August 29, 2007
I actually haven’t scanned my cable TV lately, so I wasn’t checking out how Animax-Asia is doing nowadays. I figure I would be like a broken record saying “they have an excellent anime selection… but the dubs…” again. One day though I decided to stomach the pain and watch some Animax-Asia anime, but I immediately turned off the TV. I just can’t do it.
But then I found this rather interesting program in their lineup… Music Station? I mean… THE Music Station? This program is one of the popular mainstream jpop shows that I saw in Japan, hosted by Mariko Do and Tamori. Girl host aside, Tamo-chan is awesome. He hosts numerous TV programs and never fails to give a laugh to everyone. Back to the show though, I was rather astounded to discover that this show… gasp… is in the original Japanese language with English subtitles.
YES YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT! ENGLISH SUBS! IN ANIMAX-ASIA! OMG! HISASHIBURI!
I don’t know if this is a good or a bad thing. On one hand, this is a great service to all visual culture fans in that not all good stuff in Japan are in two-dimensions. It’s a very great introduction to jpop. In fact this is not just introduction, this is modern jpop in itself, because I notice that they get the latest episodes with only a few months gap from the latest music out there. On the other hand, the sub-loving anime fans who ran away from the channel because of its all-dub move feel like this is a disservice to them. If they can do it to Music Station, why not to every anime they show as well?
Of course, Music Station won’t even be possible in dub. The point is that why they acquired the actual show itself, subbing everything (conversations and song lyrics) instead of the old format of Animax Musix (just jpop MTVs without subs). So jpop getting more attention is all good and well, but I was hoping for something more now that I’ve seen this… well… like a subtitle format revival?
May I ask, where in the world do this channel show Japanese with English subtitles anyway? Over there in Singapore? Malaysia? Indonesia? Thailand? Brunei? Vietnam? I’m thinking other countries already have dual-audio cable TV setups by now, maybe Animax-Asia is being broadcast both in dub and in sub already… I’m really not sure, I hope someone out there can shed light on this. As far as poor ol Philippines is concerned, our crappy cable companies don’t even have dual-audio feature. In any case, what I see here are all English dubs, no matter what timeslot. Please say if I’m barking at the wrong tree here… I think Singapore has the dual setup though.
Gimme more subs plz. I know that this channel is really bringing anime to the mainstream, but at the very least they should give their old audience the respect they deserved. Remember the AXN Anime days? Those were glorious. The golden age of Asian anime popularity IMO. Without AXN Anime and its satisfied audience, Animax Asia wouldn’t have even existed nowadays. I really, really sound like a broken record, but someone’s gotta hear my thoughts, after all…
IT’S BEEN THREE FREAKING YEARS ALREADY.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 1: The end of Animax-Asia? Too sudden!?->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 2: Cardcaptured.->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 3: Trying to Adjust->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 4: Towards the 1st Anniversary->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 5: I gave up on Animax-Asia->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 6: One year since->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 7: Dubbed in Filipino?!?->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 7.5: Initial D Filipino Stage->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 8: More Pain->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 9: Now in blue->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 10: Fake Revival->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 11: Something New->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 12: Red with anger->]
Because we Filipinos just can’t get enough of Dennis, Alfred, Eugene, and Vincent. ;p
That aside, didn’t Animax start out subbed? I wonder why they switched formats then.
As an aside, I remember the epic flub they had a few years ago when showed the wrong sub with the last/second to the last episode of .hack//sign. That was rather funny.
“That aside, didn’t Animax start out subbed? I wonder why they switched formats then.”
I believe it started some time after a change of management. AXN used to own it, then ownership was transferred to some other company. Soon after, people started saying goodbye to subs.
I remember Animax airing several raws by accident too. Boy, that was great.
Want some more discrepancies against A*****?
Here are the essays written by a fellow fan and a Hero TV forum moderator:
http://cynexloj.multiply.com/journal/item/7/AniYucks_Proof_of_BS_1
http://cynexloj.multiply.com/journal/item/8/AniYucks_Proof_of_BS_2
http://cynexloj.multiply.com/journal/item/9/AniYucks_Proof_of_BS_3
They showed advent children dubbed too but anyone who’s interested already saw the fansubs centuries ago anyway.
I remember quite a few eps of getbackers still had the japanese voices in the previews even though they already dubbed it with their all-purpose voice-actors.
They have been using subs for previews of their shows they dub. Darn it, I miss the days they used subs.
But the move that Animax made that really made me so “uhhh….” is ‘Mad Mad Fun’.(This is just my own speculation) Is Animax getting a bit desperate about getting viewers?
I mean ‘kawaii girl’? c’mon you can do better than that, and shouldn’t they also feature local pinoy jpop bands and not mainstream bands?
And it was clearly advertised that there was supposed to be anime in it. Where’s the anime?
Animax is dead and it became another Hero TV…Oh Mad Mad Fan was just a waste of money(crappier than Super Twins IMHO!!)…
What I find amazing is some of the anime being shown in Animax like Ranma 1/2, Ghost in the Shell have already been dubbed previously in the US. It’s ridiculous to re-dub it again with another stable of voice actors who noticeably double or triple for other characters. That in itself is terribly sloppy and 2nd rate effort. Please Animax your viewers are NOT stupid to notice! What you are giving us is shows with poor quality dubbing! If you are going to give Samurai X the same treatment, I’d rather get the DVDs and watch it in Japanese.