Wikipedia: A critique on Viz Media (ha-ha)

[Mater Familiae]

I have a new found admiration fo Wikipedia, especially for this recent update on June 15, 2007:

Quote:

Criticism of Viz Media - The strongest criticisms against the quality and accuracy of their animes comes from the vast population of viewers of the original japanese versions, subbed and raw. Disdain for the selection of voice actors and the english translations of the original intended story is the most common, but also, with their licensing, many of the most popular anime such as Death Note are not unable to be seen by the American public in it's highest quality form: the original. With these legal actions, many are left disgruntled by being unable to continue to watch their favorite series, and there are no hopes of them being continued in the future either due to them being in english and with the usual complaints mentioned above.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Viz.  

[caffeine add!ction]

Gotta love Wiki. o__o;
I have a newfound respect for it, now. xD  

[Hakumuoh]

Ha take that VIZ!  

[Covered-Up Boxers]

I really dislike Viz as a company, but I understand it from a legal standpoint, I suppose. This isn't all the people working at Viz dedicating themselves to being pricks. This is the very corprate shadow that all companies(including ADV and Funimation) have. While dubbing anime is all well and good, they still need to make money.

I really wish ADV would have gotten Death Note. emo Those people are on the ball.  

[Groovin Magic]

Covered-Up Boxers

I really dislike Viz as a company, but I understand it from a legal standpoint, I suppose. This isn't all the people working at Viz dedicating themselves to being pricks. This is the very corprate shadow that all companies(including ADV and Funimation) have. While dubbing anime is all well and good, they still need to make money.

I really wish ADV would have gotten Death Note. emo Those people are on the ball.

Ew no, then they would've let johnny bosch or wanna their other overused voice actors voice L and light  

[x_puppeteer_x_doll_x]

ADV is alright, though I personally wasn't happy with their Elfen Lied dubbing.  

[liszst]

Yeah, I think Viz deserves that! > biggrin  

[Zephyrkitty]

Viz's manga line is an entirely different argument, so I'll ignore that for now. This is also primarily directed at American anime fans.

Most DVDs nowadays come with both English audio and Japanese audio with English subtitles. If you're unwilling to buy the DVDs then yes, you won't be able to see the show in it's original form, but at that point I don't think many people would take your complaints seriously (by unwilling I mean that you refuse to buy them regardless of money, price, availability, etc.; I'm not talking about people who want to buy the DVDs but can't).

Dubbed-only and bilingual DVDs also sell better than subtitled-only DVDs, so it's a no-brainer to dub it if you want to sell more copies of a DVD. You're also allowed to buy the DVD and watch it subtitled; you don't have to listen to the English cast if it makes your ears bleed.

Also, Death Note will have bilingual DVDs, so no worries there. 3nodding

I could write a really long rant about the 'Company X licensed anime Y before it was finished being shown, now I can't watch it' people, but it'd get really bad so I'll just summarize it:

-DVDs come out a lot faster now. You really only have to wait about six months to get the first DVD, and they'll come out either monthly or bi-monthly after that. There are exceptions (like, yes, Death Note), but they're rare.
-It doesn't matter if the series is licensed. Someone somewhere will continue subbing it. It's not a great thing, but it's the truth.
-Also for you DN fans, Viz has the series available for download. It's about $2 for one episode, and they're subtitled. There are requirements (I believe you need Windows Media Player and something involving DRM), but you can still see them.
-Patience is a virtue. wink

I've never personally bought any DVDs from Viz, but that's not stopping me from buying Death Note and Honey and Clover when they come out. I have gripes with some of their manga, but it's an entirely different argument from their anime line since you can't put two versions of a manga in one book.