I'm aware of Battle Convoy. It's just a lot easier to say that I wonder whether he's named for the song/movie, than to say I wonder whether the previous release of the same toy with a nearly identical name is named for the song/move, ya know? It's like reducing a fraction, it comes out to the same thing.
I highly respect Japanese things and how they do stuff. I truly got into it b/c of a certain reissue.
haha of course he isn't. Nobody that in love with Japanese stuff is Japanese. There's a derogatory term for this that I won't use, but we all know. This is the kind of person who might eventually come to Japan and people here will roll their eyes.
It's not ignorant so much as an attempt to adapt an awkward, subtle thing. Takara's material will (sometimes) spell the planet as "Cybertron" but in the cartoons, the faction and the planet are still pronounced differently. It's a play on words, with the spoken "sei" syllable meaning "star"--or in this case "planet". It's a pun. Being aware of this isn't ignorance. It's arguable whether using "Seibertron" in fan translations is officially correct or not, but it does make it easier to distinguish (without listening) whether someone is talking about the faction or the planet, so it's of at least some use. EDIT: Wait, did you mean using it in discussion of U.S./English TV episodes? Yeah, that's weird.
I feel like I've mentioned this before on this thread, but one of the major issues I had with go was that no one but the human characters had any personality to speak of. I don't even think "flat character" is the right description. Also, what about Tobio? I certainly felt like he had less development. (and his version of the story was pretty much pointless since it was a rehash of Isami's story but with less episodes) Well Prime wasn't flawless, but it's still my favorite series. As to your points, they didn't really need Jack and the other human characters on Cybertron (and why would the Autobots bring them there anyway? The atmosphere is probably still toxic and the Predacons and Unicron are definitely fierce foes.), not sure about Shockwave, and Airachnid actually was going to be in Predacons Rising, but was cut. Not sure if I agree with that. While I do prefer some of the Japanese names, a lot of the other ones just aren't made for English-speaking countries. While Convoy may sound cool to people who live in Japan, to us, it sounds dull and boring. And I don't think it's really fair to judge things like Fellbat vs. Hellbat, considering censorship differences. Could you maybe explain that "mystical tinge", cause I don't think I'm getting it.
Kirby0189, regarding "mystical tinge" in my view, its an element that makes things interesting. I may have mention this to someone else. The term Destron is more fitting to villainous robots.
How so? Decepticon seems to fit just fine considering it's a derivative of deception which is a villainous trait, plus decepticon is the original name. With all the people that get up in arms when a us dub changes names, but let a Japanese dub (the original transformers series) makes it automatically better for some unknown reason
Really, the only major times I have name preferences is when the dub name just sounds stupid (so basically, every Omni TF dub) or when theme-naming gets ruined. (Like the names of the Destrongers/RiD2001 Predacons all starting with the letter G in Japan) But usually I tend to stick to the English names in terms of Japanese to English. (Headmasters Fortress is an exception, since he's technically Cerebros in America)
Don't get me wrong, for the most part I go with whatever name I'm introduced to first, unless the Japanese and English counterparts are different characters like Optimus and ginrai, but pretty much every anime I watch is dubbed so I don't mind changes. I just don't understand the people who despise when changes are made to dub an anime into English but when the opposite happens (transformers, beast wars, etc) then it's automatically better because it's Japanese and that means it's more mythical. I call bull on that, and this is coming from someone who has watched headmasters, masterforce, victory, zone and beast wars 2 subbed and loved each of them.
The Decepticon/Destron thing is interesting. It changes the defining trait of the faction (deception vs. destruction) which could be good or bad, as both are fitting. It also creates a thematic link that wasn't there originally. G1 Megatron was always the "Emperor of Destruction" and Japan seems to make a bigger deal of that title than the U.S. media ever did. It seems to make sense that the Emperor of Destruction and the leader of the Destrons would be one and the same. It also subtly changes the link between G1 and Beast Wars, since they stuck with the same faction names, thus making the new generation seem less removed from the original--again, could be good or bad depending on your personal feelings. I prefer "Decepticons" myself, but the change is interesting and not without some merit.
I feel similarly. The idea that Japan makes everything better obviously isn't true, but I guess it could have stemmed from bad dubs like those made by 4Kids and other companies. I don't mind changes unless it's unnecessarily major like changing personalities or the message of certain scenes unless done so to fit better with the culture the dub is made for (but even then, I have limits with my tolerances for change). Even worse if the changes create plot holes, as it shows carelessness or rushed production. (so, basically Energon in a nutshell) I don't get the "mythical" aspect either. I don't see how turning Airachnid into a yandere boy-hunter or making Airazor male is supposed to be "mythical".
Yea, I guess even the infamous Omni TF dubs are hilarious to watch. Though I can't watch Energon and a lot of 4Kids dubs without cringing a little.
Admittedly I've never watched the star tv dubs, and yea most 4kids dubs weren't great, shaman king was pretty much the only one I liked
There's a guy I used to work with that was heavily into Sentai. He got into it because of the stateside releases of the Rangers shows, but moved onto the JP stuff later. And even in conversation when addressing certain characters, he'll say their names or the names of the series' in English, but with the sort of accent that Japanese people have when speaking English. The OP makes me think of that guy. Also...
Transformers, as a franchise, was created in America. It was based on Diaclone and such, everyone here probably knows that. But everything about Transformers as we know it was created by Hasbro. The Japanese terms are the alterations, buddy, not the other way around. Also, just so we're clear...You don't think Airazor (Beast Wars) was meant to be a male character, do you?
Ironically, Hasbro meant for Airazor to be "male". So if he answered "yes" to that, he'd technically be correct.
I heard about her design process with no gender in mind, so no problem there. And I'd be fine with the change in the Japanese version if it wasn't for the removal of the Tigatron/Airazor romance until Other Victories, where they are suddenly gay for no reason.
