Editorial by Chris

January 9, 2002

In a perfect world, everyone would always get what they want in the way they want. However, we don't live in a perfect world. For people to always get what they want is an impossibility. Also, many people aren't satisfied with what they do get. In particular, I'm referring to elitist anime fans who are never satisfied with the way a domestic anime company releases a series. They think they know it all, and if doesn't follow their idea of how a product should be done, then it's garbage. Well, like I said, it isn't a perfect world and never will be. One example is Bandai's release of the original Gundam TV series on DVD. Due to the paranoia of Studio Sunrise in Japan in regards to imports, they didn't allow Bandai to put a Japanese audio track on the DVD's. This has been known for over a year, yet fans still complain. Recently, Bandai announced they would be releasing the compilation movie trilogy on DVD with Japanese dubbing only in an effort to please those fans. However, that's not enough. Now they complain about lack of a dub because they think the average anime won't buy subtitled anime and it will hurt sales. Also, they complain about the Japanese track itself. It seems that last year Sunrise changed some sound effects and music for the Dolby 5.1 version on their DVD. Fans here are complaining that Bandai should put the original mono track, and of course the poorly made English dub. The one thing that occurs to me in all this nonsense is the ingratitude. Bandai is not at fault for what Sunrise does, and they go out of their way to please the fans. Now, even a simple Japanese audio track isn't enough. It has to be the mono version the way they want it, with sound effects and music where they like it.

Another example of this line of thinking is AnimEigo's recent release of Super Dimension Fortress Macross on DVD. For the record, AnimEigo went through great lengths in the last two years to provide the best possible restoration of a twenty year old show with many defects in the source material. Over 10,000 people (myself included) purchased the boxed set. As with all things, there are already complaints. People have issues with a few minor pieces of dialogue in the subtitled script. In a few cases, AnimEigo threw in some Star Trek references that just happened to fit the scene. In episode 4 of the Robotech version, Roy Focker is angry and says something to the effect of: "Helping all these people is more important than helping my friend, right?" In AnimEigo's script, he says: "Oh, so the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few...or the one." Any Star Trek fan will remember that famous line from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In a later episode, Hikaru Ichijo attacks rogue Zentradi soldiers and tells them to give up, saying: "Resistance is futile." Of course, fans know that is the famous tag line of the evil Borg. The problem here is that anime fans don't like those references being thrown in, and they complain about wanting a better translation. What I say is that they complain without understanding. The creators of Macross were big Star Trek fans, and they throw in plenty of references to that series in Macross. In those two cases, the dialogue AnimEigo wrote perfectly fits the original line and most importantly, it makes no difference. Some fans now compare AnimEigo to Working Designs, the video game company best known for bringing us the Lunar games. It is well known that Working Designs likes to 'Americanize' dialogue from the Japanese RPG's they release.

These attacks on AnimEigo and Bandai are totally unfair and undeserved. They have done nothing to warrant receiving that kind of treatment. These elitist fans are never satisfied, even with the slightest details. In the case of Macross, some complained about the DVD spines not lining up perfectly, and incredibly, some complained about the mono track! One thing is constructive criticism, but another thing is pointless nitpicking. Is AnimEigo's incredible work on their 9 disc boxed set totally invalidated just because of two lines or dialogue or the DVD spines? Certainly not, and anyone who would say 'yes' is a fool. Is Bandai Entertainment evil because they are a subsidiary and must listen to their Japanese headquarters? Of course not. Bandai in particular has been under fire with many complaints, some of which are non-Gundam related. In their recent DVD release of Love Hina, several fans complained about the new logo they made for the DVD menu and cover, and they want the original one restored. What, are we buying DVD's for the covers and menus these days and not the content? Who bloody cares about a logo when the point of DVD is to enjoy the program. Complaints as minor as these are not even complaints. They amount to nothing more than whimpering and whining. It's like the 5-year-old kid in the store who screams: "But Mommy, I WANT THE GI JOE!!! WAAAHH!!!" I suggest these elitist fans with their misguided ideas find some better way to waste their time. There's certainly other things they can do instead of harassing anime companies.