Case Closed: The Mirapolis Investigation,

[Leplaya]

Someone mentioned about a case closed game on the site...and I came across this. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...sedboxart.jpeg

So far the game had been released in Japan and Europe but no word on a release date for USA.

[Avistew]

Oh, you mean Detective Conan. I keep forgetting it's called Case Closed in English.

I had no idea there was a Wii game, although I had heard about the DS game. If it's like the anime it's probably marketed to kids. Which is a shame because I much prefer the manga, that's a bit more adult (still a shonen obviously but still).

I think the US is behind in parution. When I left France about a year ago I had at the very least 60 volumes I do believe. I think a lot less are out in North America, so if the game involves stuff that happens later on, it would make sense not to release it yet, right? That's just a hypothesis of course.

[Leplaya]

I havent watched the anime in a long time to know if it was marketed for kids, but isnt it like PG rated?

[Avistew]

Well, the American rating doesn't mean the Japanese anime was rated the same.

In the anime, the Detective boys are added to many cases to appeal to younger audiences, I remember discussing that with a fellow fan who lived in Japan. Also, the cases are often simplified, although I guess it makes sense since an episode is much shorter than 3-4 chapters of a manga.

I'm not saying adults can't enjoy the anime. However I know the DS game was for kids, it was a "learn by playing" kind of game. This being said the Wii game sounds like you're actually investigation, which would be more interesting.

[Secret Fawful]

How is anything about the anime for kids? It's exactly like the manga uncensored. I don't know if they censored it on TV though.

[Avistew]

Well, the episodes I saw were not "just like the manga". The kids were added to stories they weren't originally in, cases were shortened, others were added (that's easy to notice since they're the badly written ones) and there is that feature "can YOU guess who's the culprit? Here is a hint for you!" that looked to me like a kid's thing.

This being said, that's entirely influenced by my friend in Japan who was complaining that the anime is marketed towards young kids and as a result much too simplified, and by what I saw of the one game I saw stuff about, the "Detective Trainer" (I found a video here) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPahv...eature=related

I did dislike the anime (saw the first season or so), but I tend to dislike anime adaptation of manga (although I like some JDrama) so it doesn't mean it's necessarily terrible or anything.

If anyone has played the game I'd be interested to know what it's about.

[GinnyN]

Where's did you watch the "can YOU guess who's the culprit? Here is a hint for you!" thingie? I don't remember it when I watched it here in Chile.

In the anime adaptations, for some reason or another, they like to add kids in everything. I don't know why...

[Secret Fawful]

Originally Posted by avistew

Well, the episodes I saw were not "just like the manga". The kids were added to stories they weren't originally in, cases were shortened, others were added (that's easy to notice since they're the badly written ones) and there is that feature "can YOU guess who's the culprit? Here is a hint for you!" that looked to me like a kid's thing.

This being said, that's entirely influenced by my friend in Japan who was complaining that the anime is marketed towards young kids and as a result much too simplified, and by what I saw of the one game I saw stuff about, the "Detective Trainer" (I found a video here) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPahv...eature=related

I did dislike the anime (saw the first season or so), but I tend to dislike anime adaptation of manga (although I like some JDrama) so it doesn't mean it's necessarily terrible or anything.

If anyone has played the game I'd be interested to know what it's about.

Really? I guess that makes sense, but I wouldn't say the manga isn't marketed towards kids then either. There are more violent manga in Japan marketed toward kids. Actually I'd more say that it's marketed toward teens.

[Avistew]

Originally Posted by Secret Fawful

Really? I guess that makes sense, but I wouldn't say the manga isn't marketed towards kids then either. There are more violent manga in Japan marketed toward kids. Actually I'd more say that it's marketed toward teens.

The way I see it, the manga is directed at teens, but the anime is directed at an audience that's a bit younger. Of course, the manga itself isn't a seinen to begin with.

I don't have much trouble with something that's "for kids" to begin with but if an adaptation is more for kids than the original, since I'm not a kid I like it less :P

Originally Posted by Ginny

Where's did you watch the "can YOU guess who's the culprit? Here is a hint for you!" thingie? I don't remember it when I watched it here in Chile.

In the anime adaptations, for some reason or another, they like to add kids in everything. I don't know why...

It was either at the commercial break, or at the end of the episode there was a hint for the next one. I can't remember clearly right now.
And yeah, I guess anime tend to be ore childish than their manga counterpart... Come to think of it, it's not that rare with cartoons either. I guess maybe they think this way they can also appear to the population that doesn't read much?

Actually, come to think for it, by definition anime and manga have slightly different audiences. Sure, if you like a manga you might want to watch the anime or the other way around, but I can see how they would adapt them to the average audience of the medium. Which might explain why I like TV anime less than I like manga or JDrama. I'm not part of the target audience.
(Movie animes are a different story though. And I like some anime, I really like Fruits Basket for instance, it's a bit different from the manga but I like both. I really love the voices. In Japanese. The French voices are absolutely horrible, not for lack of talent of the voice actors, but because they decided things like "this male that everyone thinks is a female should have a very deep voice").

[Secret Fawful]

As with most book to movie cases, most of the time the manga tends to be better than the anime. There are many cases where this isn't true though, like with Cowboy Bebop.

The only case I can think of in mainstream anime where the anime and manga ties for me is Fullmetal Alchemist. I'll always prefer the Detective Conan manga anyway, because I like to read the story and I really appreciate the art a lot more on the page. This is coming from someone who used to hate Gosho Aoyama's art style. However with time, as an artist myself, I've come to understand his style and appreciate it. The man really is a master of the murder mystery.

[Avistew]

Originally Posted by Secret Fawful

The man really is a master of the murder mystery.

Tell me about it. his knowledge in various stuff is pretty bluffind, and wow, does his now his mystery writers.

I like that his style is pretty unique. Although I have to say I feel it improved a lot since the first volume (in over 10 years, not a surprise).
I don't really like the other series by Aoyama, be it Yaiba or Kaito Kid. Which is weird because I really like Kid as a character in Conan, but I guess Aoyama improved a lot as a writer in the meantime.

What frustrates me is, as often with senquential art, the publisher. They made him drag it on, from the beginning when he wanted to introduce a new important character (Haibara) for the tenth volume (which is already a lot), they refused and he had to wait longer (although that resulted in his introducing Heiji instead which I can't complain too much about).
And now, 60+ volumes, well it's moved so slowly that you kinda lose track of the main story. So when it suddenly moves again, like it did around volume 45 I believe, you're just all "what the??" and you can't remember most of the details leading up to it. So you end up screening through 45 books to find the small cases that are relevant... It's a bit frustrating.

Now, I love all the cases, but sometimes I wish they made an "abridged" version that would only contain the cases relevant to the main storyline. That would still be at least 20 volumes by this point, but more manageable. And that doesn't mean not reading the original one as well.
I had to leave all of my older books behind and rebuying that many volumes, I'm sure you can imagine isn't ideal. As a result I have another reason to want that to happen: it would be cheaper for me :P

Although I have to admit some of my favourite cases have nothing to do with the main storyline at all.

[Secret Fawful]

I agree with you on what you said regarding how much filler he has to produce, but honestly it doesn't matter to me. As long as he does actually give his story a good ending I'm down with every bit of murder mystery he can think up.

I do love the Kaito Kid, and I love how he parallels the Kid's life with Jimmy's own. Perhaps he just likes writing under those particular character types, but I always found it cool.

I only own around 24 volumes. I've read the rest online, but not because I'm cheap. I simply can't afford the volumes right now. I don't like taking money away from hard-working artists, though I'm sure Aoyama is probably pretty wealthy by now. And I'm not a patient person, and having to wait until I have the funds to continue the story isn't something I can get myself to do. Personally though, I wouldn't enjoy an abridged version as much. The wait the reader has to go through mirrors Jimmy's own, and only increases the excitement and anticipation when the overarching plot turns up new leads in the case.

[Avistew]

...Jimmy??
... Oh no, they translated the names in the English version? I had no idea.

The main character is Shinichi Kudo (Kudo Shinichi), I'm guessing that's who they called Jimmy?
Doesn't it feel weird, American names when so many of the cases revolve around Japanese culture? (Not to mention people make fun of Conan because his name is American and weird, or those who don't make fun comment it's an unusual name, etc. In the middle of other American names, it has to be weird that it would be considered... well, weird).

Out of curiosity, what are the names in English?

[Secret Fawful]

Jimmy Kudo
Rachel Moore
Richard Moore
Amy Yoshida
Mitch Tsuburaya
George Kojima
Shiho Miyano
Booker Kudo
Vivian Kudo
Harley Hartwell
etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...sed_characters
You can find all the English names versus their Japanese counterparts here.

[Avistew]

Okay, that's a bit weird... They kept Japanese last names for many of them, but gave them Americanized first names. At least Ran Mouri > Rachel Moore is consistent in it becoming English.

But Genta > George while keeping his last name?

Anyway, I didn't know the English names were different so it was kind of a shock. When I was a kid they changed the names in anime and I've kept a very bad memory of that, I've been reading the original manga since (in the manga the names weren't generally translated) and I like it much better.

Although I've learned since then that it was due to anime being imported from the US rather than directly from Japan, while the manga was translated from the original. As a result we also got the censored version even for things that wouldn't have been censored for French audiences.

While I understand changing names when they have a meaning, usually in fantasy and/or humour, changing them for the sake of changing them... I don't like it as much. I can only imagine how horrible it would be for Harry Potter to become Henri Potier in French or something.

I understand Japanese names are unfamiliar but then a) why keep the last names? and b) isn't Japanese culture, which is the basis of many of the cases, just as unfamiliar?

[Secret Fawful]

No, you're completely right. It all boils down to money, and if the publishers or whatever think that Americanizing the characters is going to sell more copies, they'll do it in a heartbeat. Anime set in Japan should have full Japanese names and culture, however if it's set in Europe or America that's a different story. An example, again is Fullmetal Alchemist, which is set in a fantasy version of Europe. Therefore all of the names are westernized in the Japanese version, and no translation errors are possible.

You should have seen Crayon Shin Chan. They completely rewrote the episodes and jokes in order to fit American pop culture and customs even though it's a show based in Japan. Sure, it was funny, but it didn't make any sense when they started throwing around jokes about Lindsey Lohan. It's like, you're in Japan! You don't know who Lindsey Lohan is! Stop making jokes about her. You aren't Family Guy. In fact, that's exactly what it was. It's like if they took Family Guy to Japan, then completely rewrote the episodes in order to fit Japanese pop culture and customs.

(Peter and Brian watch Japanese wrestling)
Peter: Who's that guy?
Brian: Oh that's Hard Gay.
Peter: PFFT. HAHAHA. SNORT.
Brian: Peter, will you show some respect? He's the famous wrestling icon of our mother country, Japan.
Peter: AHAHAHAHA. HARD GAY. HAHAHAHAHA.
(Brian walks out and walks back in with a sword, which he raises above Peter's head)

Yeah, that's basically what it was like.

I'm just glad we didn't get Detective Conan, set in America, in New York City, starring Jimmy Kane/Conan Eversol, with popular guest appearances by Lady Gaga and bands like Metallica and Coldplay. Shudder.

[Fury]

Ewww. Don't watch dubbed anime. Watch subbed.

[Secret Fawful]

Some dubs are pretty good. Cowboy Bebop's dub is actually better than the original in my opinion. To be honest I really hate having to read a show, but for some subs I will do it, because the performances are so good. And hey, the Japanese have bad dubs too.

Dubs and subs for me come down to personal tastes.

[Avistew]

Originally Posted by Secret Fawful

No, you're completely right. It all boils down to money, and if the publishers or whatever think that Americanizing the characters is going to sell more copies, they'll do it in a heartbeat. Anime set in Japan should have full Japanese names and culture, however if it's set in Europe or America that's a different story. An example, again is Fullmetal Alchemist, which is set in a fantasy version of Europe. Therefore all of the names are westernized in the Japanese version, and no translation errors are possible.

Well, then it's still using the original names, right?

I can understand translating name in a number of cases:

-Comedy: That's a big one, if everyone has silly names with a meaning and all puns/jokes would be lost, translating makes sense, because that allows the new audience to get the joke. Especially if the joke itself becomes some kind of plot point.

-Fantasy: Here the names are either completely invented and don't mean anything, or they mean anything in a language from Earth. If the pronunciation works in, say, English, but would be too hard in, say, French, they can be adapted. It's not like it makes sense for these people to have English names to begin with anyways.

But what I can't understand translating is when it's an obvious setting that's on earth and the names don't mean anything. If it takes place in England and you have a Mr. Baker, you shouldn't call him Boulanger in the French version. It doesn't make sense. Even if people were to call attention to the fact his name is Baker and he is a baker, well you can explain that in the translation. People reading the book will know the character are speaking English (even if the book is written in another language to begin with) because it takes place in London and all the characters are English.

But yeah, commercial decisions are like that. Sometimes it becomes some kind of running gag, how things are localised. So you're eating ramen whith your table heating cover on your lap, and you say you're in your New York flat eating a hot dog? I don't think so.

I think with the Internet, people have started to open a bit more to other cultures. Not that everyone is a specialist, but it's more easily accepted that things are different from one place to another, so I think things are kept true to the original more often. And I think that's good, because you get to learn a lot. And ultimately it makes more sense than trying to pretend things re happening somewhere when it's obvious they're not.

[Fury]

Originally Posted by Secret Fawful

Some dubs are pretty good. Cowboy Bebop's dub is actually better than the original in my opinion. To be honest I really hate having to read a show, but for some subs I will do it, because the performances are so good. And hey, the Japanese have bad dubs too.

Dubs and subs for me come down to personal tastes.

Pfft. Cowboy Bebop wasn't a perfect dub. That Heavy Metal Queen episode is painful.

You get used to reading. Plus, you pick up a fair bit of japanese from doing it, so you don't have to read most of it after awhile.

Dubs suck. They always re-use actors. Every blonde character is voiced by the same guy who did Ed in FMA, Kurtz in FMP, Tamaki in Ouran, that blonde dude in Tsubasa, Mao in Disgaea for the PS3 etc etc. It gets really annoying.