Post by CSD on Jan 3, 2008 4:20:15 GMT
I would have posted my following review in the "Sonic VA review" topic, but this guy deserves the start of a new topic. As per usual, this is taken from my reviews on MovieTome.com.
Hope you like reading, because you've got to go through a lot to get through:
--Alfred R. Kahn [CEO of 4Kids Entertainment] 1/2 Star out of 5
"Al Kahn is a moron, for lack of a better word/insult. I could spend hours typing paragraph upon paragraph about how he doesn't give a single care about the anime he "dubs," (OVERdubs is a better word), but I should give a review on how he is as a person and a worker.
1. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Al Kahn is a moron.
He refuses to gain any proper information about anime and manga, or "Maynga" as he pronounces it, when he denounces it as a successful industry, or get info about whether America is a "reading country" or not. He claims that kids don't read, and yet manga has been an integral part in getting children and teens alike interested in reading.
Not only that, but he ENDORSES not reading by removing any and all forms of writing in his dubs, even the things any normal human would see, like the "STOP" on a stop sign. He also, apparently, supports internet piracy; the problem there being, aside from the fact that it's a legal issue, the fact that you need to know how to read and write to GET THROUGH THE INTERNET. Genuis, this guy is clearly not.
And how can ignore the fact that anime and manga are still multibillion-dollar industries, despite an apparent "slump?" I can only diagnose as blatant ignorance and...
2. Al Kahn doesn't care about "Americanizing" anime: he's just racist against Japan. First of all, Japanese people, as well as their culture, have translated into the American lifestyle and commerce quite clearly. So, why must he remove every shred of Japanese lettering, naming, food, and anything/everything else even remotely related to Japan? See previous answer.
Americanization I disagree. What American kids today don't need is to become intolerant of other people and their cultures, especially considering Japan is more or less as "modern" as we are, but that's what can only come of this... which brings me to...
3. He doesn't give a rat's ass about the kids. He's only taking anime, (which, might I add, tend to be made for kids in Japan, but are clearly NOT for kids HERE), and screwing them up so that kids will watch them and buy his company's worthless merchandise. Plus, as I've mentioned before, his senseless censorship of everything Japanese will only promote intolerance of a pretty d**n fascinating country, at least to the kids tasteless enough to watch this crap. If he were interested in the kids, he'd be getting shows from Japan that are suitable for American child-audiences, not shows unsuitable, like: Yu-Gi-Oh and One Piece. (I know they're kid's shows in Japan, but like I said, they wouldn't be if they were made here in America.)
4. Although I said before that I could spend hours typing paragraphs of how he doesn't care about ruining good anime, I think I can condense it somehow.
First of all, he's basically stated this fact out loud. He says that his company is only interested in getting anime that would make successful marketing tools. The problem there being, of course, they're crap. Lazy and god-awful edits and censors plague every show he gets; the voice-acting in almost every [recent] show is completely atrocious: Sonic X, One Piece, to state the most obvious; and the writing... the half-witted, unintelligent, lazy "writing" of totally unfunny puns, explanations for things that should have been answered in the story arc 4Kids ignored, and the utter...UTTER BASTARDIZING of originally cool, funny, likeable, and believable characters!! Luffy! Usopp! Sanji! Sonic the Hedgehog! Chris Thornd**e! The list goes on and freaking on of uncharismatic characters not worth watching anymore.
You know what? I blame him alongside Jason Griffith for why the Sonic series is a laughing stock, now. He payed Sega for a contract, and now he makes them keep the talentless Griffith, Kathleen Delaney (I don't give one about what her real name is), and the managerie of other blow-hards that make Sonic anything but cool and likeable anymore. If you'll notice, the games didn't start utterly SUCKING until the 4Kids voices came in, and incase you didn't notice AGAIN, they're better when the VA's are talking less and less (Sonic Rush), or "faking" a better job (Sonic and the Secret Rings).
I hate Al Kahn, and I tend to just throw "hate" around. But in this case, it's at least in as pure a context as my hatred for Jason Griffith. I'd wish for him to burn in hell, but considering I'm Athiest, and because "god and Jesus" don't play favorites (despite what everyone wishes), there's nothing that anyone can do.
You're a disgrace to quality programming, let alone quality in itself. How your company's stocks are up, I'll never...ever know."
Hope you like reading, because you've got to go through a lot to get through:
--Alfred R. Kahn [CEO of 4Kids Entertainment] 1/2 Star out of 5
"Al Kahn is a moron, for lack of a better word/insult. I could spend hours typing paragraph upon paragraph about how he doesn't give a single care about the anime he "dubs," (OVERdubs is a better word), but I should give a review on how he is as a person and a worker.
1. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Al Kahn is a moron.
He refuses to gain any proper information about anime and manga, or "Maynga" as he pronounces it, when he denounces it as a successful industry, or get info about whether America is a "reading country" or not. He claims that kids don't read, and yet manga has been an integral part in getting children and teens alike interested in reading.
Not only that, but he ENDORSES not reading by removing any and all forms of writing in his dubs, even the things any normal human would see, like the "STOP" on a stop sign. He also, apparently, supports internet piracy; the problem there being, aside from the fact that it's a legal issue, the fact that you need to know how to read and write to GET THROUGH THE INTERNET. Genuis, this guy is clearly not.
And how can ignore the fact that anime and manga are still multibillion-dollar industries, despite an apparent "slump?" I can only diagnose as blatant ignorance and...
2. Al Kahn doesn't care about "Americanizing" anime: he's just racist against Japan. First of all, Japanese people, as well as their culture, have translated into the American lifestyle and commerce quite clearly. So, why must he remove every shred of Japanese lettering, naming, food, and anything/everything else even remotely related to Japan? See previous answer.
Americanization I disagree. What American kids today don't need is to become intolerant of other people and their cultures, especially considering Japan is more or less as "modern" as we are, but that's what can only come of this... which brings me to...
3. He doesn't give a rat's ass about the kids. He's only taking anime, (which, might I add, tend to be made for kids in Japan, but are clearly NOT for kids HERE), and screwing them up so that kids will watch them and buy his company's worthless merchandise. Plus, as I've mentioned before, his senseless censorship of everything Japanese will only promote intolerance of a pretty d**n fascinating country, at least to the kids tasteless enough to watch this crap. If he were interested in the kids, he'd be getting shows from Japan that are suitable for American child-audiences, not shows unsuitable, like: Yu-Gi-Oh and One Piece. (I know they're kid's shows in Japan, but like I said, they wouldn't be if they were made here in America.)
4. Although I said before that I could spend hours typing paragraphs of how he doesn't care about ruining good anime, I think I can condense it somehow.
First of all, he's basically stated this fact out loud. He says that his company is only interested in getting anime that would make successful marketing tools. The problem there being, of course, they're crap. Lazy and god-awful edits and censors plague every show he gets; the voice-acting in almost every [recent] show is completely atrocious: Sonic X, One Piece, to state the most obvious; and the writing... the half-witted, unintelligent, lazy "writing" of totally unfunny puns, explanations for things that should have been answered in the story arc 4Kids ignored, and the utter...UTTER BASTARDIZING of originally cool, funny, likeable, and believable characters!! Luffy! Usopp! Sanji! Sonic the Hedgehog! Chris Thornd**e! The list goes on and freaking on of uncharismatic characters not worth watching anymore.
You know what? I blame him alongside Jason Griffith for why the Sonic series is a laughing stock, now. He payed Sega for a contract, and now he makes them keep the talentless Griffith, Kathleen Delaney (I don't give one about what her real name is), and the managerie of other blow-hards that make Sonic anything but cool and likeable anymore. If you'll notice, the games didn't start utterly SUCKING until the 4Kids voices came in, and incase you didn't notice AGAIN, they're better when the VA's are talking less and less (Sonic Rush), or "faking" a better job (Sonic and the Secret Rings).
I hate Al Kahn, and I tend to just throw "hate" around. But in this case, it's at least in as pure a context as my hatred for Jason Griffith. I'd wish for him to burn in hell, but considering I'm Athiest, and because "god and Jesus" don't play favorites (despite what everyone wishes), there's nothing that anyone can do.
You're a disgrace to quality programming, let alone quality in itself. How your company's stocks are up, I'll never...ever know."
