August 2, 2004
Hear ye all! Starting the 2nd of August, Animax-Asia will bring your favorite anime…
DUBBED IN ENGLISH!!!
Yes, hear Saber Marionette J dubbed! Clamp School dubbed! Getbackers dubbed! Rejoice! I’M SARCASTIC! REJOICE!
CARDCAPTOR SAKURA DUBBED?? *^*&%*&$*$^$*$*^*^$&$&(^*&*%*%&*%&*
Yup, for the anime fans, this is the end of Animax-Asia. For me, it’s the end of my dream to watch Cardcaptor Sakura (my all-time favorite anime EVER) subbed in high-quality TV instead of crappy PC video files. I am now 85% sure that Cardcaptor Sakura will be dubbed. Come August 5, I will pile a load of rant-talk in this blog about this ultimate ‘bad news’ in my entire history of watching anime. But before that…
The Animax-Asia that was…
It started out as a darn good channel. No other channel would have the nerve to show Chobits and GTO uncut, two very prolific and controversial anime titles in their own way. No other channel has exclusive rights to all things Studio Pierrot, ranging from the classic Urusei Yatsura to the extremely rare Clamp School. Its anime release timeframe is mindblowing. Ultra Maniac and Texhnolyze just ended in late 2003 but it was already on Animax on January 2004. Astroboy 2003 was not even remotely over in Japan back in January, but they showed it anyway. Its anime release rate is also mindblowing. Every month, about 3-5 all new anime titles were introduced. That’s every month.
I really thought it was already great the way it was. Two hours of dubbed anime for kids, two hours of youth anime for general viewing, two hours of semi-otaku level anime, and 1 hour of hardcore otaku anime. I really thought they are doing great the way they are. They were starting to have advertisers locally here in the Philippines, numerous events are popping up, and more anime are coming in.
But…
But time passed, the dubbed anime timeslot increased to three hours. Many anime got censored. Some anime (Cyborg 009, Astroboy) got ported over from subbed to dubbed. I thought it was just to widen up the audience base. Until…
The Animax-Asia that is…
I don’t have too much details because this is the first day anyway. After 7 months of bringing anime to Asia like never before, they decided to reformat the WHOLE channel and convert even more anime into the English dubbed format! On the first day alone, these are the anime that made the jump from subbed to dubbed:
Saber Marionette J
DT Eightron
Clamp School
Ghosts at School
Getbackers
If I am not mistaken, dubbed anime now takes up 19 hours out of a 24-hour day. Over the course of the week, I will know how much Animax-Asia has changed.
You know, I don’t discriminate between dubs and subs too much (except when we are talking about my favorite anime ever, which is again Cardcaptor Sakura). I think they are both great medium of showing anime. Purists however, will take Animax’s course of action to the depths of anime hell. Many anime fans hate dubs.
I will not lie (too much). Sometimes, I act like a purist. Especially when the dub quality itself sucks. Right at this very minute while I’m writing, I am watching Clamp School. I will want to react about the dubbing. Right about now…
CLAMP SCHOOL IS MUTILATED!!!! %&$&&$&%&#&&%@#@ Heh, just an immediate reaction. But really, just watch it. You’ll see…
So there you have it. The monumental change of the only 24-hour all-anime cable channel that I had hoped to be the end-all-be-all of anime watching and fandom. Remember this is just Episode 1 of my rants. More episodes to come.
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->]