Rants & Raves

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Audio: English – Good, Tolerable, and Terrible and the Tiers Game


With the Audio:English series, PenguinTruth takes a critical look at the English
dubs which grace some of anime’s most defining series in North America.

If you’ve ever been to 4chan, you know that they love tier charts. This is where they seperate things in categories of quality. Usually the top tier is "GOD TIER" and the lowest is "SHIT TIER", and I’ve done this myself, even here (my Gundam Tiers articles, for instance, which you can expect a follow up to sometime this or next year). However, unlike Anonymous at at 4chan, I’m actually capable and willing to explain and/or defend my choices as to what is truly "god" and what is "shit" in terms of the trival stuff I like. read more

Penguin Truthby Penguin Truth•
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Anime Fan Guilt: The Case of the Rabid Anti-Weeaboo

Something I’ve come across quite frequently in anime fandom nowadays is what I consider “anime fan guilt”, wherein a fan of anime, so insecure over the fact that he is a fan of foreign cartoons, completely overcompensates by condemning Japanese things. It’s an interesting phenomenon that at first I was unable to grasp, as I thought at first that it was legitimate criticism of the Japanese culture given by people who were otherwise fans of their animation, reasonable people who liked anime, but weren’t into all things Japanese. However, I soon discovered that this wasn’t the case. This “criticism” became more and more pronounced as I dove deeper into the anime fandom. It became, in short, a parody of itself. read more

Penguin Truthby Penguin Truth•
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Audio: English – My Philosophy


With the Audio:English series, PenguinTruth takes a critical look at the English
dubs which grace some of anime’s most defining series in North America.

I’ve done a few of these articles on English dubs for anime, and I’ve discussed at great length specific anime dubs I’ve liked or disliked. However, I haven’t really explained what it is I look for in an anime dub, what I think of English dubs for anime in general, or anything of that sort. Because of this, people may misunderstand some of my views on them. So I’d like to dedicate this particular entry to laying out what it is I expect from the anime dubs I listen to, when I listen to them. read more

Penguin Truthby Penguin Truth•
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Audio: English – Exploring the Gundam Dubs


With the Audio:English series, PenguinTruth takes a critical look at the English
dubs which grace some of anime’s most defining series in North America.

There isn’t a group of animated programs that dominate the world of entertainment for me quite as much as the Gundam franchise. What started as a passing interest in Gundam Wing‘s hamfisted philosophical debates and cool mecha evolved into an obsession, much as man is meant to evolve into the Newtype. (Or maybe not. Don’t even ask Yoshiyuki Tomino about that one. He doesn’t know.) What are essentially elaborate (some more than others) robot toy commercials have so my anime fandom that I’ve forgotten what life was like before Gundam. Did I dream? Did I breathe? Now I have several DVDs of Gundam material and a mind filled with useless trivia. And I’m not even the biggest Gundam geek. I’ll save that honor for the guys who can give you the exact specs of the engines of a Zaku II.

Maybe because I’m the breed who, perhaps foolishly, watch Gundam for the plot(s), for the characters and themes, the presentation of the English versions of these show are important to me. I want to be sure that the voice actors who portray these roles, many of them iconic anime characters, do at least some justice and show the proper respect for them. Whenever available, I’ve heard the English dub for every Gundam anime I’ve ever seen. read more

Penguin Truthby Penguin Truth•
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Some Thoughts On: Evangelion 2.22 English Dub Cast


Funimation has announced the English dub cast for Rebuild of Evangelion 2.22:

Spike Spencer (still) as Shinji Ikari
Brina Palencia (still) as Rei Ayanami
Allison Keith (still) as Misato Katsuragi
Tiffany Grant (reprises her role) as Asuka Lagely Shikinami
Trina Nishimura as Mari Makinami Illustrious
Colleen Clinkenbeard (still) as Ritsuko Agaki
J. Michael Tatum as Ryoji Kaiji

Great. Tiffany Grant is back as Asuka. Hoy boy, this is going to be rough.

While it’s true that Spike Spencer improved somewhat from his previous performance as an obscenely exaggerated, stereotypical cartoon coward Shinji Ikari for 1.0, it wasn’t such a huge change as to rival Megumi Ogata’s brilliance as Shinji. And Allison Keith seems to have improved as an actress, too, but she’s no Kotono Mitsuishi. Tiffany Grant’s Asuka may have been fine for its time, but when you look back today, it was so over-the-top and lacking in humanity, that Grant’s going to have to really do her best just to be tolerable in the role. The problem is, Tiffany Grant, from what I remember from her various roles, is incapable of subtlety, and while Asuka isn’t the most subtle character, she certainly does have moments where real acting chops help, and Tiffany Grant has very little of that. read more

Penguin Truthby Penguin Truth•
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I’m Still A Gundam Fan


"If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen!"

I notice certain people dropping out of the Gundam fandom recently because, as they put it, it’s become one big shitstorm session. UC fans railing against AU fans, AU fans railing against UC fans. People refusing to give new Gundam shows any credit. People saying the old ones are outdated. Shippers raging over their OTPs not being recognized by canon. I understand. It can get a little tough to be a Gundam fan sometime. So some people quit. read more

Penguin Truthby Penguin Truth•
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Every Single Evangelion Discussion On The Internet (or The Evangelion Discussion Drinking Game)


“I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR THEORY ON HOW REBUILD IS A SEQUEL!”

　
I love Neon Genesis Evangelion. But it’s a polarizing show. Some people think it’s brilliant, some think it’s trash. Some people think it’s brilliant for the wrong reasons. Some people don’t pick up on why it’s good because they feel betrayed by it not being what they originally thought it was and miss its real complexities. But, for whatever reason, pretty much any discussion you’re going to encounter about Evangelion, pretty much any message board thread and the like, is going to go the same way. And this is why I avoid discussing Evangelion most of the time. Not because I’m afraid of debating it, but because it’s such a pointless excercise at this point. read more

Penguin Truthby Penguin Truth•
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The End of News

The last month heralded a change in how I get my news. The warning signs were there yet I didn’t see it coming. The decline in revenue across the news industry, the expansion of independent ‘Mom & Pop‘ bloggers, and even promotional stories detailing evens to come. Thanks to the senseless actions of hackers operating from the inside two sites have ceased to exist as we knew them, Digg.com and News8.net.

Falldogby Falldog•