You are currently viewing archive for September 2005
And it's largely user error. Turns out, quite a few yahoos were running their automatic transmissions in Manual mode, and going highway speeds in second gear. Thus, the car burned up.
Hopefully this will be over soon. Looks like it will take a decal, a software update, and a heat-shield and we will be on our way. I just hope those parts come in soon!
Here's the press release:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
STATEMENT: 2006 MAZDA5 EXHAUST SYSTEM OVERHEAT
UPDATED ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2005
A safety-related defect may exist in the MAZDA5 as a result of the exhaust system becoming overheated. Although only three instances have been reported, and there have been no injuries as a result of the fires, Mazda will be initiating an aggressive campaign to repair all of the approximately 2,700 affected vehicles either at dealers or in customers’ possession. Customers will receive a formal recall notification at a later date.
Mazda has determined that the cause of these fires is excessive exhaust heat caused by inadvertent operation of the vehicle in the manual mode of the automatic transmission at highway speeds in second gear. It is possible that extended high-RPM operation may cause this exhaust overheat, and a subsequent fire.
Mazda will resolve this situation with the installation of a warning label instructing customers on the proper operation of the vehicle in the “M” mode of the automatic transmission. In addition, a heat-shield will be added to all vehicles as well as a recalibration of the automatic transmission electronic control unit.
Mazda expects all vehicles to be repaired and returned to their owners as soon as possible. New vehicle deliveries will resume as soon as vehicles in inventory are repaired. In the interim, Mazda will provide all customers with replacement transportation at no cost.
Hopefully this will be over soon. Looks like it will take a decal, a software update, and a heat-shield and we will be on our way. I just hope those parts come in soon!
Here's the press release:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
STATEMENT: 2006 MAZDA5 EXHAUST SYSTEM OVERHEAT
UPDATED ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2005
A safety-related defect may exist in the MAZDA5 as a result of the exhaust system becoming overheated. Although only three instances have been reported, and there have been no injuries as a result of the fires, Mazda will be initiating an aggressive campaign to repair all of the approximately 2,700 affected vehicles either at dealers or in customers’ possession. Customers will receive a formal recall notification at a later date.
Mazda has determined that the cause of these fires is excessive exhaust heat caused by inadvertent operation of the vehicle in the manual mode of the automatic transmission at highway speeds in second gear. It is possible that extended high-RPM operation may cause this exhaust overheat, and a subsequent fire.
Mazda will resolve this situation with the installation of a warning label instructing customers on the proper operation of the vehicle in the “M” mode of the automatic transmission. In addition, a heat-shield will be added to all vehicles as well as a recalibration of the automatic transmission electronic control unit.
Mazda expects all vehicles to be repaired and returned to their owners as soon as possible. New vehicle deliveries will resume as soon as vehicles in inventory are repaired. In the interim, Mazda will provide all customers with replacement transportation at no cost.
Like smothered, covered, diced, and chunked ... Episode 3 of Naruto on Cartoon Network brought some relief, but solidified a few misgivings.
First the relief. The dubbing does get better as the VA's find their voices. I think that the picks for Sakura and Sasuke are pretty solid, though I am still not sold on Naruto himself. I'm curious to see how he is once things get serious. We'll get a whole lot of Kakashi next week, and I'm looking forward to that as well.
For the misgivings, they keep cutting out things ... and I just have to wonder "what's the point?" For instance, in this episode there is an instance where Naruto and Sasuke get bumped into a kiss. Homoerotic/homophobic comments aside, it is meant to be funny... and in the sub it is very funny. The joke is somewhat lost in translation here. Same goes for Naruto on the pot. They zoomed in on him a bit, and cut the scenes so you could not see the toilet as much. There are few things as funny as a cartoon toilet.
Anyway, only time will tell if it gets better.
For the Sub, I have made my way through Season 1, and I am pretty pleased with what I have seen. Naruto has not grown up as much as I'd like yet, but he is learning quite a bit. The other members of his team also continue to grow. It's an interesting character study as they work their way up the ninja ladder. The first season ends with Naruto's whole team taking the test to become Chunin. Will the group of young rookies pass the difficult trials? Guess I'll need to watch more and see.
Feel free to discuss more in the forum.
First the relief. The dubbing does get better as the VA's find their voices. I think that the picks for Sakura and Sasuke are pretty solid, though I am still not sold on Naruto himself. I'm curious to see how he is once things get serious. We'll get a whole lot of Kakashi next week, and I'm looking forward to that as well.
For the misgivings, they keep cutting out things ... and I just have to wonder "what's the point?" For instance, in this episode there is an instance where Naruto and Sasuke get bumped into a kiss. Homoerotic/homophobic comments aside, it is meant to be funny... and in the sub it is very funny. The joke is somewhat lost in translation here. Same goes for Naruto on the pot. They zoomed in on him a bit, and cut the scenes so you could not see the toilet as much. There are few things as funny as a cartoon toilet.
Anyway, only time will tell if it gets better.
For the Sub, I have made my way through Season 1, and I am pretty pleased with what I have seen. Naruto has not grown up as much as I'd like yet, but he is learning quite a bit. The other members of his team also continue to grow. It's an interesting character study as they work their way up the ninja ladder. The first season ends with Naruto's whole team taking the test to become Chunin. Will the group of young rookies pass the difficult trials? Guess I'll need to watch more and see.
Feel free to discuss more in the forum.
At least for the moment.
I should have followed my gut. I always have been a believer of "never buy a car in it's first model year." My Jeep Wrangler is a '98 and it has served me well (new model came out in '96-'97). But with a growing family, the old Ford Escort just was not cutting it anymore. Hell, the Jeep does not cut it either but I can't get rid of that baby for a new one.
We could not bring ourselves to get a true minivan, but we needed more room. When my wife saw the 2006 Mazda5 in a mommie magazine, she really thought it would be the ticket. The car seems to have everything, 3 rows of seats, sliding rear doors, and a profile more like a wagon or SUV than a minivan. Oh, and a price below 20k!
It drove well, was pretty comfy, and we really liked the Red one she found. We decided to call it Red-5, go figure. Through my company I had an employee discount ... so I was even able to get it for invoice price with (little to) no haggle. Too bad the rest has not been that easy.
First problem: missing key. It sure seems minor now, but do you have any idea how hard it is to get a replacement key for a model car that has barley been on the lot a week? The dealer lost one, and it was a major fiasco trying to get a replacement. Two weeks and a ton of pain later it was done.
New problem: exhaust issue. We got a call from the dealer service manager last night, he said it was urgent that we get back to him ASAP about our Mazda5. It was a strange call that came in very late in the business day. I called the dealership and spoke with the sales manager that we dealt with when they lost our key. Turns out, Mazda is recalling every Mazda5 in the country due to an exhaust issue. I don't have all the specifics because I have not been able to chat with the service manager, but it seems that the exhaust design is a fire hazard and about 3 cars have allegedly caught fire. The VP of Mazda USA called the dealers and told them to get the customers out of the cars ASAFP.
Great, just freaking great! We have probably put more miles on our Mazda5 in the last month than most people in the country. We took a 2,000 mile road trip the week after we got it ... and this thing could have caught fire? Who designed this thing?
What's worse, there is no ETA on a fix for it. We could have the rental (paid for by Mazda ... she got a Subaru Outback), for a month. It seems like they are going to have to redesign the entire exhaust system in a hurry and get them replaced for all 20,000 cars in the U.S. I sure hope they get it right this time.
It's too early to tell, but there is a chance we may need to invoke the lemon law on this one. I really hope that worst case scenario does not come to pass, it would be as much of a PITA to get it done as buying the freaking car in the first place and we really do like the car. Problems aside, it is the perfect match for our family. But, if this takes more than a month to fix Red-5 we might have to consider it. We do have some protection under GA law.
Bottom line, cars suck. Animation is so much more fun.
---------
Update 9/19: The official word is posted on Ford's media site today.
STATEMENT: 2006 MAZDA5 EXHAUST SYSTEM OVERHEAT
The exhaust system of the MAZDA5 could have a safety-related problem that may cause a fire. Although only three instances have been reported, and there have been no injuries, Mazda will be initiating an aggressive campaign to repair all of the approximately 2,700 affected vehicles. Customers will receive a formal recall notification at a later date.
Mazda today began requesting all MAZDA5 owners contact their local Mazda dealers to initiate the repair process as soon as possible. Mazda will provide all customers with replacement transportation at no cost.
Discussion in the Forum.
I should have followed my gut. I always have been a believer of "never buy a car in it's first model year." My Jeep Wrangler is a '98 and it has served me well (new model came out in '96-'97). But with a growing family, the old Ford Escort just was not cutting it anymore. Hell, the Jeep does not cut it either but I can't get rid of that baby for a new one.
We could not bring ourselves to get a true minivan, but we needed more room. When my wife saw the 2006 Mazda5 in a mommie magazine, she really thought it would be the ticket. The car seems to have everything, 3 rows of seats, sliding rear doors, and a profile more like a wagon or SUV than a minivan. Oh, and a price below 20k!
It drove well, was pretty comfy, and we really liked the Red one she found. We decided to call it Red-5, go figure. Through my company I had an employee discount ... so I was even able to get it for invoice price with (little to) no haggle. Too bad the rest has not been that easy.
First problem: missing key. It sure seems minor now, but do you have any idea how hard it is to get a replacement key for a model car that has barley been on the lot a week? The dealer lost one, and it was a major fiasco trying to get a replacement. Two weeks and a ton of pain later it was done.
New problem: exhaust issue. We got a call from the dealer service manager last night, he said it was urgent that we get back to him ASAP about our Mazda5. It was a strange call that came in very late in the business day. I called the dealership and spoke with the sales manager that we dealt with when they lost our key. Turns out, Mazda is recalling every Mazda5 in the country due to an exhaust issue. I don't have all the specifics because I have not been able to chat with the service manager, but it seems that the exhaust design is a fire hazard and about 3 cars have allegedly caught fire. The VP of Mazda USA called the dealers and told them to get the customers out of the cars ASAFP.
Great, just freaking great! We have probably put more miles on our Mazda5 in the last month than most people in the country. We took a 2,000 mile road trip the week after we got it ... and this thing could have caught fire? Who designed this thing?
What's worse, there is no ETA on a fix for it. We could have the rental (paid for by Mazda ... she got a Subaru Outback), for a month. It seems like they are going to have to redesign the entire exhaust system in a hurry and get them replaced for all 20,000 cars in the U.S. I sure hope they get it right this time.
It's too early to tell, but there is a chance we may need to invoke the lemon law on this one. I really hope that worst case scenario does not come to pass, it would be as much of a PITA to get it done as buying the freaking car in the first place and we really do like the car. Problems aside, it is the perfect match for our family. But, if this takes more than a month to fix Red-5 we might have to consider it. We do have some protection under GA law.
Bottom line, cars suck. Animation is so much more fun.
---------
Update 9/19: The official word is posted on Ford's media site today.
STATEMENT: 2006 MAZDA5 EXHAUST SYSTEM OVERHEAT
The exhaust system of the MAZDA5 could have a safety-related problem that may cause a fire. Although only three instances have been reported, and there have been no injuries, Mazda will be initiating an aggressive campaign to repair all of the approximately 2,700 affected vehicles. Customers will receive a formal recall notification at a later date.
Mazda today began requesting all MAZDA5 owners contact their local Mazda dealers to initiate the repair process as soon as possible. Mazda will provide all customers with replacement transportation at no cost.
Discussion in the Forum.
I got caught last night by Naruto in a big way. I blew through 7 episodes of the show in a single sitting ... and that is a long sitting for me. Given the pace on Cartoon Network, it will take weeks to catch up with it in English. By the time I got through the first saga (the first 19 episodes), it seemed everything I knew about the show got turned on its head. Evil was good, good had evil, and I found that even the "smallest tool" deserved my empathy and respect.
If you can get through the dub on Cartoon Network, the story underneath will be worth it. I think the show will surprise many of you, it's hard to get through the saga without a lump in the throat ... at least in the original Japanese.
It's far from perfect and Naruto does have its shortcomings. There can be a little too much exposition, too much review in the beginning of each episode, and a lot of showboating by the main character. But, there is good characterization, great ninja action, and a ton of detail. Oh, and there is a good deal of blood. After watching the first two episodes in English, I don't see how they will airbrush it all out on Cartoon Network and still hold a coherent story.
Regardless, the show is really good. It has left a lasting impression on me in just a few short episodes.
The first saga centers around the newly formed Ninja Team 7 from the Leaf Village: Naruto, the orphan misfit who only aspires to be acknowledged by the entire village as the greatest ninja ever; Sasuke, Naruto's rival and highly skilled teammate; Sakura, the booksmart and pretty ninja girl; their sensei Kakashi, who hides much skill under his carefree exterior. Each of them has their strengths and weaknesses ... and despite the early bumps, they seem to work well together as a team.
However, the team ends up biting off more than they can chew with their most recent mission. Normally regulated to boring "D" class missions, Naruto fights to get a more exciting "C" class mission. These are usually reserved for more experienced ninja. In the mission, they are charged with protecting Tazuna, a bridge builder, from bandits on his journey home.
If only it were that simple. Tazuna, it seems, is in a bit more trouble than he let on. The "C" mission becomes a "B" very quickly, and when a rogue ninja called Zabuza comes hunting the bridge builder... the mission gets even harder. Ninja Team 7 finds itself in over its head, and all the members are forced to start growing up fast if they wish to survive.
And they do. The characters grow in strength and maturity and learn a lot in the process. Throughout the first saga, Naruto is finding his strength and inner voice - and learning to control the power within. Hey may yet grow into the great ninja he wants to be.
I would not want to do it too often, but I enjoyed getting caught by this series and staying up late to finish the first saga. I'm curious to see if the dub gets any better ... and in fact I'm really hoping it does. Naruto is just too good of a show to go unseen because of a poor Dub execution. I'll keep my fingers crossed for everyone.
Feel free to discuss more in the forum.
If you can get through the dub on Cartoon Network, the story underneath will be worth it. I think the show will surprise many of you, it's hard to get through the saga without a lump in the throat ... at least in the original Japanese.It's far from perfect and Naruto does have its shortcomings. There can be a little too much exposition, too much review in the beginning of each episode, and a lot of showboating by the main character. But, there is good characterization, great ninja action, and a ton of detail. Oh, and there is a good deal of blood. After watching the first two episodes in English, I don't see how they will airbrush it all out on Cartoon Network and still hold a coherent story.
Regardless, the show is really good. It has left a lasting impression on me in just a few short episodes.
The first saga centers around the newly formed Ninja Team 7 from the Leaf Village: Naruto, the orphan misfit who only aspires to be acknowledged by the entire village as the greatest ninja ever; Sasuke, Naruto's rival and highly skilled teammate; Sakura, the booksmart and pretty ninja girl; their sensei Kakashi, who hides much skill under his carefree exterior. Each of them has their strengths and weaknesses ... and despite the early bumps, they seem to work well together as a team.
However, the team ends up biting off more than they can chew with their most recent mission. Normally regulated to boring "D" class missions, Naruto fights to get a more exciting "C" class mission. These are usually reserved for more experienced ninja. In the mission, they are charged with protecting Tazuna, a bridge builder, from bandits on his journey home.
If only it were that simple. Tazuna, it seems, is in a bit more trouble than he let on. The "C" mission becomes a "B" very quickly, and when a rogue ninja called Zabuza comes hunting the bridge builder... the mission gets even harder. Ninja Team 7 finds itself in over its head, and all the members are forced to start growing up fast if they wish to survive.
And they do. The characters grow in strength and maturity and learn a lot in the process. Throughout the first saga, Naruto is finding his strength and inner voice - and learning to control the power within. Hey may yet grow into the great ninja he wants to be.
I would not want to do it too often, but I enjoyed getting caught by this series and staying up late to finish the first saga. I'm curious to see if the dub gets any better ... and in fact I'm really hoping it does. Naruto is just too good of a show to go unseen because of a poor Dub execution. I'll keep my fingers crossed for everyone.
Feel free to discuss more in the forum.
Want to pick up some Naruto Manga? Now's the time! Click the banner below and head to Rightstuf!
------------
Fall's just starting and so is the regular NFL season! In celebration, we've decided to kick it all off with a Viz sale! But regardless of whether you're getting ready to root for your favorite team or just planning on disregarding it altogether... everyone can enjoy great new Viz manga and DVDs at an incredible price!
From now until 9/18, get 40% OFF Retail price on all Viz VHS and DVDs and 33% OFF Retail price on all Viz Books!* I'd recommend you get in the spirit of the season with manga like Eyeshield 21, but of course there's always favorites like
Fullmetal Alchemist and Bleach that you don't wanna miss out on either!
How? Just use the following reusable coupon code when you check out through Rightstuf's online store:
Coupon Code: kickoff
Expires: 9/18/05
Plus, if you're a Got Anime Member, you can use your membership and score some
even greater savings!
------------
Fall's just starting and so is the regular NFL season! In celebration, we've decided to kick it all off with a Viz sale! But regardless of whether you're getting ready to root for your favorite team or just planning on disregarding it altogether... everyone can enjoy great new Viz manga and DVDs at an incredible price!
From now until 9/18, get 40% OFF Retail price on all Viz VHS and DVDs and 33% OFF Retail price on all Viz Books!* I'd recommend you get in the spirit of the season with manga like Eyeshield 21, but of course there's always favorites like
Fullmetal Alchemist and Bleach that you don't wanna miss out on either!
How? Just use the following reusable coupon code when you check out through Rightstuf's online store:
Coupon Code: kickoff
Expires: 9/18/05
Plus, if you're a Got Anime Member, you can use your membership and score some
even greater savings!
Naruto debuted on last night on Cartoon Network with the airing the first two episodes of the series in back-to-back timeslots. Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!, and My Name is Konohamaru After watching a fansub of Naruto earlier in the week, I was really looking forward to this release.
It's been a long time since I was this disappointed with a release.
I can imagine the stunned silence from my regular readers now. Simply put, I don't waste my time watching things I know I might not like, and I have yet to pan anything on Animation Unlimited. Sure I take a risk from time to time, but (and there should be little surprise here) much of what I watch has been sufficiency vetted so that I know what I am getting into. I just don't have time to waste on garbage, and that includes writing about it ... so I don't.
Naruto on the other hand, is a glaring example of everything that can go wrong in a dub. Ok, that may be a little harsh, but it's not far from it. This treatment really ticks me off because the source material is so good.
So, I'm going to make this very simple .... here is my list of Top 3 things wrong with the Naruto dub.
1) Acting - It may be too early to tell, it sometimes takes a few episodes for a VA to "find" a character, but I feel that Maile Flanagan as Naruto may be miscast. Sure, it follows in the tradition of the original to have a female play Naruto due to his age, but she seemed to be forcing the horse boyishness of his voice ... and I could not stop thinking that it was a woman playing Naruto. That thought truly never crossed my mind in the original, proving that Junko Takeuchi really "owned" the character. For the record, I was not thrilled with the other choices either, the voices just did not jell with the characters as I know them from the original. It's a shame too, they have some vets on the VA team.
2) Editing/censoring - Too much blood has been removed. I know I predicted it when I watched the original, but I don't think I realized the extent they would do it. Why in the hell would they bother removing the "pervert's nosebleed?" It's a standard convention in Anime and a running gag throughout the entire genre that, if a guy has naughty thoughts about a girl he sees, he'd get a nosebleed. Call it the equivalent of hairy palms for wackin'. They freaking took out the nosebleeds in every episode, and that ruins half the sexual gags. And I'm sorry, but if a guy gets a 3 foot shooting star stuck in his back there should be more than just a little blood. Hell there should at least be SOME blood. I know they are going to try to appeal to kids to some extent, but they are showing it in a 9:00-11:00 pm timeslot. Naruto should be at least TV PG-13, but they took it down to a PG rating. The series is going to suffer for it.
3) Theme song - It's a pet peeve of mine, but I really feel that if you are going to change the theme song of the series at all, it should at least be in the same spirit as the original. I'd rather it not be changed at all. I personally feel that the U.S. audiences have matured enough to take a little J-pop with their Anime. The original Naruto theme has a lot of emotion and feeling to it. The American one just doesn't have anything, it conveys nothing about the series. I think it is a loss.
On the bright side, the translation is good and they use the honorifics better than most.
Bottom line, I'm really not impressed with the American version of Naruto. The last dub that left such a bad taste was Record of Lodoss War .... and that is going back a lot of years. I'm really disappointed because this show has SO much potential and so much appeal, it could really be great. I'm going to give it a few more weeks before I abandon the Cartoon Network version for the fansub forever, just because I feel the series deserves it. But, I'm more than a little concerned that time is not going to change my opinion.
Feel free to discuss more in the forum.
-------
Update 11/2/2005
OK, OK, it's not as bad as I first feared. Please read Redemption: Naruto Dub Review (Episode - Kakashi: Sharingan Warrior)
It's been a long time since I was this disappointed with a release.
I can imagine the stunned silence from my regular readers now. Simply put, I don't waste my time watching things I know I might not like, and I have yet to pan anything on Animation Unlimited. Sure I take a risk from time to time, but (and there should be little surprise here) much of what I watch has been sufficiency vetted so that I know what I am getting into. I just don't have time to waste on garbage, and that includes writing about it ... so I don't. Naruto on the other hand, is a glaring example of everything that can go wrong in a dub. Ok, that may be a little harsh, but it's not far from it. This treatment really ticks me off because the source material is so good.
So, I'm going to make this very simple .... here is my list of Top 3 things wrong with the Naruto dub.
1) Acting - It may be too early to tell, it sometimes takes a few episodes for a VA to "find" a character, but I feel that Maile Flanagan as Naruto may be miscast. Sure, it follows in the tradition of the original to have a female play Naruto due to his age, but she seemed to be forcing the horse boyishness of his voice ... and I could not stop thinking that it was a woman playing Naruto. That thought truly never crossed my mind in the original, proving that Junko Takeuchi really "owned" the character. For the record, I was not thrilled with the other choices either, the voices just did not jell with the characters as I know them from the original. It's a shame too, they have some vets on the VA team.
2) Editing/censoring - Too much blood has been removed. I know I predicted it when I watched the original, but I don't think I realized the extent they would do it. Why in the hell would they bother removing the "pervert's nosebleed?" It's a standard convention in Anime and a running gag throughout the entire genre that, if a guy has naughty thoughts about a girl he sees, he'd get a nosebleed. Call it the equivalent of hairy palms for wackin'. They freaking took out the nosebleeds in every episode, and that ruins half the sexual gags. And I'm sorry, but if a guy gets a 3 foot shooting star stuck in his back there should be more than just a little blood. Hell there should at least be SOME blood. I know they are going to try to appeal to kids to some extent, but they are showing it in a 9:00-11:00 pm timeslot. Naruto should be at least TV PG-13, but they took it down to a PG rating. The series is going to suffer for it.
3) Theme song - It's a pet peeve of mine, but I really feel that if you are going to change the theme song of the series at all, it should at least be in the same spirit as the original. I'd rather it not be changed at all. I personally feel that the U.S. audiences have matured enough to take a little J-pop with their Anime. The original Naruto theme has a lot of emotion and feeling to it. The American one just doesn't have anything, it conveys nothing about the series. I think it is a loss.
On the bright side, the translation is good and they use the honorifics better than most.
Bottom line, I'm really not impressed with the American version of Naruto. The last dub that left such a bad taste was Record of Lodoss War .... and that is going back a lot of years. I'm really disappointed because this show has SO much potential and so much appeal, it could really be great. I'm going to give it a few more weeks before I abandon the Cartoon Network version for the fansub forever, just because I feel the series deserves it. But, I'm more than a little concerned that time is not going to change my opinion.
Feel free to discuss more in the forum.
-------
Update 11/2/2005
OK, OK, it's not as bad as I first feared. Please read Redemption: Naruto Dub Review (Episode - Kakashi: Sharingan Warrior)
I normally don't watch fansubs when a release is pending, but given the timeliness of this show I could not pass this one up.
On Saturday, September 10, Naruto will air for the first time in North America on Cartoon Network. The first two episodes (Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!, My Name is Konohamaru) will air at 9:00 pm and 9:30 pm and repeat again at 10:00 pm and 10:30 pm. My coworker insisted I borrow his subbed version of it and insisted that I would like it.
He was right, this might just be the next big thing.
Naruto is a young orphan misfit who aspires to be the most powerful ninja in his village. His skills are raw, and he might not make it though his training, but he is determined to succeed and has a lot of heart.
He is also a bit of an idiot.
After watching the first four episodes subtitled, I'm very interested to see what kind of job they do dubbing this thing. There is a teaser on Cartoon Network.com, but it is too short to get a good feel for how it turns out. The quality of the sub was quite good, and I really enjoyed the original Japanese voice actors. I really hope they do it justice.
The story was quite good. In the first two episodes we are introduced to Naruto and some of the other characters. We find out that Naruto harbors a dark past that even he does not know, and he is shunned by everyone in the village. He is prone to acting out in order to get attention, even at his own expense. He is easily misled though, and that gets him into a bit of trouble.
I'm sure they are going to need to edit out some of the blood, and perhaps some of the language.
It is entirely too early to tell, but it seems like the other characters seem pretty interesting. Sasuke, Naruto's rival and teammate, is really interested in only one thing ... revenge. Sakura, Naruto's other teammate, is only interested in Sasuke ... which is unfortunate for Naruto since he really likes her. Their sensei, Kakashi, hides much skill under his carefree exterior ... which is the opposite of his old teacher Iruka. Throw in Konohamaru, a homicidal grade schooler, and you have enough of a mix for the first few episodes.
Smarter, better paced, and funnier than Dragonball, I really think Naruto is going to strike a real cord with American audiences. People always love the misfit underdog, and Naruto fits that description very well. From what I have seen, this show has some real potential ... watching Naruto grow from a misfit scallywag into a ninja to be reckoned with should be a lot of fun. Let the training begin!
Feel free to discuss more in the forum.
On Saturday, September 10, Naruto will air for the first time in North America on Cartoon Network. The first two episodes (Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!, My Name is Konohamaru) will air at 9:00 pm and 9:30 pm and repeat again at 10:00 pm and 10:30 pm. My coworker insisted I borrow his subbed version of it and insisted that I would like it.
He was right, this might just be the next big thing.
Naruto is a young orphan misfit who aspires to be the most powerful ninja in his village. His skills are raw, and he might not make it though his training, but he is determined to succeed and has a lot of heart.He is also a bit of an idiot.
After watching the first four episodes subtitled, I'm very interested to see what kind of job they do dubbing this thing. There is a teaser on Cartoon Network.com, but it is too short to get a good feel for how it turns out. The quality of the sub was quite good, and I really enjoyed the original Japanese voice actors. I really hope they do it justice.
The story was quite good. In the first two episodes we are introduced to Naruto and some of the other characters. We find out that Naruto harbors a dark past that even he does not know, and he is shunned by everyone in the village. He is prone to acting out in order to get attention, even at his own expense. He is easily misled though, and that gets him into a bit of trouble.
I'm sure they are going to need to edit out some of the blood, and perhaps some of the language.
It is entirely too early to tell, but it seems like the other characters seem pretty interesting. Sasuke, Naruto's rival and teammate, is really interested in only one thing ... revenge. Sakura, Naruto's other teammate, is only interested in Sasuke ... which is unfortunate for Naruto since he really likes her. Their sensei, Kakashi, hides much skill under his carefree exterior ... which is the opposite of his old teacher Iruka. Throw in Konohamaru, a homicidal grade schooler, and you have enough of a mix for the first few episodes.
Smarter, better paced, and funnier than Dragonball, I really think Naruto is going to strike a real cord with American audiences. People always love the misfit underdog, and Naruto fits that description very well. From what I have seen, this show has some real potential ... watching Naruto grow from a misfit scallywag into a ninja to be reckoned with should be a lot of fun. Let the training begin!
Feel free to discuss more in the forum.
I'm breaking from our usual programming to bring you a copy of a letter I wrote to my Congressperson, Cythia McKinney, and Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson. I try to stay non-political on this site, but the events of this past week have been too much to ignore.
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Like most Americans, I have been watching the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina all week long. Like many of them, I'm just disgusted at how inept our government has been in getting help to the region.
It's a failure of the Bush Administration, a failure of FEMA, a failure of the Department of Homeland Security, and a failure of this government. There is no excuse for the slow reaction to this tragedy.
Those Americans in the path of the storm were left to die. The rich got out, the poor had no way to leave. The busses that started to arrive on Saturday should have been there long before.
"No One Can Say they Didn't See it Coming." There have been ample warnings that this scenario could come to pass. In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war. A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study how New Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic hurricane, but the Bush administration ordered that the research not be undertaken. Here is the article if you have not seen it.
The evidence is damning, the outcome is inexcusable.
Where the hell was the National Guard? Too many of them from the region are in Iraq. Where the hell were the airlifted supplies? If they can drop sandbags, they can drop food and water. Where the hell was the President? He was on vacation playing golf after the Hurricane struck. Where the hell has the Vice-President been since his last declaration that things in Iraq were going well? I have not seen anything of note out of him in months ... he should be helping too. And most of all, where the hell is the Department of Homeland Security?
You know, it almost took us less time to get to Baghdad than it has to respond to this American crisis. The government should have had ships and personnel on standby when they saw a storm 400 miles across with 175 mph winds headed to a city built BELOW sea level. It's just mind boggling to me how slow the government moved in the face of a national crisis.
What if Katrina were a terrorist attack? What if it was a Nuke? You don't see those things coming. After this debacle, I have Zero confidence that if a terrorist attack were to strike Atlanta that the bloated Department of Homeland Security would be able to get up off its rear and help us in any amount of time that mattered.
This should be a real wake up call to you, our leaders in D.C., that things are not going well, and the government is not prepared to protect us in the event of a tragedy. I feel my tax dollars are being wasted, that my chunk of the billions and billions in the national budget is going to the wrong place.
I hope things change soon for all of our sakes. I promise you I will work to change things for the better during the midterm elections next year. I will make my vote and my contributions count.
More discussion and information in the forum.
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Like most Americans, I have been watching the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina all week long. Like many of them, I'm just disgusted at how inept our government has been in getting help to the region.
It's a failure of the Bush Administration, a failure of FEMA, a failure of the Department of Homeland Security, and a failure of this government. There is no excuse for the slow reaction to this tragedy.
Those Americans in the path of the storm were left to die. The rich got out, the poor had no way to leave. The busses that started to arrive on Saturday should have been there long before.
"No One Can Say they Didn't See it Coming." There have been ample warnings that this scenario could come to pass. In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war. A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study how New Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic hurricane, but the Bush administration ordered that the research not be undertaken. Here is the article if you have not seen it.
The evidence is damning, the outcome is inexcusable.
Where the hell was the National Guard? Too many of them from the region are in Iraq. Where the hell were the airlifted supplies? If they can drop sandbags, they can drop food and water. Where the hell was the President? He was on vacation playing golf after the Hurricane struck. Where the hell has the Vice-President been since his last declaration that things in Iraq were going well? I have not seen anything of note out of him in months ... he should be helping too. And most of all, where the hell is the Department of Homeland Security?
You know, it almost took us less time to get to Baghdad than it has to respond to this American crisis. The government should have had ships and personnel on standby when they saw a storm 400 miles across with 175 mph winds headed to a city built BELOW sea level. It's just mind boggling to me how slow the government moved in the face of a national crisis.
What if Katrina were a terrorist attack? What if it was a Nuke? You don't see those things coming. After this debacle, I have Zero confidence that if a terrorist attack were to strike Atlanta that the bloated Department of Homeland Security would be able to get up off its rear and help us in any amount of time that mattered.
This should be a real wake up call to you, our leaders in D.C., that things are not going well, and the government is not prepared to protect us in the event of a tragedy. I feel my tax dollars are being wasted, that my chunk of the billions and billions in the national budget is going to the wrong place.
I hope things change soon for all of our sakes. I promise you I will work to change things for the better during the midterm elections next year. I will make my vote and my contributions count.
More discussion and information in the forum.
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