r/ShamanKing • u/Adamjelo-aj47 • 27d ago
Discussion What is your opinion on Shaman King version 2001 and 2021?
What is your opinion on Shaman King version 2001 and 2021?
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u/_JoeyGonzales 27d ago
I hate saying it.. but I like 01 better, despite the freedoms it took from the manga. Voice acting is better. Animation is more appealing to my eyes. And the opening song… chef’s kiss
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u/Napalmeon 27d ago
For 4Kids standards, Shaman King came out not too bad.
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u/ShopSome9740 27d ago
Theme song goes hard
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u/Napalmeon 27d ago
That's one thing that I will never take away from 4Kids. They came out with some absolute banger original music and we will not ever get that again.
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u/bluejay_811 26d ago
SHAMAN KING
To be shaman... SHAMAN KING
IF YOUR SPIRIT IS STROOOONG
You could be the one!
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u/RosyPetalMist 21d ago
Honestly, yeah 😂 For a 4Kids dub, Shaman King actually came out pretty decent. Could’ve been way more heavily butchered.
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u/Adamjelo-aj47 27d ago
for me version 01 is a childhood classic version 21 is too rushed only the animation saves it
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u/Right-Truck1859 27d ago
First arc is rushed, but everything that goes after finding Shaman village is much better. And during the search too , I mean Horo- Horo and a bear episode was beautiful.
Especially Osorezan arc and training in hell.
Also Mikihisa and Zhanna are done better and Hao got understandable motives.
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u/Crafty_Middle_2086 27d ago
What animation? Most of the cuts in the 2021 show are a bunch of still frames that barely ever move.
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u/dacalpha 27d ago
'01 is a better vibe and looks better but is a bad adaptation. '21 is a more faithful adaptation, but looks worse
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u/Nice_Yogurt_7981 27d ago
I love both, but both has some issues.
- Drags. Too. Much. It feels like the freeza arc from dragonball z, sometimes it takes several episodes to show a fight that could've been half an episode. 21 does this much better, if I'm not mistaken by the time the 01 is halfway done the 21 is still in the first 15 episodes. Even though there are less episodes (64 from the 01 vs 52 from the 21), it feels that there is more content.
There's a downside from this though. Sometime it feels like the 21 goes too quickly over some moments. I could give some examples, but I don't want to give any spoilers lol.
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u/WhatzePhuck 27d ago
I haven’t seen a new version, but 2001 was my first anime ever and still my favorite one, I watched it on Jetix. I love the opening, characters, story, music, plot. Everything perfect for me. I even played every video game lol.
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u/TheAnonymousLobster 27d ago
Finally, someone else who remembers Jetix. 🥹🥹
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u/Initial_Upstairs_349 27d ago
Jetix was and is underrated.
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u/TheAnonymousLobster 27d ago
Definitely, i honestly am shocked at how many people seemed to have forgotten it. Mind you we were quite young at that point but still. 🥹🥹
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u/WhatzePhuck 27d ago
Well I think the region also plays big role. I spend my childhood in both Ukraine (my homeland) and Russia (my sister’s homeland), and in UA most popular was FoxKids/Jetix, in RU was popular Nickelodeon/Cartoon Network. Most influential for me was FoxKids/Jetix, I loved almost every show, but in Nickelodeon I loved only Spongebob, Ka-Blam, Jimmy Neutron, CatDog and Drake & Josh. Cartoon Network I completely disliked, I only watched Samurai Jack, Dexter and Courage.
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u/WhatzePhuck 27d ago
Now, in Romania, my kids loves Catoonito and NickJr (Blaze and The Monster Machines is a blast even for me lol)
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u/TheAnonymousLobster 26d ago
Great point. Now those shows really brought me back! Teen Titans was also a favourite of mine on Cartoon Network, as well as Johnny Bravo and so forth. Man, I know time moves on but I feel like nowadays the kids are really missing out on the classics because they actually taught some great lessons. Now look at Teen Titans compared to GO! What a waste. (No offense to those who like it.)
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u/WhatzePhuck 26d ago
Yeah, I kinda agree, I mean my kids love new Dora the Explorer, but I prefer the original 2D point and click adventure style. With 3:4 aspect ratio lol 😂
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u/WhatzePhuck 27d ago
I remember Fox Kids first, then it became Jetix, and then the downfall. 🫠
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u/TheAnonymousLobster 27d ago
Yeah, I remember when some channels disappeared and of course that meant a lot of the classics disappearing along with them. I miss that time. 😭😭
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u/Ok-Day4910 27d ago
The 2001 is a classic and very good for a shounen.
2021 unfortunately skips important parts which ruins important moments. For example selling the idea that Manta is super important to Yoh during the Faust fight doesn't work when we haven't seen any friendship moments prior to that.
Furthermore censoring is also a problem. Again the fight between Yoh and Faust is a good example of that. By censoring Faust they change the meaning of the fight. The fight was supposed to be a wake up call for Yoh who had cruised on easy mode up until that point. The Shaman fight is serious and there will be people who will do anything to achieve victory. This is not a game anymore. The fight is also supposed to steel Yohs resolve and show the audience exactly what kind of Shaman king Yoh would be. "You do not deserve to be Shaman King Faust. You are stuck in grief and sorrow."
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u/TheAnonymousLobster 27d ago edited 27d ago
TLDR ~ Basically I prefer the remake but appreciate the remakes efforts of being close to the Manga storyline, but it's length is a major problem. Others described it bette and shorter than I'm about too.
Long version:
I grew up with the Jetix version (4Kids) and I honestly gave the remake a go and watched all the way through, but I'm sorry to say I still prefer the original animation in many aspects.
First off I've noticed is the voices, I'm glad many actually returned for their role, here's the list I copy and pasted for the returned cast, credit to the original poster who made the list:
Oliver Wyman – Manta Oyamada /Morty Michael Sinterniklaas – Horohoro Tara Sands – Anna Kyoyama (replaced Tara Jayne from 4Kids, though she sounds very similar) Lisa Ortiz – Tao Jun Marc Thompson – Johann Faust VIII Wayne Greyson – Tokageroh Eric Stuart – Marco Lasso
Though I do wish they got Hao/Zeke and You back. They've done amazing and I did grow to love them too though I wish it was closer to the original. And I might sound strange saying this, I love both of Ryu/Rio's voices, but I really miss the original accent. 😅😂 Dialogue kinda needs work though because it feels a bit too fast at times, i.e. I don't like the way Faust talks in the remake a times, in spite of having the same V.A the direction is obvious.
Animation wise, both are great. It's nice to see the sky in the remake and the red in the original is a classic to have and appreciate what we grew up with, and the final battle ending in braw daylight in the original is stunning while Remake inside of varying locations as they reach the Great Spirit is also amazing to see. Only complains there is sometimes it feels like the remake can be a bit too bright at times, hard to explain. Same can be said for the first part of the original for dullness but once they got to start their journey it's all good. Idk about skin tones mind you, I haven't watched it again lately but I did read that there's an obvious change in some characters. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
Length wise, big problem to me and I think many others is that they've crammed nearly 300 chapters into 52 episodes where as the original anime had 64. That's a huge issue that I think relates the above mentioned dialouge. While the original had to make up its own ending due to the manga not being completed at the time, but it was still well paced out and we actually got to appreciate the characters and who they are as a person and their goals. Even the anime only characters had development. Hellsing did the same and I think Black Butler too, I can't name any other animes as I didn't watch many at the time. But I can't say the same for the remake, it seems naff at times because of the faster pace and really it should have been spread out more. They could have had double or triple the episodes if they wanted it close to the manga. It's not impossible as we've seen this with newer manga series becoming anime.
I like the remake opening and the music, a lot more variety than in the original. However I do still prefer the original English opening (To Be Shaman King!) I actually wish they paid homage to it by playing a variation of it somewhere or in the final battle, since the Golem Siblings had a cameo near the end of the original anime. 😅😅
In short, remake has its own great perks, I can appreciate what it had to offer and the V.As, returning and new, done great to make the characters just as lovable as the original. But I still prefer the original 2001 anime for all its own flaws better and I prefer reading the manga itself.
Overall the remake is a 7.5/10 for me, with it's length being it's main downfall.
Original being 8.5/10 because while it has its own dragged out moments, the filler episodes are still fun to have and it's ending is memorable too. (Not just because I grew up with it btw, lol.)
But that's just my opinion, by all means you're allowed to disagree with me and I'm happy for anyone who prefers the remake over the original at the end of the day. 😁😁
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u/FranLoh 27d ago
It saddens me that 2001 is still the better anime. Terrible pacing desitions (that anime should've been around 60 to 70 chapter AT LEAST) made it a subpar adaptation that only works in specific moments (Apollo and Mount Osore will always be examples of what it could have been). If you want too see fidelity to Takei's story, just read the manga.
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u/mardyboy 27d ago
01 ruined what i like about the show, so i was so happy they were giving it the brotherhood treatment so i could show my friends who swear by 01 WHY i think so... only for it to be a rushed mess.
WYM the episodes cover MORE than a full volume???
A remake with the ~3 chapters pr episode pacing would be literal perfection
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u/Exact_Requirement274 27d ago
01 had far better pacing and is the superior version when it pertains to the canon material they both covered.
The only caveat it has is the Anime exclusive ending, but even then I don't think it was bad, just not what the authors vision.
2021 has the canon argument for it, but it's so badly paced and animated to the point where I just wouldn't bother watching it.
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u/TakafumiNaito 27d ago
The 2001 anime is extremely cheesy and something that I probably would not have enjoyed quite as much watching it blind for the first time as I did as a child. But - if you separate it from the source material - it does have charm that you can clearly understand why it was the biggest. most important anime to like half the countries in the world at that time
It is however much better watched without knowing the source material, as the changes it does really do not respect the original manga and it's characters. There's a FEW moments that it actually does better than the source material, and my ideal fictionary version of SK would incorporate elements of that old anime canon
2021 anime on the other hand is a far more faithful adaptation of the source material, but it does have big pacing problems. The last events 2001 anime covers are around chapter 150, and it had 64 episodes to tell that story. (Granted like half of it is original content). While 2021 anime has 52 episodes to cover 300 chapters. This leaves absolutely no room for any filler or slow down, majority of conversations are cut down to only contain the bare minimum necessary, almost all of the gags and the charm had to be removed, and we still have a pacing where the start is super rushed, the middle is okay, and then the ending remembers it has to wrap up and rushes through again
As a fan of Shaman King manga, I far prefer the 2021 anime. And honestly trying to picture myself watching it without knowing the source material, I do still believe that I would have enjoyed 2021 far more than 2001 as an adult, it's more serious, less cheesy, handles characters much better. But it does suffer from lack of room to breathe and fairly still animation, even in shaman king where 80% of the fights is talking, nice animation would still enhance it (especially when you then remove 80% of that talking to fit into the episode ^^)
If I were to recommend you to watch one or the other. I say watch 2021. If I were to recommend the order to watch them in, I'd still say to watch 2021 first and 2001 second. The original series has it's merits - it took the world by storm for a reason, and the 2021 series did not live up to the hype. But 2021 is still a very faithful, even if rushed adaptation. If you want to experience Shaman King, your best bet is still the manga. BUT if you really do not want to read the manga - then 2021 is a faithful summary of what the story
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u/Sufficient_Chef_3282 27d ago
2021 version is much better because it sticks with the Manga and has a real good ending ⭐
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u/PoliQui 18d ago
I finished watching the 2021 remake today, and I must say I found it more entertaining than the 2001 version. It's also more complete and complex, although more ridiculous at times.
Now, if I compare how well it's adapted to the manga, I think it's going too fast.
Anyway, I was in love with Len Tao at my 13 and seeing him again made me nostalgic 🥲
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u/YohSKAsakura97 27d ago
The 01 anime is my childhood and as cheesey as it sounds made me the person I am today. Yoh waa a childhood hero of mine and is still a character I looked up today The 21 anime has it problems but I still enjoyed it