As soon as 3:00 EST hit, I went over to Right Stuf to see what they were announcing.  I'm pleased, but not just ecstatic.  I've been burned by yuri anime before (granted, it was Strawberry Panic!), but I'm hoping that with the series not just being fop fodder, I'll have reasons to enjoy it.  Besides, Shinohara Emi (Sailor Jupiter) has a role in it.  And for some reason I rabidly follow her and Hisakawa Aya.  Heck, I've even got some of their albums.

Adrasteia wrote:

I think Maria-sama has something special to offer, and if you didn't like Strawberry Panic! it's highly likely you'll really enjoy this. It couldn't differ more from the latter, trust me. This is as shoujo as shoujo gets.

That being said, if you're watching it for the yuri you might be disappointed. The yuri content is very similar to that of Utena, and the writers definitely play with that ambiguity.

I think you'll like it, though. I watched all the fansubs, and I'm eagarly awaiting the 4th season.

I love ambiguousness in romance.  I prefer not being bludgeoned over the head with it.  And yeah, I know it's a far cry from SP (and shoujo to boot--or at least certainly much more female-friendly), hence my desire to watch it. ^_-

Imaginary Bad Bug wrote:

The only thing is English Dub fans may be disappointed since they are only releasing it as subtitled season sets.

I suppose I'm not the only who be happy without the dub. I don't see why they even bother doing them all the time.

Marimite was not bad, though it didn't interest me all that much, so I've only watched the first season. Has anyone read the manga? I've heard it's supposed to be better than the anime.

I've never seen MariMite, but I've read enough about it to know that the general consensus is that it's one of the best series at what it does (the girl's academy drama), as well as setting an example of how to do shoujo-ai (be it canon or subtext) the right way.

In any case, I'm likely going to be adding it to my collection.

Ahh!  I was only mentioning SP! as a case of yuri for the sake of yuri that I hated.  I know they're nothing alike, no more need to try to convince otherwise.  >_<  I wish I'd never even said it, I didn't think people would misinterpret the statement so badly...

Also, Stephanie, I took a look at the link you sent me via PM, and I noticed there were no actual examples of where Right Stuf actually rescripted anything.  If any rewrites occurred, they would have been in the dub, and this series will not have a dub.  Right Stuf/Nozomi is an excellent company.  You don't pick up niche titles that will only pull in hardcore fans of a certain niche and then rewrite and change things--that's just a bad business plan.  Any concrete examples likely would be from early series, back when editing was still considered "ok" -- that's no longer the case.  Pretty much only series targeted toward children are edited in the U.S. anymore, and those often receive uncut releases with subtitles available.

Stephanie wrote:

it may just as well be that there is no 100% accuracy in translating Japanese perfectly into English subs, hence the changes from fan-subbers to companies who licensed them..

This is exactly the case.  Japanese is not a translation of English, English is not a translation of Japanese.  One person might interpret one word one way, another another way.  Typically, neither way is wrong, just a different interpretation of the meaning.  I'm sorry I've been short, but to see people suggest that Right Stuf 'rescripts' simply because it does not follow the fansub script (which typically have plenty of inaccuracies or places where the fansubber decided to put their own spin on the meaning), just really upsets me, especially since this is VERY frequently used to justify not purchasing anime, which is killing the industry.  Fanning the flames by continuing to state that this might happen (it won't) simply adds to the problem, in my opinion.

I've seen fansubbers translate Sailor Moon characters say "Don't fuck with me!"  Is that really the correct translation?  The fact of the matter is that the phrase in question has several ways it can be translated.  In reality, a much more neutral "Don't mess with me!" would have been more appropriate.  However, now that a fansub viewer has seen it as "Don't fuck with me," if they were to watch an official release that said "Don't mess with me!" they would assume that the North American company "dumbed it down" when it reality, the fansub group added their own spin.  Translation is an art, not a science.  Just because two scripts don't match doesn't mean either is wrong, and it's really better not to send out alarmist notions that Right Stuf, an excellent company, will for some reason change the series.  Rescripting does occur in dubbing as it helps to match mouth flaps as well as garner entry into the mainstream.  Sub-only releases, which is what MariMite is receiving, does not require such changes.

Imaginary Bad Bug wrote:

Stephanie wrote:

I was just trying to make contrast for others who may have not seen this anime but seen SP (like Imaginary, and others)

Actually, I have never seen Strawberry Panic.  What I have seen is Strawberry Marshmallow, an entirely different series.

Oh yeah? Well, I've seen I My Me! Strawberry Eggs. How 'bout that?

Last edited by mazoboom (03-10-2008 05:34:37 PM)

Stephanie wrote:

Anyway, let's celebrate the coming of MariMite! (I was so fearful it may become dubbed )

Even if RightStuf was dubbing it, I'm sure they'd have done a perfectly respectable job to the source, and there'd still have been the sub track anyway.

English dubs do not necessarily equal a complete misrepresentation of a series, though to be sure there are a share of those out there too...  Rewrites are another matter entirely (Cardcaptors, Escaflowne, and parts of Sailor Moon I'm looking at you!)

...and I'm someone who watches anime subtitled most of the time.  At the same time though, I've discovered plenty of series (which I've since added to my collection) thanks to quality dubs I've seen on television.  Sure, I watch them in Japanese when I get the DVDs (and no, I don't know the language either), but if it weren't for the dub I'd never have gotten into them in the first place.

(that's right... I'm a (primarily-)sub watcher defending dubs. )

^To be honest, I've always thought Utena was pretty free of archetypes. Characters generally change too much and are rarely as obvious as on the surface.

But, I guess if you're thinking in terms of 'the playboy' and 'the tomboy'...  it doesn't seem like Marimite has any direct copies of these archetypes. There's a 'playboy' character who hits on the main character, but I don't think she's anything like any of the Utena characters(Touga, for example).

Also, I My Me! Strawberry Eggs! is one of my favorite animes ever. I highly recommend.