I have a dual presence on Twitter. One is for my work over on AnimeNews.biz, while the other is a sporadically used personal account meant for use while traveling as I tie it to my personal blog. One thing I've noticed is the sheer crush of activity of anime bloggers and related industry people which can get overwhelming at times (thank the stars for HootSuite).
Another quirk I've noticed is the sheer amount of conversations occurring at any given time, which makes following the most interesting ones a bit difficult to follow but humorous as well, as responses out of context can make for some delightful non sequitors on par with a 4chan or FARK thread combo breaker. All in all, I'm actually addicted to the swarm of information and noise that Twitter provides, which probably means I need help.
In other news, my disability claim was approved after 12 years of effort this week. I now have lifetime healthcare, though the amount of cash benefits has yet to be decided with the final hearing next week.
Until next time, AV
Another quirk I've noticed is the sheer amount of conversations occurring at any given time, which makes following the most interesting ones a bit difficult to follow but humorous as well, as responses out of context can make for some delightful non sequitors on par with a 4chan or FARK thread combo breaker. All in all, I'm actually addicted to the swarm of information and noise that Twitter provides, which probably means I need help.
In other news, my disability claim was approved after 12 years of effort this week. I now have lifetime healthcare, though the amount of cash benefits has yet to be decided with the final hearing next week.
Until next time, AV
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If it seems like I haven't been around or passing along news as of late, I've been busier than usual with my blog network and anchor site as I'm currently in Barcelona covering Mobile World Congress for my anchor site at PhoneNews.com, with sporadic coverage on AnimeNews.biz until my return this weekend and a lot of updates in the pipeline. I should be back up to speed next week for those that follow my blog.
Out of every anime soundtrack I've ever enjoyed during my many years in the fandom, the only one I've ever really enjoyed listening to outside of its intended context is the soundtrack to Paranoia Agent. The fact that its not J-pop is appealing to my tastes, but what I really like about it is that it holds its own as an avant garde electronic music album in the vein of Masami Akita or Keiji Haino instead of relying on common song structures and themes.
In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I would regularly throw on the OP during a mixing session on top of breakbeats with some amazing results and the crowd would go wild as a result.
In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I would regularly throw on the OP during a mixing session on top of breakbeats with some amazing results and the crowd would go wild as a result.
Being that I go through many creative bursts on a daily basis, I tend to kick around rough ideas in my head before deciding to follow through on them. Case in point, I'm thinking about starting a melodic death metal project based around ideas and concepts from Bleach. Now that I'm getting further into the planning stages, have rough outlines for songs and am beginning to compose the music, I'm wondering if I can find the musicians with both the ability to play in the style I'm looking for and that have at least a passing familiarity with the franchise. I originally decided to do this because I'm not all that fond of the music selection for Bleach and I love metal music in general.
I figured instead of making AMV's using other people's music as so many often do, I wanted to push myself creatively and create something that I would listen to myself. I originally created two albums of extreme electronic music sampling dialogue from the show in 2007, but I decided to shelve that because I was unhappy with the results and went back to playing guitar, immersing myself back into the metal scene.
I'm also curious to know if anyone else has had similar ideas or have ever been inspired by a particular show's concepts or characters to write original music based on them. I linked to the definition of melodic death metal above, but I've also linked the two best examples of the sound below:
I figured instead of making AMV's using other people's music as so many often do, I wanted to push myself creatively and create something that I would listen to myself. I originally created two albums of extreme electronic music sampling dialogue from the show in 2007, but I decided to shelve that because I was unhappy with the results and went back to playing guitar, immersing myself back into the metal scene.
I'm also curious to know if anyone else has had similar ideas or have ever been inspired by a particular show's concepts or characters to write original music based on them. I linked to the definition of melodic death metal above, but I've also linked the two best examples of the sound below:
Being one of the few latino anime journalists in this little game, I've noticed in the years since the introduction of anime on DVD that many licensors and distributors would include Spanish dubs/subs on many titles, with the two biggest properties in terms of recognition in the US being Neon Genesis Evangelion and Dragon Ball Z.
When Evangelion came out on DVD in the early part of the decade, I was shocked that it included a Spanish dub and immediately set out to buy all of the volumes in order to experience the show in one of my native languages. It ended up being immensely enjoyable because the acting was equal, if not superior in some parts to the Japanese acting. After going back and watching the show in English and Japanese, I felt that the Spanish dub could stand up next to the Japanese dub equally while the English dub left a lot to be desired.
After that initial experience, I started seeking out more releases with Spanish dubs and found solace with ADV's early DVD releases, as many of them in Plastic Little, Those Who Hunt Elves, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, Blue Seed and the Robotech Remastered/Protoculture Collection all featured Spanish dubs along with a few other titles. I was a happy anime fan in those days knowing that companies were willing to invest in the addition.
I found other titles with Spanish dubs in Irresponsible Captain Tylor, Fighting Spirit and Agent Aika, but by then, the market had begun its collapse and when ADV first announced their first of many Eva rereleases in the Platinum Collection, I was saddened to see that they did not include the Spanish dub in the new releases. Even Funimation saw the trend and decided not to include Spanish dubs on the "widescreen" box sets or the Dragon Box collections, despite it being one of the most popular shows in Latin America.
Getting back to Fighting Spirit, it turns out that Geneon actually invested the money to record a Spanish dub on their release, hoping that the Hispanic/Latino market would pick up the show based on its boxing premise, being a popular sport in Mexico and Puerto Rico. Turns out it didn't work as well as they thought it would and the show lost a lot of money for them, although it getting a TV broadcast on a Spanish network would have helped immensely.
As an example, in 1997 when Dragon Ball Z was broadcast on Telemundo, it pulled in the highest ratings ever for its block of children's programming, which was also due to English speaking fans wanting to watch the arcs that Cartoon Network and Funimation wouldn't get around to until 2000-2003. I'll close this out since I'm getting nostalgic but I hope to see the resurgence of the Spanish dub in R1 someday, although with improved and tailored marketing for the audience.
The audience is out there for Spanish dubs to be more than viable, you just have to let them know the option is available.
When Evangelion came out on DVD in the early part of the decade, I was shocked that it included a Spanish dub and immediately set out to buy all of the volumes in order to experience the show in one of my native languages. It ended up being immensely enjoyable because the acting was equal, if not superior in some parts to the Japanese acting. After going back and watching the show in English and Japanese, I felt that the Spanish dub could stand up next to the Japanese dub equally while the English dub left a lot to be desired.
After that initial experience, I started seeking out more releases with Spanish dubs and found solace with ADV's early DVD releases, as many of them in Plastic Little, Those Who Hunt Elves, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, Blue Seed and the Robotech Remastered/Protoculture Collection all featured Spanish dubs along with a few other titles. I was a happy anime fan in those days knowing that companies were willing to invest in the addition.
I found other titles with Spanish dubs in Irresponsible Captain Tylor, Fighting Spirit and Agent Aika, but by then, the market had begun its collapse and when ADV first announced their first of many Eva rereleases in the Platinum Collection, I was saddened to see that they did not include the Spanish dub in the new releases. Even Funimation saw the trend and decided not to include Spanish dubs on the "widescreen" box sets or the Dragon Box collections, despite it being one of the most popular shows in Latin America.
Getting back to Fighting Spirit, it turns out that Geneon actually invested the money to record a Spanish dub on their release, hoping that the Hispanic/Latino market would pick up the show based on its boxing premise, being a popular sport in Mexico and Puerto Rico. Turns out it didn't work as well as they thought it would and the show lost a lot of money for them, although it getting a TV broadcast on a Spanish network would have helped immensely.
As an example, in 1997 when Dragon Ball Z was broadcast on Telemundo, it pulled in the highest ratings ever for its block of children's programming, which was also due to English speaking fans wanting to watch the arcs that Cartoon Network and Funimation wouldn't get around to until 2000-2003. I'll close this out since I'm getting nostalgic but I hope to see the resurgence of the Spanish dub in R1 someday, although with improved and tailored marketing for the audience.
The audience is out there for Spanish dubs to be more than viable, you just have to let them know the option is available.
