The anime world is buzzing this week with anger and frustration over the release of the classic Neon Genesis Evangelion by streaming giant Netflix. While it’s great to have classic anime get some mainstream love by one of the biggest companies around, Netflix decided to commission a new translation for the series, complete with new dubbed voices and subtitles, which is causing fans to go ballistic. In addition to making changes to dialogue that have become enshrined as canon in the minds of fans, the new Netflix Evangelion does away with the Fly Me To The Moon ending song because of music licensing issues, supposedly. As a result of the changes, there’s been a huge outpouring of negativity towards Netflix on online communities
I’m honestly not sure how to feel about this. While I might tease the company by posting snarky “Netflix adaption” memes on Twitter from time to time, I’m absolutely happy that Netflix (and Amazon Prime, and Hulu, and Crunchyroll) are providing support to animation studios. In addition to giving the industry a much-deserved financial shot in the arm, they’ve given fans a way to watch anime legally. With few of us willing to buy $100 limited Blu-rays for most anime we watch, the industry had basically been brought to the edge of a precipice that would mean its destruction if changes weren’t made. Thanks to foreign investment by streaming sites, the industry is much healthier, and as fans, we should be supportive of these companies.
Still, I hope Netflix learns from the current fan reaction and works harder to head off these problems in the future. With something as dear to fans’ hearts as Evangelion, any changes are likely to be resisted, and unless the translation is absolutely positively an improvement over the original, there are going to be problems. It reminds me of the dust-up in Japan when the Lord of the Rings films were localized by the “Queen of Subtitles” Toda Natsuko, who was so famous in Japan that movie releases were changed to suit her work schedule. When she translated the films without referring to the Japanese versions of Tolkien’s books — which saw famous lines like “not idly do the leaves of Lórien fall” rendered as “the tracks go this way” — Japanese fans went ballistic.
What do you think about the drama over the Netflix Evangelion release? Are streaming sites a positive or a negative thing for anime? Tell us on Twitter!
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