Mag Talk Weekly Shounen Jump [2009] - Discussion & TOC Talk

[Kaiten]

4Kids

The original dub of One Piece was horrific, turning off a lot of potential fans. They edited content heavily; Sanji sucked lolipops instead of chain smoking. The original run of One Piece was early in the morning on Saturday's, where as Naruto was always part of Toonami and aired at 10:00 pm. Naruto was able to find a middle school or older audience, while One Piece was watched solely by elementary school kids. Naruto's demographic buys more manga.

 

[Imitorar]

No, it's not. See, in Japan, it's Dragon Ball that's king. In America, it's Dragonball Z that's king. And while One Piece is extremely similar in tone to Dragon Ball around the Red Ribbon and King Piccolo arcs, Naruto is more like Dragonball Z around the Cell saga in tone. Japan likes the happy adventure part better than the hard core action part, but Dragon Ball never really caught on in America, DBZ was always bigger.

Plus, a HUMONGOUS part of the blame lies with the fact that Naruto was being dubbed competently from the beginning, and One Piece for the first 100 or so episodes wasn't. See, Viz, Toei, EVERYONE thought that One Piece would actually become the most popular here in 2002. And it probably would have if FUNimation had got the license, as everyone thought they would. They would have got it just as DBZ was winding down, too. But then 4Kids bought FUNimation out at the last minute, dubbed the show with standards 8 years out of date (guns into water guns? Absurd accents for characters? Overcensored violence? So '90's anime dub).

The 4Kids dub turned off an incredibly large amount of potential viewers, because lets be honest, when your options are a show where characters are injured by poisoned suction cups or a show where a ninja made of sand ruthlessly murders other pre-adolscent ninja, what's the average 11 year old gonna pick? One Piece got a decent fanbase, especially the manga, since Viz's edition was and is good, but anime is always bigger in America, and the anime turned a lot of people off. The series is actually rather popular in Europe, from what I've seen, and in Japan it truly is the successor to Dragon Ball, spiritually, in pop culture, and financially. But the series got screwed over in America, whether by America's taste or by bad releases.

 

[GARusashi]

I dont think we can even argue that the 4kids dub ruined One Piece in America. It's just the general art, the goofy plot line, the plot line isn't so angsty, America thrives on angst.

So many people I know don't even look at One Piece because of it's art, and the other half can't get into it because of how lame it is in the beginning. I guess it sucks that One Piece doesn't get really good until the Arlong arc (in my opinion.)

Ninjas will always be more popular then pirates =\

 

[Sexy Randal 105]

One Piece looks like a kids show. DBZ does not. One Piece has whimsical pirates and goofy cartoon artwork. DBZ has buff guys fighting each other in the sky and shooting each other with energy balls. One Piece has black cat and clown pirates. They obviously don't have the same appeal. One Piece is a lot like DRAGON BALL. You don't see that nearly as popular as DBZ is in the US, now do you?

Now be happy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6j8EiWIVZs

 

[DeidaraGrimmjow]

I don't think anyone can deny that 4Kids ruined One Piece (as well as Shaman King, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Sonic and Pokemon). But let's be real. When you are that age (I guess I'm speaking for myself) you don't know any better. I was not turned off by any 4Kids dubbing until I saw the Japanese version. And that was only really maybe 3 years ago. I did not catch how One Piece was "supposed to be" because I did not know any better. I took them both (Naruto and One Piece) for what the English version gave me. Plus, One Piece did air on Tooami later and stayed there. So my point is that while we as seasoned anime watchers know better now, when we were younger, it would be impossible to discriminate between good and bad dubbing unless you were already familiar with the Japanese version. So I don't really think it's ALL 4Kids fault.

 

[ttxdragon]

So my point is that while we as seasoned anime watchers know better now, when we were younger, it would be impossible to discriminate between good and bad dubbing unless you were already familiar with the Japanese version. So I don't really think it's ALL 4Kids fault.

That's exactly the reason why bad dubs&cuts&censors ruin shows. They make people believe those shows seriously are intended to be like that and thus are that bad.

And, you can discern bad dubbing without knowing the original. Blatant bad voice acting or storylines that don't make sense anymore are good indicators. While the latter might be harder to catch, the voice acting often hurts the ears. >.>


On the topic of WSJ:

Good to see D.Gray-man back. As for why the cover was listed as "bleach" until recently, I guess it's because they didn't think Hoshino could make the deadline for submission of the cover-art and had Kubo draw up a cover; since he had color-pages anyway for the poll-results it wouldn't have looked weird, either.

 

[Rock-a-Dillo]

hi I'm a newbie, hope i can get along with this Thread cuz i've been reading it since before i join MH

I'm glad Hoshino is back, but i forget why i love D.grayman...
i forget why but maybe the wait for it made me miss it .
cuz the current arc didn't look that cool to me when i reread it yesterday.
and why does it seems that Hoshino's style looks similar to Naruto's style.
i think the art before the hiatus is alot better

 

[Maxy Barnard]

ah good the topic came back!

seriously, narutard(s?), one piecers, whichever fandom you are more aligned to it DOESNT MATTER. both sell well, naruto sells the best in the us (mainly because its a carbon cut of dragon ball with NINJAS the ever popular kids fodder), one piece sells better globally (mainly because it started as a carbon cut of dragon ball, got ridiculously original, and has PIRATES the ever popular kids fodder)

arguing the pedantics of it all is tiresome and repetitive, both are awesome and sell well, and despite what gripes people have between the series (naruto = shoddy plotting, one piece = unusual art) both are excellent in their own right.

and we can all agree that they're both better than bleach and reborn.

so yeah topic topic topic!
.......... *Waits for beelzebub raw to appear*

 

[Cipo]

.......... *Waits for beelzebub raw to appear*

gyayayaya, I'm waiting for it too xD
This manga makes me laughing my ass off
Hopefully it will take a good position on TOCs after his 8th chapter...

 

[Maxy Barnard]

if it doesn't i'll be a little upset, but ah well it's certainly good enough to deserve a decent position

 

[Rock-a-Dillo]

gyayayaya, I'm waiting for it too xD
This manga makes me laughing my ass off
Hopefully it will take a good position on TOCs after his 8th chapter...

i don't know why but Oga reminds me of Ueki from TLOU. bot a more Careless and has less "justice" in it's root

 

[Bomber D Rufi]

i don't know why but Oga reminds me of Ueki from TLOU. bot a more Careless and has less "justice" in it's root

lol I think that too. He's like an Evil version of Ueki. And he looks like him too!

 

[Rejuvenation]

Sadly the only real hope I have to protect other series is Hoop Men tanking. But cuts normally come in twos so I don't know what else I'd prefer to see go. x[

 

[Sexy Randal 105]

Americans have Jack Sparrow. That's all I'm gonna say.

 

[Maxy Barnard]

thank god we're back!

and don't forget that neuro probably won't last much longer, so that and another series could reach an end soon. hopefully not hoop men though

 

[Rejuvenation]

thank god we're back!

and don't forget that neuro probably won't last much longer, so that and another series could reach an end soon. hopefully not hoop men though

I'm only 60 chapters into Neuro atm so I can't judge its current status.

All I know is people were saying the same thing about Eyeshield before this World Cup arc. Which honestly would have been better if it went straight to a match with America rather than a Tournament.

I'm enjoying the current match but the rest of that stuff shouldn't have happened.>.>

Can Neuro really end in time before the next cuts?

 

[Maxy Barnard]

apparently. and the author has explicitly said it'll end in 09

 

[◆ T.D.A ◆]

The art argument is solely based on opinion, but you're measuring Naruto's popularity over One Piece in America. On the whole, One Piece is just as, if not more popular than Naruto.

You're not a OP fan, so of course you say it's overrated. Anything that is immensely popular has it's detractors.

But I am a fan of OP, I don't discuss it in the forums but I enjoy reading it but Naruto is still no.1 for me, that's not to say I'm not a fan.

 

[Maxy Barnard]

i can say the same for me, but moreso the other way around. i'm critical of naruto, but it really is still one of my weeklies i look forward to.

well, there are only two i don't look forward to reading but read anyway so perhaps that's not the best statement

 

[◆ T.D.A ◆]

How popular do you think One Piece is to Naruto in the UK? From my personal experience, I've met more Naruto fans than OP fans in real person inside the UK. And wait One Piece isn't shown on UK tv I don't think.....