c/anime-discussions

The fact that 90% of all anime ever made is lost media kind of blew my mind...

I was digging through some old forums last week, reading about how so much early anime from the 60s and 70s just doesn't exist anymore. Like, studios would recycle the film reels or they'd get destroyed in fires or just thrown out. I found this one article that said out of all the anime produced before 1980, less than 10% is still around in any form. That means thousands of shows and movies are just gone forever. I always thought everything was preserved somewhere, but nope. Makes me appreciate what we do have a lot more, even the weird old stuff. Has anyone else run into a show they wanted to watch but couldn't find any copies of?

Rewatched Evangelion after 10 years and noticed something weird about the elevator scenes

I binged the rebuild movies last weekend. Never noticed how many conversations happen in elevators. It's like every major character talk is framed by those doors opening and closing. Even the old series does it. Weird how you miss patterns like that on first watch. Anyone catch other repeating setups in their favorite shows?

Started skipping the filler episodes on my second watch of Naruto

Ngl I used to force myself through every single filler arc because I wanted the full experience. Then I looked up a skip list online and cut 90 episodes out of Shippuden - best decision I ever made for my free time. Anyone else finally cave and skip fillers?

Torn between subbed and dubbed for Attack on Titan

I finally sat down to watch Attack on Titan last month and hit a wall deciding between subbed and dubbed. I went with the subbed version since everyone online hypes the Japanese voice acting. The first 12 episodes were great but I kept missing details because I was reading subtitles. Switched to dubbed for a test run and actually caught more of the story and emotion in later episodes. Stuck with dubbed through season 2 and liked it way better for action scenes. Anyone else flip-flop between formats and find one works better for specific shows?

Had to pick between subbing and dubbing for my first Ghibli marathon...

I finally sat down to watch all of Studio Ghibli's movies last month. I kept going back and forth on whether to watch the English dub or the original Japanese with subtitles. I went with the dub because I was cooking dinner at the same time and couldn't stare at the screen. Big mistake honestly... the voice acting felt flat in Princess Mononoke and it took me right out of the story. Has anyone else regretted their pick after committing to a whole series?

The Crunchyroll days vs streaming now - it's not even close

I remember back in like 2007 having to wait for fansub groups to release episodes on IRC or sketchy torrent sites. If a sub was bad or a translation was wrong, you just had to live with it. Now I pay 10 bucks a month for Crunchyroll and get simulcasts with decent subs popping up an hour after airing. A friend told me last month they never had to deal with raw files being 240p or episodes getting delayed by 3 days because the translator was sick. Has anyone else here ever sat through a fansub that used 'desu' in English text because the translator gave up? That was rough.

Shoutout to the debate about dubbing vs subtitles in Cowboy Bebop

My buddy and I spent 3 hours last Tuesday arguing over whether the English dub of Cowboy Bebop actually captures the vibe better than the original Japanese audio, and he swore the voice acting is just as good because Steve Blum killed it as Spike. I think the subs preserve the original director's intent, especially with the jazz soundtrack hitting different beats in each language. Which side do you fall on, and does it change if you watched the show first in one version?

Had to pick between subbed and dubbed for Attack on Titan season 4

I usually watch everything dubbed because I bartend and like having it on in the background. But season 4 had like a 3 month delay on the dub release and I couldn't wait. I went with subs and honestly the voice acting hit way harder. The scene with Eren and Reiner in episode 5 gave me chills in Japanese. I still miss being able to look away from the screen though. Has anyone else switched formats mid-series and stuck with it?

Rant: I spent 3 years fast-forwarding through anime openings until my buddy pointed out I was missing half the plot foreshadowing.

Rewatching Attack on Titan from the start after someone told me the second opening literally shows the ocean like 60 episodes before it happens made me feel like an absolute fool for skipping them all that time.

Pro tip: Don't buy that $60 'complete anime history' encyclopedia off eBay

The 'skip the OP' trick actually saves time

I used to think people who said to skip the opening credits and recaps in shows like One Piece were just impatient. But after binging the Marineford arc in three days, I realized I saved about 4 hours total. Has anyone else noticed how much filler recaps add in longer series?

Found a trick for watching subs without reading every line

I always struggled keeping up with subtitles during fast action scenes in anime until I tried watching at 0.75 speed on my laptop last month. It let me catch all the dialogue and still see the animation clearly without pausing every 10 seconds. Has anyone else tried messing with playback speed or found another way to handle subbed shows better?

Hit 500 anime completed on MyAnimeList and it felt weird

I hit 500 completed shows on MyAnimeList last Tuesday and it honestly caught me off guard. I didn't even realize I was that close until I checked my stats for the first time in months. That number felt huge to me because I remember when I hit 100 and thought that was a lot. But 500 means I've spent a crazy amount of time watching stuff, probably way more than I should admit. It made me start thinking about how my taste changed over the years, like I used to hate slice of life and now it's half my list. I also noticed I have around 80 dropped shows, which is a whole other story. Has anyone else hit a milestone on their anime tracker that made them stop and think? What number was it for you and did it change how you pick what to watch next?

The night the sub encoder died mid-session at AnimeExpo

I was running a fansub panel in a tiny room at AnimeExpo 2019, maybe 30 people there. About 10 minutes in, my laptop fan went crazy and the screen went black. The encoder software had corrupted the subtitle file during a save. I pulled out my phone, opened a text editor, and retyped the whole script line by line while someone else stalled with trivia. Took me 20 minutes but we finished the screening with no more crashes. Has anyone else had to rebuild subtitle timing on the fly during a con panel?

I swore I'd never watch One Piece but that Arlong Park arc changed my mind

I always thought One Piece was too long and kiddy so I skipped it for years. Then my buddy bet me $20 I couldn't get through the first 50 episodes without dropping it. It took me 6 full days of binging but Arlong Park's emotional payoff with Nami had me hooked. Now I'm 300 episodes deep and regretting all the time I wasted avoiding it. Anyone else get convinced to try a show they were stubborn about?

DAE think subbed anime is always better than dubbed?

At a local anime meetup last year, this guy told me dubs let him actually watch the animation instead of reading subtitles. I get his point but I still think the original voice acting captures emotions way better, like in episode 12 of Violet Evergarden where the subbed version made me tear up. Has anyone else felt like dubs lose something in translation.

Tried explaining the plot of Neon Genesis Evangelion to my dad at a diner... he thought it was about boats

So there I am at a Denny's at 2am with my dad after helping him fix his truck. He asks what anime I been watching lately. I start rambling about Evangelion, the angels, the eva units, all that stuff. He's nodding along until he goes "so the big boats fight the aliens?" I was so confused until I realized he thought an 'eva unit' was like a naval vessel or something. I tried to correct him but he was already telling me about his uncle who served on a destroyer. I just gave up and ate my pancakes. Has anyone else had a conversation about anime go completely off the rails like that?

Can we talk about how my sub/dub switch changed my whole viewing pace

I used to always watch anime in dub because I could multitask while cleaning or cooking. But a few months back I decided to try sub only for a new show called Violet Evergarden. At first it felt slow because I had to actually sit and read. But after about three episodes I noticed I was picking up on facial expressions and background details I never saw before. Now I finish a show in like two weeks instead of one day. It changed how I experience the story for sure. Has anyone else had a similar shift in how they watch?

Finally cracked why my favorite slice-of-life shows feel so real

I been watching anime for like 10 years now and always noticed that some shows just hit different. But I couldn't put my finger on why. Last week I was rewatching Shirokuma Cafe for the third time and it clicked. The secret is they put in these tiny mundane moments that don't move the plot at all. Like when the panda just stares at a bamboo leaf for 10 seconds deciding if he wants it. Most shows skip that stuff but the good ones keep it in. So I started timing these moments in other shows I watch and it's wild how much difference those 5 second pauses make. It makes the characters feel like actual people instead of just story machines. Has anyone else noticed this pattern or am I just overthinking my evening entertainment?

Ran into a guy at a con who argued subs are for purists and dubs are for normies

This was at Anime Central back in 2019. I was waiting in line for a panel and this dude next to me goes on a 10 minute rant about how watching dubs is ruining the industry. He said people who watch subs actually respect the original voice acting. I just nodded and said I watch both depending on the show. He looked at me like I insulted his whole family. Then he walked away mid sentence when I mentioned I liked the Cowboy Bebop dub. Anyone else run into people who gatekeep how you watch anime?

Question about the debate on dubbing versus subtitles I saw at Anime Expo last weekend

I was at Anime Expo in LA and heard two guys arguing for like 20 minutes about whether the new season of a certain show was better dubbed or subbed, and one guy said the English VA captured the emotion better while the other said the original Japanese voice actors had way more range - which side do you think is actually right for preserving the creator's intent, or does it even matter?

Checked out Crunchyroll Expo in San Jose last weekend and the merch prices made me walk out

I drove down to the convention center on Saturday and saw a standard anime hoodie going for $85. That same hoodie is probably $30 online after the show. One booth was selling a single keychain for $18. I get that there's a markup for being there in person, but that's almost double what I'd pay anywhere else. Did anyone else feel like the prices were way off this year, or is it just me being cheap after sitting in my truck all week?

That One Friend Who Said Dub is Better Than Sub Was Dead Wrong

My buddy Mark kept telling me for years that I was wasting time reading subtitles and that the English dubs are just as good. I finally sat down and watched Attack on Titan season 1 dubbed last week and I gotta say, the voice acting on Eren was so flat it ruined the whole vibe for me. I went back and rewatched episode 12 in Japanese and the emotion hit way harder. Has anyone else had a friend try to convert them to dubs and it just backfired?

Rant: That time a manga chapter's art style flipped overnight

I was reading this series for like 2 years straight, and then one chapter last month the faces went from detailed and sharp to round and simple. Like the artist either got new tools or just gave up halfway through. Did the mangaka switch assistants or something, or is this burnout hitting other series too?

Dub over subs debate got me banned from a forum last night

I was on a regular anime discussion board I've been on for maybe 2 years. A thread popped up about the best dubs for shows like Cowboy Bebop and I mentioned I actually prefer the sub for Attack on Titan. Then someone jumped on me saying dubs are always worse and I argued back that some dubs are fine depending on the studio. Next thing I know I got a timeout warning for 'starting drama' and I'm locked out for 3 days. The mod said I was being confrontational but I was just giving my opinion on an older show. Has anyone else gotten dinged for something this basic in an anime community?