Shin Chan vs american adult shows

K

Krazi3

New member
On the eve of the FUNimation's new season of Shin Chan. I have the show on my mind, how does Shin compare to the american adult shows like South Park, Family Guy, The Simpsons, Robot Chicken, etc?

Where would rate Shin Chan to its american pears? I think it is as good as any of those shows. I am not saying Shin Chan is better, just on par with them. Most of them could learn a thing or two from Shin Chan.

Only the Simpsons has been on the air longer than Shin. I love the way its humor is simple yet brillant at the same time. And while it is a comedy, once in a while you have real dramatic moment. It does balence very well.

PS: I didn't put it in the Anime board, because this is a general discussion about the cartoon world, not exclussive to Anime, even though the show in question is Anime. I want a larger audience for this discussion. If I was just comparing Shin Chan to other Animes, than it would belong in the Anime board.
 
I think Shin Chan's OK. My problem with it is though that it works too hard for a lot of the gags which have clearly been altered from the Japanese intent. That's understandable since in Japanese anime and comedies a lot of the comedy is based on Japanese language word puns, cultural references etc.

But the ones in the English version just sound very forced and hackneyed. I remember this one gag where the Mom is locked out of the house and Shin's inside, and another girl keeps making a reference to a neighbor knowing how to get "knobs off of doors". And then they keep shoving the crude double entendre down our throats.
 
I'd consider Shin-chan an "American adult comedy" considering the dialog and jokes are completely written up by Funi and not taken from the original. Only the animation is Japanese, but that's how I see it.

It's very funny, but it lacks the charm (early) Simpsons and Futurama has. The human touches that make it more than just a comedy show (such as the episodes dealing with the Simpsons kids being born, and other human-centered episodes of the series

Ironically, the original version of Shin-chan has some of these moments, but lacks the adult-comedy the dub has. So it's a trade-off, I guess
 
I think the comparison is a little off, since we're talking about an over the top kids show being extensively rewritten vs shows that were always meant for the audience they aim for. It's one of those editing choices which is something of a fan hypocrisy.
 
Yes indeed, I have seen some of the original versions episodes, even though I didn't understand what was being said, it did have charm, and still does after all these years. To bad they don't sub them. And the original Shin Chan in Japan is not a kids show, it is like the Simpsons over here, it is not for really young kids, older kids and their familes could watch. It is in between a kids show and a adult show.

As I was trying to say before, Shin did have the genuine heart fealt moments even now and than. The other shows have mock heart fealt moments, in which it is a parody of real heart felt moments, but Shin (the show, not the character) shows that soft side ever now and then.
 
You mean... ZO-san, Zo-san, Zo-san.

Anyway, that's one of the cultural problems with Shin Chan. It was clearly developed as an adult (or at least middle teen) series, which openly mocks hyperactive kids. I've seen Too many goofy little kids to not be able to relate to the characters in Shin-Chan.

But if the series is edited the right way, it can be easily taken as a kid's show (indeed most of the later episodes and movies were kiddy focused, but you could almost say the same about the Simpsons). But what Funimation did here is a bizzarro world 4Kids- adding jokes in to make it more adult. And it's not that I don't like it, not that they don't do a good job, and not that they don't know what they're doing... but I prefer to see the show as it really is. How adults react to overactive kids like Shinnosuke. In that aspect, it is an adult cartoon. That is, if you have kids, or know them.

So, basically a cultural difference sort of cloud's the TV show's demographic.
 
FUNimation seems to mock or make fun of Anime dubs anyway. But FUNimation should at least give the characters their original names back. They kept the original names for half the characters, but they still changed the names of other characters.

It would be nice if some american network aired the original version with or without english subtitles. Either Anime Channel or Asain TV.
 
Shin Chan really doesn't compare to any of the shows you mentioned in your first post. There have been a few funny episodes of Shin Chan, like the Happy Bunny episodes. But, most of the time it leaves me cold. I watch it to kill time before Bleach, but it's not really appointment TV.
 
No offense, but you are all just judging on the FUNimation dub, take the time to watch the orginal version, they are brillant. The show is a monster hit all over the world. It is the Simpsons of Japan.

Just judging it on the FUNimation is just not being fair.

Moderator Note: This post has been edited to conform with Toon Zone's rules on respecting copyright.
 
I watched an episode involving Shin spilling ice-cream on Mitzi's dress and trying to clean it/hide it... no adult or crude humor at all, it was like a typical episode of a kids show. I also watched one about Shin learning how the mail system works and them mailing a letter at the post-office.. no real bad humor there either.

Original version doesn't interest me at all.
 
I'm pretty neutral about which version is better. Though if I may ask, are the episode plots as a whole altered from the original or just the cultural gags?
 
Well that is good to know, at least you gave it a chance, and saw the real Shin.

Judging Shin Chan on just any dub, it like judging Sailor Moon on the DIC dub.

As for how much of the plot is altered from the original. Not much that I can see. It is just that they added gags. The biggest changes are Yontro being a Sci Fi geek, and Nene or Penny as she is known in the dub father being a abbusive person. I guess making Shin's grandmother sucidal, but that is more of a add on gag.

By the way, I thought Shin Chan's run was very long, but it is not that long compared to Doraemon which has been on the air 13 years longer than Shin Chan.
 
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