I finally finished watching the Fullmetal Alchemist anime last night. It made me want to scream, cry, and laugh at the ludicrousness of it all... All at the same time. Yeah. o_o; Now I'm really looking forward to the FMA movie that they're making. I wonder when it comes out.
Aggghhhhh.... The Fullmetal Alchemist manga also got licensed at long last, but I couldn't find much information on that. Toriyama's World reported that Viz has licensed the title, so I'm assuming that's correct. Couldn't find any information on the Viz website though. But ahhhhh! The thought of Viz putting out FMA! They are going to translate the sound effects, and while I love my shounen (meant for boys) manga, I much prefer it with Japanese sound effects. It just makes me want to lay down and cry. They are going to decrease the coolness factor of FMA significantly. Shaman King is similar, since it's one of Viz's Shounen Jump titles - it's awesomely drawn and I buy it for the artwork, but the stupid sound effects are just... annoying. Japanese sound effects are so much more endearing.
Actually it's kind of interesting how various American manga publishers deal with the Japanese sound effects. Viz completely erases anything Japanese from the pages and puts in English sound effects. So it's great for little kids that don't know any Japanese, but it's a bit frustrating for me, since I can actually read the katakana that comprises sound effects. I mean, it's the same as why I refuse to watch dubbed anime. It's just not as good.
On the other hand, Tokyopop doesn't translate the sound effects at all. Great if you can read the Japanese, but probably frustrating if you can't. Oh, it's just like me and Korean manga (aka manhwa). I refuse to read manhwa because I can't read Korean and I hate not knowing the sound effects. So yes, I can empathize with Viz's treatment, but I still don't appreciate it.
ADV takes a different route. They leave the original Japanese sound effects in, but they also translate them into English, and slap it all together in the same frame. Very considerate to provide both options - appeals to those who can and can't read Japanese, but tends to make the panels very cluttered. Still, in the end, I have to say that I prefer ADV over both Tokyopop and Viz. If I find a new sound effect or aside that I can't understand, there is always an English translation handy (even if said translation is distracting at times). Plus, ADV seems to put out the most interesting titles (i.e. Chrno Crusade, Full Metal Panic, Gamerz Heaven). ^_^;
Here is a random comparison chart because I am getting all worked up about this.
Tokyopop
Pros: Very fast publication rates (new volume out for any given series every month or two), wide range of titles
Cons: Hardly any titles that appeal to me
Viz
Pros: Shounen Jump titles are reasonably priced, Shounen = win
Cons: Stupid sound effects translation
ADV manga
Pros: Best title lineup
Cons: Sloooooow releases
*sniff sniff* I need to go back and reread all my FMA scanlations. I remember the first time I started reading the series, I thought that I'd think it was stupid. Mostly because I had just tried reading some of Satan666, and that was mind-numbingly stupid beyond all belief. And they were both shounen titles being scanlated by the same group. But boy, was I wrong. FMA wins. *coughs* And if you're still reading this, I have to commend your patience and possible insanity. Someday I will learn how to write... non-randomly. And maybe interestingly. Haha.
- Flykyr Skysong
Current song: Fullmetal Alchemist - Tobira no Mukou e (OMAG, I haven't listened to my FMA music in forever. This song rocks rocks rocks. *tears of joy* I want my FMA mangaaaaa..... *huggles Ed in a rare moment of fangirlishness*)
Current mood: Distressed
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