Which animation style would you rather see in a D&D cartoon?

[Olgar Shiverstone]

What type of animation is Heavy Metal (movie)? Besides pornimation, I mean. It had a sort of edgy look that would fit 3E Eberron.

I'd vote action traditional or Disney (Sleeping Beauty dragon fight, anyone?).

Anime? Blech.

 

[Desdichado]

Darkly Serious with a dash of comedy and with brilliant music.
...I could see it now. it would be episodic like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo with the musical talents of Yoko Kanno turned grimm (Vision of Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop).

I'm sorry... was that post in English? I didn't understand a word of it.

 

[Dark Jezter]

But in defense of some of their behavior, let me say this: you have to understand where they're coming from. They feel that the thing they enjoy is great. And they want to let other people in on it too. They don't want anything to spoil the impression someone new gets when they watch this thing they keep recommending. One of the things they're scared of, is you watching a badly dubbed show. And you walking back to them saying, "Dude, I don't know what you're talking about...that show was pretty lame". Then now instead of having another fan to talk to about it and share in its joy, you got some guy who thinks its lame.

Now, its the same with me. If I know the dub is good...I won't say anything. But if I know the dub is bad (like Giant Robo for instance)...I'd say, "you should probably watch it with the subtitles if you can...the dub is bad". There are many times I've seen an original and compared it to the dubbed and the meaning of important key dramatic lines are totally different. It hurts the film. I mean, what if there's a bad dub of "Lord of the Rings" in German and your German friend wants to watch it? And you're all like , "You gotta watch this, its awesome" . . . and he comes back and says, "Yah dude it sucks ...what's up with lines like 'Fire guy will not pass me'?"

Really? Most of the dub-haters I've seen aren't anti-dub because they want others to enjoy anime. Most dub-haters I've known are anti-dub because they feel that if anime becomes accessable to more people, they'll lose their "non-mainstream elite status." They honestly believe that watching subtitled anime makes them more enlightened and "in-the-know" than people who watch dubs. It's one of the main reasons why I left anime fandom a while back and now only seldom watch anime.

What's really funny is that most of the people who prefer subs over dubs can't speak any Japanese beyond phrases like "chibi!" and "kawaii! Neko neko!". I've witnessed a few amusing occasions where a sub-snob sang high praises about the original Japanese voice acting in an anime series or movie, only to be informed by somebody who actually spoke the language that the voice acting really wasn't very good.

Anyways, sorry for the threadjack.

 

[Blue_Kryptonite]

Despite Chain Lightning's well-reasoned and articulated pro-Anime stance, I have to side with Dark Jezter and Joshua Dyal. I've given it years worth of chances, and hate it more every time. My Anime-loving have given u[p on me. I simply find it, as a broad genre, disagreeable in all respects.

My vote, though, is up there in the neighbourhood of the Starship Troopers: Roughnecks CGI TV series. My tastes, though, run screaming form Conan and Elric, and are a lot closer to Hercules and Xena.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Really? Most of the dub-haters I've seen aren't anti-dub because they want others to enjoy anime. Most dub-haters I've known are anti-dub because they feel that if anime becomes accessable to more people, they'll lose their "non-mainstream elite status." They honestly believe that watching subtitled anime makes them more enlightened and "in-the-know" than people who watch dubs. It's one of the main reasons why I left anime fandom a while back and now only seldom watch anime.

What's really funny is that most of the people who prefer subs over dubs can't speak any Japanese beyond phrases like "chibi!" and "kawaii! Neko neko!". I've witnessed a few amusing occasions where a sub-snob sang high praises about the original Japanese voice acting in an anime series or movie, only to be informed by somebody who actually spoke the language that the voice acting really wasn't very good.

Anyways, sorry for the threadjack.

At least you said 'most'. I love subs, but I'm not anti-dub. I don't like to watch dubs generally because I've seen a series already in the Japanesse, and it just feels wrong watching it again when it sounds completely different. I have a basic understand of Japanesse, but really I think the big reason for liking the subs IS that I was exposed to them first. My uncle was in college getting all the bootleg subs back when it was impossible to find a dub in any store and I would watch them with him(ahh, old Macross was my first). When I try to watch dubs of series I've already seen subtitled, I can't help but think of the characters as just sounding wrong. Not that the voice acting is BAD, but the characters just don't sound like I'm used to hearing them. Honestly, it's probably the same for people going from dub to sub.

Though I will admit that I'm probably in a minority in that I'm not anti-dub. Seems you can't like one without hating the other these days. I think its great that people at least have the choice...if only we didn't get all factionalized about things.

[/re-threadjack]

And, on topic, I think a Japanesse style COULD work for a D&D cartoon. Anime looks best in motion, and a D&D show would sure have lots of motion in it. Only problem really would be the stigma against anime these days, and D&D doesn't need that. At the same time, though, I really would prefer to see a more JLA style of animation for it. Or, like others have mentioned, something like the Sinbad movie that came out not too long ago.

 

[DonAdam]

I'd like to see Eberron done in the style of the early Batman animated series.

 

[Droogie]

Despite Chain Lightning's well-reasoned and articulated pro-Anime stance, I have to side with Dark Jezter and Joshua Dyal. I've given it years worth of chances, and hate it more every time. My Anime-loving have given u[p on me. I simply find it, as a broad genre, disagreeable in all respects.

My vote, though, is up there in the neighbourhood of the Starship Troopers: Roughnecks CGI TV series. My tastes, though, run screaming form Conan and Elric, and are a lot closer to Hercules and Xena.

I agree. I'd like to see a CGI animated series, similar to that D&D DVD that came out a couple years ago, albeit with slightly better quality.

Obviously , live-action would be too expensive and the sets would look cheap.
As for straight hand-drawn animation, I'm not really a fan of it, personally. I'd feel like I was 10 years old on a Saturday morning again, and I don't mean that in a good way.

CGI is getting better all the time. The motion capture technology they use today allows for more natural performances from the animated characters, rather than the jerky 10 (or less) frames per sec. of traditional animation. I don't claim to be an expert on the subject, but wouldn't CGI be quicker, too? If PC games like Half Life 2 have software that allow digital actors to lip-synch dialog in real-time, wouldn't similar tech make the turn-around time for a single CGI episode shorter than a hand-drawn one? And wouldn't that allow more breathtakingly exciting episodes per season?

 

[jester47]

rehijack

Anyone remember when Akira was just a cool cartoon from japan? Man, those were the days. "CANADA!" I miss japanimation.

For me subs and dubs have always been about information. The subs always seemed to convey more subtle nuances than the dub. However once the american market developed the dubs started getting good so it hardly matters now. I mean you get the same thing either way with cowboy bebop and the dub voices fit the characters better IMO.

Anime? Naw, its a cartoon, from japan.


Aaron.

 

[jester47]

I mean, what if there's a bad dub of "Lord of the Rings" in German and your German friend wants to watch it? And you're all like , "You gotta watch this, its awesome" . . . and he comes back and says, "Yah dude it sucks ...what's up with lines like 'Fire guy will not pass me'?"

Toast Me!

Your going to have to Toast me!

Aaron.

 

[James Heard]

I'm going to go and kick what I'm sure was a joke and claim it- I think that the creators and animators of Southpark would make a kick butt D&D animated series of movies.

1. They're more likely to have spent lonely nights of high school roleplaying than japanese animators might have.
2. They're more likely to still be roleplaying rather than date, even though they're probably loaded.
3. It would be fun.

Seriously, Southpark is fun and it still makes sure that "social issues" and such get pushed through even through the satire. Southpark is approachable by younger viewers (even when it's meant for adults), and it's COOL even when it's pretty lame (animated construction paper, how the heck did they sell THAT?).

Think of it as sort of an "Order of the Stick" sort of concept. If D&D looked fun, funny, cool, and not so much a thing filled with deadly serious old dudes talking about cartoons on message boards we'd finally get that new blood into the industry that everyone keeps waxing on about. Sure, we'd be made fun of - but if everyone's in on the joke then who cares?