Tag: Profiles

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What is @fildub?

I asked @fildub 3 questions – Obviously, there were follow-ups.

It all started with a tweet: When TV5 AniMEGA referred to our subject in one of their tweets, I knew I had to ask questions.

Hi everyone! While I’m away from the keyboard at the moment, let me tell you about this project called @fildub, which has gradually made a quaint community on Twitter — and eventually, it got noticed by a major TV network’s anime block (let’s just say that the ones who handle the block’s social media handles are very cool because they know what’s up in the anime-viewing community and how to approach it).

Long story short, @fildub is where local anime fans gush on Filipino-dubbed anime in the time where hugot (feels) and implying are prevalent. I was able to talk to its moderator this week,and I asked her three questions first — of course, I followed up with a few more questions.

When did you decided to build @fildub and why?

If I recall correctly, it was the around the time of the first run of the Free! dub? In late 2015. There was a ridiculously funny pun, which was so unbelievable to my ears that I had to look for people watching and confirm it from them!

But good luck doing that in Facebook. It was easier to search Twitter, and eventually I decided I’ll just make an account to talk about the funny/interesting/“hugot” translations from Filipino dubs and hopefully interact with other fans.

What can you say about the voice acting and localization industries now compared to these before, in your perspective?

I’m answering this as an outsider looking in (into the industry) so things might not be entirely accurate. But, one: there seems to be more voice actors now, and not just for anime, because there are a lot of dubbed foreign shows/movies being aired (a trend set by TV5, no?). More dubbing studios too, and these studios hold their own workshops and auditions, so I think it’s an exciting time to get into voice acting!

As for localization, I’ve heard (somebody please confirm this) that more anime are being translated from English subtitles (provided by the licensor) and not from Japanese audio anymore. So from Japanese to English, then English to Filipino, that’s already two levels of translation — and possibly two degrees of meaning loss.

Now that TV5 mentioned Fildub, what are your plans? I took note of the current inactivity now, but may I ask how long the inactivity will be?

Mind you, I didn’t come up with the term. Oldies like me (and you?) used “Tagalog dub,” “Filipino dub,” or even “PH dub,” and it was only through Twitter I discovered that the young ones refer to them as “Fildub” nowadays (convenient too; only two syllables!). So that was a surprise when TV5 invited us “ka fildub”! That’s the first time a channel acknowledged us viewers from this side of the internet. I don’t know if they have any plans, but for @fildub, I’ll just keep on doing what I usually do.

“So that was a surprise when TV5 invited us “ka fildub”! That’s the first time a channel acknowledged us viewers from this side of the internet.”

Right now, I’m keeping up only with Attack on Titan: Junior High and Voltron: Legendary Defender from all the dubbed anime on TV so that’s what I’ll keep tweeting about, or at least try to. I’ve been busy with work recently so I might not be able to watch with everyone live, but I’m recording them so I can watch at a more convenient time. Regular posting will return in a few weeks. (Sorry, @fildub is currently a one-person team, but if anyone’s interested in co-running then hit me up!)

But watch out, @fildub might come to your local con soon! ;)

I was curious about the entry of @fildub to cons. Any hint which month you may appear?

Ay di naman con. Smaller events. March.

What is the one thing that’s common in the @fildub fanbase so far?

This is difficult to answer. *laughs* Viewers of dubbed series have varied opinions — at least those on my feed — but, one thing the majority want, is a way to watch these dubs online.

Now that we got a better gist of what @fildub is, I hope this post answers some of your questions that were not covered in its own FAQ section online, in case you want to get to know its key terms (that includes Oikawa from Haikyuu!!). Looking forward to see it in person soon.

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NCR Teams: Let’s get it on!

How World Cosplay Summit Philippines’ NCR Teams are doing now that it’s only a week before the National Finals?

[Left] Team JBF and [Right] Team COSAGA

The World Cosplay Summit Philippines National Finals will be held in Davao next Saturday, July 2. Eight teams will be competing for the right to represent the country at the Summit’s World Cosplay Championship at Nagoya this August.

WCSPH 2016 National Finals on July 2 in Davao

Two of the eight teams come from NCR — Team COSAGA and Team JBF. I was able to have a chat with Naru (from COSAGA) and Paul Mark Sabangan (from JBF) on what they are doing at the moment, and what they are looking forward to before the big day.

Profile

“I’ve been cosplaying for 7 years while Karlonne has been cosplaying for more than a decade already. We first met at Mega Con 2010 where I was cosplaying Zidane Tribal from Final Fantasy IX, and Karlonne [Santos, Naru’s tag-team partner] was cosplaying Warrior of Light from FF Dissidia. It was at that time when we decided to form a Dissidia Duodecim group,” Naru said.

JBF’s Sabangan also said that they’ve been cosplaying for 7 years. To note, JBF is the name of the cosplay craft shop that is formed by Joseph Galicia, Benok Quijano and Francis Veloso, who is also being commissioned to make armor costumes — including Cosplay.ph’s Pablo Bairan, who is very happy with the costume maker’s results. Torres’ tag-team partner is Dyerik Torres.

Beginnings

Photo: Ivan Poquiz

Team COSAGA started online. “It started like any normal Facebook cosplay group that banded together for common interests — in particular, Final Fantasy Dissidia. […] Since most games and anime that have fantasy genres end up as series and sagas, from that old cosplay group, it became known as COSPLAY + SAGA = COSAGA. So far, the only members who are active in joining contests and competitions are me and Karlonne.”

Team JBF, on the other hand, started with friends. “Nag-start ang JBF sa pagkakaibigan tapos nahilig kami sa paggawa ng costumes at mag cosplay at napag-desisyonang sumali sa ibat-ibang mga group and individual competition.” [JBF started as a group of friends, then we got hooked in making costumes and do cosplay, and we decided to join different group and individual competitions.]

COSAGA’s activity as an online group dwindled. She and her groupmates had to decide if it will stay or not. “Most members at that time grew inactive for so many years. Karlonne and a few others, including myself, thought it was a waste to disband the group. Instead, cosplayers who were able to make progress with their costumes put up a vote on renaming the group instead.”

Challenges

“There are so many amazing cosplayers the both of us know and do not know who we are competing against.”

I asked both teams about the most challenging part of joining the WCSPH qualifiers.

Naru told me, “Pressure. There are so many amazing cosplayers the both of us know and do not know who we are competing against. It’s pretty hard to focus on enjoying the experience knowing that everyone’s gonna step up their game.”

https://www.facebook.com/leedanecos/videos/1354286747931081/?t=0

She also gave her analysis of the situation. “The Luzon reps have to up their game because it’s somehow a foreign land to us. It’s the Visayas reps’ first time to be part of the finals round. The Mindanao reps have to defend their ground of being Philippines’ consecutive representatives in the championships. So everyone’s feeling a little pressured right now at some point. What helps through this ordeal is essentially our love for what we do — which is cosplay. So we try to mask our pressure by putting on our costumes and portraying our roles.”

Sabangan said the same. “The most challenging part ay yung makipagcompete at makipagsabayan sa ibat-ibang group at sa mga magagaling na cosplayers.” [The most challenging part is that we will be competing against other groups and excellent cosplayers.]

Preparation

“Practice and practice and enough practice.”

How both teams prepare for the upcoming National Finals? With the grand finals being held in Davao — a first for a major competition — COSAGA, which will do a skit from Magic Knight Rayearth, troubleshoots the challenges that they are facing along the way.

“We are actually more focused more on how our props and costumes will be shipped via plane since finals will be at Mindanao. It’s a little terrifying to think that our costumes will be handled by other baggage staff at the airport, so we are really trying to improve the durability of Karlonne’s mecha costume and my armor and props.”

“As for our performance, Karlonne and I have been practicing our skit with parts of our costume so we can know what parts should be improved, especially when they break down easily during the skit. We try to repair as much as we can so that when the actual date comes, we’ll be ready.”

Team JBF, who will be doing a skit from the Kamen Rider series, puts more emphasis on “Practice and practice and enough practice.”

Feelings

The two teams are part of the finalists’ roster, so how do they feel right now? COSAGA is so thankful for the opportunity. “Honestly, we’re overwhelmed and excited because the date is coming near. It’s a far off city from NCR and we don’t know much about the people and surroundings there. I honestly haven’t been to Davao myself and I have so many butterflies in my stomach! I’m just thankful that the other NCR team, Team JBF, and a few [Best of Anime] staff will be there with us.”

Photo: Pef Decena, Pefdgraphy

“To be honest, we’ve been thinking a lot about the outcome of this experience and we can thoroughly say this will be an experience of a lifetime for both me and my partner. Being a finalist is already a winning trophy for us and we’re seeing the Davao finals as the prize. We are so thankful to be chosen as NCR’s representatives! We hope to not disappoint the cosplayers of Davao with our performance in the finals as well.”

As for JBF, they are so excited. “Sobrang excited kami na ipakita ng Team JBF ang kaya naming gawin sa stage.” [We are so excited to show what we can do on the competition stage.]

To the Fans

Naru has already hinted that this could be the last time they’ll be joining a major competition with Santos as Team COSAGA, but is nevertheless thankful for the support. “You guys are undeniably our source of strength in this whole experience! To be able to represent you is an honor and we will bring out our whole being into this competition with the goal of enjoying to the fullest in mind! We may not be able to promise the championship, but be sure as hell we’ll deliver an awesome performance!”

“Karlonne and I will both give it all we’ve got since this might be our last competition together. Nevertheless, we are absolutely thankful to you all for being our cheer squads and battle cries!”

As for JBF, “Maraming maraming salamat sa suporta samin. Mabigo man kami [o] manalo, babawi at babawi kami; ipapakita namin ang kaya naming gawin hindi lang sa Pilipinas pati na din sa ibang bansa kung papalarin.” [Thank you very much for the support. Win or lose, we will push through; we will show what we can do not just in the Philippines but in others countries as well, if luck’s with us.]

Supporters of the NCR teams are encouraged to use these photos as their profile pictures on social media. The links to high-resolutions copies are found here:

Everyone is also encouraged to spread the word about World Cosplay Summit Philippines even before the National Finals by sending tweets and/or updates using the hashtag #WCSPH or #WCSPH2016.

[Post edited 25 Jun at 8:19. I stated before that Torres answered the questions in behalf of JBF but I was informed that it was Sabangan who answered it. Prior to this, I credited the wrong person in one of the photos, which was called to my attention last night. Both of which has been corrected. Sorry for the trouble.]

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I saw FLOW, and here’s what we’ve talked about

Hi, everyone. To be honest, I wasn’t able to pick a better title for this post, but let me tell you that yours truly were among the ones who are granted by Otakuzine Anime Magazine to do an interview with Japanese band FLOW during Ozine Fest 2016’s first day.

Let’s get to the questions that the media have asked FLOW before they met their fans on this quick post. This is just a quick gist, so don’t expect much.

How did you find Filipino fans so far?

The band hasn’t met them yet (they did afterwards), but there are a lot of Filipino fans commenting on their social media pages and band would like to meet them.

What is music for FLOW?

To the band, music is their life and energy.

What was your impression when you came to the Philippines?

“It’s so hot.” Our comrade Ray-an from AnimePH Project explained that this is the first time the country got so hot like this — by so hot I mean we’re almost “40 degrees celsius” hot. They also said that the sky is especially blue.

What are your musical inspirations?

They’re inspired by other musicians and the fans that enjoy what they do on stage.

What do you do when you’re writing a song?

They take into consideration the theme of the medium that they will compose a song to.

What have you felt after recording “COLORS”?

They did a South American tour and they saw signs that say “JIBUN WOOOOO,” and that’s where they felt that they’ve sent their message to the world. They were surprised when they saw that.

What do they feel about non-Japanese fans singing to their songs?

They feel glad about it, especially if that was the moment the ones listening to their music decided to learn more about the Japanese language

Which are your favorite songs that you sang?

Here’s some of their answers:

Will you have new songs?

They said they’re doing a song for Tales of Zestiria (the anime) and Tales of Berseria (the game). They also said to check their homepage for updates.

Do they focus on one Genre?

The band’s music is a mix of various genres, and they don’t focus on just only one genre.

Any messages to the fans? (Before the concert)

This is their first time in the country, and they will do their best to make the fans enjoy the moment. Hope that this won’t be the last.

FLOW’s blog now has a posts from their stay in the country. Thank you to the guys at Otakuzine for trusting me to join them in this interview, and thanks to AnimePH Project and the other guys who accompanied me to this.

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A short conversation with “Pepeng Chaika”

(Originally published on Deremoe on October 9, 2014.)

We got interested with this Facebook page that also contributed to raising the issue of the “No Ticket, No Entry” policy that we have talked about weeks ago, and it goes by the name of JejeCostplayer PH. I was able to talk to the main guy behind it, Pepeng Chaika, a week before Best of Anime 2014. I was supposed to post the transcript verbatim but I decided to let the whole world know that this guy exists.

When did the JejeCostplayer PH Facebook page started, and how was it conceptualized?

I’m seeing a lot of bullsh*ttry in the Cosplay community these days; the ones that makes you speak the vulgarity no matter how kind you are. Regardless of what I post on my Facebook wall, nobody notices, because I am only an individual that posts his own status update. So I thought I’ll make a page instead.

The name should be catchy if possible to get the audience that I need for me to be heard. It was supposed to be a hobby, just for fun. If noticed, its format is similar to the Teenage Pinoy Crap and the Put*ngIna mo din Facebook pages, because I agree in their format. People will not learn if you make sweet talk. they are tougher nowadays so you need to throw a tougher stone for them to wake them up; something that will really hurt them if that’s possible.

Who is Pepeng Chaika?

It’s Pepeng Chaika. In short, it’s José Rizal with Chaika’s face applied into it; I placed Chaika’s face because hers is trending. Rizal is our national hero. Nationalistic. Filipino. Then Chaika comes in, bringing in the Otaku sense. If you mix them both, it’s feels funny but the meaning is whole. [The JejeCostplayer Facebook page] is a Filipino page about a part of the Otaku community, specifically — or mostly about — the Cosplay community.

What is your opinion in Cosplay in the Philippines?

It’s crap. SUPER CRAP. Way back then, Cosplayers had to effort because they have no wig at that time. Nowadays, you can buy one and voila! Effortless. It’s all about the cash, looks and sexiness. Sometimes they look like fools but they aren’t even noticing because their fapatics are fueling them.

Seriously, once that the youth Cosplays, they get addicted. Cosplay is the only thing that are thinking about; not what the quiz for tomorrow is, but what wig they will buy. Cosplay is a hobby, not an addiction. It is supposed to satisfy yourself after a hardwork but it is different nowadays. Cosplayers are now fighting each other. [The sight of ] it hurts. They are simply overreacting, complaining and such.

I don’t even know if their parents are guiding them or they don’t want to be guided because they have been over with Anime, always feeling like a hero. But maybe, we don’t know if our community will be sorted out. If ever it is sorted out in the future, then good. But from what I see now? Nah. They also undermine each other. They’re also cheapskates and they don’t help each other. They’re being selfish.

But according to the book The Prince (if you have read it), for the community to be fixed, it has to be destroyed to start a new one. It’s like Lelouch’s [Lamperouge, Code Geass] peg. But in the excessive immaturity of the community today? Even if you ask to ban Cosplay, there will still be people who will react; and they will still react. I don’t really know, but I can’t say anything positive about our Cosplay community; but I still don’t lose hope.

I have a follow-up: If you will see one day that the Cosplay community will be better — no royalty, no mainstream touch, just the basics — will you disappear?

It’s basically impossible, as in; it’s NONE, actually. But if it ever occurred that there is a .00000000001% of a possibility that it could happen, I think I won’t disappear. In any case that I disappear, there will be someone who will follow me, and id that someone disappears, there will still be another one. This is because the purpose of my page is not just to criticize, to entertain and to preach. There is no limit to man’s desire to entertain and preach.

One more thing — I’ll give you a list of names. Tell me what do you feel about them.

Alodia Gosiengfiao. — I don’t feel her. She has the same face for each of her Cosplays, no offense; but her Alice in Wonderland Cosplay is cute. Also, I’ve noticed before that she doesn’t dance well; watch her Hare Hare Yukai dance. Now, woah, she has an album and she knows how to pose well!

Myrtle Gail Sarrosa. — I don’t like to watch TV, but one time I saw her and I am nauseated with her acting and even singing. It’s good that Channel 2 [ABS-CBN] got her as a talent. Her Cosplays are so-so; and when she was not that famous, she was interviewed on Hero TV, with [dental] braces attached at that time. She said that she doesn’t know what character she is Cosplaying… something like that.

Jin Joson. — Her Kenshin looks cool.

Mike Abundo. — He’s known as a pervert right? What about him? I don’t give a damn about him :’))Though if you are desperate to be popular, you know who to stick to. Just make sure you are a girl.

Cosplay.ph. — Too much Reika and Kaname. [Editor’s note: It is noted that Pepeng Chaika has offended fans of Reika after Cosplay Mania has been held.]

Don Robert Torio. — It’s [the] Iron Man [Cosplayer].

Christian Umali. — These guys [Don Robert and Christian] are comrades, right? Anyways,I usually see him with his armor which has moving accessories [War Machine]. I haven’t talked to him personally. To be honest, I’m had difficulty on what to discuss with them, because I am losing interest to them. So I pretty much think to myself. Powerful, eh.

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How was it to be a Dubbing Director?

[Screengrab from The Voicemaster on YouTube]

Aside from having a short chat with Belldandy, I was able to talk with a name in the Anime localization industry — Hero TV’s Dubbing Director Pinky Rebucas. Pinky has been in the voice acting industry since 1998, and her voice has been in a lot of series. I was supposed to ask this while they were on stage but unfortunately due to time constraints they had to cut the interaction segment out of the segment.

Here’s a transliterated transcript of the short chat I had with her.

Jay: What made you a dubbing director?
Pinky Rebucas: At first, of course, experience. Way, way back 1998, I dub in any series, Korean series, cartoons, even until Anime came; so, experience.

I also do the script and handle the voice actors especially if we are only with ourselves inside the booth. It is experience that shaped me to be a dubbing director.

Jay: What was your most memorable experience when it comes to Anime?
PR: Actually, the scenes. Knowing Anime, you feel clueless when there are a lot of scenes, so it’s shocking because at times you will ask “wait a moment,” and something like that, so that’s a bit challenging and something I can’t forget since I’m doing cartoons, Korean series, etc… and the character designs are cute; and the story itself — there’s something different in the stories of Anime series.

Jay: What is the most memorable scenes in an Anime series that you directed in your stint as a dubbing director so far?
PR: When I’m doing [the Hero TV broadcast of] Code Geass.

It feels memorable since the source material has a different catch — it surprised me on what power Lelouch Lamperouge has compared to the cute-type or love stories that I’ve handled. Also, Kyou Kara Maou. It has a bit of a man-to-man relationship that appears in the series.

Jay: Let’s move on to the challenges that you face as a dubbing director for Anime series. What was so far the biggest criticism that you have ever received?
PR: To be honest, none so far.
Jay: Thank goodness, thank goodness.
PR: Yes, none so far, so I’m happy that fans love the Anime series itself and they liked how we localized it to Filipino, and I’m so happy for that.

Jay: Moving back to Code Geass, would that be also the most difficult or challenging role that you did?
PR: Ah, there are different levels of difficulty so I can’t answer if that was the most difficult or what, but casting, yes. Code Geass has lots of characters, and there are times that all of them speak simultaneously.

Compared to [my direction of] My Bride is a Mermaid that everyone speaks but it’s for fun; the story is fun, Code Geass is serious, so we have a marker full of the lines, the terms used; so thinking [of a way to deliver it] is necessary.

\I have a Japanese translator with me to explain that this is it, this is what that character is supposed to say, and that should sync in [with the animation], and I have to come up with a good argument [dialogue] for that.

Jay: So far, what’s the latest series that you have?
PR: Right now, I’m doing Kyou Kara Maou Season 3, and please do wait for [a localized] Code Geass movie [OVA to be aired soon].
Jay: In your voice acting side, do you have any roles that you are doing right now?
PR: Yes, I have. i also dub for Kyou Kara Maou as Ulric, and I just finished dubbing a lot of characters… [*checks list*] so I have Misaka from To Aru Kagaku no Railgun —
Jay: Misaka Mikoto, yes, good, …
PR: Then on Code Geass, I dubbed Nunnally and Cornelia, which will be on the OVA, […] and also, Date A Live’s Yoshino.
Jay: Yoshino, not Yoshinon.
PR: Yes [Yoshino]; no, no [not Yoshinon].

If you want to know more about Pinky’s roles, you can check her Anime News Network Encyclopedia entry.

This post is part of the Fantasm 2014 coverage that Deremoe did when it was pretty much alive and kicking.