I know most of the fandom HATES the 4kids dub. But this is an amazing opportunity to see into the inception of that dub.
The Origins of the 4kids Rap.
-
-
This is incredibly fascinating!! Thank you for linking it here! What an interesting history he has!
-
Is that Gilbert Gottfried video responsible for this?!?
I'm really glad he made that video, as that was an insightful little snapshot of day-to-day 4Kids. I think the main takeaway from this is that he apparently worked on the lyrics without being given a chance to meaningfully see the series first, and it shows. I think his explanation of the line "that's Monkey D Luffy" is a good example of this, as while it does hype up Luffy, that exchange doesn't suit the character or the show. Even though it's describing the series from an in-universe point of view, I can't imagine anyone in the show saying something like that. It's a shame, because it looks like a sincere effort was made towards a concept that just didn't make much sense to begin with.
The Internet seems to have softened to the OP Rap over the last decade and it's nice to see that Shawn Conrad's had positive experiences from it despite the vitriol that anything 4Kids OP got back in the day. -
Thanks for finding this gem, Captain Krupp.
Admittedly, I was part of the 4K!Ds hate mob back in the day. In retrospect, I cringe thinking about my past behavior. I was a very young teen who didn't understand how the world works and had too much time on my hands.
Shawn seems like a nice guy who was just doing his job as a rapper. I'm glad he can reflect on the One Piece rap and gave himself feedback and mentioned what he could have done differently. Not everyone does that, whether they're talented or not, sadly. When he talked about the negative things, he did it in such a way that wasn't overly self-deprecating or throwing others under the bus. It was very professional. I wish more people were like him.
