On Mar 3,  6:29pm, Gregory Wayne Matteson wrote:
> Subject: Fanime con

> There was a SM-S Movie screening, really quite good. It confirmed my
> worst suspicion of DIC dub and editing. The SM panel were quite sure
> that what DIC does is absolutely necessary for North American
> broadcast.

I realize this is a Tenchi ML and not a Sailor Moon ML, and I
beg everyone's forgiveness. Anyway, was the Fanime con showing
of Sailor Moon S: The Movie (a) in raw original Nihongo, (b)
fan-subbed, (c) or a preview of a dubbed DIC commercial theatrical
release? (I put the alternatives in order of probability.) I've
seen the SMS movie and several SMS episodes, and all I can say is
that DIC has its work cut out for it if it gets that far in the
series. The relationship of Sailors Uranus and Neptune will take
some fancy rewriting to paper over, for one thing.

I have a piece coming up in Animerica where I argue that the glass
is half full rather than half empty in regard to Sailor Moon in
America. SM gets into some relatively rough stuff compared to the
usual children's fare in the US, and I think it's amazing that so
much gets through. This is a series aimed at little girls, after
all, not at adult men.

> If this
> is so, we can be quite happy with what Pioneer is doing, and
> pray that they
> never decide to broadcast TM TV here.

I think Pioneer falls down somewhat in the voice work. It took
a while for Tenchi to get up to speed (not that I've ever really
cared for Tenchi's own American voice), and even yet there are
occasional lapses. The scene where Washu morphed into an adult
was really awful -- Washu's voice artist was just hideous and
the scene needed another take or two, I thought. Maybe it's the
fault of inconsistent direction, I don't know. Nanami's voice
artist in El-Hazard is another one who can be wildly inconsistent,
but that may be because the script sometimes seems to cram in
more syllables than mouth movements in the time available, and
the actress has to rush to get everything in. As for rewriting,
Pioneer doesn't have to the way DIC does because the Tenchi OAVs
aren't likely to show up on American broadcast TV (or if they do,
it would be on something like the Sci-Fi Channel). Still, the
scene of Washu collecting a sperm sample from Tenchi was toned
down a bit from the original.

> (I do hate the way I keep ending up
> arguing the purist viewpoint, I don't really believe it) I think
> what happens to SM, and the nastyness on RAA, supports my recent
> slander of my
> own culture with regard to sexuality and body. (I don't care if
> I'm not a
> girl, SM is unquestionably both cute, and intelligent compared
> with, say, HyperDolls)

I haven't seen HyperDolls, so I can't comment, but... Every once
in a while, somebody on RAA goes into a rant about how American
culture is sick about sex and nudity while the Japanese are ever
so much healthier (e.g., the communal bath scene of father and
daughters in My Neighbor Totoro). I'm convinced that America and
Japan both have their own sets of hang-ups; one culture isn't
necessarily better, but just different. How many stories have I
seen now set in public baths or onsen springs where horny guys
are trying to sneak a peek over on the women's side? Or the whole
business of Happousai the panty and bra fetishist? Gratuitous panty
shots in Sailor Moon? Uh oh -- I'd better stop thinking about this...
my nose is bleeding! Maybe every culture gets a little weird and
uptight when it gets into this area, and other cultures look better
than your own simply because they're different.

--Dwight Decker