there have always been numerous spellings of the name Mara/Marller or even Marla, i suppose they're all correct! ^^'
another is Velsper which can sometimes be seen spelt Welsper!

Fujishima-sama spells it Marller in English, so although Mara is the Dark Horse version, it is far from being official. And Belldandy doesn't really pronounce it "Mara." Listen closely, and remember that the sound for an "R" and "L" are very similar is Japanese. Listen at 18:16 of the episode. Belldandy enunciates the name Marller the most then.

As for Velsper/Welsper, the reason for this is the German language. Velsper is heavily German influenced (even speaking it at certain points), and in German, "W" is often pronounced as "V" is in English. I'd be willing to bet this was another Dark Horse change to assist English pronunciation.

Larry

ridiculous, I wish they would just translate it...I understand there are certain things that need to be changed here and there, but why on such trivial aspects?

Out of curiosity where is everyone downloading these episodes and using what program ^-^ I have tried finding websites but non have proven to be reliable.

oh man! why dont these companies just quickly release the TV series onto DVD outside Japan! that way we dont have to download them and we have a perfect copy to keep forever!

Which is why I download them. I prefer the Japanese voices. I think it might take a while before they come out on DVD. I mean they have to look for Voice actors, translate the show, edit the charactars talking to fit the English Dub and make the DVDs themselves.

I really hope the DVDs have good subtitles.

which is why the english version ends up so expensive, because the people here have to do some work before releasing it X.x Im sorry but $45.00for a DVD seems to high, which makes me wonder, who prophets in the end? The consumer? The providerz? or the manufacturer?

they dont really edit the characters talking to fit the english script, rather the voice actors for the dubbing hav to time and adjust their speech to fit the characters as close as possible.
Myself i dont really mind paying over $30 for an anime DVD, of course it would be best if it was cheaper, cos i dont really spend that much on other stuff per month compared to others.

Everybody gets a cut of it Kitori... voice actors, producers, the English ADR staff, the original Japanese company, Fujishima-sama, etc. Most of the time, anime DVDs in my area are comparable in price to regular DVDs, and considering they are an imported product, that's not a bad deal (of course, it just shows how much Hollywood jacks up their prices... they could release DVDs for 15 bucks and still make a killing on them). Lately though, prices have been dropping a bit... I've found some anime titles as cheap as 20 bucks... I think the Japanese companies are finally starting to realize that there is a huge audience for anime in America, and are beginning to adjust their licensing accordingly (maybe even moving to a small percentage on each DVD sold, instead of a huge flat rate). That way, they make more money and the price drops. However, most places put a huge mark up on DVDs, and that won't really change until a major retail chain (like Walmart) starts carrying a lot of anime. At that point, I'd say that almost every title will drop down to around 20 or even 15 bucks, which is what Walmart charges for American movies.

Larry

but damn...WALMART? I hate that place...it is the anticlimax of what a business should be...sure you may get it cheaper there but you are also selling your soul!!!

making anime more widely available is definitely a good thing, but im worried that it would over-commercialise it. i dread to think anime being made to suit the masses of current "trends" etc. I want anime to remain true to itself and if the price i have to pay is more pricey than average anime DVDs then so be it.

It is already trendy... always has been. It probably wouldn't ever be geared toward American and/or non-Japanese audiences. For the Japanese companies, licensing deals are just the icing on the cake.

Larry

Angel may bring this up in a different thread, but did you know that Belldandy advertises? Appearently she advertises for iPod ^-^ Along with other anime characters. Ask Angel about it! The slogan is 'Heavenly music, from a heavenly goddess.' and you see Belldandy dancing with the iPod.

I was not too impressed with the idea od a very on characteristic Belldandy with an iPod, it kinda goes against what she is. But that is my opinion ^-^

**EDIT* she did bring it up under Belldandy in the forums ^-^! if you have something to say about it, go there instead of replying to this post ^-^

I like the new avatar Kitori, looks good!

Thank you Diazo^-^ I had fun making it, im glad so many people like it ^-^ Don't you think it brings it my personality! haha!