Detective Conan Subbed

For the past few years the majority of the time I've spent watching Anime Subbed has been Detective Conan.  That's a franchise I got into via a decent chunk being Dubbed, and what is Dubbed I've mostly still only watched Dubbed unless the Dub didn't exist yet when I first watched it.  The exceptions to that being just a handful of early FUNimation episodes.

Of the theatrically released movies that only ones I haven't watched Subbed are the ones that were already Dubbed when I first got into Detective Conan in early 2022, plus the most recent one I haven't seen at all yet.  Those being the first 6 movies and movies 19-23.

This will soon changed as it's now confirmed TMS is putting Countdown to Heaven the fifth movies on YouTube Subbed. I intend to watch it each movies when it's on YouTube, I may not always be able to make the Saturday Evening premier, but some time in the following Week I with it on YouTube. So it looks like that means all of the first 6 movies I'll be watching Subbed finally.

Watching something Subbed is easier when I've already seen it, I already know the gist at least of what is going to be said.  4 of the first 6 movies I've watched 4 times each now, the other two twice each all the way through.  One of this four is Countdown to Heaven.

I honestly am kind of excited, watching movies I already love a great dela in a new way.  I'm pretty sure the DVDs I own also have Subs, but even if I did watch those they would probably be different from hat TMS is about to put on YouTube.

I am of course not opposed to the films being Redubbed with the new Cast on Netflix, though I would prioritize trying to make Dubs for ones not Dubbed yet.

Weird phrasing that only happens in English Translations of Anime.

The first big one of these is “Thanks a lot”.  In my experience in any context but Anime that exact phrasing is always sarcastic. But it’s used for genuine expressions of gratitude in English Dubs of Anime all the time.  However even after being highly into Anime and noticing this for nearly a decade now my ears still can’t get used to hearing it being used non sarcastically.

Another is “That’s my line”, again anywhere other than Anime that phrase would be associated with borrowing someone else’s catchphrase. But in Anime Dubs it is often used with a clear intended meaning of “that’s what I was about to say” or “that’s what I should be saying” or something like that.  And again even though I've been consuming Anime doing this for years I still can't really get used it.

In both these cases I think it’s largely a product of Dubs needing to match the Lip Flaps.

However the Hentai example I have I don’t think I've encountered in Dubs, it’s all been Subs and Doujin Scanlations. 

Sex Friend and Sex Friends when plural.

This really feels like an example of text translations in a hurry jumping to use the first result Google Translate would give and sticking with that.  Especially since most of these Sex Friendships I’ve seen it used for do not seem very friendly.

I usually try to avoid profanities on this blog, but all the suggestions for what should be said instead of Sex Friend are pretty Profane.  So I apologize.

Fuck Buddy and Fuck Buddies for plural are perfectly synonymous with Sex Friend/Sex Friends but are terms English speakers actually use in such contexts.

In some cases though even that isn't right for the tone of what’s actually going on.  It sometimes feels more like “personal slut” or “fuck toy” is the intended connotation.

Continuity Lock Out is an overrated concern.

This is post is possibly largely repeating things I've already said, but it bears repeating in light of what is my concern this month.

I first got into reading comics picking random issues from the Death and Return of Superman storyline, and the first episode of Buffy I watched was This Year's Girl.  The allusions to continuity I didn't understand didn't make me go "I'm so confused I can't follow all this stuff" they made me curious about the continuity and want to know more. 

And I know I'm not alone, I've seen people express similar memories for how they got into DC Comics, and I know from the Sailor Business podcast that someone once got into Sailor Moon from Crystal Clear Destiny being the first episode she watched.

This is why I have no hesitation in suggesting the Detective Conan episodes currently on Netflix can be a great entry point for new fans.  Yes there are allusions to events from episodes not on there, but nothing that actually difficult to follow.  Any one of these cases could make a perfectly adequate jumping on point. 

My own Detective Conan experience has been largely jumping around and not even trying to watch them in order. 

What I said in June still stands, I do wish TMS however limited they're going to be in what they Dub would at least get absolutely everything Subbed somewhere.

But either way, I continue to recommend absolutely everyone watch the episodes on Netflix. Or even start with the 3rd one on Netflix since the first two episodes have some early instalment weirdness to them (and the first has some Fanservice I promise the rest of the show doesn't do).

Update: Here is a recent Bluesky post with a similar sentiment.

https://bsky.app/profile/ladyemily.nebula.tv/post/3lwsnbeqtr22p

Now is the time to finally get into Detective Conan

I know a lot of people potentially interested are overwhelming by how massive it's episode count is, and also how little of it is available in the U.S. in an official capacity.  But the new project TMS is doing is designed make it accessible to potential new fans, especially if you follow it in real time start starting on July 3rd.

https://tmsanime.com/news/detective-conan-coming-to-crunchyroll-netflix

It's not exactly the strategy I would have used, but I think it should be good enough.

If you have both Crunchyroll and Netflix I would advise prioritize Netflix because they're quicker to cancel a project if it doesn't immedicably show very high numbers very fast. So please give them your traffic first. Even join Netflix specifically for this if you can.

I am concerned by wording others overlook that imply the new Dub might only be on Netflix.  I know I said last I'm not particularly for this Show, but if it is getting a new for this select batch of episodes, Netflix is where the casuals who's need a Dub are more likely to be.

I'm trying to remain cautious in my optimism.  YouTube having only one Movie at a time is a disappointment, but I imagine they will be releasing them digitally or something afterwards.  

I've also noticed noting in the section on the movies promising Dubs, only the series itself.  Which is fine I've gotten particularly used to watching Conan movies Subbed. 

I do wish they went through the movies in order rather then this random one. The first two are recent ones that I do not consider the best first impression of what Cinematic  Conan can be. Countdown to Heaven however is a great film from the Golden Age of Conan films, so that finally being up in an accessible fashion within a month is great. 

I'm also not setting my expectation to high for how many episodes we'll get.  I'm even prepared for the July 3rd bath specifically to have as few as 10, though I hope it's a lot more.  And I also hope unlike the failed Tubi project there will be a more set predictable schedule of when we'll get more episodes. 

Regardless, I implore even remotely interested in any of the Genre Conan fits into to take this opportunity and finally give a show a chance. Trust me that once you get into it it'll be worth it.