#the german dub did not do this scene justice

[heldenherzchen]

[ejga-ostja]

Megamind dubs 1

I made this acc to post guilt-free about anything Megamind related so here!! My obscure hobby, watching and rating Megamind dubs : D I write a mini review for every dub, really unprofessional, just my raw thoughts, opinions and impressions, I thought this might be a good place to share them. I plan on doing these in batches of 6, I actually watched 8 so far but even this is gonna be quite lengthy so yea.

Anyways tho!! Here’s the first 6 dubs I’ve seen so far in order and my thoughts on them!

🇷🇺 RUSSIAN DUB 🇷🇺 Rating: 10/10 - Syncing is done REALLY well. - All the VAs are in character. - Emotional scenes keep their impact, done really well. - Hilarious names. - Minion's 'death' scene better in this dub than in english imo. - Just a few moments when I cringed at the voice acting, which is inevitable.

Megamind's voice: - Kinda hot. - Has good range. - Very in character!! Holy fuck. - Excellent evil laughter.

Individual voices: - Everyone is fantastic, Hal's voice is not my personal preference but it fits him.

🇫🇮 FINNISH DUB 🇫🇮 Rating: 10/10 - Just really well done all together!! - Syncing is done well. - Everyone does the character they play excellently. - Major emotional scenes keep their impact. - Minion's death scene is once again better dubbed. - The only dub I've seen that does 'but that's a poor lady's scream' gag right so far.

Megamind's voice: - Sounds too twinkish for my taste but you get used to it soon. - Very in character. - I don't like his evil laughters that much but they get better as the movie progresses. - He does Megamind's screams really well tho.

Individual voices: - Like I said EVERYONE does justice to the character they play it's great. Especially Roxanne's VA is fantastic for her. - Roxanne and Metro Man kinda hot. - Minion's Finnish voice is very fitting to him.

🇮🇹 ITALIAN DUB 🇮🇹 Rating: 6/10 - Syncing is done well. - Thought it was good at first but liked it less and less as it went on. - Major problem is that VAs do their characters fine, but their voice is usually unfitting. - Lots of bits from the original are kept in, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's distracting. - The Megamind fighting himself gag was much more lively than in the original, which made it super funny in a good way.

Megamind's voice: - He's very calm, too toned down, which didn't bother me at first, but became a problem as the movie went on, ESPECIALLY because there are a few bits where it's obvious the VA is capable of giving Megamind the energy his character needs. - However the calmness works to his advantage in sad scenes because BOY does he make Megamind sound sad. - His laughs are fun. - Although I don't like Roxanne's voice, it weirdly fits with Megamind's voice.

Individual voices: - Similar to Megamind most VAs are too toned down. - Roxanne is disappointing. She delivers all her lines well but her voice is painfully unfitting. - Metro Man suffers a similar problem but not as apparent. - Hal is fine, his voice is really similar to Jonah Hill's. - Minion is fantastic. Sounds more 'gentleman' than in the original but it's really fitting. I wanna be his friend.

🇩🇪 GERMAN DUB 🇩🇪 Rating: 7.5/10 - Not the best but I had a ton of fun watching it! - Unlike with the Italian dub, this one seemed to get better overtime. - Syncing was alright. - Megamind's voice is the best, everyone else has something holding them back. - Rain scene wasn't done justice, but Megamind in jail pre-Titan fight was done amazingly. - 'Poor lady's scream' gag done right again. - Screams/shouts were done really well with this cast.

Megamind's voice: - A bit too calm for Megamind, but delivers the right energy when needed. - Does comedic lines well. - His laughs are usually kinda weird. - Multiple occassions where he delivers the line same way Will Ferrell did which is great.

Individual voices: - Metro Man kinda sucks in this dub. - Roxanne's VA has a fitting voice, but doesn't quite nail the character. - Hal's VA is REALLY GOOD but his voice is super unfitting. - First dub of Minion I didn't like but can't quite pin down why.

🇸🇮 SLOVENIAN DUB 🇸🇮

Rating: 6.5/10 - Exceeded my expectations! - Was really fun, altho sometimes in a 'fun bc it's bad' way. - Syncing wasn't all that great. - Good in the beginning, lacked in the middle, then good towards the end again. - Most emotional scenes weren't that great. - The Roxanne rejecting Hal scenes was weirdly awful compared to the rest of the dub. - Translations were fun, more witty than I expected. - Comedy is often lacking.

Megamind's voice: - Sounds very kind, I trust him. - Lacks Megamind's energy most of the time. - Pretty alright but nothing special.

Individual voices: - Hal's VA is FANTASTIC, has a fitting voice, nails his characters, speaks more casually than the rest of the cast which makes him appear more slimy somehow. - Metro Man and Roxanne are both fine, Roxanne does the best screams of any dub I've seen so far. - Minion's voice I don't like but only because it's too 'comedy relief character' type of vibe.

🇭🇷 CROATIAN DUB 🇭🇷 Rating: 8.5/10 - Really good dub! - Super strong in the first 30ish minutes. - Syncing done well. - Emotional/important scenes mostly keep their impact except for Megamind returning to jail/Roxanne calling out to him. - Poor lady's scream better than the original?? SOMEHOW???

Megamind's voice: - The highlight of this dub, he's fantastic. - Has a painfully twinkish voice but makes up for it in AMAZING energy and character. - Does comedy super well. - Not as impactful during emotional scenes but gets the job done.

Individual voices: - Roxanne's VA is interesting, she either sounds like Tina Fey with a bit more flare or a snotty teenager, but the latter is more rare as the movie progresses. Also she does squeak-screams which are ADORABLE. - Minion and Metro Man are fine, Hal's voice is somewhat unfitting but not too distracting.

CURRENT RATING (best to worst):

RUS, FIN, CRO, GER, SLO, ITA

[watching-pictures-move]

Put On Your Raincoats #33 | La Femme-Objet (Mulot, 1981)

Hey, let me ask you a question. You like that movie Frankenstein? (Or book, whatever, nobody likes a smartass.) You do, do you? How about if Dr. Frankenstein made the monster so he could have sex with him? Would you like it then? Would you like it if Colin Clive did the horizontal mambo with Boris Karloff in monster make-up? No? Not even if it was captured in stunning German expressionist inspired cinematography? No?!? What if it was shot in colour and Frankenstein's monster was a good looking lady? Now that I've subjected to all these guiding questions (would you like if the monster was sleazy and demure?), if that last scenario is something that tickles your fancy, do I have the movie for you. It's called La Femme-Objet, also known by titles such as Programmed for Pleasure and, in a German Blu-ray release, Science Fiction Lady, which one is only allowed to say in a Jerry Lewis voice.

The plot concerns a science fiction author played by Richard Allan whose sexual appetite so voracious that it presents him with a distinct problem: he keeps wearing his partners out. (Allan resembles a bearded Ringo Starr; I understand there's a new Beatles documentary, so if you're looking for some complementary programming, this is one option. It's also worth noting that he has amazing fashion sense. It's probably a good indication of where my head is at these days when I was more intrigued in one scene by the texture of his sportcoat and the reverse pleats on his trousers than the fact that he was jacking off.) His girlfriend at first seems cool with it, until he starts fucking her while he's doing the dishes. (It's a miracle she doesn't drop any.) He then hires a secretary, who seemingly quits after a day, during which he subjects her to hourly trips to Bonetown (population: you and me, baby!). After starting work on a film adaptation of his book, he gets a brilliant idea: why doesn't he just create a robot to fulfill his sexual needs? And of course, after having somehow picked up the necessary brain genius knowledge, he ends up bringing to life a sexy female robot played by Marilyn Jess who is perpetually DTF. Yet it's only a matter of time until the tables are turned...

This is a movie from Alpha France, the big French porn studio at the time. I'd previously seen a few productions and had found myself left a bit cold by most of them. Part of this is because I'd watched subpar transfers with dubbing, which likely hampered by enjoyment. And there's the fact that I don't have the same context for classic French porn that I do for the American Golden Age, where seeing certain performers brings me an innate amount of joy and the creative influences I find easier to engage with. But there's also a certain condescension I've found with most of these Alpha France movies (and granted, I've only seen a handful), where the movies seem to pursue viewer enjoyment at the expense of the characters. (The most egregious was Indecencies 1930, which played an extended sexual assault for lowbrow laughs.) La Femme-Objet is directed by Claude Mulot, whose Belles D'Un Soir I'd previously seen, and both films deal with subverting fantasy scenarios. That movie dealt with a bunch of bored housewives pursuing sexual freedom from their inattentive husbands and having the plan go hilariously sideways, while this deals with a hero completely beholden to his appetites.

More than most vintage pornos I've seen, this movie is pretty much wall-to-wall sex (and primarily with just one male performer), with the scenarios almost uniformly off-the-cuff. The effect is a little monotonous (even well filmed hardcore fucking carries only so much inherent interest, and when it's pretty much nonstop, one's mind can wander), but intentionally so. While the hero is creative enough to invent a fuck-robot (and the movie satirizes the process with cheaply stylized mise en scene), his erotic imagination remains pointedly limited, and there's a certain poetic justice with the ending. Allan and Jess play their roles with relative magnetism (I'm not sure how good an actress the latter is, but she nails the role of a hot lady sexbot), but the former's one track mind and the latter's lack of humanity result in a certain hollowness that made it hard for me to really be moved by the conclusion. All that being said, this is executed with a decent amount of style, thanks to the attractive decor, handsome cinematography (the Pulse Video blu-ray is stunning and renders vividly the rich colours on display) and a soundtrack that sounds like if Kraftwerk scored a porno.

[guardevoir]

Since I occasionally mention my distaste for the German Hornblower dub...

I live-blogged that crap at some point, so now you get to revel in young!Guardy’s despair:

-

I finally found a german version of “Loyalty” - I’m still working on my analysis and wanted to compare as many versions as possible - and y'know, the german voice of Hornblower is awful enough (though not entirely unfitting in a way), but what they did to poor Mr. Bush is almost physically painful.

And now watch as I sob and cringe my way through this episode.

#the fact that this is the reason #why the german hornblower dvds are so horribly expensive #makes this atrocity even worse #I've never been happier about my english skills #that enable me to actually watch stuff in english

Imagine the worst anime dub you’ve ever seen.

and now imagine something twice as cringeworthy.

Add some more dreadful voice acting.

and then you know what the german hornblower dub sounds like

Mrs. Mason sounds like a Disney villain and Jack Hammond sounds like he’s 12.

How am I supposed to survive almost 2 hours of that.

I am tempted to tag Hornblower things with “*sobbing quietly*” or some variation thereof rather frequently…

BUT NORMALLY FOR ENTIRELY DIFFERENT REASONS.

#I thought this couldn't get any worse #then Styles showed up

They can’t even seem to decide between the german and the english pronunciation of “Major”, this is dreadful. 

And who the hell did they get to voice the marine sergeant? the goddamn janitor? Because that’s what it sounds like.

So y'know, they generally don’t dub scenes where nobody is uttering any comprehensible form of language, which is fine, normally, but leads to most interesting effects when Mr. Bush suddenly laughs, like, an octave deeper than he talks because they didn’t think it necessary to dub that, too.

Aaah, and they completely blew the “I hadn’t intended to sleep, sir” line.

They translated “to sleep” with “übernachten” - “to stay overnight” - which is a lot less funny than it could have been.

Oh what the hell.

In that scene where Côtard says some french stuff to bush, they literally only dubbed over the second part of it, and left the first one as it was, which leads to Côtard suddenly and very noticeably changing voices between two sentences.

This is ridiculous.

Okay, I have finally found a scene in the german dub that i actually like:

In that scene after Hornblower etc escaped their brief imprisonment in Wolfe’s storeroom, they translated Côtard’s “You intend to attack the battery with nothing more than a block and tackle?”, as a fairly annoyed “Gedenken Sie, die Geschützstellung mit einem Flaschenzug zu beschmeißen?” (something along the lines of “do you intent to fling that block and tackle at the battery, sir?”) to which Hornblower answers “Lieber das, als untätig danebenzustehen, während sie die Flotte vernichten!” (“rather that than stand by and do nothing while they are destroying the fleet!”) Which is quite frankly hilarious.

And there they go again, fucking up.

No, damn it, it is not Pellew, who would have needed some convincing about the merits of any economy with the truth, it’s Hornblower. That’s not just a bad translation that doesn’t do the writing justice, that is also not just loosely translated, that is downright wrong, and a mistake that would not have happened to me, a 18 year old student who does not work as a professional translator and does not get money for speaking English.

#I can deal with *bad* translations #but *wrong* translations are simply unforgivable #somebody was paid for that shit

[xtruss]

Thought-Police Come For Koch-Funded ‘Anti-Greta’ - But Unlike ‘Real Greta,’ Her Conflicts of Interest Are in Public View

If Greta Thunberg is a protagonist, then there should an antagonist – Naomi Seibt AKA ‘the Anti-Greta.’

They are blonde, young and politically conscious, but the similarities end there. The 19yo German girl is known for fighting for ‘climate realism’ rather than ‘climate alarmism.’ Naomi insists she’s not denying climate change, just trying to inject some reason into the debate - a demand which has only caused her detractors to shriek louder.

Seibt doesn’t conceal that she is working with the Heartland Institute, a libertarian think-tank funded by oil and gas companies and conservative groups. But who are Greta’s backers?

— Helen Buyniski is an American journalist and political commentator at RT.

A 19-year-old German girl has joined the right-wing Heartland Institute to counter “climate alarmism” with “climate realism,” leading MSM to dub her “anti-Greta” (Thunberg). But unlike Thunberg, she’s open about her backers.

Naomi Seibt has been attacked as a “climate change denier” for working with the Heartland Institute, a libertarian think-tank funded by oil and gas companies and conservative groups. But the young German insists she’s not denying climate change, just trying to inject some reason into the debate - a demand which has only caused her detractors to shriek louder.

“I don’t want to get people to stop believing in man-made climate change, not at all,” she told the Washington Post on Monday, while acknowledging she found the idea that human activity alone was responsible for the warming planet “ridiculous.” The outlet’s profile of the young activist, whom it not-so-subtly dubs “the anti-Greta,” proceeds to paint her as a puppet of the Heartland Institute, which is “paying [Seibt] to question established climate science” - as if she would never have done so on her own.

Suggesting there’s anything inauthentic or manufactured about Thunberg has been heresy in MSM ever since the young Swede burst onto the global scene at the tender age of 15. Even as it emerged that her rise to superstardom was choreographed with the help of PR man Ingmar Rentzhog, whose ‘We Don’t Have Time’ climate-focused social network featured her prominently in its marketing materials; even after a data leak exposed that Thunberg’s Facebook posts were written by her father and an Indian activist, the integrity of her convictions was never questioned. After all, she had held those beliefs for years before embarking on her climate crusade.

Seibt’s activism, too, predates her involvement with the Heartland Institute. She told the Post she developed a political consciousness “a few years ago” after questioning German immigration policy in class triggered a backlash from teachers and students alike, causing her to develop a general “skepticism about mainstream German thinking.” Only after a Heartland Institute employee saw her speak at another think tank affiliated with the right-wing AfD party - after she was already making videos, including one in which she “came out” for Pride Month as a climate change skeptic - did she become the face of the group, which is heavily funded by oil and gas interests as well as conservative bogeymen the Koch brothers.

While Seibt shares Thunberg’s long blonde hair and youth, the similarities end there. The German’s measured presentation couldn’t be further removed from Thunberg’s emotional pleas. She references Thunberg’s famous call to “panic as if your house is on fire” only to deliver a calm: “I don’t want you to panic, I want you to think.” Warning her audience of the danger of confusing science with politics, she urges tolerance of dissenting opinions and slams her opponents’ use of the term “climate denial” for its not-so-subtle evocation of Holocaust denial. But while Seibt attempts to debunk accepted climate change wisdom, she doesn’t pretend to have the solution, admitting she “could be wrong” and urging viewers to “continue doing your research and form your own opinion on the climate change situation.”

This hasn’t stopped her detractors from attacking her for her “arch-denialist” backers, however. Graham Brookie of the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, apparently unable to find real disinformation in Seibt’s videos, slimed her anyway for allegedly creating a “false equivalency between a message based in climate science that went viral organically and a message based in climate skepticism trying to catch up using paid promotion.” Fair enough - she has a long way to go before she catches up with Thunberg. Except the young Swede’s message didn’t exactly go viral organically, either.

Thunberg’s “brand” - recently trademarked - may position her as a David to the fossil fuel industry’s Goliath, but this is not entirely accurate. From the documentary crew shadowing the pint-sized crusader since her first day school-striking outside the Swedish Parliament to the PR muscle required to get her on board multimillion-dollar racing yachts and shaking hands with Barack Obama, evidence of the deep pockets behind the Thunberg phenomenon is everywhere, even if those pockets’ owners remain elusive. Thunberg’s apocalyptic talking points are compiled in the Climate Emergency Plan, released by Rentzhog’s We Don’t Have Time and another climate-focused think tank to which he belongs, Global Utmaning (Global Challenge) in collaboration with the Club of Rome in November 2018. Global Utmaning was founded by industrial heiress and former deputy central bank governor Kristina Persson and counts as members and advisors a “green” venture capital advisor and more than half a dozen veterans of Swedish-Swiss energy megacorporation ABB, which stands to make a killing on the transition to renewables. And these are just two nodes in the network of environmental NGOs behind Thunberg, a sphere of “nonprofits” that is ideally positioned to soak up what one of these groups, ClimateWorks, predicts will be $90 trillion spent over the next 15 years to stave off the worst effects of climate change. At least Seibt’s backers, riddled with conflicts of interest as they may be, are out in the open.

Those attacking Seibt’s for partnering with the Heartland Institute have pointed to the group’s “attacks” on Thunberg and climate scientists to justify their own smears, though it’s difficult to see how attacking Seibt as a “climate denier” achieves justice for the Swedish activist. Accusing Seibt of climate change denial because of who funds her work would - to avoid hypocrisy, at least - require them to hold Thunberg responsible for everything her shadowy backers have done or said - a prospect that is simply unrealistic, and not fair to Thunberg. Instead, all sides of the debate would be wise to listen to Seibt, who has implored climate skeptics and climate change protesters alike to bury the hatchet. "I hope that we can live in an era of discussion again...freedom of speech is the foundation for a society that can truly stick together."

Rather then give Seibt the benefit of the doubt, at least one other outlet pounced on WaPo for not being harsh enough on the German activist. Motherboard accused the outlet of “amplifying climate change denialism” from a “noted propaganda factory” that “can routinely be found peeing in the public discourse pool on behalf of its corporate donors.” Imagine what hell would break loose if anyone used such terms to describe Saint Greta…

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

[sweetpalmwine]

15 East African artists you need to hear

While contemporary African music is now getting some much-deserved attention on the world stage, often the focus is on the music of West or Southern Africa. In fact, you can probably narrow it down to four countries: Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Mozambique. Perhaps DRC will get a mention for its 1960s big-band sound and distinctive Lingala guitar, whose influence can be heard in African pop across the continent, and as far afield as Colombia. If it isn't Afrobeats getting a boost from Drake, then it's Diplo talking kuduro and South African house. These are amazing, influential genres of music, but they're a very limited representation of what Africa has on offer. Setting aside the issue of compressing the music of the second-most populous continent under a single label, we are still left with a massive blind spot. One region that remains under the radar (both inside Africa and elsewhere) despite consistently producing significant and forward-facing music is East Africa. Tanzanian and Ugandan acts like Diamond Platnumz and Eddy Kenzo regularly give Wizkid and Davido a run for their money on continental pop charts. Young Nairobi producers are creating thrilling new genres like shrap, which features sheng (Swahili urban slang) lyrics over trap beats. European producers have been sampling Ethiopian rhythms and melodies for decades, but some of this has been done without a proper understanding or regard for the context in which the music was originally made. Electronic music in East Africa is expanding exponentially as access to internet and software grows steadily. (Kenya, for example, has one of the world's fastest data connection speeds, faster than the US and South Korea.) As musicians draw from a rich musical history and incredible ethnic diversity, they are creating sounds that are new and unique. Working to bridge the gap between traditional music styles and commercial forms is Santuri Safari, which facilitates collaboration between musicians inside and outside the East African region, both traditional and electronic. This means they get hardware to DJs and producers in cities like Dar Es Salaam, Kampala, Nairobi and Kigali, while also working with international producers like Sam Jones and Esa Williams, hooking them up with swiftly-disappearing local instruments like the nyatiti or the embaire, a giant xylophone played by eight or more people. All of this is in service of creating club-friendly bangers that can compete with Western hits and their East African derivatives on the radio and the dance floor. Just A Band were among the first in Kenya and East Africa to make a name for themselves internationally with an undeniably electronic sound. Though the band is now on hiatus as members pursue their own projects in film, animation and music, "Blinky" Bill Sellanga continues to blaze trails as an artist, with his first solo album due later this year. Bill believes the East African music scene is experiencing a renaissance. "There's a proliferation of bands and artist communities that are seeking out sounds that represent them," he says. "They incorporate a lot of different elements from around the world, while also looking inwards and coming out with a new sound." Over in Uganda, the label Nyege Nyege Tapes grew out of an electronic dance party series and an international music festival featuring African acts alongside global artists whose work is in conversation with sounds from the continent. Passionate about the music that does not always make it to mainstream Ugandan radio, their releases are unlike anything else out there currently, and are getting embraced on dance floors both in the capital, Kampala, and in Europe. Whether it is singeli music, the furious sound of Dar Es Salaam's ghetto youth, or the eminently danceable wedding music of the Luo people of Northern Uganda, it's clear that we are going to be hearing of a lot more East African artists in the coming years. A list like this one can never do justice to the many East African artists beating against economic and geopolitical boundaries, but here are 15 who define the breadth of the scene in 2018.

Kampire Bahana, one of the bubbling region's rising stars, profiles some of her favourite DJs and live acts.

Alai K AKA Disco Vumbi (Kenya) Coming out of the '90s Nairobi hip-hop collective Ukoo Flani, Alai K's second life as an electronic producer reflects a return to his first loves: the chakacha music of the coastal Swahili people, and benga, the irresistible dance music of rural Kenya. Calling his style "Disco Vumbi"—meaning "dust disco"—his exuberant music calls to mind the outdoor parties of 1970s Kenya from which people would return home covered in dust kicked up by furious dancing.

Muthoni The Drummer Queen (Kenya) Muthoni burst onto the scene over a decade ago, founding a number of live music events including Blankets And Wine, which now takes place in three East African countries, and Africa Nouveau, one of the few festivals on the continent featuring an entirely African lineup. The recently released SHE is a pop-friendly concept album that deals with the construction of African women's identity.

Labdi (Kenya) By playing the orutu, Labdi is defying the culture she aims to preserve. It's a stringed instrument that's taboo for women to play. Yet there is no dissonance in her style, which merges traditional Luo rhythms and lyrics with popular sounds. Her forward-thinking approach to songwriting and her warm vocals make her a popular collaborator for electronic producers in both Kenya and Europe.

Ethiopian Records (Ethiopia) Working alongside Mikael Seifu and Dawit Eklund to create a style they call Ethiopiyawi Electronic, Ethiopian Records (AKA Endeguena Mulu) is at the forefront of producers and DJs pushing back against Western-imitative Ethiopian pop and Ethiopian-imitative Western house and techno to create something new, authentic and rooted.

KMRU (Kenya) Joseph Kamaru's work reflects the diversity of music coming out of a youthful Nairobi. Tending towards ambient sounds, his first EP was released by German label Black Lemon and his next EP will include collaborations with Pablo Fierro, Perera Elsewhere and Ghanaian songwriter and poet Poetra Asantewa.

Otim Alpha (Uganda) Otim Alpha has been making music for years alongside his producer Leo P'layeng, but despite being endlessly danceable, for a long time their tracks did not make it far outside of Luo communities in Uganda and the diaspora. Now, that's changing. Since last year's Gulu City Anthems, released on Nyege Nyege Tapes, Otim has played at the esteemed festivals Unsound and CTM, with plenty more dates lined up in 2018.

Hibotep (Uganda/Somalia) Young DJ, producer and filmmaker Hibotep brings a love of bass and trap to her weird-kid aesthetic. In 2018 her project Ninjabis was selected by Holly Herndon for the 2018 Forecast Platform and she will perform live at the Forecast Festival in Berlin in October.

DJ Rachael (Uganda) Uganda's first woman DJ, Rachael has been holding down the decks in Kampala for more than two decades. Through her Femme Electronic platform she is passing on skills and opportunities to women DJs in Kenya and Uganda. Her recent collaborations with The Black Madonna have brought new attention to her career, and she has performed at WOMEX and Chicago's smartbar.

Faizal Mostrixx (Uganda) Contemporary dancer turned electronic producer Faizal Ddamba Mostrixx makes "tribal house"—with a clear understanding of the role that East African instruments and Baganda rhythms play in their traditional context. His hope in merging these sounds with electronic techniques, he says, is to preserve the cultural heritage of the instruments and songs he samples. His last album, Tribal Match, is a must-listen.

Nihiloxica (Uganda/UK) Another act using traditional Baganda elements, this time a four-person percussive troupe (who also perform under a larger crew called Nilotica Cultural Ensemble) merged with electronic percussion from Blip Discs' Spooky J and his production partner PQ. Together they have created something entirely new. The group made their debut at CTM Berlin and will be all over Europe this summer, including stops at Roskilde and Strange Sounds From Beyond.

Mim Suleiman (Tanzania) Mim Suleiman brings traditional Tanzanian and Zanzibari music to the contemporary stage with collaborations with electronic artists like Spoek Mathambo and Maurice Fulton. Think Taarab vocals and percussion crossed with dub and disco. Many consider the traditions that Suleiman was brought up in to be going extinct, but her music will give you hope for its future.

Sisso Records (Tanzania) Singeli is the opposite of Tanzania's leisurely taraab sound, and the aspirational commercial values of bongo flava pop. Rabid-sounding and driven by the youngest and poorest of Dar Es Salaam's neighbourhoods, it sounds unlike anything you may have associated with Africa. With their release on Nyege Nyege Tapes, Sisso Records producer Bampa Pana and MC Makaveli have become Singeli's ambassadors to the world and just completed a spirited tour of the UK.

MC Caad Reeda and MC Memoree Cad (Tanzania) Singeli, born of slums like Tandale that are synonymous with poverty, is as male-dominated as any other music scene. But two female MCs coming to prominence, Caad Reeda and Memoree Cad, work closely with one of Sisso Studio's pioneers Jay Mitta, and will appear on a forthcoming release on Uganda's Nyege Nyege Tapes label.

Runka (Kenya) Karungari "Karun" Mungai is a member of the art collective Cosmic Homies, who merge electronica and R&B with an indie worldview. She is one of very few Kenyan women in production, and is part of the genre-defying and prolific NuNairobi movement, which includes a number of other young producers making waves like Jinku, NvFunk, Sichangi and Basthma.

DJ Raph (Kenya) The Kenyan underground continues to produce stellar DJs and producers making thoughtful and exciting new music. DJ Raph's latest release, Sacred Groves, comes out of the University Of Bayreuth's Mashup The Archive project. Sampling field recordings that are representative of the extensive archives of African art gathering dust in European collections, Raph creates access to these meaningful works by way of the dance floor. Kampire is performing at this year's Sónar Festival in Barcelona.

Words /Kampire Bahana

Published /Wed, 23 May 2018

7Fantastic to see articles like this! Thank you! Just one very quick query. Currentlg living in Mozambique myself, I was surprised to see the author claim that it is one of four African countries whose music is appreciated outside the continent. Considering the local music styles of pandza and marrabenta are totally unheard of in Europe, that the most popular local tunes tend to be sung in Changana (on the inevitable theme of weddings), and that the most popular music even in Mozambique tends to be from South Africa or Angola (the home of both Kuduro and Kizomba), I am curious as to the reasoning behind this. Anyway, thanks for the great article! Would love to see more like this!

[recentanimenews]

Crunchyroll Favorites 2017: Everything Else

  Movies, music, comic books, great food, everything goes in this last category. With Part One and Part Two out of the way, here's our final Crunchyroll 2017 Favorites with everything else!

PETER FOBIAN (@PeterFobian)

Blade Runner 2049: I never in my entire life actually scoffed until I came upon news of this movie. On the heels of a few monstrously bad Hollywood adaptations and reboots, I couldn’t imagine this movie being anything but another disappointment. I’m so happy to be wrong. Visually this movie was every bit the cinematic marvel as the original. That’s not to say it’s faultless. The story was perfectly serviceable until the forced shoehorning of Harrison Ford’s character left the plot a mess, but the atmosphere was maintained and it had some great modern takes on the content of the original. If every adaptation were this good I’d welcome them all.

John Wick 2: Another visual marvel that gives me hope for modern movies, John Wick 2 is every bit as good as the first, a combination of novel sequences and set pieces with great cinematography. The unapologetic daisy chain of fight scenes the raise the bar for Hollywood action. Like Blade Runner, the movie suffered a bit for the sake of a cameo, with Reeves and Fishburns' reunion taking up altogether too much screen time, but otherwise the film is a spotlessly choreographed action masterpiece. I can’t wait for the post-apocalyptic part 3, in which John Wick has killed 99.99% of Earth's population.

Atomic Blonde: Capping off my style-over-substance cinematic trilogy for 2017 is Charlize Theron’s rampage through Cold War Germany. I respect this film trying to deliver all the hyper-stylized, tightly-directed action as John Wick while including a compelling story, even if it didn’t quite land. Falling back on a few bored tropes left the later half of this movie feeling narratively stale, but the final sequences were marvelous all the same. I hope this grows into some sort of franchise all its own.

Takeshi Miike’s Blade of the Immortal: Two of the greatest anime disappointments of my anime life were the Blame! OAV series and the Blade of the Immortal anime, which were both made right in 2017. Polygon Pictures provided a Blame! Movie which satisfied (for now) and Blade of the Immortal got perhaps the man most suited in the world to direct its live-action adaptation. This movie is just the kind of bloodbath that the 100-man slayer and the 100-movie director both deserved.

Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi: It’s honestly cheating putting this movie in this list since it’s 100% anime. I’m pretty sure the middle of this film was just Gunbuster. Unfortunately it did actually sort of feel like two movies, one of them much better than the other. The plot following Rey and Kylo was marvelous from start to finish, as well as its branching conclusion with Luke, but the subplot with Finn dragged on forever and led to some themes that felt confused and left me wondering if they even knew what they want to do with his character (bring back Benicio though). That one scene, you know which one, was inspired (also very anime) and I hope other directors and studios take note.

RENE KAYSER (@kayserlein)

Baby Driver: If you forced me to pin down my single favorite movie, game or song, I could hardly come up with an answer. When it comes to my favorite director, this one’s a lot easier, though: It’s Edgar Wright, hands-down. No other director manages to reinvent himself every single movie while also staying true to what his fans love about him, and Baby Driver is his first “Big Budget Movie” (it does star several big Hollywood actors but only cost $34 million!). It not only combines its visuals with its soundtrack like no other movie but also tells a genuine heart-warming story. While Hot Fuzz will remain my favorite action movie of all time, Baby Driver keeps its distinctive shape in its rearview mirror.

Spider-Man: Homecoming: I’ve enjoyed almost every MCU movie thus far but with me being a lover of great villains, I have also suffered from Marvel’s biggest flaw: Having good antagonists. I couldn’t warm up to Loki like everyone else and had almost given up hope ... but then my third-favorite superhero swung in and gave me a great villain who was also played by a major actor of my favorite one! The rest of the movie may not hold a candle to the first two Raimi movies but I hope that we can keep this momentum with the MCU and may one day see a proper depiction of Dr. Doom.

Wonder Woman: If you were to ask me whether I preferred DC or Marvel, I would easily side with the bat and the man of steel. But even I can’t proclaim the current state of the DCEU as anything but bad while Marvel keeps hitting it out of the park. However, after the two trainwrecks of 2016, Wonder Woman gave us a glimmer of hope and a fantastic movie in which we also finally(!) got a female lead. Justice League was in turn bogged down by its production issues but I sincerely hope that we will start to get a proper representation of all these amazing characters from now on - even if we have to flashpoint it along the way.

Star Wars - Thrawn Trilogy Audioplay: My birds have told me the concept of an audioplay isn’t as common in the US as it is in Germany, so I’ll preface this with a short explanation. An audioplay is basically the same as an audiobook but instead of a single narrator, you have an entire cast of actors who act out the written story which is usually formatted to work with only dialogue and sound effects (though there are ones who use a narrator).

This year I, as a major Star Wars-fan, was delighted to discover a production I had never stumbled upon: An entire audioplay of Timothy Zahn’s famous Thrawn trilogy. While it may seem trivial at first, the people behind this not only got the entire German voice cast of the original movies (who actually dub every movie and even cartoons to this day!) but also paid close attention to absolutely every detail. They licensed John Williams’ famous score and made sure that the listener was able to distinguish each ship by its engine sound, each fighter by their weapon sound and each alien race by their own made-up language. Disney may have eradicated these books from the canon (though they thankfully brought Admiral Thrawn back in the Rebels cartoon) but this production will forever allow German fans to experience this original sequel to Return of the Jedi as close as possible to actual movies - all thanks to some amazing voice work and love from some serious fans.

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi: As I’m writing this, less than a day has passed since me attending its premiere. So while I may be still blinded by the early “Honeymoon Phase” of still getting my emotions sorted and not having contemplated everything a thousand times, I am currently convinced that this is the best Star Wars movie I have ever seen. Rian Johnson mixed up the characters we love in a tale that’s both completely and yet faithful to the franchise and it almost disappoints me that Disney gave him “only” one additional trilogy to handle. This movie not only changes up Star Wars completely and for the best, but it also serves as a perfect capping stone for 2017 itself. A lot of bad things happened over these past twelve months but the final shot of this movie serves as a reminder that no matter how bad things get, we can still change the world for the better - no matter who we are and where we come from.

Game of Thrones Season 7: Game of Thrones got dumb this year. The time it takes characters to travel doesn’t match up in the slightest, we got a lot of scenes the audience was clearly intended to not think too hard about and a lot of it devolved into fanservice … but I completely loved it! After six years of buildup, we got an entire season with payoffs and while they didn’t always make perfect sense, they certainly were satisfying. I hope that the writing will improve a little for the final season  but I’m definitely looking forward to seeing it.

Female Doctor Who & other awesome ladies: This year has truly been great for awesome female leads in popular media. I already mentioned Wonder Woman and Star Wars: The Last Jedi who both have amazing female leads not to forget Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn!) but one of the oldest British TV series also finally made the jump to change things up. At the time of writing, I haven’t seen Jodie Whittaker’s take on the Doctor but I can’t wait to see that Christmas special and what fresh air she will bring to the show!

KARA DENNISON (@rubycosmos)

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return: If you’re a fan of the original series, you’ll know within the first half hour that the show is back for real. And if you’re unfamiliar with it, the new series is a great jumping-off point. The new selection of movies is impressive, as is the new selection of cameos. Season 12 promises to be amazing!

Doctor Who Series 10: “Extremis”: “Extremis” is one of the riskiest episodes of Doctor Who ever made, and that’s saying something. I’ve been enjoying the Twelfth Doctor’s run immensely, but the fearful and challenging nature of this story makes it stand out for me. The gut drop of the big reveal still hasn’t left me.

A Series of Unfortunate Events: As a fan of Lemony Snicket’s dire children’s book series and all the puzzle-solving that went with it, I was thrilled with the new iteration of the story. Neil Patrick Harris is a perfect Count Olaf, and it’s just the right mix of dire and hilarious. There will be new mysteries to unravel whether you’re a casual reader, a hardcore fan, or a newcomer.

Night Mind: Halloween 2017: I get all my nightmare fuel analysis from Nick Nocturne, the host of the YouTube channel Night Mind. And this year he pulled out all the stops for Halloween. The latest SCP Vault imagines how certain entries might be interpreted by the public, Monster Hunt explores local legends, and his Candy Bowl vid combines an “Internet Ghost Tour” with world-premiere horror shorts. Lovers of the macabre need Nick in their lives at Halloween and year-round!

NICK CREAMER (@b0bduh)

Sick Scenes - Los Campesinos!: For my “the rest” this year, I’m just gonna go with a couple albums that have been circling my brain. And in this tumultuous year of 2017, Los Campesinos!’s Sick Scenes feels like the most urgent of releases. Marrying the band’s consistent indie rock hooks to tortured reflections on surviving in the age of Brexit and Trump, Sick Scenes is simultaneously a symbol of artistic maturation and a redoubling of youthful intent, a resounding cry saying even though we’re all very tired, we’re all very tired together.

After the Party - The Menzingers: If Sick Scenes casts its anxious eye outward, The Menzingers’ After the Party feels like a more inward-focused release, a monologue spiraling into a panic attack as the band’s longtime punk rockers face the onset of true adulthood. At twenty-nine-and-three-quarters years old, I must be the ideal mark for a record that opens on “whoa-a-o-o, whoa-o-o, where we gonna go now that our twenties are over.”

THOMAS ZOTH (@ABCBTom)

Blade Runner 2049: When a sequel to Blade Runner was announced, I made fun of it, because Blade Runner didn’t need a sequel. Any time there was an announcement about it, I would retweet it with a snide comment about how the film didn’t need to exist. But then, rumors started to spread that the film was good. I gave in and watched it, and I agree. A fully worthy companion to the original Blade Runner, less an exploration of what makes humans human and more about how people define their identities in Kafkaesque bureaucratic nightmares. I waited years to hate it and couldn’t. I’m looking forward to buying it on Blu-ray.

Get Out: An amazing directorial debut by Jordan Peele, Get Out is an acclaimed and fantastically realized horror movie, of all things. I love horror as a genre, but it’s usually far from respectable. By making a Rosemary’s Baby of race, Peele manages to make a funny, smart, and scary film that has resonated widely with audiences. I had never seen Key and Peele before this, so this was my first exposure to Peele (who also wrote), and I’m now looking forward to his future work.

Twin Peaks: The Return: In a documentary about the original Twin Peaks, David Lynch seemed genuinely sad that the original series ended the way it did and expressed a desire to go back. So when the series was announced, fans of Lynch knew this wasn’t a quick cash in, especially when Lynch seemed to walk away from the table when he wasn’t going to be given complete creative control. But the series arrived, and no one knew what to expect, and what we got was massively different than anyone could have imagined. At 18 hours, Twin Peaks: The Return nearly doubled the amount of Lynch-directed content in existence, itself a delicious treat, but it also updated Twin Peaks for the modern age in uncanny ways. Stunning and important.

Big Mouth: Images of this Netflix series circulated the internet as an example of how unbelievably ugly American cartoon designs are, and those opinions aren’t wrong. But if you can get past the aesthetic, Big Mouth is incredibly funny, starring favorites Nick Kroll and John Mulaney of The Kroll Show and Oh, Hello. It’s the puberty series that everyone needed during puberty, that you couldn’t watch during puberty because no adult would show this series to a kid. But now you can watch it and heal some old wounds.

Lady Bird: Written and directed by Greta Gerwig, who I mostly know as the voice of Pony in China, IL, Lady Bird is an assured debut film about adolescence in a time period very close to my own. It’s funny and charming, but also saves up some really painful emotional arrows in its quiver for the final act. Centering on the relationship of Lady Bird and her mother, it also touches on larger social questions and the common experiences of high school. Support an up and coming director by checking this one out.

JOSEPH LUSTER (@Moldilox)

Baby Driver: I didn’t see nearly as many movies in the theater as I wanted to in 2017, but Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver was one I enjoyed from the first frame to the last. Some of the musical elements were a little too clever for their own good, but the final product is a fast-paced action/chase/comedy flick that’s incredibly fun to watch.

Thor: Ragnarok: Speaking of comedies, Thor: Ragnarok certainly didn’t seem to leave many jokes on the cutting room floor. Thor is the bro-iest Avenger, but it kind of works. If they had focused more on the Planet Hulk storyline and less on the typical world-ending Marvel plot that swirled around Hela, it probably would have gone down as my favorite of the Marvel movies.

Fantasy Sports No. 3: If you’re not reading Sam Bosma’s Fantasy Sports series, you need to get on these comics ASAP. They’re so colorful and full of energy, and all of Bosma’s designs are damn near perfect. The third one came out this year, but I’d happily list every single installment in a best-of year-end list.

ISAAC AKERS (@iblessall)

Shihai Surunoha Kimito Koi No Aji by MOSHIMO: 2017 was the year I discovered you could actually find some J-pop and J-rock on Spotify, which lead to an exploration of all sorts of new discoveries for me. Among the best was a little band called MOSHIMO, which puts out a charming sort of pop rock sound—with a female lead vocalist who actually plays guitar! You can only watch so many idol lives before you start to long for singers who can play instruments. Anyways, MOSHIMO’s 2017 EP is, I’d wager, their best effort yet, showing a level of musical sophistication that’s a step above their previous works.

Baby Driver: The movie that grabbed the hearts of a great number of anime fans (as shown by its presence in other people’s lists here), I adored the film—which was the only movie I saw in theaters all year—primarily for amazing gimmick of writing a whole film to a playlist. I mean, back when I was at university, I’d skip around campus walking to classes much the way Baby does in the movie, so seeing that aspect of my life made into a whole dang film was pretty fun. It gets a bit long in spots, but overall I had a ton of fun with it.

Duolingo’s Japanese Course: Earlier this year, the popular language learning app Duolingo released the beta of their Japanese course, providing me with the convenient tool I needed to start actually learning the language. I’m under no illusions that I’m going to become fluent using Duolingo’s course, but just having something like this available makes it so much easier to fit some beginning learning into my head and busy schedule. If I manage to go on and truly learn Japanese someday, it’ll be because it started with this course. It’s worth checking out!

NATASHA H (@illegenes)

Mr. Robot S3: I’m admittedly biased about this one; Mr. Robot is one of my all time favorite shows, and this year, Sam Esmail took us on a hell of a ride as opposed to last season, which was far more slow paced and Lynchian. While not necessarily reaching the same highs, season 3 remained incredibly consistent, bringing two very different seasons together in full circle as we travel with Elliot to the depths of despair, but also, back into a hopeful and determined future of self awareness, culpability, and responsibility. The show only continues to break TV standards and I can’t wait for next year to raise my stress levels and churn my brain again.

The Expanse S2: Someone once told me The Expanse was like ‘sci fi Game of Thrones’. While I understand that to an extent, this is a form of clickbait, they’re not completely wrong either. Season 2 ramps up from Season 1 as more political factions are introduced and old characters make relationships with new. The show isn’t afraid to take risks, but at the same time, none of its twists or moments of tension feel haphazardly done. Likewise, the character development continues to be stellar, with no clear ‘good’ or ‘bad’ side to root for. One of my favorite things about this show is how firmly committed it is to diversity, featuring one of the most diverse casts I’ve seen in years. Its attention to realistic space physics is also incredibly neat and something I respect.

Blade Runner 2049: When the trailer for this movie first came out, I was half furious, half terrified. How could a movie possibly live up to the groundbreaking Blade Runner, let alone, be a direct sequel? After seeing it however, I can say that Blade Runner 2049 rose to become one of my favorite movies in recent years, surpassing its original with a soul of creativity and respect that few sequels possess. It borrows the best from Blade Runner, reinvents it for the current age, and then adds nuance in ways I’d never expect. It also happens to be, possibly, the most visually stunning thing I have ever seen. Nearly a 3 hour movie? Totally worth it.

The Night is Short, Walk on Girl: I recently watched Tatami Galaxy a year ago, and while it was great, I still felt like I missed watching it at the right time in my life for it to really have an impact on me. The Night is Short, Walk on Girl corrects this by combining many of the show’s strengths into a single feature film while also expanding upon the show’s main themes. Filled with the same charmful designs, warm and wacky adventures (and characters!),  Night is Short is a movie about living life to your fullest, and the need to connect with another human being, even if we can’t fully understand their perspective. It’s one of Yuasa’s strongest works and my favorite animated movie of the year…..

A Silent Voice: …..other than A Silent Voice. Naoko Yamada is a powerhouse in the animation industry, and she brings that talent to this movie based off the manga and one-shot. While many have complained about how the movie fails to mesh the two into a fleshed out and nuanced story, for me, the movie was nearly perfect in its portrayal of topics like miscommunication, depression, anxiety, and self guilt. With stunning animation at every turn along with small but brief details that are rewarding upon rewatch after rewatch, this movie is guaranteed to win you in some way or the other. And make you cry. A lot.

SAM WOLFE (@_Samtaro)

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return: I was in the middle of a major MST3K kick when I heard that the Satellite of Love was coming to Netflix. Like anyone, I had my reservations about this new series; with an all new cast, and only some of the original writing staff, how would the new show hold up? As it happens, even with new voices, Crow, Tom Servo, and Gypsy were as great as ever, and Jonah Ray was an excellent addition as the human on board. My only complaints were with the new Mads, Felicia Day and Patton Oswalt; their bits were clearly filmed in bulk, and were host to several odd editing tricks (the liquid technology gag was really only there to cover the jump cuts between takes, wasn’t it?). Despite that, the movie selection was great, the sketches were silly, and I’m hoping we see even more from this crew in the not too distant future.

Twin Peaks: The Return: I watched Twin Peaks for the first time in 2014, and I was still antsy with excitement about the show’s final chapter; I can’t imagine what the wait was like for those who watched it when it first aired back in 1990. Twin Peaks: The Return is a masterful metatextual experiment that is as brilliant as it is polarizing. The show is conscientious that the audiences who hung on this long are thirsty for answers, and provides them in deliberate bites of surreal, disturbing television that David Lynch has both spearheaded and mastered. The Return’s slow windup seems loaded with fanservice and levity at first until it shocks viewers with episode 8 (which is presented completely in black and white, and is almost entirely silent), as if to say “alright fairweather friends, it was fun, but your time being comfortable has come to an end.”

The Return borrows a lot more from Lynch’s cinematic playbook, in many cases resembling Eraserhead more than the Twin Peaks it comes from. The result is a challenging, engaging, and almost paradoxical ending that both resolves the now twenty year long mystery, as well as igniting a spiral of new questions about reality, time, and what exactly is at stake for the characters we’ve come to know and love.

I particularly enjoyed seeing how the show flirted with the metanarrative, teasing the audience by introducing Kyle Mclaughlin’s character early on, but keeping Agent Dale Cooper well out of reach, instead forcing us to spend time with the dull but lucky Dougie Jones.

While Twin Peaks: The Return is a far cry from the show it’s derived from, and it’s certainly not for everyone, I would invite anyone who loves serial storytelling to challenge themselves and give it a try (after watching Twin Peaks seasons one, two, and the movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, of course).

Grape-kun: I remember waking up one morning to see the top story on the anime subreddit: an aged Humboldt penguin had fallen in love with a life size standee of penguin-girl Hululu from Kemono Friends placed in his enclosure. I knew I would be making a video about this penguin, but I never could have predicted how much of an impact he would have on my life. Over the next nine months, the story developed, and I made a new video for Crunchyroll as each new chapter unfolded. I know it’s silly, but I really felt an affinity for the little penguin who was enamoured with a piece of cardboard. So much so, that when planning a trip to Japan this fall, I had scheduled a day to visit the Tobu zoo and see Grape-kun for myself. Unfortunately, that visit never happened, as Grape-kun passed away just weeks before my trip.

So what’s the takeaway? When this little penguin made an innocuous decision, he was abruptly elevated to the world’s stage, and people several continents suddenly away had opinions about him. There were responses on all sides of the spectrum (thankfully mostly positive), but none of those responses ever reached Grape-kun. Grape-kun just kept doing what he was doing, and I think that’s what we can learn from him: be yourself no matter what the madding crowd says. Rest in peace little guy. Thank you for sharing your story with us.

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That's it for our three-part series on 2017! Be sure to check out Part One and  Part Two! If you're still in the mood for past CR Favorites, check out the previous years' features here:

  Crunchyroll Favorites 2016 Part One Part Two Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2015 Part One Part Two Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2014 Part One Part Two Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2013 Part One Part Two Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2012 Part One Part Two Part Three

Crunchyroll News' Best of 2011 Part One Part Two

  What were your favorite "everything else" of 2017? Comment below and share with us! Remember, this is a FAVORITES list, not a BEST OF list, so there's no wrong answers!

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Peter Fobian is an Associate Features Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com