This whole "Ginga" this, "Ginga" that series thing has been sitting on my mind for a while now. I am not a fan, and I am speaking as an outsider without first-hand knowledge, so I'll admit that right up front. Hell, these might be wonderful series,
buuuuuut...
I hope this doesn't offend any fans of this series, and I must admit that I haven't seen any of it (though, in order to make an informed decision, I'll probably click some YouTube links just to view it for myself), but this all drives me nuts. The way the fandom of this series has infiltrated into the Balto fan/Lion King fan community. I mean, people DO have a right to like whatever the heck they want, and more power to them for being fans and all. But I have never seen so many non-Balto avatars and signature images, and discussion, about a series outside of Balto and The Lion King.
Sheeeeeesh.
Now, I mean no slight. Really. But let's take this "Ganja Dem Smokin' Weed, (Mahn)" series as an example ("Ginga Densetsu Weed"). This is just not something I have any interest in.
I can watch the movie
Club Paradise to see ..."
de movie about smokin' da ganja weed, mahn" (lol, I know...I'm just being a bit facetious now...sorry!). But really, that's the image that pops up in my mind whenever I see the title of "Ginga Densetsu Weed". And who could not, with a name like that one? Perhaps that was the selling point...maybe (and this is just a wild guess) the Japanese producers felt that an English translation would sell better with young American audiences with a bit of word-play that was evocative of the hallucinogenic drug. Maybe. Or perhaps not. Perhaps it's just
wiiiiiild coincidence. M'yeah...
Now, an adult friend of mine, who is a fan of these series (the whole "Ginga" this, "Ginga" that series) says that this one has great story lines with good morals. Hm. Maybe. I'll have to see for myself. But one thing confuses me...if the morals are so high, then why is it so popular with teens and college students today? At the risk of offending most of you (which, again, REALLY is not my intent), my experience on this forum (and the main Balto Source site), at least, shows me that most teens and college students today find good morals and ethics to be inconvenient, primitive, and unfairly confining to their "freedoms".
I guess I'll have to see clips of these series for myself in order to make a more informed judgement (though I highly doubt it will make me a fan nevertheless). Still, I doubt most viewers take the series for its storylines as much as they take it for the cartoon doggies and character names. Which is pretty danged shallow if you ask me. *SIGH* Hey - that's what my experience here (and even some other places) has shown me about the community at large (for the most part). Sorry folks...just calling it like I see it.
A few of you have made good points in these "Ginga" topics...but
still, I have a hard time working myself past the corny name of the GDW series, and the "wordplay" it causes in my imagination.
I really think it would have been smarter of the Japanese producers to do what is so often done with other anime series when they are edited, translated (or subtitled) and repackaged for English-speaking audiences...to come up with an anglicized name or at least an anglicized translation of the Japanese title...without the word "weed" thrown in with another Japanese word which comes off looking too much like the word "ganja". ROFL
(I keep getting the mental image of a Jamaican rastafarian, sporting a black/yellow/green/red knit cap with dreads hanging down, while a "dutchie" hangs out of his bearded moosh.
"
Yah mahn..." I know, I know...but I just can't help it! ROFL!)
...wow...your really not afraid to go ALL out when expressing your opinion are you? Not to anger you or anything...just an observation. but speaking of 'expressing', your rant was a tad hard to follow, but i got the jist of it. when you mentioned how there's not many balto related avies, sigs, etc, you did have a point. i myself don't have one, (but i do intend to get one when i feel more in the balto-ish mood, or late January - VERY early February...which ever first), but i feel that our avies and bars represent more of ourselves and makes us stand out more than just a mad bunch of Balto fanatics :3
And about the Ginga thing...well...i'd VERY much rather you watched the show or read the Manga before giving your imput on what you think about it. i don't mind opinions (it IS one of the main functions of a forum after all), but i really think you should just watch it first. what if you did watch it...and LIKED it? if you'd like, i could send links to where you could watch it on Youtube (if you haven't found them and started watching already), then you could tell us of what you TRUELY think of the series. Like you, i saw many topics and fanart of GDW and GNG, at first i was only mildly curious, then after seeing so much, i figured so much popularity MUST be worth checking out. i think it was too ^^
...and i didn't think of drugs when i first heard the title...
).
