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Katsuhiro Otomo's Steamboy in Theaters
echocharlie writes "Steamboy is rolling into US theaters on March 18. The movie features the notable return of Katsuhiro Otomo, who hasn't directed an animated film since Akira, so big things can be expected. The film opened in Japan earlier to
mostly rave reviews. The english cast features Anna Paquin, Alfred Molina, and Patrick Stewart. That's interesting casting since all three have had prominent roles in comic book movie adapatations (X-men, Spider-Man 2, and X-men respectively), not to mention Mr. Stewart's famous sci-fi ties. Anime films without Pokémon in their titles haven't fared well at the US Box office (see Appleseed, Tokyo Godfathers, Ghost in the Shell 2, et al.). Hopefully with an adequate number of theaters carrying the film, Katsuhiro Otomo's latest opus will gain the exposure it deserves."
And what about Spirited Away, or any of Gibli's other US releases? They've done fantastically well from what I understand.
...STEAMBOY!!
Here. The quick summary: Beautiful. Too bad they didn't spend more time on the script.
Why does everything "good" have to be liked by MILLIONS of people? Isnt that the mindset that creates steaming piles like "Be Cool" - make the most bland-least-offensive-lowest-common-denominator-dr ivel possible to maximize profits? F that.
...last November.
Short version: starts strong, fades towards the end.
It's very pretty. It has some wonderful set-pieces and amusing character ideas (Stephenson-sama, for example. And Scarlett.) but boy does the Grand Finale go on for far too long.
It's not *quite* "TETSUO!" "KANEDA!", but it's close. Ah, well. At least the steamball doesn't turn out to be a Dragonball with Supa-Seijin powers.
-EvilMagnus
"Spirited Away", which did pretty well despite all the effort by Disney to not market the movie, shows that anime can be successful when done right. The fact that it took an Oscar to get the public to notice the movie is sad, when Buena Vista could have had a real hit on it's hands. There are more and more Miyazaki movies on DVD in places like Target now but the marketing is still minimal (though I have seen commercials for Naussica).
There is a disconnect between what the Adult Swim alpha geek will consider good anime and what will do well in theatres (see Pokemon). The influx of Japanese manga and anime is growing, though, I suspect that we will see more movies released in theatres once the studious catch on to the growing trend. Kids that under five now will not think that Anime is strange or foreign, which will directly impact public acceptance of anime as a legitimate movie choice.
Akira is cryptic enough that American audiences wouldn't have a problem with it. But "Steamboy" is going to be a major problem with US audiences. The title, frankly, sounds pretty fruity. Couple that with the fact that most people will initially dismiss it as a "cartoon," and you've got a recipe for failure.
The whole concept of naming things in Asian culture versus American culture is really at odds, and things that sound ok or even good in Asian languages sound absolutely hideous, sexual/pornographic (LG/Lucky Gold anyone?), or just plain silly.
Porco Rosso sounds like a kids show.
Princess Mononoke is average, nothing particularly detracting about it, but nothing to make you think either.
My neighbor Totoro / Totoro next door sound like a black and white haughty French film that's only been seen by 7 people in the world outside of Cannes.
Naussica of the Valley of the Winds - really long title that doesn't flow exactly right (too many "of"'s in there).
Ghost in the Shell - this one had potential if marketed right, but it sounds like a horror movie, and just plain wasn't promoted properly.
Perfect Blue - Sounds like the name of a good pr0n movie.
Wings of Honneamise - This sounds like flying Hollendaise sauce. Really sounds food related. The life story of Julia Childs or something, perhaps!
I know I'm missing some, those are the ones I've seen/can think of off the top of my head, and in just about every case, the name just doesn't seem to be something the average American is going to want to see. Steamboy is not going to be an exception. No matter how good the movie is, the name is going to be a HUGE turn off to people.
The studios need to have a message board where people can submit English names for these shows that are appealing to the target audience... and that audience votes on the best name. This would save a lot of marketing dollars, and also, I think, provide the title with the best possible name for the money as it were.
Eh...
Just my 2c worth
I'll tell you why noone wants to watch English dubbed anime -- because it is crap.
Surely I'm not the only person who has noticed how dull and lifeless the voice actors usually are in English dubs. It seems they try to time their words to fit the mouth movements of the characters, making the speech sound very unnatural. They also have no emotion.
It could be that the English actors dont care, maybe it is "just a cartoon" to them.
I watch a lot of anime. Always in Japanese with English subs. Which brings me to the next point - why do foreign movies have to be dubbed? Few things annoy me more than people who will not watch a movie simply because they "have to read" it.