#this is just literally the scene as aired on television. insane behavior

[ireneae]

House 5.24, "Both Sides Now"

[jennifersminds]

The fact that people still find execuses for Chuck Bass problematic behavior in the 2020 is very disturbing like I really wish that sometimes writters did not romantized like a "sad boy who needs to be fixed by the true love'' bullshit ,also i still can't find anything attractive about him after that scene where he sold Blair to his uncle but hey to fans Dan is still a biggest vilian of all just cuz in the S6 they needed to done at least someone dirty so Chucless Bussart can be forgiven

OMG i can’t believe i’m only just seeing this i’m so sorry.

but yes PERIOD. women are not rehabilitation centres for broken men ESPECIALLY when those men abuse, manipulate and belittle them through every step of their relationship.

we harp on about the infamous hotel scene but it truly is one of the most horrifying moments ever aired on television imo. and the fact the chuck truly cannot comprehend what he has done wrong is so insanely disgusting i can’t even begin to describe it. The way he’s literally angry with her in the scene where she confronts him about it is just...

I was thinking about this a few days ago because i commonly see the argument the “blair chose to go up there herself” and that chuck shouldn’t be criticised bc of that. but the key word there is “chose”. SHE decided to trade HER body for chucks hotel because she believed that he was worthy of that sacrifice. he proved himself unworthy when HE traded HER without knowledge of the choice she’d already made. He had no idea she had already somewhat consented to this bullshit. and he didn’t care. This is one of the most unsubtle and unforgivable examples of objectification i have ever seen and the fact that people can watch this and genuinely say this ship wasn’t abusive will never make sense to me.

Sorry that was a total bitch fit but tysm for sending this in and i’m sorry it took me so long to see it 💗✨

[medea10]

Medea Rambles - Changing Voice Actors (in anime)

Your favorite character! You love the way they look, the way they act, and in many cases, the way they sound. Yeah, voice actors are a vital role when it comes to bringing life to any character in animation. But what happens when your favorite character doesn’t sound the same as he/she used to?

It could mean your favorite character’s voice actor has CHANGED.

Don’t fear! This happens all the time and many factors can come into play to make that happen.

Because I’m bored today and have nothing better to talk about...

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BETTER TO TALK ABOUT!

(seriously, I do like this movie)

I want to talk about voice actors! Because I like talking about them. I have the highest respect for these people and these people give it their all with the characters they voice. Every scream Sean Schemmel ever gave as Goku, every cackle Sayaka Ohara gave as Beatrice, these performances can be considered remarkable and memorable as time goes by.

But we must all remember this. Voice actors are just like you or me. They are human. No one lasts forever. And when the unthinkable happens and a voice actor dies, many creators grapple with either retiring the character or hire a replacement.

In the anime world, it’s most likely the latter because there’s no way in fuckdom Professor Oak would EVER be retired as a character (R.I.P. Unshou Ishizuka).

Even though no one could match the charm of Unshou Ishizuka as Professor Oak and many other roles, we accept the change. But it’s not just death. Life in general can get in the way. Many voice actresses have long-running roles to voice even when they’re pregnant. So when they go on maternity leave, they’ll need a replacement. However these are thankfully temporary so we were able to get Mariya Ise to voice Bonnie on Pokemon again and soon Brina Palencia will be back to voicing Juvia on Fairy Tail (and congrats to her for the birth of her first baby).

Child actors in anime will probably not have the same voice they had 10 years ago and if a role is making a revival in the present, that person will more than likely not play that same role. Perfect example there would be Aaron Dismuke who was a young boy when playing roles like Al on Full Metal Alchemist and Hiro on Fruits Basket. When FMA: Brotherhood came out, it was very clear that Dismuke was well past puberty and so his role of Alphonse had to go to someone else.

And voice actors who sustain injury to their voices during production. Jessica Calvello, the original voice of Excel from Excel Saga literally blew out her vocal chords for this role and had to have her role replaced for the second half of the series. Was it noticeable? Fuck yeah it was. But it was for the greater good. Plus her replacement wasn’t that bad. In fact she did a good job with the wacky behavior of Excel. The dubbing company was on a deadline and it had to be met. So what’s done is done. I’m just happy Calvello healed from that and is still a voice actor.

And other issues like scheduling conflicts and controversial issues come into play throwing a monkey wrench in productions. But we all move on for the most part.

WE ALL MOVE ON!

Anyways, for the most part these are just singular acts concerning one or more characters at a time. What happens when AN ENTIRE CAST IS CHANGED?!

Well...it happens! It just depends on the circumstances with the anime. And let’s face it, some of these changes can be for the greater good. Take Sailor Moon for example. Yes, we all know this tale! Sailor Moon was originally licensed by DIC for the first few seasons. And then the next few seasons it was taken over by (the thankfully gone company) Cloverway. With both companies, the anime was given the royal fuck-over with skipping episodes, chopping or editing scenes, Americanizing everything, downplaying homosexuality, shotty voice work, and blow off an entire season. And during the transition from DIC to Cloverway, some of the voices were changed and it was noticeable.

Decade later, Viz Media swoops in and gives the fans what they waited for. The entire series redubbed with original names, Haruka and Michiru are lesbians, Fisheye has a penis, and season five can finally be shown. But for many of us, we were delighted to hear the voices to the characters we grew up with finally getting some justice. While many of us loved Sailor Moon growing up, it was kind of painful to hear some of the voices. I once again point to Haruka’s original voice (or Amara as they called her). And the same could also be said about the first dub to One Piece. This redub needed to happen! No one objected to this, nor should they! But that’s just one person’s opinion here. Others, not so much. Especially the next one!

POKEMON! Yes another anime that went through a giant change. In 2006 (right in the middle of a fucking arc mind you), Pokemon switched the dubbing rights from 4Kids to TAJ/Pokemon Company. To which we all said...

And then they got rid of all the voice actors who have voiced these characters for YEARS and replaced them. To fans of the show from the very beginning it was noticeable and STILL IS. To people who were born in 2006 and are watching this now as a teenager (fucking shit I feel old just realizing that), they probably wouldn’t give it a second thought.

I know it hurt fans and voice actors at first but look at the bright side, a lot of them went on to do great things after Pokemon. Veronica Taylor is busy doing Sailor Moon. Eric Stuart is still touring. And Andrew Rannells...I don’t think I need to bring up Book of Mormon. As it has been over 13 years since the change I think many of us have gotten used to or have accepted this.

Does that mean you’ve accepted Tracey’s new voice?

No. Fuck no. And I never will.

Yeah, Tracey’s a different story. I refuse to accept that change.

Anyways back to voice actors changing! Pokemon and Sailor Moon were kind of special cases as those had a bunch of in-fighting to get what we got. Same with One Piece because no one wanted to watch that hot mess get raped with censored items, Americanized names, and a horrific rap song that even Vanilla Ice would say that’s too much. But sometimes, an anime that has finished its airing and has been dubbed and released in the states, it will be out of print or its license will be expired.

Animes like Berserk, Squid Girl, Rozen Maiden, and Shakugan no Shana were all owned, licensed, and dubbed by a company. But then their licence would go belly-up and their title would no longer be available for purchase (at a decent price) or streamed on a website. Luckily, these titles were eventually saved. Kept the same is a different story there.

All four of those titles had one or more of their seasons dubbed and anything else the series had that wasn’t dubbed was now going to be dubbed by their current licencor. In many of these cases it was changed due to the fact that many of the original voice actors for these roles are not where this certain anime is being worked on. Like in the case of Shakugan no Shana, many of the voice actors reside in Vancouver BC and FUNimation, the licensing company is in Texas. Hence, you get the second and third season sounding way different from the first season. Yes, it’s convenient or cheaper to use people in your studio instead of waiting to hear from Canada. So that’s a possibility of why they do that. Or of course, scheduling issues/conflicts or wanting to do things their own way. Haven’t decided on which one to believe.

And then there are some animes like Escaflowne (an anime that was already dubbed and licensed and released in the late 90s) only for the whole thing to be redubbed by FUNimation decades later. Reasons? They re-licensed it? There was over 8 minutes of new footage found that was never dubbed? They found it necessary to do that? Take your pick!

Now most of what I’m talking about is mostly America problems. Does Japan redub classic anime? To my knowledge, no. But if they remake, reboot, or give a sequel, the cast might change. In recent reboots such as Fruits Basket, Berserk, Sailor Moon, and Genshiken, the entire cast will change to either appease the original creator’s wishes or start over with a clean slate. And if a series makes a return after several decades, of course they’re going to change voices, are you insane?

Why did I find the need to spew a bunch of useless information today? I felt inspired after Netflix decided to grace us with IT’S presence.

Neon Genesis Evangelion.

A classic in the anime community. A gateway anime for many. A massive mindfuck wrapped in a brainfart. A clusterfuck of many proportions.

The television series was licensed and dubbed by ADV back in the 90s. But of course that company went belly-up and so this series has been unreachable in terms of purchasing for over a decade. Even when Japan gives us reboots in the forms of movies for the Evangelion franchise, only those movies would be picked up (by FUNimation). They didn’t even touch the series. Didn’t they realize fans would pay through the nose to get a blu-ray release of this series? The most fans could get were split-up copies on DVD and old VHS tapes. This was a goldmine.

Alas, FUNimation was not the one to save the Neon Genesis Evangelion series.

It was Netflix.

But...all things come at a price when you make a deal with the devil. Netflix found it necessary to redub the entire series (both movies included) without giving word or even consideration to the original cast (that has been doing the voices to these characters for over 20 years). Spike Spenser, Amanda Winn Lee, Tiffany Grant, and Allison Keith wanted to help with this as they all had a lot of input in the original (especially Lee). Now before I cast stones upon this, I do give this dub some credit. They do make an effort to make this sound like an improved version of the 90s dub. And in some aspects I find the new voice to Shinji bearable. And I’m okay with many new casting changes. I mean NGE was okay, but the dub wasn’t the greatest. My only gripe with the change...

Downplaying Shinji x Kaowru.

Netflix, you just undid like a decades worth of change when it comes to homosexuality in anime. You just took us five steps backwards! Kaowru says he LOVED Shinji. “Like”? No, you like a pair of pants. You like that new Bruno Mars song. Kaowru said he LOVED Shinji. Why the fuck didn’t you keep that translation? The 90s dub was kind enough to have Kaowru say that and the 1990s were run by a bunch of prudes! I thought we were past this shit when we put an end to the old Sailor Moon dubs!

Now with this Netflix dub, many characters on Evangelion officially have 2-3 different voice actors. Or in the case of the character Toji, Johnny Young Bosch is the fifth person to voice him. But some platforms can have the anime itself, just not get the right with the english dub probably due to some legal loophole.

Whew, a lot of changes in anime, right folks? It almost feels like these dubbing companies want to erase the past, right? Well to be fair, everyone seems to be doing that. Disney keeps giving us live-action remakes to classic Disney animated films. Classic anime titles are being rebooted. Dubbing companies are taking older animes and redubbing them. I know it feels like they want us to forget these dubs existed. But I know they just want to improve them.

No matter what, everyone will find fault with everything. And in the anime community, it feels like a never-ending flame war. Older animes will get hated on by how crappy it sounds or looks. And nostalgic fans will hate on the new dub because it’s with new people who sound nothing like the original.

YOU CAN (NOT) WIN!

Heh, I made an Eva-build joke.

With these redubs, many names get pronounced the correct way, many translations will be accurate to the Japanese version, and in some cases it’ll sound a lot better. Dubbing companies try to aim at new viewers and to introduce a new generation of anime fans to an old classic. But for people who grew up with animes like Pokemon, Escaflowne, Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailor Moon, and many others, we grew accustomed to the dub. And when hearing it changed, it’s kind of a kick in the ears hearing anything penetrated or different from all the years you spent watching these animes.

Everyone has their own opinion of what they like and don’t like to hear. I like to give things the benefit of the doubt for the most part. Especially when I watch an older anime for the first time that has several dubs. When I began watching Rurouni Kenshin about 7 years back, I was warned that there were three English dubs to that. And I heard all three. I made my choice of which one I prefer, which one was okay, and which one needs to be set on fire. In case you don’t know, the original TV series had the best, the OVA series was okay, and the redub Sony did needs to be set on fire.

And that would be my advice to new anime watchers. Give both dubs a chance and make your decision on which one you like best.

Sadly, these changes will continue to happen whether for the better or the worst. While there are some changes that upset me, some I’m okay with if not pleased about it. But with the recent upset over fans hating on Evangelion’s new dub and change, do you think the fans will get a revolution and their old dub/old translations back? Let me put it to you this way. If Pokemon told us to sit and spin after many of us outraged over the cast change, what chance do Evangelion fans have against Netflix? But you never know, stranger things have happened. Maybe a miracle will occur and the old dub will get a blu-ray release.

In the meantime, I’ll have to re-write my thoughts on Evangelion with the ADV dub, FUNimation dub, and Netflix dub. TOO MANY DUBS!

This has been another Medea ramble. I’ll go back to doing whatever it is I normally do around here.

[evenstevensranked]

#37: Season 2, Episode 11 - “Wild Child”

Louis jeopardizes Eileen's campaign for Secretary of State by being a general lunatic on television and must deal with the repercussions of his actions. Elsewhere, Nelson wants to learn how to fight and goes to Donnie for help.

This one opens with the most bizarre shots of Louis "riding a bike" in front of an obvious green screen. It's actually pretty great. Again, it's one of those moments like the fake dummy, or the surfing green screen. You automatically know that it's not meant to be taken seriously. I mean, if Louis meditating on the bike crisscross applesauce isn't an indication that the scene is not intended to be realistic, then I don't know what is. Shia’s genuine laughter at the absurdity of the whole thing is also great.

He’s thinking “what is my life”

The scene is used in contrast to the rest of the Stevens family meeting with Eileen’s new image consultant for her Secretary of State campaign. They’re clearly concerned about Louis’ whereabouts and that he’s missing out on some important information. Steve is all “I can’t believe he’s not here yet” and Ren sarcastically says “Yeah, you know.. It’s not like him. He’s usually so considerate” — which hard cuts to Louis screaming “OUTTA MUH WAY!!!” as he zooms past pedestrians with zero regard. Incredible. He even steals a corndog away from the stoner extra Lefkwitz. I’ll never understand Disney’s obsession with corndogs. I feel like they talk about them so much.

Louis shows up late to the meeting with vegetables growing out of his hair, claiming it’s his science fair project. He also says it could be Eileen’s platform: “End world hunger,” which is a great visual. Imagine if we all walked around with food growing out of our heads. The consultant says “Please, tell me this is the wacky next-door neighbor” and in that moment I so wish that Louis was for the family’s sake. He would be the wacky next-door neighbor if this show was about anyone else on their block. This is definitely a sign of Louis becoming more and more outlandish, though. Growing a farm on his head...... like… come on. One thing I’d like to point out is that Christy always makes the actual best facial expressions when reacting to Louis’ craziness. 

Meme central right there.

This whole scene has a lot of those unflattering close up shots that we saw in Surf’s Up. Both episodes were directed by Paul Hoen. I seriously wonder why he apparently likes those angles so much. It definitely adds to the quirky vibe of the show, but still, I’m not entirely sure it fits. It’s a little distracting to me, almost overkill.

Fast forward to the next day. Eileen is officially announcing her candidacy on the Sacramento Morning News with none other than reporter Cynthia Mills. The image consultant dresses them in the most ridiculous “All American” getups and I have no idea how this guy possibly has a career in image consulting.

Is this Even Stevens or Leave It To Beaver? (Steve holding that spatula gets me every time.)

Of course, Louis is missing yet again. This time he has yet to make an appearance because he hates the outfit he has to wear. It is… pretty cringy considering the character of Louis Stevens. This is definitely something he’d never wear in a million years.

Did Eileen make him clean his room just in case? lol Because it looks immaculate in comparison to the tornado of clothes and junk we usually see.

Donnie literally has to carry him downstairs and Louis shouts “PUT ME DOWN, CRAB GOOSE!” which I’m assuming is an ad-lib. Where does Shia come up with this stuff?! Honestly! God bless him. Cynthia asks him “Is something wrong, little guy?” and all hell breaks loose. This is probably one of Louis’ greatest meltdowns, though. It really made me want to rank this episode way higher. It's absolutely insane! But as great as it is, you kinda get annoyed at the fact he can't even control himself long enough to not embarrass his mother on television like that. He legit destroys the living room and breaks Cynthia’s baby toe. But lines like "I am not a little guy, and these are not my pants" and "I'M NOT SHORTY PANTS KID" make it all worth it. It’s another scene that I just have to embed.

Larry Beale gives Ren a hard time about the fiasco at school later. He actually throws some solid shade by saying “What a circus! What is your mom running for? The ring master? ‘Cause I just wanted to know.” But, Nelson decides to step up and say “Hey, Snarky! For a guy with a tiny brain, you got a big mouth.” He proceeds to get stuffed in a locker. This is what motivates him to learn how to fight. But, we’ll get to that later.

Ren knows that some drama is about to go down.

Eileen, Steve and Donnie are at home watching the news report in horror. Cynthia brought Eileen’s opponent on for an interview and of course they seem like saints in comparison to Eileen’s segment — which basically should’ve started off with “Hi. I’m Louis Stevens, welcome to Jackass!” They desperately change the channel, only to find that the story has been picked up by literally every major news outlet. My personal favorite report:

“The Crazy Child” lol. 

Louis comes downstairs and seemingly has no idea why they could possibly be upset with him. Eileen starts to feel like everything is her fault since she’s the one who hired the consultant. And Louis just… AGREES WITH HER! He puts it all on her shoulders and takes no responsibility. “Ma, you’re a good kid. You are. You messed up, but it happens… right?” Eileen puts him in his place and explains how much damage control she has to do because of him. This scene makes me so mad. Ugh. Louuuuisssss. He tries to reassure her, saying it’s yesterday’s news. When suddenly Cynthia and a news crew bust through their kitchen window hoping for “The Wild Child” to go berserk again.

Now Louis finally starts to show genuine remorse, which is always nice and adds that endearing quality to the character. He confides in Ren letting her know that he wants to be the kind of kid who makes his parents proud. I love this. Louis decides he wants to win the science fair to specifically impress Eileen. Ren encourages him by saying she knows him better than anyone and if he sets his mind to something, he’ll do a great job. This is so true.

We see Louis working on his new, elaborate project for the science fair — The “Eco-Bot 3000.” He’s not exactly sure what it does yet, though. Ren is impressed and tells Eileen that he’s been working day in and day out on the project and that she should really go to the fair. The only issue is that Eileen scheduled her damage control press conference for the same day.

So, yeah. Nelson wants to learn how to fight and enlists Donnie’s help. Donnie knows the kid doesn’t stand a chance, so he teaches him some bogus ancient pinky finger trick he dubs “Ka-Ting.” That poking someone in a certain spot will reduce them to a pile of jelly on the floor. Okay. Nelson falls for it though and thinks he’s suddenly become some sort of blackbelt. He starts intimidating kids at school with his pinkies. How embarrassing. Let’s just wrap this subplot up now, shall we? Ren finds out about what Donnie did, so she tricks Nelson into thinking he’s too powerful and needs to put his pinkies away for good. He falls for that, as well. What a gullible guy. The end, lol. It’s an underwhelming subplot and feels like a total waste of time. 

One of the craziest things ever happens at Eileen’s press conference. Cynthia asks her "Is there any truth to the rumor you have sent him off to a desert work camp?" Holy crap. Did the writers just predict the freaking future?!

I wonder if Shia was already confirmed for Holes and they wrote that in as a little joke?! This episode aired in 2001. The movie was released in early 2003, so it obviously must’ve filmed in 2002. It’s a possibility! Suddenly the entire movie has become a spin-off/Even Stevens AU fanfiction of Louis being sent off to camp for terrible behavior. Let’s be real, though… He WOULD become the leader of the D-Tent pack. Holes will forever be a Louis Stevens at Camp Greenlake story now. Well.. minus the whole “no-good-dirty-rotten-pig stealin’-great great grandfather” mumbo jumbo. And the fact that his name is Stanley Yelnats. Annnnd has a completely different life story. Just forget that. Anyway, I just thought this bit was borderline eerie!! haha. It’s too coincidental. 

Cut to the science fair. The "Eco-Bot 3000” ended up being an automatic recycling machine and can/bottle crusher. HE'S SO TALENTED!!! I swear to god. If there was ever an Even Stevens reboot, Louis needs to have a job in engineering and do stand up comedy on the side or something. Wow.

Eileen ditches the press conference to be a good mother and support Louis at the fair. Everything is great and amazing and he wins first place! Until he demonstrates how it works to Cynthia Mills and the news crew and accidentally has it crush a full carton of milk — which explodes everywhere and the system runs haywire. There was a crap ton of milk in there. How did he not feel that when he lifted the carton??? He’s smart enough to create this machine from scratch but too dumb to realize the carton is full of milk?! Logic. The Eco-Bot pretty much becomes an extension of Louis’ personality we saw earlier, and terrorizes the fair. And… that’s it.  

Look how proud he was, though… :(

This one doesn't have much of a definitive ending. Or maybe it does, but it's just not very satisfying because Louis still basically loses in the end. The thing he worked so hard on ultimately goes wrong for him… on live TV… again. I don't like that. It always leaves me feeling upset and a little empty, tbh. But a memorable moment like the Shorty Pants freakout, and seeing Louis genuinely want to be a better kid redeem it for me. I couldn’t care less about this Nelson subplot, though.

Thanks for reading! And side note: Today is actually Shia’s 31st birthday!! Aww. Time flies. Go wish the king himself a good one.

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