Well the Sci-Fi TV thread went pretty well. I could have added this to that thread, but I guess the audience for sci-fi animation may be a bit different so a new thread it makes.
I grew up in Hong Kong so I am quite familiar with the Japanese side of things; from Gundam to Patlabor, from Dragon Ball to ... Sailormoon
But it wasn't until recent years that those are dubbed into English. When I first moved to Canada
(as a kid
) I really couldn't enjoy the Western cartoons. Don't wanna offend anyone's childhood here by naming certain shows, but in general they were so... erm cartoony. There was practically no "serious" sci-fi animation. Except maybe Transformer, which to be honest wasn't too great compared to what I used to watch.
However, one day in the early 90's, I was told to try Batman The Animated Series
(http://www.batmantas.com/
). Following Tim Burton's tasteful and modern Batman movie, the animated series was no superhero "cartoon" from the 70's. It was a serious sci-fi animation, and in my opinion it single-handedly reshaped the entire Western animation world
(and influenced the comic books too
). Eventually Warner Bros went on to bring back Superman as well. Marvel's answer to that was Spiderman, which was entertaining. But I wasn't too convinced of X-Men; a bit too much fantasy and mindless "blowing up stuff the American way" there.
Fast forward to today. I still occasionally watch WB's Justice League and Batman Beyond and Teen Titans
(reintroducing a good mix of cartoon comedy into the now common superhero ani
). However I never gotten into the current "The Batman" animation. Also, I do not approve of the current CG cel-shaded Spiderman; the motion is so robotic I just can't watch it. On the other hand, Samurai Jack simply rocks; giving the older sci-fi audience the great animation/directing techniques they never saw in Dexter's Labs or Powerpuff Girls. Lucasfilms has gotten just the right people for the job of Star Wars Clone Wars.
Now back to Japanese... we finally get not-too-outdated animations dubbed in English, such as Gundam Seed. However I still think the dubbing is not catching on with the evolution in Japanese sci-fi animation. You can't really explain the implications of life after decades of interplanetary war if your audience is not already familiar with the settings for years; so they simply don't. It's frustrating when you watch an Eng dub where they
(unknowingly or not
) de-emphasize or completely leave out important dialogs that explain the plot, killing the whole point of the story. The latest Gundam could be too boring and/or confusing for most western audiences, if all they can get is the 10% of the show where robots get blown up in space. There is a sci-fi cultural gab that needs to be filled.
OK enough of my babble
What's your take on sci-fi ani? What do you like or not like?
Note: I don't wish this to focus all about anime dub
(which could turn into a huge topic, or not
). Please keep it sci-fi related
