Whatever happened to Animaze?

[livingfruitvirus]

Seems only yesterday, all the anticipated English dubs of the NA distribution world were being produced by Animaze, Inc. Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Ghost in the Shell: SAC, Akira (2001), Lain, were all Animaze dubs, in addition to dozens of others. Nowadays that position seems to have been usurped by Bang Zoom! Entertainment, but other than GitS: SAC, has Animaze been dubbing anything? The Innocence movie was dubbed by Richard Epcar's own studio, Epcar Entertainment. I'm suspecting that Animaze has been phased out, but haven't heard anything.

[Weatherman]

BangZoom! seems to work alot cheaper. I know one of them is a non-union shop, and I think it's BangZoom, though don't qoute me on that.

It doesn't help that Bandai has cut way back on their output of late. They were one of Animaze's biggest clients. Geneon's gone for BangZoom for the cheaper rates. I tend to think Animaze does the best work overall, but you gotta pay out the nose for it.

[Karl Olson]

BangZoom! seems to work alot cheaper. I know one of them is a non-union shop, and I think it's BangZoom, though don't qoute me on that.

It doesn't help that Bandai has cut way back on their output of late. They were one of Animaze's biggest clients. Geneon's gone for BangZoom for the cheaper rates. I tend to think Animaze does the best work overall, but you gotta pay out the nose for it.

Geneon's also been hitting up New Generation and Blue Water a lot lately too, which is likely exacerbating things.

[RedBoot]

...I kinda always assumed Animaze and Bang Zoom were the same company. They employ the same people, anyway.

I'm sure they're entirely different companies, but if they're gone it's not like we're missing anything, since Bang Zoom is pretty much the same thing.

[Brent Long]

...but other than GitS: SAC, has Animaze been dubbing anything?

They did Appleseed (http://www.crystalacids.com/database/title/887/appleseed/) last year, but other than that GITS: SAC all they've really done are video games (grandia 3 for example).


I'm suspecting that Animaze has been phased out, but haven't heard anything.
No, they may not get much anime work anymore, but they still have quite the hold on video game dubs which Bang Zoom might not even have the capabilities to dub.


BangZoom! seems to work alot cheaper. I know one of them is a non-union shop, and I think it's BangZoom,...

No, they both produce union and non-union dubs. In fact, the only dub studios that don't do both are Ocean Vancouver, FUNimation, ADV, Arvintel, and most NY dub studios, though Ocean is the only one who can never do both with the rest not doing it simply due to finances or the lack of union work coming their way.


...though don't qoute me on that.

You left me no choice. :D


It doesn't help that Bandai has cut way back on their output of late. They were one of Animaze's biggest clients. Geneon's gone for BangZoom for the cheaper rates. I tend to think Animaze does the best work overall, but you gotta pay out the nose for it.

Bang Zoom might also get stuff done quicker than Animaze too. Dubbing has always been an art synonomous for being done on the cheap and done quickly.


...I kinda always assumed Animaze and Bang Zoom were the same company. They employ the same people, anyway.

In terms of actors yes, but most LA studios use the same pool of voice talent anyway. They've also used the same directors and script adaptors, but both are generally positions on an independent contractor level. Directors and adaptors are also like voice talent generally pooled together, and used by the whole ADR industry.

[drakh]

Nowadays that position seems to have been usurped by Bang Zoom! Entertainment, but other than GitS: SAC, has Animaze been dubbing anything? Go listen to the interview Galaxy Anime did with Marc Handler a while back if it's still available. Dubbing budgets have been decreasing over the last few years, forcing all the studios to work faster and cheaper if they want to continue getting work. Animaze choose to focus on video game dubbing instead, where they're still dirt cheap compared to what full union video game rates would be. They've still done some anime (Yukikaze and Appleseed), but that seems to be short, "special" projects given to them by Bandai and Geneon because of past working relationships, and I wouldn't count on them becoming a major name in the industry again unless things change drastically.

Next up to disappear from the industry are Ocean and Westwood Studios, who've probably cut all the corners they can, and are no longer able to compete with US studios due to the continual decrease in the value of the US dollar.

[Weatherman]

No, they both produce union and non-union dubs. In fact, the only dub studios that don't do both are Ocean Vancouver, FUNimation, ADV, Arvintel, and most NY dub studios, though Ocean is the only one who can never do both with the rest not doing it simply due to finances or the lack of union work coming their way.

Bang Zoom might also get stuff done quicker than Animaze too. Dubbing has always been an art synonomous for being done on the cheap and done quickly.


Hunh, I always though BangZoom was the non-union house to Animaze's union house, which is why alot of companies go to them since they work cheaper, if not better.


Ocean/Westwood.Blue Water going away? Yeah right. There's way too much top-end tallent in the Vancouver area for them to go away, and they still work cheaper than alot of the us houses. I'm fairly certain their plate is very full right now and will be fo a good long time to come.

[livingfruitvirus]

Next up to disappear from the industry are Ocean and Westwood Studios, who've probably cut all the corners they can, and are no longer able to compete with US studios due to the continual decrease in the value of the US dollar.

Not yet. So far Ocean's studios have done 7 projects this year, and Bleach will make 8. Although more work has been going to Blue Water than it has to Westwood. Even with inflation, the distributors still don't have to pay taxes when outsourcing work.


Hunh, I always though BangZoom was the non-union house to Animaze's union house, which is why alot of companies go to them since they work cheaper, if not better.

Nope, they're both. Eureka Seven is a union Bang Zoom! dub.

[drakh]

Not yet. So far Ocean's studios have done 7 projects this year, and Bleach will make 8. Bleach is being done non-union in LA, probably Studiopolis. Steve Blum has already started denying he'll be in it over on narutofan.com. Of current/upcoming Vancouver dubs, they mostly ended up there because of cast continuity with previous projects. Only actual new one is Elemental Gelade.


Although more work has been going to Blue Water than it has to Westwood. And you'll note I did not mention Blue Water. They're non-union, and have actors who work at more competive rates, so they're getting more work than ever. It's the Vancouver studios, Ocean and Westwood, I was talking about.


Even with inflation, the distributors still don't have to pay taxes when outsourcing work. Eh, the Canadian tax incentives only apply to live action as far as I know (they're generally required to list it in the credits). Original animation is cheaper because the union allows residual buyout (though it still pays way, way better than anybody ever got in a regular anime dub).

Dubbing in Vancouver has never been particularly cheap, you can't really get proper actors any cheaper than what the typical US non-union rates are and the Vancouver dubbing payrate (publicly avialable on the union's website) is actually the highest I've seen so far. Ocean just compensated by working really, really fast.

[drakh]

Ocean/Westwood.Blue Water going away? Yeah right. There's way too much top-end tallent in the Vancouver area for them to go away, and they still work cheaper than alot of the us houses. And how do you know that? Do you have access to the actual figures, or talked about it with someone who does? And I don't mean actors whining about evil Canukkians stealing their jobs, I mean people who are actually in position to hire dubbing companies?


I'm fairly certain their plate is very full right now and will be fo a good long time to come. Their plate hasn't been full for over a year, and Rob Bakewell (http://www.crystalacids.com/database/person/5143/rob-bakewell/), who worked as voice director for Westwood since 2002, told me a not too long ago that he'd have to find himself a new job soon if things don't change.

[Karl Olson]

The interesting thing with all this work going to Blue Water is that it's not all being done as bottom-of-the-barrel speed dubbing - I watched the first episode of Full Moon wo Sagashite dubbed recently, and it's almost unsettling how well it's done, particularly Mitsuki. They managed to find an absolutely dead-on voice match for the original Japanese VA, allowing them to use the Japanese VA's singing seemlessly with the English VA's dialogue. So, even though it kind of sucks that Animaze isn't getting as much work, if studios like Bang Zoom and Blue Water can deliver quality work (and they can and have recently,) it's perfectly cool to use them.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

I was always under the impression ZRO Productions, Animaze, and Studiopolis were the same company, of sorts, but here I was, making a fool of myself...

[livingfruitvirus]

Bleach is being done non-union in LA, probably Studiopolis. Steve Blum has already started denying he'll be in it over on narutofan.com.

Is it really? Just wondering since other people (Pepperidge) said it would be done by Ocean.

[Weatherman]

And how do you know that? Do you have access to the actual figures, or talked about it with someone who does? And I don't mean actors whining about evil Canukkians stealing their jobs, I mean people who are actually in position to hire dubbing companies?

Their plate hasn't been full for over a year, and Rob Bakewell (http://www.crystalacids.com/database/person/5143/rob-bakewell/), who worked as voice director for Westwood since 2002, told me a not too long ago that he'd have to find himself a new job soon if things don't change.

Geez, calm down, no need to get touchy.

As I said, it's my general impression. The Vancouver people always have trouble fiding time to get to anime cons because their schedule's don't allow much room for them. If that's changed it's news ot me since I stil ldon't see too many of them popping up. Oddly enough, the ever busy Mr. Bloom seems to have found some time as he's all over Cons these days.

[livingfruitvirus]

The Vancouver people always have trouble fiding time to get to anime cons because their schedule's don't allow much room for them.

Tell that to Scott McNeil.

[drakh]

Is it really?
It is... Well, unless the posters over on natrutofan.com who are claiming to be Skip Stellrecht and Steve Blum are impostors (and I'm told they seem legit).


Just wondering since other people (Pepperidge) said it would be done by Ocean.
Oh, he was just assuming they would get it.

[KaidoYuji8Adam]

I Think Ocean is doing alot of non-anime dubs right now.
I could be wrong.

[Weatherman]

Tell that to Scott McNeil.

I know he was at Anime Boston last year, but he hasn't bene able to make it to AnumeUSA, a con in the fall, for several years despite wanting to come because he's always working at that time now. Has that changed?


Sounds like I have some interesting fodder for Anime Boston questions.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Is it really? Just wondering since other people (Pepperidge) said it would be done by Ocean.

Yeah, Skip mentioned auditions taking place over at Naruto Fan, so its definitely LA(probably Studiopolis).

"I have heard of it. As a matter of fact they were auditioning the other day. I haven not auditioned for it as of yet, but you never know. The folks who are casting it know what there looking for and if they think I might fit the bill, I'm sure I'll get a chance."

[Ryan227]

Bleach is being done non-union in LA, probably Studiopolis.

That's kind of odd though, I'm pretty sure all of Viz's (fairly recent) dubbing up to this point has been union, including Naruto and Zatch Bell. So starting with Bleach are they going to start doing non union dubs?

[William C. Maune]

That's kind of odd though, I'm pretty sure all of Viz's (fairly recent) dubbing up to this point has been union, including Naruto and Zatch Bell. So starting with Bleach are they going to start doing non union dubs?

Perhaps they consider Bleach to have a lower profile timeslot and thus are trying to reduce their other costs in regards to the show. Whereas Naruto is getting very close to 1,000,000 viewers in Toonami's demographic and Zatch Bell has also performed well, all of the shows on Adult Swim Action these days struggle to break 300,000 in ASA's target demo.

[Karl Olson]

Perhaps they consider Bleach to have a lower profile timeslot and thus are trying to reduce their other costs in regards to the show. Whereas Naruto is getting very close to 1,000,000 viewers in Toonami's demographic and Zatch Bell has also performed well, all of the shows on Adult Swim Action these days struggle to break 300,000 in ASA's target demo.

Ah, but it's not like it's going to need the ratings - DVD sales and merchandise sales are going to be pretty brisk for Bleach (atleast as solid as the union dubbed InuYasha,) so the money should be there for union work.

[William C. Maune]

Ah, but it's not like it's going to need the ratings - DVD sales and merchandise sales are going to be pretty brisk for Bleach (atleast as solid as the union dubbed InuYasha,) so the money should be there for union work.

They'll be brisk, just because it is Bleach, and so would Naruto without Toonami. However, almost a million viewers tuning into Naruto on television each week is also a heck of a lot more (perhaps by a couple orders of magnitude even) than the number who managed to watch Naruto each week when it was only available by, er, certain means, or the number who read the manga. The television exposure takes Naruto's sales well beyond brisk and thus Bleach's potential, while still significant due to the existing manga and other means of viewing, may seem much more pale in comparison.

Furthermore, despite the built-in fanbase Bleach already has, the show was more than likely a lot more expensive to license than most shows (probably a lot more than what Inu Yasha cost several years ago and perhaps even close to whatever Naruto cost). Thus, even with brisk sales, profit margins could be pretty slim. Going with a non-union cast helps to cut costs on what was likely a very expensive show to license and a show that won't get as much television exposure as other expensive shows.

[drakh]

Furthermore, despite the built-in fanbase Bleach already has, the show was more than likely a lot more expensive to license than most shows (probably a lot more than what Inu Yasha cost several years ago and perhaps even close to whatever Naruto cost). Thus, even with brisk sales, profit margins could be pretty slim. Going with a non-union cast helps to cut costs on what was likely a very expensive show to license and a show that won't get as much television exposure as other expensive shows.That's undoubtedly the main issue here. The Japanese have been jacking up prices constantly since the market took off, and again the drop in value of the American Dollar probably isn't helping. Kenshin for example sold amazingly well for Media Blasters, but their president noted recently that if he had to pay what Viz did for Naruto for it, they wouldn't have gotten much, if any, profit from it.

As things are now, all the companies are looking for ways to reduce production costs... Bandai's even started outsourcing the production (dubbing, subtitling, DVD authoring) on some releases to Singapore anime distributor Odex.

[livingfruitvirus]

That's undoubtedly the main issue here. The Japanese have been jacking up prices constantly since the market took off, and again the drop in value of the American Dollar probably isn't helping. Kenshin for example sold amazingly well for Media Blasters, but their president noted recently that if he had to pay what Viz did for Naruto for it, they wouldn't have gotten much, if any, profit from it.

As things are now, all the companies are looking for ways to reduce production costs... Bandai's even started outsourcing the production (dubbing, subtitling, DVD authoring) on some releases to Singapore anime distributor Odex.

Actually, the yen inflates pretty fast too. Right now the US dollar to Japanese yen conversion is where it was about a year ago where 1 dollar = 110 yen. Between that time, the US dollar converted to even more yen, going about as high as 122. January 2005 was a low point where 1 dollar only totaled out to 103 yen.

Canada's dollar value right now is the highest it's been in decades. Even compared to every other currency. Maybe THEY'LL start outsourcing more now! :evil:

[Karl Olson]

Though as I've said, I've seen Blue Water get a lot of work lately, and what I've heard of it for the most part has been very good (Ichigo Mashimaro) to groundbreakingly excellent (Full Moon wo Sagashite.)

[Brent Long]

The interesting thing with all this work going to Blue Water is that it's not all being done as bottom-of-the-barrel speed dubbing - I watched the first episode of Full Moon wo Sagashite dubbed recently, and it's almost unsettling how well it's done, particularly Mitsuki. They managed to find an absolutely dead-on voice match for the original Japanese VA, allowing them to use the Japanese VA's singing seemlessly with the English VA's dialogue.

Thank God. I've been appreciating Blue Water work for a while now (which i'll admit varied in the past in terms of quality), and if AOD English Track posters were any indication I never thought they'd get the appreciation, or at least tolerance they deserve. Hopefully that'll change sometime soon especially since Blue Water is getting more titles than ever.


So, even though it kind of sucks that Animaze isn't getting as much work, if studios like Bang Zoom and Blue Water can deliver quality work (and they can and have recently,) it's perfectly cool to use them.[/

Exactly, though it would be diappointing if we never saw great ADR adaptors like Quint Lancaster or Mary Claypool work on anime again, but if worse comes to worse either could probably contract themselves out to current ADR production groups.


It is... Well, unless the posters over on natrutofan.com who are claiming to be Skip Stellrecht and Steve Blum are impostors (and I'm told they seem legit).

They definitely seem legit. When asked certain industry questions both responded with answers an imposter wouldn't really be able to find. Blum for example expanded as only he would be able to on his origin in the industry which fit in with the little I've heard before. Skip also referred to how Mary McGlynn and he both like to laugh in the studio inbetween takes which Mary has stated before in interviews (not about Skip though).

Of course the fact that I know these things, and from the Web means that an imposter is possible, but the way the information is presented and expanded upon would mean that if it was an imposter, than it was a damn good one going very far to impersonate an anime voice actor of all people. All the same Robbie Rist, Kyle Hebert, and Maile Flanigan have all posted as well, and all appeared to be the real deal to me.


That's kind of odd though, I'm pretty sure all of Viz's (fairly recent) dubbing up to this point has been union, including Naruto and Zatch Bell. So starting with Bleach are they going to start doing non union dubs?

While that is true the other union titles aside from Zatch and Naruto were ones sent to Ocean in Vancouver where dubbing union is a definite, and not the same ballpark as dubbing Union elsewhere.

[Duke]

One of the reasons Blue Water dubs may be getting better is that they're using the ADR directors from Westwood (such as James Corrigal).

[Karl Olson]

One of the reasons Blue Water dubs may be getting better is that they're using the ADR directors from Westwood (such as James Corrigal).

Well, I also think their role in the industry might have changed a bit - between a stronger Canadian dollar and union issues at Westood, Blue Water ends up being by nature in a similar price range as Westwood used to be. They're probably still less than LA Union and Non-Union work, but they are not the complete bottom of the barrel either, which not only allows for better talent to work on it, but also for talent to have more time to work on the entire process, starting with the casting of the show itself, and continuing on through better ADR scripts, more time spent in the studio to get better performances and so on. Basically, there in position to do what Funimation has been trying to do since Blue Gender, and what ADV's been trying to do since Princess Tutu - take the time to make it right.

Granted, the shows that I've heard Blue Water get right so far are one with oddly a limited chance of non-otaku success (Full Moon and Ichigo Mashimaro could work on TV, if any network exec had cajones, but from what I can none of them do,) so in a sense they could totally sleepwalk through the dubs on those shows and no one would be that offended, because a lot of the target audience will watch it subbed anyway. However, they really put it some A-Grade work on these limited market shows which they were not likely getting top dollar to work on, so I have to imagine their has been a proactive change in the overall way that Blue Water is working on projects.

I mean, Full Moon is probably better work than I've ever even heard out of Westwood. In fact, given Westwood's track record, it'd have taken 13 episodes to sound right, where as Full Moon is ready from the get go - no roughness at all. I'm not even sure Animaze could have cast it so well, because I don't know whether they could find a VA that'd match the Japanese VA as tightly.

[Brent Long]

One of the reasons Blue Water dubs may be getting better is that they're using the ADR directors from Westwood (such as James Corrigal).

Nope. The only ADR directors Blue Water has ever used that didn't previously work for Ocean in Vancouver are Cam Desmond (http://www.crystalacids.com/database/person/1073/cam-desmond/), Jonathan Love (http://www.crystalacids.com/database/person/2609/jonathan-love/), and Tamera Woolgar (http://www.crystalacids.com/database/person/5253/tamara-woolgar/). Woolgar only did Jubei-Chan, and Love only did the first 24 episodes of G Gundam.

Teri Snelgrove (http://www.crystalacids.com/database/person/5229/teri-snelgrove/), Bev Siver (http://www.crystalacids.com/database/person/5228/bev-siver/), James Corrigall (http://www.crystalacids.com/database/person/5151/james-corrigall/), Keith A. Goddard (http://www.crystalacids.com/database/person/5167/keith-a-goddard/), and Karl Willems (http://www.crystalacids.com/database/person/4837/karl-willems/) all worked for Ocean in Vancouver. Each directed there except for Goddard who directed for Blue Water first, then Vancouver, but that's beside the point.

Oh, and by the way Corrigall's been working at Blue Water since their third year of anime dubs in 2002, so a recent increase in qulaity can't be tracked to his arrival.