Hmm, I always wondered why I felt nostalgia towards FLCL from the first time I watched it despite having no nostalgia to the references. Makes sense knowing that it was created entirely out of nostalgia.
@@renegadecorrupt9963 yea I still like flcl more, I like short sweet and to the point. Bebop hits that jazzy cowboy with revolvers in space fix. I need to re watch it again too, those two both had the best English dubs imo
Crispin freeman wasn't a fan of dubs either until he realized dubs are what got him into anime. After that he decided to get into voice acting to make the quality of dubs better. He talks about this in his podcast.
Logan Waltz Crispin Freeman is great at his job. Every performance I hear of him is greatly acted. My favorites are Speedy/Red Arrow in Young Justice and Electro in Spectacular Spider-Man. Check those out if you think Crispin Freeman sucks.
FLCL's Dub was a beautiful thing for me when I first viewed it. I always felt that the use of japanese honorifics and bits of the language being added to the dub grounded the work more than anything. To me FLCL always came of as a cultural piece, something that was incredibly japanese even for anime itself. It's just so detailed and involved that it feels so natural its like it was meant to be english. I just wouldn't take its dub any other way, and I can only hope as Progressive continues that the trend continues.
I’m a Japanese. I can vouch FLCL was the best English dub I ever heard back then (maybe still it is). I once accidentally started watching English dub, but didn’t notice it until very end of the episode. It was that great.
I was always curious if Japanese people bothered to try watching Anime in English, but I thought it was too broad of concept, given that there's such long of a gap in Anime that's been dubbed in English over the decades. Then things got worse when Dubbing companies became more untrustworthy with slowly shoving modern American Politics in Anime, references are okay given the context, but Politics are bad.
As far as best dub is concerned cowboy bebop would like a word ;). Really I speak Japanese and the American dub of bebop makes the show better on every level check it out
FLCL somehow manages to be both all style and all substance, both the energy of the show and the message, were so expertly crafted and wonderfully intertwined it would be a shell of it's former self without either.
Flcl will always, always have a special place in my heart. I'll always remember warm summer nights at 12:30, staying up and catching this before any kind of recording technology. The last summer before adulthood, for both me and Nauta. The childhood friend you don't recognize as an unrequited love interest, an older woman you have a crush on but can't have, a parent thay doesn't understand you, friends that feel like background characters- the music we loved, the ridiculous things that happened that seemed dull at the time... man, what a ride it's been - was and is; FlCl and me, too.
FLCL is the absolute gold standard for anime dubs for a cavalcade of reasons. This video is similarly the gold standard on discussing the art of anime dubbing. Immaculate.
FLCL was an incredibly formative anime to me. It introduced a lot of things about animation to me. A ton of the sensibilities it has rubbed off on me as a person, and a storyteller. I even picked up bass guitar because of Haruko, haha! I imagine there are many that did.
Thank you for this video analysis. I really enjoyed watching it, especially since I was there when the dub was being recorded as a former employee of Broccoli USA and Synch-Point. Stephanie and Shizuki put a lot of hard work into the localization. We all did in our own ways since I was a young graphic designer and tried my best to keep the spirit of the show in the packaging. I remember nights when I’d hear Rick mixing the sound or days when voice actors would come into record. Or when they’d need some background voices so they’d ask a few of us to come into the booth and record something. Brings back a lot of great memories. Hard to believe it was so long ago.
Thanks for this accessible coverage that helps us understand how/why we responded to these shows. And it is always comforting to know that we were supposed to be surprised/confused/delighted and entertained.
Great video as always. For someone who does this as a hobby on RUclips I swear your videos have the feel of blu-ray quality feature length documentaries that have thousands of dollars poured into their production. I'm so glad RUclips recommended me to this channel. As a voice actor who is trying to find the best way to approach ADR VA work, I learned quite a few things I didn't know before thanks to you. While I am unable to support your channel on Patreon at the moment, I always recommend fellow VAs/aspiring VAs to your videos.
Same here. This one in particular almost brought me to tears. Cartoon Cipher's videos are superb among the plethora of decent and good channels all over youtube. I feel this channel's videos are very close to if not even better than Film Joy's in terms of quality.
this video was amazing and it really made me feel nostalgic and re-appreciate the dub as it's one of the very rare ones that sound good. I haven't seen FLCL since it was on Cartoon Network and this just made me HYPE for the new season !! Thank you for making this, I loved getting to know what went into making FLCL so great.
Nice to know the behind the scenes of the FLCL's Dub was made. It really shows how much work and effort was put into translating for a Western audience that not a lot of Anime at the time were never really wanted to do.
Dunno why but mamimi watching canti at the burned down school while the song plays still sticks with me to this day, maybe cuz I was high as a kite then haha
I watched the commentary from the original sync DVD's, and was happy the director loved the dub: and shocked at Harukas English VA acting being completely identical!
Dubs are overhated. I honestly blame most 90s dubs and especially a lot of 4Kids dubs. But dubs like Cowboy Bebop and Evangelion have great dubs and nowadays most anime have quality English dubbing. It’s okay to prefer the Japanese track but the era of bad dubs is over, guys.
Star Falchion given all the rising hate train towards dubs these days, it wouldn't surprised me there will be the day where every future animes we're are released subtitled only
This show always felt too real, despite all of it's fantastical setting and story pieces. Something made FLCL feel just like the hunky rundown industrial riverside town I grew up in, just far enough away from any notable place for the mundane to transform into something extraordinary, and for the things you remember for a lifetime to be completely forgettable from any other angle.
I remember catching an episode of FLCL on Adult Swim randomly and immediately being drawn to the show as a young teen. I had never seen anything like it before, but I credit FLCL for helping spark my interesting in Japanese culture (which also inspired me to learn Japanese). I will watch FLCL about once every two or three years or so (I think I paid 40 or 50 dollars for each DVD at a local Sun Coast), just because it is so good. And even though I can understand the Japanese now, I still prefer the English. Perhaps it is because I first watched it in English, but I genuinely think the English dubbing is better than the Japanese original. This and Berserk are one of the few instances where I can listen to the English dub and not cringe. Anyway, I love FLCL and thank you for making such a great video about a beloved series. Edit: Oh yeah, and to this day, I am a fan of The Pillows. I love Hybrid Rainbow.
It's scary how close Kari Wahlgren sounds just like Mayumi Shintani. I think that is what made the dub so good. Also, Kari's ability to pick up the lip flaps and adapt her voice for when the script calls it is amazing. Kari Wahlgren is the Queen of Animé Dubs!
This video finally helped me see why I think of FLCL's dub as a perfect dub (even though I didn't know half of this stuff), thanks for putting it into words for me
My favorite example of the complexities of localization improving a project: Wolfwood in Trigun. The original Japanese show staff wrote him with a thick Kansai accent in the Japanese because they knew of the practice of Kansai accents very often getting localized into Southern US accents in English dubs, so the choice was made to give Wolfwood a thick Kansai accent so that he would have a strong Texan accent in the dub. But then the dub actually decided to emulate the seiyuu's Kansai accent rather than localize it, and it turned into one of Jeff Nimoy's best performances in an English dub.
@@moroseloki1912 When you insert random japanese words into your normal talking, like saying "ehhh arigato Loki san my koroko is now daijoubu" ...or something
Wow this series has A LOT of history and how people felt about it and how the production was a pretty tough & unexpected. They just don't make dubs good as they used to. Not all dubs just some.
I know you said y'all wanted to include more in the video, but honestly you made your points very clearly, had plenty of supporting evidence, and made a super complete video. Awesome job as always, and I can't wait for the next video!
FLCL has always been something I've appreciated, but never understood why. Like, I understand why Cowboy Bebop is great. Even the cultural significance with respects to it being introduced to Western audiences, I got it. But FLCL..... Honestly, I _still_ don't understand it, but what I find amazing about it is I stil LOVE it despite not understanding. WIth this video's imput, I have an even greater appreciation for it (especially how FLCL english adaptors just kinda _tried_ to make it the best it could be, and everyone involved was on board and took risks). I think FLCL, with respects to the impact it had on Anime dubbing (and Western anime culture in general) was the perfect storm to give us what we needed to grow as an anime industry and culture. Like a catalystic crystal in just the right spot to set off the chain reaction. Still one of my favorites, and that's with an ocean of other amazing Anime even STILL coming out. Will never forget.
FLCL and Cowboy Bebop are two of my favorite animes, and its mostly because of the great dubs and soundwork in general, the unique animation and how they just stuck with me for all these years. They both give me a feeling that no other anime really does. You can really tell FLCL was such a labor of love and a passion project. So much attention to detail went into the voice and soundwork alone, which is usually really neglected in dubs, let alone the writing and animation. I've watched FLCL more times than I could even count accurately, and I'm sure I will come back to it many more times. It just hits different and I love it, genuinely.
Great job with this video! It’s easy to see you’ve done a lot of research on flcl and I appreciate your fresh view on a flcl RUclips video instead of the same ( trying to explain what flcl is or the meaning behind everything). In other words your video was fun and interesting and I think that’s the point of flcl to be enjoyed.
Cruz Medina heck yes, I’ve been looking forward to watching it since they announced it. So far I’m still waiting to see were they’re heading with progressive and later alternative. Have you been keeping up, can you say wether you like it yet?
sayhellomonster hell yeah I have lol yeah I do like it actually I'm invested in harukos and jinyus (dunno how to spell her name) story from what I can gather they split after she got hold of atomisk? Not sure yet just a guess. Then hopefully hidomi and that other kids relationship will be as central as noatas and mamimis
sayhellomonster alotta ppl Don't like it cuz they don't want it to tarnish the originals legacy but man I love flcl to see it continued is.. well awesome the original meant so much to me as I was going through a rough patch at the time growing up thinking I was ready for adulthood hanging with the wrong ppl... The show taught me to slow down enjoy life, you're still a kid after all..
Cruz Medina your rights, those questions are the set up for this season and with the original being all over the place, that’s what gets me excited about the new seasons, they could probably do anything and I’d go with it lol. So far everyone involved has seemed excited about their involvement and this helps me appreciate the results, and maybe it’s easy to say that cause they’ve done good so far lol. For me it’ll be hard to tarnish the originals legacy. Im one of the few that really like legend of Korra. I was not disappointed that it was different from the last airbender even though Korra gets a lot of hate. My reasonings are the same about these shows, it’s nice to have more stories of a world you’re already familiar with.
To me the most memorable aspect about flcl is the wide range of emotions it embodies. And thats the job of animation in the first place is to convey emotions through moments in time completely alien to its audience. But most of the time theres no edge no defining point in anime its just hello goodbye. But with flcl its the completely opposite each episode is a ride of its own with emotions twisting every corner and at the end? There IS no real conclusion it ended just as it started yet you walk away with all these emotions and lessons to think about. Its beautifully constructed.
This anime definitely left an impression on kid me growing up in the 90's early 2000's and watching it on adult swim. Never would have known anime was a thing if not for toonami and adult swim. *edit* I should clarify that this is pre-internet for those too young to have never been without it.
hey. i watched this sometime ago and i haven't stopped thinking about it. i never knew this show had so much effort and love poured into it! this video has had a lasting impact on me and i couldn't be happier
I just recently watched this show and it was one of the first Dubs I've watched in a while and it really blew me away. It's really cool to see what makes it work so well put into words and you did an awesome job :D
I honestly teared up a couple times. FLCL is one of the most influential shows of my life. It's the first anime I saw on adult swim back when it first aired. Seeing something so well done covering something I care so much about hits different. good job and keep it up dude 💕
I remember watching the US premiere in Adult Swim and loving this Anime then and still. This documentary has given me new appreciation for FLCL. Thank you.
This video sent chills down my spine, watery eyes and gave me nostalgia! Everything cut and sound was so fucking perfect in sequenced I'd imagine this video took about a month or longer to put together omg!
Flcl is the most important anime in my life. it came out when I was abbout nouta's age. I always looked up to haruko it just mad e sense to me in a natural sense. Its the best anime and everytime I learn more about it, It makes even more sense Why I feel that way.
@@youngmangaming2579 she was the kinda person that made growing up not scary- she was childish and fun loving but focused on her goals. empathetic and caring trying to guide nouta to be a better man, and made it apparent that being an adult isnt about being serious all the time.
Really great video. 😀 It's always amazing to learn the history behind this anime and how it came to be as well as its dub. It's also surprising that an anime OVA series that's only 6 episodes can have a long lasting impact for many anime fans. The music by the Pillows is also one of the factors of what makes it so good, especially since it gives off that early 2000s vibe. It's cool that after 20 years, we'll now have two new seasons in Progresssive and Alternative. And while they may not have the 'GAINAX touch', they still have that influence and nostalgia carried over from the original in it.
A lot of what you said here reflects what I think about the dub of a different franchise, which is Gundam. The translators definitely knew the significance of what they were adapting and it shows with every dub that came after the movie trilogy. The movie trilogy had a lot of problems because most of the actors didn't really seem to care except for a couple of main characters like Amuro and Char and the overall quality and experience suffered tremendously for it. But when you watch the TV series everything kind of falls into place. They used the mistakes of the previous production and kept some voice continuity between installments to keep in line with the original Japanese audio. It makes it really apparent in later installments like Unicorn where you can tell who was brought in and when, like in the difference between dub Frontal saying "Argama"(ahr-GAMMA) and how Bright says the name of the ship the same as it was in Zeta(ARG-umma). Overall, I think that everyone who reads this should not be afraid to watch the dub of any anime and should take it for what it's worth, but do yourself a favor and watch Gundam dubbed if there is a dub for that series/movie. They're some of the best for their time.
I watched FLCL for the first time yesterday as a 29 year old. I usually watch subbed anime, but my friends recommend me to watch it dubbed and I don't regret it. It was wonderful.
FLCL was my first ever anime I saw on adultswim and I remember being blown away by this new medium to me its always been close to my heart it's one of my favorite dubs
I just Re watched FLCL the other day so I could really enjoy this video. It's been saved im my watch later for a while. This was an amazing video and helped me to encapsulate why I love this dub. Thank you.
You just earned my sub. For what it's worth you positively wowed me. I am generally neutral when it comes to dubs, but for this anime I could never bring myself to watch it all the way through with the English dub. I just always preferred the Japanese. But after you broke it down and explained all the details of how they went to incredible lengths to produce a high quality dub that stayed very true to the source content, and even went to the extent of finding vocally similar actors, well that just opened my eyes. I still prefer the Japanese dub, but I will definitely watch all the way through the English dub now. Thank you very much.
This was really interesting to watch. I first watched FLCL as a fan sub, back in 02, and I would have been about 11 at the time. My older brother would download a lot of anime back then, our household got cable internet pretty early. I had a bit of a hard time following what was going on, I was a pretty slow reader at the time, plus my brother put it on for me late at night and I was a bit sleepy. When the dub was released on adult swim, I watched it again, and got to enjoy the things I missed from the first time! Certainly one of my favorite animes, from my childhood, and certainly a solid english dub as well!
As someone has been loving and appreciating your video essays on anime dubs, I have to wonder how do you manage to stay focused doing your research and making your videos and not feel distracted or discouraged by the myriad of the harsh, dismissive criticisms against dubs coming from both the average fan and the most popular anime critics? I mean, if I was in your shoes, I'd have literally no idea how to avoid feeling frustrated. Also, I have no problem buying dvds and blu-rays in 2018. Hell, I'm just making up for lost time as I've always wanted to buy more anime on home video, but never had the money until recent years.
Hypeathon tbh I do kinda get intimidated by how the community reacts to dubs but I always remember that the VAs themselves have it soooo much worse than we ever will. They’re in a much bigger line of fire, and for the most part are incredibly brave and understanding to not crack under pressure.
I think this is an essential video for Subs Only Purists to watch. this video is the one I will now always think of when they complain that dubs suck. because i believe those purists only saw the dubs from back when they used the stopwatches (never knew that) or the dubs that were from the 80s and 90s when the were "4KIDSed" a term commonly used to anime that overly use the "This isnt in Japan it's in america to make it more relatable to american audiences" thing or when they heavily censor stuff like the actual 4kids group
i may sound lame, but watching this made me tear up. i have watched this anime since it came out and for every friend group i made this anime meant SO much! and this video edit and the way it made me appreciate it even more just got to me! legit who cares if its fooly or cooly, this anime defined a generation of anime watchers and music lovers!
This was such a fantastic essay, just finished FLCL's first 6 episodes and I gotta say... I'm happy the dub was executed the way it was. Thanks for posting!
i used to just think the show was ok when i watched it a few years ago. i knew id like it more on rewatch and i was right. watching the dub was so nice and it hit hard
What an absolutely fantastic video, flcl is my favourite anime and I’ve always endlessly loved the dub. It’s always seemed like an impossible anime to me, like it’s too good to be true and exist and yet it does, and this video only cemented that for me so thanks for that
Goddamn dude, this video is criminally underrated. As a huge fan of the original, I loved learning more about how the dub came to be in light of Progressive finishing last night and ultimately not capturing the charm of the original. I hope you make a video about Progressive; be cool to hear your thoughts!
The never really thought about FLCL dub as the American-Japanese hybrid that it is but it really is once you dive into it… the Japanese inflections and honorifics are obvious in retrospect but the American actors do it so smoothly that it doesn’t really seem unnatural for an American performance. It’s kind of exactly what anime in America should be.
I just finished flclc some days ago and I loved it. One friend had recommended it years ago, but I didn't give it a chance and I am glad for it. Watching it nowadays was the best thing that I did. The moment of my life combined perfectly with it and I could experience something that I hadn't felt watching an anime in years.
This show is deeply, deeply important to me. It was fundamental to my development as a person, acceptence of how my brain works, my love of weirdness and sense of humor. The nostalgia in it was relatable to me, and now I have nostalgia for it. It’s such an insane, special show. Oh, and it has the absolute best soundtrack ever
I remember i was 8 years old when this first ran on adult swim, this short almost one off series that came and went like a fever dream-esque hallucination. Drive-by nostalgia induced by something so new yet so familiar, a piece of media so definitive of its time period that it was in a way self aware of its impact on a generation of young kids raised on Japanese entertainment. There are few things I can recall as having a lifelong and profound impact on my childhood, this fortunately was one of them. In a time where the internet was in its infancy, society rode the wave of collective consciousness each living their own experience yet coming together in mutual understanding and respect for what it was we got to experience. “You will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory” No matter how much time goes by, the past will always feel like it’s right around the corner waiting for you to visit.
I hope people know the reason we got S2 and S3 was because of the English dubbed and how good it was and that is what made the anime so popular. The anime wasn't popular in Japan.
There is one word that is most important when an anime is being dubbed: Respect. Too many in the dubbing industry care more about themselves and their believes and ideologies than the original works. That's why we get things like the "patriarchy" line in Dragon Maid.
When I first heard the dub, I had thought it was a bad version or that they got bad voice-actors, but then I realized that this was indeed a high quality dub, with the sound effects being loud and clear and the reactions and syncing from characters being on point. I really underestimated the show and the english voices behind it. It was beautiful.
This video was amazing. There's a surprising dearth of good FLCL analysis/essays, on RUclips and the internet in general, and this video goes a ways to remedying that. Incredibly well put together, packed with relevant details, and draws some smart conclusions on the topic. Keep up the good work, this is extremely high quality!
Dude this was great thank you so much, FLCL first aired in america when i was in highschool and its been SUCH a big part of my life ever since haha ive been in bands where we would use The Pillows to center ourselves creatively before making music haha
![Stromae, Pomme - “Ma Meilleure Ennemie” (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Visualizer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1F3OGIFnW1k/mqdefault.jpg)
Give whoever edited this video an award
Brian Lowe I think its the same guy who spoke in this video.
Thomas Fernandez nope, two different people :)
The Cartoon Cipher wow. How long did it take to edit????
seriously man, i've never been so visually enthused
Audio editor needs to be fired, music is crazy loud compared to speaking bits.
Hmm, I always wondered why I felt nostalgia towards FLCL from the first time I watched it despite having no nostalgia to the references. Makes sense knowing that it was created entirely out of nostalgia.
same
I believe that if wasn't for this masterpiece I wouldn't be happy through my teenage years, I will always love this anime
@@arturohernandez1851 Damnm same. I still wish to go back to those late nights watching FLCL or Cowboy Bebop on Adult swim
@@NSXTACY420 @Arturo Hernandez I rewatch FLCL every New Year. I need to rewatch Cowboy Bebop.
@@renegadecorrupt9963 yea I still like flcl more, I like short sweet and to the point. Bebop hits that jazzy cowboy with revolvers in space fix. I need to re watch it again too, those two both had the best English dubs imo
The freaking animation of this show is UNREAL.
And it’s 20 years old man it’s wild
@@Theoneandonlybigboy2 its bc FLCL was the intro to a new era of animation. Literally.
@@johnychrist5475 Literally? How?
Edit: Sorry I'm probably being dumb here, but really, how?
@@Theoneandonlybigboy2 MMMMMMMMHM!!!
MMMMMMMMMHM!!!! BIG FAXXX!!! (FACTS!!!)
Crispin freeman wasn't a fan of dubs either until he realized dubs are what got him into anime. After that he decided to get into voice acting to make the quality of dubs better. He talks about this in his podcast.
Logan Waltz Are you mad? Crispin Freeman has one of the coolest damn voices I have ever heard in my life.
Logan Waltz Crispin Freeman is great at his job. Every performance I hear of him is greatly acted. My favorites are Speedy/Red Arrow in Young Justice and Electro in Spectacular Spider-Man. Check those out if you think Crispin Freeman sucks.
My favourites that he's done would be Alucard and Kyon.
Wow I didn't know that. I've watched him in both YJ and Spectacular Spiderman, and he does a awesome job portraying Winston in Overwatch too.
What podcast? I must know
"Ukulele no good" that was when I realised this dub was a piece of art
ON GOD
Ara
Epic
"STOP.......Native girl must STOP"
Knowing damn well she's an alien lol.
FLCL's Dub was a beautiful thing for me when I first viewed it. I always felt that the use of japanese honorifics and bits of the language being added to the dub grounded the work more than anything. To me FLCL always came of as a cultural piece, something that was incredibly japanese even for anime itself. It's just so detailed and involved that it feels so natural its like it was meant to be english. I just wouldn't take its dub any other way, and I can only hope as Progressive continues that the trend continues.
I’m a Japanese. I can vouch FLCL was the best English dub I ever heard back then (maybe still it is). I once accidentally started watching English dub, but didn’t notice it until very end of the episode. It was that great.
I was always curious if Japanese people bothered to try watching Anime in English, but I thought it was too broad of concept, given that there's such long of a gap in Anime that's been dubbed in English over the decades.
Then things got worse when Dubbing companies became more untrustworthy with slowly shoving modern American Politics in Anime, references are okay given the context, but Politics are bad.
@@Mecks089 "Dragon Maid", anyone?
@@Father_of_Death What they do? I just started watching it
As far as best dub is concerned cowboy bebop would like a word ;). Really I speak Japanese and the American dub of bebop makes the show better on every level check it out
Yeah, the eng dub is really, really close to the Japanese one on this. I wondered for a long time if it was even possible to do.
keeping the video in 4:3 despite whatever clip might be showing onscreen at the time was a really good style choice
FLCL somehow manages to be both all style and all substance, both the energy of the show and the message, were so expertly crafted and wonderfully intertwined it would be a shell of it's former self without either.
Flcl will always, always have a special place in my heart. I'll always remember warm summer nights at 12:30, staying up and catching this before any kind of recording technology. The last summer before adulthood, for both me and Nauta.
The childhood friend you don't recognize as an unrequited love interest, an older woman you have a crush on but can't have, a parent thay doesn't understand you, friends that feel like background characters- the music we loved, the ridiculous things that happened that seemed dull at the time... man, what a ride it's been - was and is; FlCl and me, too.
FLCL is the absolute gold standard for anime dubs for a cavalcade of reasons. This video is similarly the gold standard on discussing the art of anime dubbing. Immaculate.
FLCL will forever be the one show that will bring me back. When I’m 90 and can’t remember who I am, play me some FLCL and I’ll come back. I promise.
FLCL was an incredibly formative anime to me. It introduced a lot of things about animation to me. A ton of the sensibilities it has rubbed off on me as a person, and a storyteller.
I even picked up bass guitar because of Haruko, haha! I imagine there are many that did.
God. Damn. The quality of this video is so high that i had forgotten that it wasnt an actual television program.
Thank you for this video analysis. I really enjoyed watching it, especially since I was there when the dub was being recorded as a former employee of Broccoli USA and Synch-Point. Stephanie and Shizuki put a lot of hard work into the localization. We all did in our own ways since I was a young graphic designer and tried my best to keep the spirit of the show in the packaging. I remember nights when I’d hear Rick mixing the sound or days when voice actors would come into record. Or when they’d need some background voices so they’d ask a few of us to come into the booth and record something. Brings back a lot of great memories. Hard to believe it was so long ago.
Thanks for this accessible coverage that helps us understand how/why we responded to these shows. And it is always comforting to know that we were supposed to be surprised/confused/delighted and entertained.
Great video as always. For someone who does this as a hobby on RUclips I swear your videos have the feel of blu-ray quality feature length documentaries that have thousands of dollars poured into their production. I'm so glad RUclips recommended me to this channel. As a voice actor who is trying to find the best way to approach ADR VA work, I learned quite a few things I didn't know before thanks to you. While I am unable to support your channel on Patreon at the moment, I always recommend fellow VAs/aspiring VAs to your videos.
Thank you! Every little bit helps us continue to give you all quality content
Same here. This one in particular almost brought me to tears. Cartoon Cipher's videos are superb among the plethora of decent and good channels all over youtube. I feel this channel's videos are very close to if not even better than Film Joy's in terms of quality.
this video was amazing and it really made me feel nostalgic and re-appreciate the dub as it's one of the very rare ones that sound good. I haven't seen FLCL since it was on Cartoon Network and this just made me HYPE for the new season !! Thank you for making this, I loved getting to know what went into making FLCL so great.
2D Pocky Tbh this kind of dub has become far more common than they used to be when FLCL was localized.
Nice to know the behind the scenes of the FLCL's Dub was made. It really shows how much work and effort was put into translating for a Western audience that not a lot of Anime at the time were never really wanted to do.
FLCL evokes the strangest strongest feelings.
Right, so Indescribable nostalgia. Itll forever be my love
True
I agree, one of the reasons it’s my favorite anime
And I love it so much
Dunno why but mamimi watching canti at the burned down school while the song plays still sticks with me to this day, maybe cuz I was high as a kite then haha
For me it's the bridge scene with brand new lovesong playing, that scene when I first saw it made me tear up from how beautiful it was
@@Rumi312 those small atmospheric moments are my favorite parts of the show
I watched the commentary from the original sync DVD's, and was happy the director loved the dub: and shocked at Harukas English VA acting being completely identical!
I am usually an original language type of person when it comes to foreign media but FLCL's dub is so well directed.
Man every time I hear that hybrid rainbow chorus I can't stop the goosebumps.
same i love the pillows
Yay I love it when people praise a dub because alot of people hate on it. I personally like dubs.
Do many people really hate this dub?
Probably not, but dubs in general are hated by some people. I like FLCL dub personally
Dubs are overhated. I honestly blame most 90s dubs and especially a lot of 4Kids dubs. But dubs like Cowboy Bebop and Evangelion have great dubs and nowadays most anime have quality English dubbing. It’s okay to prefer the Japanese track but the era of bad dubs is over, guys.
Star Falchion given all the rising hate train towards dubs these days, it wouldn't surprised me there will be the day where every future animes we're are released subtitled only
Ryan Woo RJW It’s kinda starting to die down now.
Such an awesome show! This dub has to be one of the best. Great video on how this dub became so legendary 👍
This show always felt too real, despite all of it's fantastical setting and story pieces. Something made FLCL feel just like the hunky rundown industrial riverside town I grew up in, just far enough away from any notable place for the mundane to transform into something extraordinary, and for the things you remember for a lifetime to be completely forgettable from any other angle.
I remember catching an episode of FLCL on Adult Swim randomly and immediately being drawn to the show as a young teen. I had never seen anything like it before, but I credit FLCL for helping spark my interesting in Japanese culture (which also inspired me to learn Japanese). I will watch FLCL about once every two or three years or so (I think I paid 40 or 50 dollars for each DVD at a local Sun Coast), just because it is so good. And even though I can understand the Japanese now, I still prefer the English. Perhaps it is because I first watched it in English, but I genuinely think the English dubbing is better than the Japanese original. This and Berserk are one of the few instances where I can listen to the English dub and not cringe. Anyway, I love FLCL and thank you for making such a great video about a beloved series.
Edit:
Oh yeah, and to this day, I am a fan of The Pillows. I love Hybrid Rainbow.
It's scary how close Kari Wahlgren sounds just like Mayumi Shintani. I think that is what made the dub so good. Also, Kari's ability to pick up the lip flaps and adapt her voice for when the script calls it is amazing. Kari Wahlgren is the Queen of Animé Dubs!
Kari is better than her. She actually IS Haruko. A hip, cool garageband type-singer. The Japanese woman is a voice actress. Kari Whalgren IS HARUKO
oddly enough, the first episode of FLCL was my first memory that I can actually recall with some semblance of clarity.
This video finally helped me see why I think of FLCL's dub as a perfect dub (even though I didn't know half of this stuff), thanks for putting it into words for me
First DVDs I ever bought were FLCL and Fight Club. They were good stories to have in mind in the strangeness of the early 2000s.
My favorite example of the complexities of localization improving a project: Wolfwood in Trigun.
The original Japanese show staff wrote him with a thick Kansai accent in the Japanese because they knew of the practice of Kansai accents very often getting localized into Southern US accents in English dubs, so the choice was made to give Wolfwood a thick Kansai accent so that he would have a strong Texan accent in the dub. But then the dub actually decided to emulate the seiyuu's Kansai accent rather than localize it, and it turned into one of Jeff Nimoy's best performances in an English dub.
Now I'm CONVINCED that the FLCL dub is the anime that started weeb speak...
Facts
and we should be thankful
Whats weeb speak?
@@moroseloki1912 When you insert random japanese words into your normal talking, like saying "ehhh arigato Loki san my koroko is now daijoubu" ...or something
It is, nobody started that shit before FLCL
It is sad that Synch-Point went defunct, but thankfully Funimation stepped in and rescued this amazing dub.
Wow this series has A LOT of history and how people felt about it and how the production was a pretty tough & unexpected.
They just don't make dubs good as they used to. Not all dubs just some.
I know you said y'all wanted to include more in the video, but honestly you made your points very clearly, had plenty of supporting evidence, and made a super complete video. Awesome job as always, and I can't wait for the next video!
FLCL has always been something I've appreciated, but never understood why. Like, I understand why Cowboy Bebop is great. Even the cultural significance with respects to it being introduced to Western audiences, I got it.
But FLCL.....
Honestly, I _still_ don't understand it, but what I find amazing about it is I stil LOVE it despite not understanding. WIth this video's imput, I have an even greater appreciation for it (especially how FLCL english adaptors just kinda _tried_ to make it the best it could be, and everyone involved was on board and took risks).
I think FLCL, with respects to the impact it had on Anime dubbing (and Western anime culture in general) was the perfect storm to give us what we needed to grow as an anime industry and culture. Like a catalystic crystal in just the right spot to set off the chain reaction.
Still one of my favorites, and that's with an ocean of other amazing Anime even STILL coming out. Will never forget.
After all these years, FLCL continues to be my favorite anime.
I can't thank this anime enough for introducing me to The Pillows.
FLCL and Cowboy Bebop are two of my favorite animes, and its mostly because of the great dubs and soundwork in general, the unique animation and how they just stuck with me for all these years. They both give me a feeling that no other anime really does. You can really tell FLCL was such a labor of love and a passion project. So much attention to detail went into the voice and soundwork alone, which is usually really neglected in dubs, let alone the writing and animation. I've watched FLCL more times than I could even count accurately, and I'm sure I will come back to it many more times. It just hits different and I love it, genuinely.
Great job with this video! It’s easy to see you’ve done a lot of research on flcl and I appreciate your fresh view on a flcl RUclips video instead of the same ( trying to explain what flcl is or the meaning behind everything). In other words your video was fun and interesting and I think that’s the point of flcl to be enjoyed.
sayhellomonster you been keeping up on progressive?
Cruz Medina heck yes, I’ve been looking forward to watching it since they announced it. So far I’m still waiting to see were they’re heading with progressive and later alternative. Have you been keeping up, can you say wether you like it yet?
sayhellomonster hell yeah I have lol yeah I do like it actually I'm invested in harukos and jinyus (dunno how to spell her name) story from what I can gather they split after she got hold of atomisk? Not sure yet just a guess. Then hopefully hidomi and that other kids relationship will be as central as noatas and mamimis
sayhellomonster alotta ppl Don't like it cuz they don't want it to tarnish the originals legacy but man I love flcl to see it continued is.. well awesome the original meant so much to me as I was going through a rough patch at the time growing up thinking I was ready for adulthood hanging with the wrong ppl... The show taught me to slow down enjoy life, you're still a kid after all..
Cruz Medina your rights, those questions are the set up for this season and with the original being all over the place, that’s what gets me excited about the new seasons, they could probably do anything and I’d go with it lol. So far everyone involved has seemed excited about their involvement and this helps me appreciate the results, and maybe it’s easy to say that cause they’ve done good so far lol. For me it’ll be hard to tarnish the originals legacy. Im one of the few that really like legend of Korra. I was not disappointed that it was different from the last airbender even though Korra gets a lot of hate. My reasonings are the same about these shows, it’s nice to have more stories of a world you’re already familiar with.
To me the most memorable aspect about flcl is the wide range of emotions it embodies. And thats the job of animation in the first place is to convey emotions through moments in time completely alien to its audience. But most of the time theres no edge no defining point in anime its just hello goodbye.
But with flcl its the completely opposite each episode is a ride of its own with emotions twisting every corner and at the end? There IS no real conclusion it ended just as it started yet you walk away with all these emotions and lessons to think about.
Its beautifully constructed.
This anime definitely left an impression on kid me growing up in the 90's early 2000's and watching it on adult swim. Never would have known anime was a thing if not for toonami and adult swim. *edit* I should clarify that this is pre-internet for those too young to have never been without it.
This is one of the best FLCL videos on RUclips!
All of the applause for the work that went into this video 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
hey. i watched this sometime ago and i haven't stopped thinking about it. i never knew this show had so much effort and love poured into it! this video has had a lasting impact on me and i couldn't be happier
I just recently watched this show and it was one of the first Dubs I've watched in a while and it really blew me away. It's really cool to see what makes it work so well put into words and you did an awesome job :D
Terrific video. FLCL is such a nostalgia trip, taking me back to high school days. I think it's time to rewatch it.
I honestly teared up a couple times. FLCL is one of the most influential shows of my life. It's the first anime I saw on adult swim back when it first aired. Seeing something so well done covering something I care so much about hits different. good job and keep it up dude 💕
I remember watching the US premiere in Adult Swim and loving this Anime then and still. This documentary has given me new appreciation for FLCL. Thank you.
Extremely well done! Deepened my already huge appreciation for this show. Thank you!
This video sent chills down my spine, watery eyes and gave me nostalgia! Everything cut and sound was so fucking perfect in sequenced I'd imagine this video took about a month or longer to put together omg!
Flcl is the most important anime in my life. it came out when I was abbout nouta's age. I always looked up to haruko it just mad e sense to me in a natural sense. Its the best anime and everytime I learn more about it, It makes even more sense Why I feel that way.
Why did you look up to Haruko?
@@youngmangaming2579 she was the kinda person that made growing up not scary- she was childish and fun loving but focused on her goals. empathetic and caring trying to guide nouta to be a better man, and made it apparent that being an adult isnt about being serious all the time.
Really great video. 😀 It's always amazing to learn the history behind this anime and how it came to be as well as its dub. It's also surprising that an anime OVA series that's only 6 episodes can have a long lasting impact for many anime fans. The music by the Pillows is also one of the factors of what makes it so good, especially since it gives off that early 2000s vibe. It's cool that after 20 years, we'll now have two new seasons in Progresssive and Alternative. And while they may not have the 'GAINAX touch', they still have that influence and nostalgia carried over from the original in it.
A lot of what you said here reflects what I think about the dub of a different franchise, which is Gundam. The translators definitely knew the significance of what they were adapting and it shows with every dub that came after the movie trilogy. The movie trilogy had a lot of problems because most of the actors didn't really seem to care except for a couple of main characters like Amuro and Char and the overall quality and experience suffered tremendously for it. But when you watch the TV series everything kind of falls into place. They used the mistakes of the previous production and kept some voice continuity between installments to keep in line with the original Japanese audio. It makes it really apparent in later installments like Unicorn where you can tell who was brought in and when, like in the difference between dub Frontal saying "Argama"(ahr-GAMMA) and how Bright says the name of the ship the same as it was in Zeta(ARG-umma). Overall, I think that everyone who reads this should not be afraid to watch the dub of any anime and should take it for what it's worth, but do yourself a favor and watch Gundam dubbed if there is a dub for that series/movie. They're some of the best for their time.
Can you do a video on the dub for Ghost Stories? It's an interesting backstory that led to the legendary English dub of the anime.
I watched FLCL for the first time yesterday as a 29 year old. I usually watch subbed anime, but my friends recommend me to watch it dubbed and I don't regret it. It was wonderful.
FLCL was my first ever anime I saw on adultswim and I remember being blown away by this new medium to me its always been close to my heart it's one of my favorite dubs
I just Re watched FLCL the other day so I could really enjoy this video. It's been saved im my watch later for a while. This was an amazing video and helped me to encapsulate why I love this dub. Thank you.
You just earned my sub. For what it's worth you positively wowed me. I am generally neutral when it comes to dubs, but for this anime I could never bring myself to watch it all the way through with the English dub. I just always preferred the Japanese. But after you broke it down and explained all the details of how they went to incredible lengths to produce a high quality dub that stayed very true to the source content, and even went to the extent of finding vocally similar actors, well that just opened my eyes. I still prefer the Japanese dub, but I will definitely watch all the way through the English dub now. Thank you very much.
“Visual rock stars” is probably the best description of Gainax’s style
I come back to this video like annually
Not sure why the algorithm recommended this to me today but I didn't realize how bad I needed to see this again.
Pillows hit different.
This anime looks great, heard about it for years. I'll start it soon!
This was really interesting to watch. I first watched FLCL as a fan sub, back in 02, and I would have been about 11 at the time. My older brother would download a lot of anime back then, our household got cable internet pretty early. I had a bit of a hard time following what was going on, I was a pretty slow reader at the time, plus my brother put it on for me late at night and I was a bit sleepy. When the dub was released on adult swim, I watched it again, and got to enjoy the things I missed from the first time! Certainly one of my favorite animes, from my childhood, and certainly a solid english dub as well!
As someone has been loving and appreciating your video essays on anime dubs, I have to wonder how do you manage to stay focused doing your research and making your videos and not feel distracted or discouraged by the myriad of the harsh, dismissive criticisms against dubs coming from both the average fan and the most popular anime critics?
I mean, if I was in your shoes, I'd have literally no idea how to avoid feeling frustrated. Also, I have no problem buying dvds and blu-rays in 2018. Hell, I'm just making up for lost time as I've always wanted to buy more anime on home video, but never had the money until recent years.
Hypeathon tbh I do kinda get intimidated by how the community reacts to dubs but I always remember that the VAs themselves have it soooo much worse than we ever will. They’re in a much bigger line of fire, and for the most part are incredibly brave and understanding to not crack under pressure.
This is still by far one of my favorite anime since I was a kid man it's been 11 years since I've last saw the anime in 2010
I think this is an essential video for Subs Only Purists to watch. this video is the one I will now always think of when they complain that dubs suck. because i believe those purists only saw the dubs from back when they used the stopwatches (never knew that) or the dubs that were from the 80s and 90s when the were "4KIDSed" a term commonly used to anime that overly use the "This isnt in Japan it's in america to make it more relatable to american audiences" thing or when they heavily censor stuff like the actual 4kids group
i may sound lame, but watching this made me tear up. i have watched this anime since it came out and for every friend group i made this anime meant SO much! and this video edit and the way it made me appreciate it even more just got to me! legit who cares if its fooly or cooly, this anime defined a generation of anime watchers and music lovers!
You're too underated my friend.
This was such a fantastic essay, just finished FLCL's first 6 episodes and I gotta say... I'm happy the dub was executed the way it was. Thanks for posting!
This needs way more views. So much effort was put into this
i used to just think the show was ok when i watched it a few years ago. i knew id like it more on rewatch and i was right. watching the dub was so nice and it hit hard
I always thought the FLCL dub was ace. You somehow added thousands of words to support my feels. Kudos.
What an absolutely fantastic video, flcl is my favourite anime and I’ve always endlessly loved the dub. It’s always seemed like an impossible anime to me, like it’s too good to be true and exist and yet it does, and this video only cemented that for me so thanks for that
FLCL IS LIVE TO THIS DAY IN OUR HEARTS
Goddamn dude, this video is criminally underrated. As a huge fan of the original, I loved learning more about how the dub came to be in light of Progressive finishing last night and ultimately not capturing the charm of the original. I hope you make a video about Progressive; be cool to hear your thoughts!
I love coming back to flcl videos it reminds me of how much I love the show and the characters
The never really thought about FLCL dub as the American-Japanese hybrid that it is but it really is once you dive into it… the Japanese inflections and honorifics are obvious in retrospect but the American actors do it so smoothly that it doesn’t really seem unnatural for an American performance. It’s kind of exactly what anime in America should be.
I just finished flclc some days ago and I loved it. One friend had recommended it years ago, but I didn't give it a chance and I am glad for it. Watching it nowadays was the best thing that I did. The moment of my life combined perfectly with it and I could experience something that I hadn't felt watching an anime in years.
This show is deeply, deeply important to me. It was fundamental to my development as a person, acceptence of how my brain works, my love of weirdness and sense of humor. The nostalgia in it was relatable to me, and now I have nostalgia for it. It’s such an insane, special show. Oh, and it has the absolute best soundtrack ever
This is one of the best videos I think I’ve ever seen on RUclips. Super informative and well written, and the editor killed it dude
I remember i was 8 years old when this first ran on adult swim, this short almost one off series that came and went like a fever dream-esque hallucination. Drive-by nostalgia induced by something so new yet so familiar, a piece of media so definitive of its time period that it was in a way self aware of its impact on a generation of young kids raised on Japanese entertainment. There are few things I can recall as having a lifelong and profound impact on my childhood, this fortunately was one of them. In a time where the internet was in its infancy, society rode the wave of collective consciousness each living their own experience yet coming together in mutual understanding and respect for what it was we got to experience.
“You will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory”
No matter how much time goes by, the past will always feel like it’s right around the corner waiting for you to visit.
I hope people know the reason we got S2 and S3 was because of the English dubbed and how good it was and that is what made the anime so popular. The anime wasn't popular in Japan.
This was beautifully written, edited everything! I'm so glad got the chance to finally watch it subscribing!
Amazing video. The older I get, the more FLCL means to me.
A long time ago I watched FLCL and loved it. Your video just made me love it even more because of learning more about the show than I thought I knew.
There is one word that is most important when an anime is being dubbed: Respect.
Too many in the dubbing industry care more about themselves and their believes and ideologies than the original works. That's why we get things like the "patriarchy" line in Dragon Maid.
Your edit with the pillows gave me so many chills. Nice job!
When I first heard the dub, I had thought it was a bad version or that they got bad voice-actors, but then I realized that this was indeed a high quality dub, with the sound effects being loud and clear and the reactions and syncing from characters being on point. I really underestimated the show and the english voices behind it. It was beautiful.
They hate 4kids dubs and actors
I remember watching FLCL on Adult Swim. I really enjoy the story and animation. But the English dub was really great
This is a video I watch repeatedly every few months. It really conveys lots of the things I love about the series.
This video was amazing. There's a surprising dearth of good FLCL analysis/essays, on RUclips and the internet in general, and this video goes a ways to remedying that. Incredibly well put together, packed with relevant details, and draws some smart conclusions on the topic. Keep up the good work, this is extremely high quality!
I don't know how this doesn't has more views you did such a good job
The editing was stellar. crazy good. That anime looks fucking dope and i can't wait to watch it whenever i'm done with my exams
Dude this was great thank you so much, FLCL first aired in america when i was in highschool and its been SUCH a big part of my life ever since haha ive been in bands where we would use The Pillows to center ourselves creatively before making music haha
when last dinosaur came on i got fucking chills. well edited dude, this officially one of my favorite analysis ive ever watched
I didn't want this video to ever end.
This is so densely packed, great pillows music, editing, and script as well.