and thus making you put words in my mouth, because it just won't work.

[Midg3t]

I could only find one trailer on fullmetalalchemist.com. That trailer hade the Va of the guy who does the voice for vegeta in DBZ.

Can anyone tell me where i can find or download the other one with R's voice?

[Suikun]

Originally Posted by Midg3t

I could only find one trailer on fullmetalalchemist.com. That trailer hade the Va of the guy who does the voice for vegeta in DBZ.

Can anyone tell me where i can find or download the other one with R's voice?

FUNimation took it down... for some odd reason... a reason which nobody knows... and never will... for eternity... or something like that...

[Altimit]

They probably didn't want whiney otakus to insult it anymore :P


Either that or they got a different VA. I havn't heard it so I wouldn't know if that'd be good or bad.

[Suikun]

The trailer did have some blood in it, right? Maybe FUNimation found out that CN was planning to put FMA on Toonami or something and FUNimation wanted to keep the bloodier side of FMA unadvertised as such.

[Altimit]

The other trailer has blood in it too though.

[Suikun]

*rewatches the trailer that's up*
Looks like I had my trailers mixed up - I thought this was the one with Al speaking and the other one just had the OP... my bad...

So, it must be a dub related issue or something... I don't know...

For some reason, they don't want people to see that first trailer... which makes me want to see it again really badly to see what was wrong with it...

[ShinDragon]

The 1st Trailer it's just the 2nd OP. (With Eng dub. in the beginning.)

[avmoghe]

***begin rant**************


They have already ruined Gundam Seed with all the horrendous editing and s**tty dub voices.. (they edited dead bodies out of a show about war, and replaced gunshots with wierd taser type sounds.. just to name two faults.. what the f**k were they smoking?!)

.. and now they are about to ruin Fullmetal alchemist. Call it a prediction.

Since they aired gundam seed which is more violent and bloodier than FMA on toonami, I wouldn't be surprised if they aired fma on toonami as well... editing to a "tv-y7" level...

Cartoon network should both keep their filthy hands off anime....

let them show stuff like dbz and that hamster show if they really desperately need something...

*******end rant

[weyoun6]

I hate dubs for anything, not just anime - I am a film buff, and it has nothing to do with eliteism or anything else, I just think dubbing an anime is the same thing as dubbing a foreign film, it should never ever happen, It changes the way the director originally intended for the piece to be viewed. That being said - I realize that there will never ever be subbed television on american TV and I think the FMA trailer sounds decent.

[Ral]

I put this in the other topic about dubbed FMA but I'll put it here to. FMA has been announced to be on Adult Swim. This is from the AS message boards.

Fullmetal Alchemist

Adding to a month of anime premieres, Adult Swim will debut Fullmetal Alchemist in its Saturday Action block on Saturday, October 23. (Please note the date could change.)

Widely acclaimed and very popular in Japan, Fullmetal Alchemist is the story of two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who live in a world where Alchemy can be used to transmute objects from one thing to another. Though prodigies of the art, they quickly learn the limits of their power when they attempt to resurrect their mother, costing Edward an arm and a leg and taking the entire body of the younger brother Al, who Ed is only able to save by binding his soul to an antique suit of armor. Now, outfitted with new metal limbs, Ed sets out with his brother on a quest to find the Philosopher's Stone, the only thing that can return their bodies to their original forms. An intense story tempered by lightheartedness, Fullmetal Alchemist manages to be comedic one minute and poignant the next.

Trailers for the series can be found at Funimation’s www.FullMetalAlchemist.com.

[Carrackus]

hehe what is really funny is their was a letter about FMA on one of the the inbetween commercial AS fan letter readings. Cant exactly remember it but AS's smartass response was funny

[Suikun]

Originally Posted by avmoghe

***begin rant**************


They have already ruined Gundam Seed with all the horrendous editing and s**tty dub voices.. (they edited dead bodies out of a show about war, and replaced gunshots with wierd taser type sounds.. just to name two faults.. what the f**k were they smoking?!)

.. and now they are about to ruin Fullmetal alchemist. Call it a prediction.

Since they aired gundam seed which is more violent and bloodier than FMA on toonami, I wouldn't be surprised if they aired fma on toonami as well... editing to a "tv-y7" level...

Cartoon network should both keep their filthy hands off anime....

let them show stuff like dbz and that hamster show if they really desperately need something...

*******end rant

I think Bandai is much more to blame for why Gundam Seed went to Toonami; not Cartoon Network, specifically. Bandai hasn't had great mainstream success with any of their Gundam properties since Gundam Wing, and they had little to no mainstream success whatsoever with Gundam 0080 and 0083, both of which either premiered on Adult Swim or were shown on Toonami's very late night block that they had before AS came along.

I know that Bandai really wants Gundam Seed to be as big as Gundam Wing, and I'd bet they just don't think Gundam is going to get that kind of success on Adult Swim. Afterall, Gundam Seed, although definitely an all-ages series, primarily had success with 14-16 year old teenagers in Japan, and I'm sure Bandai is seeing how successful Seed was in Japan with this age group and feels they can have similar success in the US by relaunching the Gundam franchise with Seed the same way with the same audience. So, my guess is that Bandai was really the one that pushed Gundam Seed for Toonami. I mean, if Cartoon Network will put Detective Conan on Adult Swim (and they're actually including the little things at the end like the clues for the next episode - and they're so juvenile!), that tells me they'll put anything on Adult Swim if that's what the distributor wants.

I'm happy to see FUNimation pulling towards Adult Swim so much, first with Detective Conan and now Fullmetal Alchemist. I was initially worried after the way they pulled Yu Yu Hakusho off of Adult Swim and asked for it to be put on Toonami that they'd basically edit anything they could down to Toonami standards, but I guess I'm being proven wrong and that they actually want adult attention as well as the typical Dragon Ball Z crowd.

[avmoghe]

Hm.. interesting. I thought CN had the control over what gets aired where. At either rate, Gundam Seed is irretreivably ruined. ( I really hate to think how they are going to butcher the bloodbath of an episode 49)

And now seeing someone else's post about FMA going on Saturday action block (where seed is right now), I'm even angrier. After all FMA is a shonen manga (correct me if I'm wrong). So its target should be Japanese teens teens as well.
Really really wouldn't be surprised if it got aired with TV-y7 ratings..

Ps - agree with your favorite anime thing... Monster.. series is absolutely flawless so far. Cant find a single thing wrong with it.... this has never happened before...ever.

[Fighter Volk]

Originally Posted by avmoghe

Ps - agree with your favorite anime thing... Monster.. series is absolutely flawless so far. Cant find a single thing wrong with it.... this has never happened before...ever.

Have you read 20th Century Boys? Imagine *that* as an anime

[avmoghe]

Nope.. I haven't read either Monster or 20 CB. I prefer anime over manga, so I'll stick to watching monster anime. 20 CB I might possibly read since its unclear whether its going to get turned into an anime.