From: andrean@cs.utexas.edu (Andre A. Nurwono)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime
Subject: Re: why DOESNT carl macek care about us?
Date: 23 Nov 1992 02:42:44 -0600
Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin
NNTP-Posting-Host: priddy.cs.utexas.edu

In article <1eo42sINNorr@bigboote.WPI.EDU> megazone@obsidian.WPI.EDU (MegaZone23) writes:
>In article <kennehra.722378881@craft.camp.clarkson.edu> kennehra@craft.camp.clarkson.edu (Rich"TheMan"Kennehan) writes:
>>Hi.  I was just wondering...why doesn't carl macek care about what the
>>anime fans on this newsgroup think?  There have been several theories, but
>>what is the OFFICIAL answer?  Can anyone quote some anime articles, etc?
>
>After reading some of his interviews and speaking with the man himself at AE92
>I think the real reason is he just wants to make a buck. He doesn't care about
>accurate translations, or furthering the medium, etc. He is appealing to the
>masses who don't know about the originals and whose former exposure is Sat AM
>cartoons. (Well, some Sat AM stuff is ok... I like Eeek the cat myself...) So
>they don't realise that they're being cheated by terrible translations. The
>voices aren't worse than they expect, and even hacked, the stories can be a
>bit better. 
>
>I mean he sells them as "Video Comics", his prime outlet seems to be comic 
>stores. He is hoping to appeal to the young comic collector, who is more likely
>to watch animation. (Yes, I know animation is not just for kids, I'm 21 myself,
>but the fact is most people I've known think it is...) He feels that making the
>story to involved, appealing to an older audience, will cut sales. Think on 
>this... Compare the average american comic to the average manga. The comic has
>many more words and less emphasis on art, the manga is the opposite. Manga uses
>pictures to tell the story and words are at a minimum. Carl takes anime, which
>is more like manga and voices over everything, making it more like an American
>comic.
>
>Of course this is all just my observations....
>

I tend to agree on that observation, it seems he is 'Americanizing' anime
to what HE thinks would develop a better market.

If this is true, then this is a very sad fact for Anime, instead of
promoting better animation for more mature audiences, he would instead
be 'demoting' anime to the level of the classical American 'superhero'
stuff. In other words, we would be wrong to support him in the first place.
Anybody that does not meet the demand of the consumer (consumer-driven
market) would and should easily be eliminated.

But, another consideration is that he really does not have the budget
to produce top-quality anime conversions as AnimEigo does.
From what articles I've seen, he started his own two-man company
from scratch, and really struggles to get rights for anime.
If this is the case, then we should all support him by giving
technical advice, and buying his productions, of course!
(Read the Streamline Interview at bongo.cc.utexas.edu in /anime/*.Z)

Me, I'm just a concerned fan that would like to see ANIMATION
REVEAL ITS POTENTIAL in front of the unsuspecting ignorant American audience.
AARGGHHH!! I saw Heavy Metal. THERE WAS A GREAT BIG POTENTIAL
AUDIENCE FOR IT. THE OUTCOME IS THAT EVERYONE BOOED AT THE MOVIE'S ENDING.
Anime makes you feel you're watching something that respects your intelligence.
Most of that 'Americanized' Sat-toons I saw wasn't for mature audiences,
they make you feel you're watching something that INSULTS your intelligence.
At least, that's the way I feel watching HEAVY METAL.

If anyone of you care about advancing and promoting anime,
maybe we could do a letter-interview with Macek and see what he really
thinks. We could even convince him that it would probably be better
if he started to aim his production to 'really' translate anime
as opposed to 'americanizing' it and destroying it in the process.

Before we proceed on with more speculations, I would suggest anybody
to send him a letter questioning the facts first. I'm sure
we usenet readers would be very enthusiastic of the outcome.

If anybody's interested, maybe we can collect questions from you all
and mail it to him. Maybe just mail me on what questions you would
like to ask, or just mail me to say you're a fan, or just a concerned
USENET reader that wants to see better quality Streamline productions.
He certainly won't get response like this from kids, and would probably
change his 'attitude' towards fans.

One thing, if all fans would JUST COMPLAIN AND DO NOTHING,
stupid producers would still think animation is best sold for kids.
WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING !!! AT LEAST VOICE OUR OPINION IN THE GENERAL
PUBLIC. Be great if there was an article promoting anime on
Time, People magazine, Reader's Digest, or CNN news, for example. Probably on
cult movies, etc, and promotion on Network TV, of course :)
We're revolutionizing a culture here, and culture is a big sleeping giant.
But even an ant bite could make a difference.

-- 
Andre Nurwono               | "Ho, haha, guard, turn, dodge, parry, spin, ha,
andrean@cs.utexas.edu       |  thrust... (BOINNNG!)"  - Daffy Duck