Going in order is weird
For those who might be stumbling across this blog for the first time, I like cartoons. Actually, I prefer to say i like animation, because I watch cartoons, anime, and full-length animated features.
That second one is the one driving me crazy most days. Normally, I find a dub that I enjoy and go hunting for the translated manga. Sometimes, a friend will tell me to watch an anime, and I will. I’ll like it so much I hunt down the manga. Occasionally, someone will recommend a manga to me, and then I’ll find the anime somewhere weird.
Strangely, I’ve dealt with Death Note in what some would consider to be a more traditional order, and it just feels weird to me. I’d seen the manga several times while I was reading Descendants of Darkness. One day, I picked up one of the volumes out of sheer curiosity and read the back. It seemed sort of interesting, but thumbing through the book didn’t get much reaction so I put the volume back. Then, Shojo Beat had a small blurb on it, and I decided to give it a second shot.
I read the entire series last year. My roommates went and found a fansub of the anime so I could see it. (I watched all but the last two episodes because both files had issues.) When Cartoon Network started showing the dub last fall, I was so excited. It’s fun watching it, already knowing how everything’s going to go and thinking to myself, “You know. these voices really don’t work.” My best friend has voiced that complaint with quite a few anime, and I finally understand that feeling.
Somehow, though, I’m managing to not get up in arms over the anime, subbed or dubbed, even though I read a translation of the manga first. I wonder what kind of anime/manga fan that makes me.
