Anime Fan Parody & Abridged Series Talkback Spring 2010 (READ FIRST POST)

[Mynd Hed]

As we discussed over in the Social Group a while back, I'm going to start closing and refreshing the Abridged Series / Fan Parody thread on a quarterly basis to keep it easier to navigate. Technically the first day of spring was March 20, so I'm a couple days late doing this-- sorry. (-:

Depending on how things go, I may consider doing this on a monthly basis instead. Any feedback on that decision should please be directed to the Social Group to keep the thread proper free of clutter. Thank you.

The Rules:

* These threads have a history of getting off-track when a lot of people would post links to new videos / episodes without anything in the way of discussion or reactions. To clarify, this talkback thread is meant for discussion, not promotion, of fan parodies and abridged series.

It's fine to post links, but please don't post ONLY to post links. If it's not worth talking about, it's not worth linking to. And no, a simple summary, a direct quote with no discussion or explanation, or "this is funny watch this" doesn't count.

What was your favorite part? What needed improvement? If you are the creator of the video you're linking to, is there anything you particularly want feedback about, or any background in the creation of the video that we might find interesting? Give us something to go on, here. Link-only posts will be deleted as spam.

* Please keep off-topic chatter to a minimum. If something is tangentially related to anime fan parody and you want to discuss it but aren't sure if it's right for this thread, consider bringing it up in the Abridged Social Group.

* If you wish to solicit help, advice, or voice actors and other collaborators for a work in progress, we now have a thread for that, so please limit discussion in this thread to finished videos.

* On the subject of linking to other sites, as this is an all-ages forum, please make sure to note when the content linked to is PG-13 or above, so that anyone who is offended by such content knows to avoid it.

* Likewise, some content linked to, especially abridged series, may contain spoilers, so consider this fair warning. The normal rules for keeping spoilers in spoiler tags when posting in this thread do apply.

* Many of the creators of various fan parodies are either active on these forums or else lurk, so even if you do not care for their work, you are expected to treat the creators themselves with the same respect you'd show any TZ forum member.

* This thread has a tendency to attract a lot of new members to the forums, so if you're new to Toon Zone, be sure to read and be familiar with the Toon Zone rules and Anime Forum rules. There is a permanent thread over at the Cafe for introductions, so please don't post just to say "Hi, I'm on Toon Zone now," or just to welcome new members to the boards (which can be done via PM).

If you know someone who's been waiting a long time to have their membership approved, PM a mod: we can't guarantee it will make any difference since our admins are busy people, but sometimes having someone to vouch that a new member isn't a spambot can speed the process slightly.

To anyone reading this who is still in the queue: filling out all the registration fields with "..." or "your mother" is a sure way to get rejected. If your registration gets rejected for this reason, do it again and do it right.

The previous thread can be found here.

 

[Juu-kuchi]

Oh my, an announcement of sorts about fellas from the Transformers Abridged group going to Sakuracon. While merely a con video, much bigger improvement in terms of editing from the first episode as well as humour. If they could transfer what was shown here to the series, then we'll be all sound as a pound. Also, how can you say no to Prime and Starscream saying they are sad pandas? Short answer: You can't.

But the fact though that "It's a Gundam!" jokes are more prevalent than the more blatantly necessary GoBots reference perturbs me for some reason.

Oh yes, and Lelouch, with regards 00 Abridged. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ERrFOiMtw0

It's a bit talky, but ultimately is a great first impression. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

 

[Paradox295]

Heh, you used my thread naming system,

So, Lelouch, what did you mean by gag humor? Jokes that seem too forced?

 

[Sketch]

He might mean visual gags.

I'll be sure to mention GoBots to the Transformers guys Juu.

 

[Unwardil]

And the thread is closed before I can respond.

Figures, I take one night to conquer india once and for all and this is what happens...

Anyways, to the complaint that there's just too many abridged series around now... Well, that's like saying there's too many Sitcoms around now or anything for that matter. Overall, I'd say it's a good thing for the medium and that the average quality is still increasing because all the really obvious things to do with the abridged format have pretty much been done and done well so now it becomes an exercise in 'how can I take this medium to the next level? What now?'

I've already noticed at least 3 sub-stratas of the abridged format which all work when done right but are never the less very clearly different styles. There's the kind that's a pretty faithful adaptation of the original story only condensed and parodied as the situation warrants. Mynd's Berzerk definitely exemplifies this approach as does Yugioh up to about episode 26 where it starts to diverge pretty noticeably into the second kind, which is to use pre existing character designs and footage in order to make comedy that may or may not have anything at all to do with the original beyond what is absolutely necessary. I haven't seen enough of the original series to know who's going this route aside from, well, me, as I will gleefully change things around and go as far as to invent whole new back stories in order to explain my divergences.

Then there's the meta abridged series approach which tends not only to disregard the original story at times but goes so far as to cut in with completely un related material at regular intervals. Tae's done this a few times, SamtheGreek does it basically every episode and there's others.

Did I say 3? There's actually a 4th come to think of it, which is the whacky style like NTAS and D-greyman abridged which rely almost entirely on shock of randomness, delivery and timing to achieve comedy. The kind of things where to look at the script you'd just face palm, but to see it done right is just gut busting.

And of course it's not as if there isn't a lot of bleed over in styles with a lot of series, but I'd say these are definitely the 4 primary tastes of the abridged pallet. Different combinations are of course going to appeal to different pallets and there's such a thing as just badly made stuff too.

What was my whole point to this little shpeel? I suppose I can sum it up by saying if you lump all the sitcoms out there into the same genre and say they're all crap because sitcoms are stagnant and boring now, then you're going to miss out on the blackadders and the peepshows and the black books of the world just because you don't like the everybody likes raymonds or the world according to jims... And that's a shame for you because Blackadder is bloody hysterical, but it's also most defiantly a sitcom with all the tropes associated with that.

 

[Mynd Hed]

Anyways, to the complaint that there's just too many abridged series around now... Well, that's like saying there's too many Sitcoms around now or anything for that matter.

To continue that metaphor a bit, for quite a while there really WERE too many sitcoms on TV, and they really HAD gotten trite and stale. This is not because there was nowhere left to go within the sitcom format, but because the vast majority of them were hewing far too close to the formula. Eventually, you've got to do something to shake things up. Set it somewhere besides a soundstage that looks like a suburban house or an urban office, nix the laugh track, make it relentlessly cynical, do SOMETHING.

Fair or not, this late in the game I think that a new abridged series has to do something really new and different to justify its existence compared to back in the beginning when a lot of us would give anything with "Abridged" in the title three or four episodes' grace period just because we were all hungry for new series with "Abridged" in the title.

 

[Xerostyle]

Personally, I can't wait for Sam's contest, and the Patlabor movie that Gutted Wren is doing.

I'm going to be hopeful for Team Four Star and I'll say I think that their next episode will be better than their last two episodes, but I'm still a little skeptical.

 

[SamTheGreek]

Personally, I can't wait for Sam's contest, and the Patlabor movie that Gutted Wren is doing.

I'm going to be hopeful for Team Four Star and I'll say I think that their next episode will be better than their last two episodes, but I'm still a little skeptical.

Oh, God please lower your expectations. Seriously. My contest isn't that funny. I'm just doing it because... I don't know. I just am.
You know, it's not so much the trolling as it is the prizes. I just love the prizes I'm giving away.

I probably shouldn't waste my time with the stupid contest, and instead focus on abridging Big O 7; but I'm just not in the mood this week.
Meh. Maybe next week.


Oh, and anything Gutted Wren is doing should be looked forward to with great optimism.
But, unlike you, I'm not skeptical about TFS upcoming episode -- I have faith that Kaiser will deliver.

 

[Taekmkm]

How about going back to basics for new abridged series? Remember when it was abridging the show, and not the memes around it? That's what most problems are for these new crap nowadays: Interchangable lines that are basically "Hey, ___! Do a barrel roll!" *insert pretend joke steal of ____* "Oh my god, Vic Mignogna!" "My name is Ezekieru, and I secretly dress up as the black power ranger every night!" and so on.

 

[Mynd Hed]

I dunno, it's been pretty meme-heavy since the very beginning. Not that relying less on memes is a bad goal, but I don't necessarily think that equates to "getting back to basics."

For what it's worth, I had originally intended Gantz to be my meme-heavy project. The character of Gantz specifically was going to be all memes, all the time. As time went on, though, I got bored with that idea, and the only real results you can see of that are the meme-storm he drops in the first episode and the "do a barrel roll!" joke halfway through.

That's the way to go about it, I think: don't be afraid to use memes when you've got a really good idea for it (the "1006" joke in TFS' DBZ is, I think, a great example of an old meme used in a new way), but don't put them in there for their own sake.

 

[Taekmkm]

My specific complaint is meme-ing up before establishing the character. Example: Yugioh. Yes, it's a pretty old-school reference heavy show but it certainly gave you a good 2-3 episodes of zany build-up to make use of them.

Dropping a heavy amount of memes in the first episode? No. That's just bad in general. Maybe the meme is funny, but why should I think it's funny because he/she said it?

 

[SamTheGreek]

My specific complaint is meme-ing up before establishing the character. Example: Yugioh. Yes, it's a pretty old-school reference heavy show but it certainly gave you a good 2-3 episodes of zany build-up to make use of them.

Dropping a heavy amount of memes in the first episode? No. That's just bad in general. Maybe the meme is funny, but why should I think it's funny because he/she said it?

But heavily memed pilots is a pretty cool guy. Eh is unoriginal and doesnt afraid of anything.
That's why his views are over 900!

Wait.
Oh, crap... I accidentally this comment.

 

[LordMoonstone]

That's just bad in general. Maybe the meme is funny, but why should I think it's funny because he/she said it?

You shouldn't, ha. That's just bad writing/ needing a "filler line," which is a term I see a lot of people use for those throwaway bits you're referring to, Tae: little asides that don't really contribute anything, but are just there to have the character say something. Some filler lines like "Brooklyn Rage" went to catch on, and GuttedWrenStudios exemplifies turning a filler line into a fantastic running joke with "kanewton valves" and the DNA evidence.

And to amend my rather negative view on references, I finally watched all of Last Exile abridged last night after going through a bout of insomnia, and I found it one of the most enjoyable things I've ever watched. The way he handles the characters was so original and unique to his own bastardization of everything the original had going for it, and as Xerostyle pointed out, also satirizing all of the cliches of abridged series: like the huge "reference-off" battle at the end with the quality of the references gauging as this mutated form of hilarious firepower. I think it's a great metaphor for the idea of filler lines that people just throw in because they can't think of anything else, and more often than not they are references rather than something pertaining to the character, or the story. This stems from what I can only assume is from the mindset of the typical "throw it in WMM for a dumb laugh" which is often equated to the dirt viewers have to sift through to find the gems. It's sad that they've left such an impression but I can say Unwardil that you've reformed my mindset a bit. It still gets me upset when I see a dialogue exchange between characters being a reference to something else, though.

 

[Taekmkm]

Tae: little asides that don't really contribute anything, but are just there to have the character say something. Some filler lines like "Brooklyn Rage" went to catch on, and GuttedWrenStudios exemplifies turning a filler line into a fantastic running joke with "kanewton valves" and the DNA evidence.

See, that's not related to my complaint. Those were in later episodes after you got a feel of the characters. Not in the first episode when it's not a one-shot.

 

[Master WGS]

Memes are like a dangerous weapon on the battlefield. Terrific in the right hands, but horrendously dangerous in the hands of a person who abridges Code Geass (Looking at you, Eze).

 

[Ezekieru]

Memes are like a dangerous weapon on the battlefield. Terrific in the right hands, but horrendously dangerous in the hands of a person who abridges Code Geass (Looking at you, Eze).

That's TeamSupeSharu, you fool!
Oops, they only quote dub lines.

I guess it's Kaitsu, then.
Wait, he's just a variety-dub with mostly Death Note.

Then it must be Stmurda--
No no, he just wasn't good.

...Maybe PaleShield?
...Yeah, I'm not even trying anymore...

 

[Juu-kuchi]

Ah more con updates from Team Four Star. Hooray for more panels.

Also, Taka improvs as the Colonel in this little bit. Truly he is the colonel, and helped by giving vital information, which is amusing.

 

[LordQuadros]

Also, Taka improvs as the Colonel in this little bit. Truly he is the colonel, and helped by giving vital information, which is amusing.

That was actually something he put in the recording of his last few lines of the MGS1 finale, and I figured it might make good filler during the wait for the MGS2 premiere, as well as a certain other special something I have in store.

Speaking of which, thanks for the improv on Houseman's lines, Juu-kuchi. I would've done a special with everybody's improvisations and bloopers, but yours was too good to keep out of the episode, and Taka's would've been too out-of-place to wedge in.

 

[Unwardil]

To continue that metaphor a bit, for quite a while there really WERE too many sitcoms on TV, and they really HAD gotten trite and stale. This is not because there was nowhere left to go within the sitcom format, but because the vast majority of them were hewing far too close to the formula. Eventually, you've got to do something to shake things up. Set it somewhere besides a soundstage that looks like a suburban house or an urban office, nix the laugh track, make it relentlessly cynical, do SOMETHING.

Well, I think my point was actually that with the Sitcoms say, there developed a formula that proved to be cost effective and as a result studios would make shows out of ideas that fit that formula. (Basically a hybrid of Seinfeld and Home improvement seems to be the one) But that hybrid would be better classified as a... I dunno, a Home-Feld comedy at the species level. Still under the Family of Sit-com but far more specific.

What I'm saying is it's foolish to write off the entire Abridged series level of the order of Comedy just because you happen to hate a particular species of it.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

Well people here's SXAbridged's Contest finally up for all of y'all to view.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp1t9CWoBa0&feature=sub

Essistnally this is a super special awesome birthday contest For Mynd Head/Hbi2k. Your job is to abridged an episode of Berserk (specifically any non episode one episode), make it crap (as in bad voice acting, editting and bad quality versions of the episode. Something that appliest to most of the people whose content DOSEN'T get discussed here), and credit Hbi2k and only Hbi2k.

And what could you win you might ask? Fabolous prizes like a one of a kind shirt, the DVD made to make the Samurui X abridged series, and an out of print copy of the Phantom Menance VHS. Just make sure to post it on your channel to be viewed by the guy before April 6th if you want to get picked.

... Yeah I pretty much covered anything that was in the actual video, minus a good and bad example of what is needed for said contest.