Curate, connect, and discover
However, I strongly relate to the „please not the movie” bit, since I have encountered content and adaptations before that were… well, let’s say, I am ignoring the existence of them. I hope you’ll have fun watching DetCo till the end! (Or well, until you catch up because the end seems like a far away concept.) And ditto on the breaks: they’d be very well deserved. (And don’t worry about rambling, I’m happy to read your replies! And honestly, I tend to ramble too. :’3) - DCMK 3/4
I think one of the more interesting things is for once the 'please not the movie' is about an animated film and not a live-action one.
I’m not aware of the quality of current DetCo dub, but I heard plenty of good things about the old version. (I rarely watch dubs, tho, so I’m not the best authority on this *laughs*) I haven’t read nor watched Astro Boy (So, sorry that I cannot participate there, but I’m more than open to hear you talk about it! I love how enthusiastic you are about it), and don’t really know much about it. - DCMK 2/4
I'm not fully aware of the quality either, tbh. I heard little bits here and there though, apparently Heiji is Canadian.
As for Astro Boy, it's one of those things that's been important to me throughout my lifetime, so I'll probably mention it a ton on this blog. I even painted him for one of my university projects. If you ever wanna learn more about Astro Boy feel free to let me know, I probably can answer most questions.
Happy to hear you’ve already seen and enjoyed the first 2 movies, I’m really fond of them (and the 3rd too; another awesome movie), they have so much charm! As far as explosions and destroyed buildings go: there’ll be more of those, so my advice is not to get too attached to certain buildings. :’) And gosh, I agree with you on that: my country hasn’t been the best when it comes to anime localisation, and there are so many discrepancies between the dub script and animation. - DCMK 1/4
"Oh no the building(s)!" - me every DetCo movie from now on.
OMG I will be checking out those links! (I struggle so much with research you'd be surprised)
Lately I've also been doing some studies based on artbooks and similar I have (I got a new one as a gift recently and I'm so excited to study that after my study I started with some of the 2003 Astro Boy character design sheets I got access to recently), as well as working on commissions and a couple gifts. I had a realisation recently that the process is my favourite part, and a lot of my block I had before that melted. I guess I found my love for it again through that. I appreciate you offering to share your favourite animators, and I definitely gladly accept.
Also the 2003 version is my favourite version of Astro Boy, and it isn't the first series of Astro Boy I've seen, but I will mention that the English dub has some.... choices regarding censorship (Astro is not allowed to say father and they censor scenes related, and replace the word with "my creator", among other related things, to summarise some of the situation on that). I'd say 2003 is the most friendly for new viewers overall, and I enjoy it the most.
With the anime release of Naoki Urasawa's Pluto (which you definitely should watch if you haven't already, it's a seinen retelling of the Pluto arc of Astro Boy), I see many people interested in starting Astro Boy and I worry about what some may jump to based on convenience, especially based on what's accessible streaming service wise, so I'll mention this now: The movie is a poor representation of the story and I do not recommend it. There's a lot I can go into about that, but advice wise, do not make it your intro to the series if you haven't seen it already, or bother to watch it at all. Also my feelings on the movie are a bit more personal due to it releasing on my birthday on a year that was important for me. Birthdays in general are complicated for me, so it really stands out a lot. I do laugh from time to time about the dramatic differences in vibes for 2003 Tenma and 2009 Tenma.
Astro Boy is one of those things that has been around my whole life and I was introduced to really early (before the 2003 one even came out, not to mention aired in the US), and has been a huge inspiration for me. I was so overjoyed to see Atom in a 2023 anime. I think out of all of the things that has impacted my life, entertainment/art wise, I would say the only thing that comes close would be the visual novel Our Life Beginnings and Always.
Anyway, I could talk about these things all day, and there are people who could back this one up, haha. I've had a few moments on Discord specifically of a conversation drifting towards something related to Astro Boy and before I even start typing, someone sending something about me being about to talk about it, or me being pinged/mentioned if I wasn't already present. By all means, reach out to me if you'd like to about Astro Boy, or anything else really.
I wanted to say, I felt so happy to see the "woah this is so cool and smooth" I got from you, like it made my day, cause that's the second time I've animated something and I was so nervous posting it. I plan to learn more on how animation works, and wanted to say that reactions like that motivate me so much, I'm very thankful.
Waaa I'm so glad!! Please, be proud so of it <3 <3 You did such an amazing job! It flows so well and the movement is so nice (shaking your shoulders at his blinks). He's totally the type to read that fast HAHAHAH (pls look at him during ep 7 - the surgeon present threatening case one)
A while back I got really interested into animators (cause stick figures/Hyun's Dojo) and their processes but I haven't gotten the courage to do one yet actually... The last ones I did was a pixel animation many years ago haha but that doesn't really count. If I ever motivate myself to try it, I'll dedicate it to you!
Some animation resources I'd recommend watching is the 12 principles of animation by Alan Becker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDqjIdI4bF4 His animation series of Animator vs. is so fun!
And Crowne Prince: https://www.youtube.com/@CrownePrince/videos Her series Scribble Kibble also breaks down various animations and highlights and teaches techniques. It's great for learning and discovering cool animations: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYDh8mMwv-pPM8DPu-LsG6MQeIkKsHByb
Feel free to chat more if you want me to share some of my favourite animators and/or animations haha. I haven't really been that interested in animation for a while though so my memory right be a lil spotty
Cheers to our art journeys <3 <3
(Also, It's nice to meet you!! ^-^ Feel free to chat anytime. I also think it's funny how I'm planning to start on Astro Boy and you're starting on DCMK HAHAHA. Well it's more of a side thing rn but it might change - what anime would you recommend to start on? I was thinking the 2003 one. It's actually so gorgeous and I've heard good things about it)
Studio Ghibli artbook! Sounds like the perfect gift. (I love collecting artbooks myself.) And fabric (and not to mention, pocky) is always nice to receive. And you are making your own dolls! I like to make things myself, so if you don't mind, I would absolutely love to see your creations. Also, how has your day been? Anything fun or memorable? - DCMK 2/2
I love artbooks, and I tend to do art studies off of em from time to time, they are definitely an ideal gift for me. I've been looking at some of the character design and production stuff I've gotten ahold of for Astro Boy 2003 recently, so having another Studio Ghibli artbook is something I'm excited about. And I love multiple flavours of pocky so I'll have something to much on while I'm drawing or sewing.
I'll have to remember to post some of my dolls I've made at some point, maybe I'll grab some of my Atom dolls (I don't have all of them anymore :'( but I have a few from varying times) and maybe I'll post a picture of one of my paintings for a university class with Atom in it, too, just cause it'll be fitting. I'm working on my Conan one still so it'll be a minute before he's in sharable condition.
My day yesterday had ups and downs, today has started well, though! I plan to go to physical therapy, and spend a good portion of the day sewing, working on my secret santa gifts, and watching DetCo, so I have a fulfilling day of creating ahead of me. I have a lot of free time at the moment, since I'm a university student and not in any active classes this moment.
A spreadsheet sounds like a great idea, especially with how the DetCo timeline is so unreliable. And gosh, you certainly have a lot of content ahead of you (DetCo, the prime example of a story that never ends and just keeps going). Since you mentioned the movies and specials, have you watched any of those yet? (The first few movies are super enjoyable!) Localisation, I find, is hard to do properly, in general, it needs a lot of consideration and care to work. - DCMK 1/2
I have! So far I've seen two of the films, and I'm steadily heading towards the third one on my list. I've enjoyed both of the one's I've seen so far! Though I will say the building that exploded in the second one looked cool and I was sad to see it go.
I do think a major challenge with localisation (which localisation not necessarily a bad thing) is that a lot of times in especially older series it's not too uncommon for the differences between what is said and shown don't match up and is noticeable to even younger audiences. I have been considering watching the dub for detco, however, when I catch up, but I'm not 100% on that, and I, at this time have more reasons for watching it in Japanese than otherwise.
I certainly have a long road ahead of me catching up, but I'm both excited and determined to do so. Then again, some of my favourite series are from older things, like Astro Boy, for example (though I do not like the movie, and cannot recommend the movie, please not the movie), so I think it would not be a surprise if I made it through to catching up in DetCo. I will say both Conan and Atom deserve breaks cause they each go through so much.
I tend to watch Japanese dub + Eng sub combination, and when in the mood the limited amount of content my country has dubbed. I only saw a couple of videos for the Eng dub version, so my experience with it is limited, but putting aside the localization, I find the snippets I encountered charming. The script translation is flexible compared to the original, but I find it gives so much character to the dub, it's fun to listen to. Again: hope your day is lovely! - DCMK 2/2
I figured, since I've already started it in Japanese with it sometimes subbed, I might watch the English dub if I ever catch up. I usually do the same for other series, where if I watch it in one I'll watch the other when I catch up. Sometimes I do find it hard to take some localisation seriously though, but I blame Pokémon for this.
To my surprise, I got gifts this year! I got a Studio Ghibli artbook, some pocky, and some fabric I actually needed for the plush dolls I've been making (one is of Atom, the other of Conan).