Update 1/16/14

Hey guys!

It has been a hell of a last couple weeks. I am learning about new anime (to me) and learning all about the amazing stuff that we will get this year. 

Naruto Shippuden movie 7
Love Stage!!
Sailor Moon
Sword Art Online
K Movie
And many more...

In a nutshell this is what 2013 held for me in the anime world.

- Naruto: I was introduced to this world in 2013. Yeah I am behind by over a decade but I think it is an amazing series with an awesome fandom.
- Vampire Knight: The end of this series took place in 2013. So sad.
- The End: So sad that the end of Bleach draws near yet so very happy that the announcement was for 2014. Phew.

Now here is a list of some of my favorite anime from 2013 (yeah, I know some might not actually be from 2013 but I watched them in 2013 for sure):

- Hakkenden
- Karneval
- Date A Live
- Haganai
- Aquarion EVOL
- Blast of Tempest
- The Devil is a Part-Timer!
- Diabolik Lovers
- Free!
- Kuroko no Basuke
- Strike The Blood

There are more but this list is from off the top of my head.

Now on to this year, 2014. There is a lot I am looking forward to.

Anime:
- Barakamon
- Black Bullet
- Date A Live
- Love Stage!!
- Noragami
- Sailor Moon
- Sword Art Online

Movies:
- K
- Naruto Shippuden
- Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi

OVA:
- Infinite Stratos (IS)
- Noragami

This is just a few things and a fews thing of the things so far announced. But seriously SAILOR MOON!! That was the show that started it all for me.

Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight. 

Don't even ask me to try and sing the Japanese theme...
Anyway.

What anime/movie/OVA do you most look forward to?

For me, among the ones I listed: Date A Live, Love Stage!!, Sailor Moon, Sword Art Online, K, Naruto Shippuden, and Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. Two yaoi's there. Don't judge.

Haha, so as promised. If you follow me on Twitter, I have been tossing this idea around and have officially decided. I want to talk about VIZ Media and Funimation.

VIZ and Funi are two of the biggest suppliers of US Anime. AniplexUSA is up there but everything I have watched so far is produced by either VIZ or Funimation. These two have good and bad anime they produce.

Personally I think Funimation does really well on their English dubs over VIZ Media, but VIZ is getting better.

VIZ Meida is the bigger of the two simply for one reason: Manga Licensing. There I said it.

Funimation Anime Spotlight:
- D. Gray-Man: I have talked about this before but this is a good one. The English and Japanese dubs are superb. Allen Walker is played by Funimation's Todd Haberkorn and Japane's Sanae Kobayashi. I won't discuss too much of what I like, you can see that in a previous blog. Now what I haven't discussed is the bad side, at least I don't think. Funimation was at odds with  whoever owns the rights to D. Gray-Man (TV Tokyo, I believe) and so they were unable to purcahse the rights to the second stage of the show which would have been seasons three and four. I find it unfortunate because the second stage is by far the better part of the story as it doesn't jump around like the first stage does. Plus you are introduced to Nea Walker and Bak Chan-chan (come on who wouldn't want to see this guy in the English dub, I always invisioned someone like Vic Mignogna playing him). I do hope that maybe one day they would own the rights and finally complete the anime.



- Chrome Shelled Regios (this show is on Netflix and deserves a watch)

- Rosario+Vampire (seasons 1 & 2 are on Netflix)

- Soul Eater (I haven't finished season 4 yet but I love it)

- Phantom ~Requiem for Phantom~: Okay so I can clearly say that Funimation did an okay job with this one. It is a well-rounded cast in a half-assed story. There were so many dead ends, but I think they did an okay job filling the gaps with a good cast of voice actors. I mean they have Colleen Clinkenbeard and J. Michael Tatum as important characters. If you don't know who they are clearly you don't watch a log of English Dubs. The Clinkenbeard is most known for Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece and Tatum is known for Sebastian Michaelis from Black Butler. Splendid actors, and yes Mr. Haberkorn is in it too. Though if you are like me you spend most of the anime playing the spot the Voice Actor game because there are so many Voice Actors of greatness (though many people aren't like me).

VIZ Media Anime Spotlight:
- Vampire Knight: I don't usually trash dubs unless they are absolutely terrible. This is one case. It's unfortunate to say so as well because they do have some top knotch actors. Vic Mignogna, Travis Willingham, Stephanie Sheh, Carrie Savage, Laura Bailey, Derek Prince Stevens(?), Troy Baker, Bryce Papenbrook (a fucking GOD!), Steve Staley (Hitsugaya-taicho, duh), Michelle Ruff, Patrick Steiz, & Wendee Lee. Those are the ones that stand out to me. If you don't understand you might if you wtach Bleach or Naruto. The Japanese dub on the otherhand. I have two words: Mamoru Miyano. Okay we're done. (drops mic and walks away)

- Death Note: I have got to say, this was the first anime that I would have said A+ for both dubs. Yeah D. Gray-Man and Fullmetal Alchemist are up there but the dubs are so interchangable in Death Note that it is easy to watch either. Again, Mamoru-freaking-Miyano! Need I say more? The Voice Actors make it a great show to watch.



- Bleach: Do I need to go into this one??

- Naruto: Oh Naruto, how I wish your dub was better. Mailee Flannigan is not the greatest choice to play the teenage titular character in my opinion. Hell she should have never been cast as the preteen version. (Was that too harsh? Geez, I am terribly sorry, I just don't like her portrayal of Naruto Uzumaki). However there are some awesome choices. Crispin and Yuri as the Uchiha brothers and Troy Baker & Tony Oliver as Pain and Minato respectively. What can I say. Though the Japanese dub is by far the best. Watch it. You'll fall in love. (This includes both the Naruto and the Naruto Shippuden anime)

Oooh, so some good streaming sites:
- Crunchyroll
- Hulu
- Netflix

Now there are pros and cons of each. Crunchyroll and Hulu have a FREE option but they are very limited and have a lot of commercials. Hulu's free option is only available for streaming ONLINE. (book). Crunchyroll is available with the free account on their app. Crunchyroll has two different paid options called the Premium Users. One account is $6/7 and the other is $12. Hulu PLUS is an $8 account as is a Netflix subscription. (Now mind you the Netflix account has other options where you can subscribe to their mailing site and get disc copies for rent). Jeez...I am totally promoting this. Anyway, I currently have a Hulu PLUS and a Netflix account and I am trying a free trial of Crunchyroll to see if I want to purchase an official account. It is really looking good because the paid Crunchyroll accounts are commercial free, which is something you don't get from a Hulu PLUS account. The Hulu account has fewer commercials and is available to stream on any device.

Whoa, talk about getting completely sidetracked....

So one thing besides my reasons above that separates the two is that VIZ is a manga publisher. Every single manga I own was published through VIZ.

Another company I really like is Aniplex who has their itty fingers in both VIZ and Funimation.

Much love to them both though.

On to one last thing before I go.

In my apology blog I mentioned two very close things in my life right now.

- TopAnimeWeekly
- SukiCosplay & SasuCosplay

I am always on these when I am not studying or watching anime.

TopAnimeWeekly is a channel on YouTube who posts different top videos every week about anime. They recently posted Top 25 Fantasy Anime (totally agree with it).

Now SukiCosplay and SasuCosplay are two cosplayers from Canada who are freaking amazing. These two ladies are spectacular especially Suki who cosplays as Kakashi Hatake from Naruto and I definitely thing she brings her to life.

Okay, that is all for this week. Next week I will talk about the amazing new site I found. I am so excited to show it to you.

Anyway, no reviews this week for the manga.

Ja ne!

Question Time:

Who is your favorite voice actor?
What is an anime where you could watch the English and Japanese dub interchangeably?

Bye
xx Kat
=^.^=

Comments

Popular Posts