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Welcome to my first letters column for The Dub Track on ANN, where we explore some of the feedback I've received the last few months.

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In your review of Hellsing, you wrote 'Steven Brand is an accomplished British television actor ... so I would assume Andersong's Scottish accent is accurate. That's disturbing though, because considering that they sound just like him, that would mean Scrooge McDuck and Groundskeeper Willie are just as accurate.'

Actually Scrooge McDuck is voiced by Alan Young (born Angus Young), another accomplished British Actor, so his accent is accurate. Groundskeeper Willie is a bit out there, but just watch 'Trainspotting', 'My Name is Joe', or 'Ratcatcher' and your opinion of overdone Scottish accents may change. They're more real than you might think.

Jeremy A. Sprigler
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I don't see how you can say FLCL is a bad anime. If anything is bad, it is the dubbing. Most of the jokes in the 1st 2 episodes are a play on japanese words, but when it's translated over into english, it makes no since to us. While i'll admit, the 1st DVD is a bit strange, try watching the next <and last> 4 episodes before you put FLCL in your trash bin.

Ben Woodall
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Yours was one of two letters like this I received. Please, where in my review (which was of the dub, not the anime itself) did I say "FLCL is a bad anime"? Other than noting that it's very very weird (ISN'T it?) and that I didn't like the acting (I don't), I never said anything of the sort.

That being said, I'll admit I personally don't care for it. There's a lot to like in FLCL. I absolutely love the artwork and the music kicks ass (I gotta buy the CD, just for the closing song). But I found that the stylistic cuteness kept getting in the way of the plot. Take that extended manga sequence. I absolutely hate stuff like that. If I want manga, I'll read manga. Or that period in episode 2 where the artwork gets all blurry and distorted for a few minutes, for no readibly discernable reason.

I love weird stuff. Serial Experiments Lain, NieA_7, End of Evangelion, gimme more of that. But FLCL seems too much to be "weird for weirdness sake".

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This is trivial, but I would have to say that I didn't quite get the whole Mexican worker thing. At first, by the drawings I thought he was black, but then he had a weird, almost Bohemian accent that I got confused until he started speaking more.

I'm sorry, but that's the worst Mexican accent I've ever heard. It might be because all I hear is half English, half Spanish in my house (and Japanese only in my half)...

Miku Ohshima
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(Excel Saga was funny though! XD I loved it!)

It's my guess that Pedro's Mexican accent was meant to be no more authentic than his American accent was in Japanese. :-)

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Send all comments and criticism regarding The Dub Track to mathews1 (at ix.netcom.com). If you don't want your letter printed, or wish your name. and/or email address withheld, just let me know. I reserve the right to edit your letter for length and/or content.