The cultural importance of picking Mt. Fuji would be exactly the same as it was when Go Nagai did it… what, almost forty years ago? So that doesn’t really fly with me.
There was a definite in-jokey factor to it. In a more light-hearted show or a show previously loaded with in-jokes-- say, a Mitsuo Fukuda series-- it would have fit. Geass was a considerably more straight-faced show at that point, though, and it didn’t work for me.
At that point I would have been a lot happier with, say, a ripoff of jijirium from VOTOMS.
Obviously, the only way to save the Gundam universe is :
For those who haven’t seen it yet, funimation’s video on demand channel with Comcast has the first 4 episodes of Baccano up for free.
HRose
1744
Is there an active sub scene about japanese TV series with real actors? And in the case there is, where I can find informations about the good stuff to watch?
There’s two different genres of Japanese live-action stuff with ongoing subtitling scenes.
Fans of plain ol’ everyday TV shows generally call them dorama. There’s a lot of different fandom hubs you can go to for recommendations, but I’m not into this scene enough to tell you which one is best. Most fansubs of dorama show up on Tokyo Tosho and a simple search for “dorama” should turn up all the major resources pretty quickly.
Fans of special effects superhero TV shows (tokusatsu) keep up a very active fandom despite the small number of tokusatsu series produced every year (usually at most 2-4 shows). A sub group called TV-Nihon generally subs each year’s Super Sentai (Japanese Power Rangers) and Kamen Rider shows, but independent productions and other series (like Ultraman) get subbed less frequently.
Sub quality is also all over the place in this fandom, since ultimately the best subs tend to be done by crazy fans who are really into exactly one show and as a result sub only that show before moving on. If tokusatsu is what you’re looking to get into then I can give you some pretty decent recs.
D-Addicts & their wiki DramaWiki are pretty good resources. They have info on most of the noteworthy shows, additionally you can usually find subtitles over there. If I can make a couple of personal recommendations, try Densha Otoko & Nodame Cantabile.
I found the Nodame Cantabile drama incredibly inferior to the anime.
(In particular, the lead male actor in the drama is not good at the whole… acting thing. In the anime, the lead male is Seki Tomokazu, who is pretty much best in the business.)
J-drama acting is pretty atrocious all around, except for the male lead in Densha who’s a genius. Despite that, I found the Nodame series pretty enjoyable, particularly for the ridiculously over the top slapstick comedy.
Hmm, I wouldn’t agree with that. Japanese acting tends to be stylized by American standards but usually when I watch something at random I won’t be put off by any of the leads. Maybe an incidental character but that happens in American shows, too.
Nodame Cantabile was the only time I’ve turned off a dorama going “Yeah, I can’t watch this guy.”
I think calling it stylized is being far too generous. It’s bad over-acting, plain and simple. It doesn’t put me off though, I’ve come to accept it. On the other hand, I agree with Chiaki’s actor being the weak link of the show, although he does grow into his role a little. The other actors on the show aren’t exactly good, but they fit their roles well and have good comedic timing and whatnot. Particularly Stresemann, who looks and sounds ridiculous.
Japanese culture traditionally doesn’t prize naturalism in acting the way American culture does. This is a thread that runs through pretty much all of the traditional Japanese stage and musical forms (that I’ve studied, anyway). What is prized instead is spectacle and an ability to evoke strong emotions in the audience by depicting strong emotions on stage (or screen).
American audiences prize naturalism almost to the exclusion of all other things, so Japanese acting tends to be pretty weird and is usually described as “bad over-acting” by people who either don’t know or don’t care that Japanese audiences don’t want what American audiences do. I have issues with saying an entire culture’s idea of acting is “wrong,” so I won’t go there.
I will say the dude who played Chiaki had really awful body language, though-- I suspect they hired a model with no prior experience for him. Everyone else I saw was fine but I don’t see the point of sitting through a show with an awkward male lead.
Fair enough, I’m willing to concede that Japanese acting, at least to a degree, is very different, and not necessarily bad. Additionally, I think it works very well for comedies like Densha Otoko. On the other hand, there are J-dramas where the actors act a lot more natural and subdued than what I’ve seen in some other shows. Kekkon Dekinai Otoko would be an example of this, I particularly thought the male lead did a pretty good job.
I’m hardly a J-drama expert though, having only watched 3 shows all the way.
Oh sure, there’s some variance in how natural acting is depending on genre, a director’s style, individual actor styles. J. Average American will have an easier time watching most films than most TV shows, and an easier time watching more realistic written-for-TV storylines than stuff based on manga. As you watch more stuff, though, you’ll notice some recurring patterns with how Japanese actors tend to overact when approaching certain types of material.
It is a mystery how an anime thread turned in to a japanese drama thread. The few times i’ve been looking up info on some anime and came to a life action (legend of the condor hero) show instead, it was always painfully bad.
Actually, it can easily be traced to HRose’s post on this very page.
Japanese live-action is produced on much lower budgets than American shows, so for special effects stuff they tend to assume the audience is willing to use its imagination.
That said, Legend of Condor Hero kinda blows and I seem to recall it also being Chinese for some reason.
Well, I think the show is Chinese. I kind of like the anime myself.
Legend of Condor Hero is a really good anime. Well, I enjoyed it at least, even if it is a bit weird.
The scene on the train when Char is “recognized” and everyone starts singing… Still one of my favorite Anime moments.
Well, seeing as how i might not be the only one who liked it, i’d just like to say that Season 3 is finally getting subbed it appears.
