Before we get too far into the (Lunar) New Year...
Rough time for video editing, 2025.
End recap.
Just kidding. But an accurate tl;dr. 2025 was characterized by a realization I already knew from my experiences with writing: if you're looking for broad appeal, how technical or eye-catching your art is means nothing in comparison to how much its ideas resonate with an audience.
And of course, art doesn't have to appeal to a lot of people. Of course, on a personal level, my technical skills have a long, long way to go. But I felt my focus on the flashiest effects and smoothest match cuts undermined what people used to like about what I made, and from 2025's first video onward, all my editing felt colored by that understanding.
On a skill level, 2025 wasn't a big year for learning new things. Rather, it was about honing what I already knew and finally grasping some of the basics.
A list:
🎞️ Ken Burns: This is the terminology editors use to describe zooms and pans across still footage in order to add a sense of dynamicism and flow, named after the documentarian known for utilizing the technique. I initially learned a very elaborate method of "Ken Burns" (as described in my "AMV Process" post): every clip has a motion in and out of it, and these motions are smoothed with curves.
But not every video is best suited to that kind of movement. I grew frustrated with how my videos moved in 2025 (and to this day, my biggest cringe about the majority of my work is the movement); I tried (foolishly and criticized-ly) removing motion altogether early in the year ("On the Other Side"), but later on (the remake of "Schwarzer Strand," "Frenemies"), I tried a more traditional "Ken Burns" approach, as outlined by Xophi in this video. (In DaVinci Resolve, it can be done similarly by pasting attributes.) Sometimes, a slight zoom is more than enough.
Not to say I never want to do more elaborate movement ("Don't Fear What It Sounds Like"). But I did try to improve my technique there as well, keeping the motions flowing more consistently in the same direction than I have in the past.
🎞️ Colors: I experimented with using light leaks and colored overlays in order to smooth transitions between clips of drastically different colors ("Schwarzer Strand," "Frenemies," "Don't Fear What It Sounds Like"), as well as changing colors to better match clips (making a blue sky red in "Schwarzer Strand").
🎞️ Blurs: Two new ways of utilizing blurs this year: to refocus the eyes by blurring out old elements as new ones come in ("Prelude 12/21," "I Come With Knives") and as a transitional effect ("Schwarzer Strand," "Don't Fear What It Sounds Like").
🎞️ Masked Zooms: I slightly modified SKD EDITZ's technique for improved eye zooms ("Schwarzer Strand").
🎞️ Timing: My approach to AMVs was to time to pretty much whatever I felt like... but working on the original "Don't Fear What It Sounds Like," with a heavy beat, I realized that I had timed to that beat rather than the lyrics when I created the subtitles. In its remake, I was more conscious of this choice and have aimed to be more consistent with my timing in other videos.
🎞️ VHS Effects: Though none of my posted videos in 2025 used it, as-of-now unreleased AMVs that I started in 2025 utilize the ntsc-rs application to make my VHS footage "look more like VHS footage."
In some ways, 2025 felt like my most demotivating, devastating year for video editing yet (yes, that is what "Strangers" is about on a personal level). Effort didn't seem to pay off—two projects broke 100 hours of work (around 120 and 150), but I don't think you'd be able to tell which ones (though I'd be interested in hearing guesses!). I can hardly stand to look at some of my AMVs from this year anymore.
But I did have fun, too. I never thought I'd make a trailer edit but had a blast when I did. Incorporating native sound effects (the trailer and "Frenemies") was fun. I hosted my first MEP (Multi-Editor Project, where everyone did so well!), tried video essays (for making subtitles and about the new Detective Conan English dub (1, 2)), and after about a year of submitting to AMV contests, I won my first runner-up awards.
Who knows what 2026 will hold, but I hope the 869 hours I edited in 2025 (1976 hours from the end of the year minus the 1107 hours from the end of 2024) pushes me forward.
hi! if I have the name right, I think I saw an amv of yours at the anime nyc amv contest? it was the detco twilight trailer one—super great!! super enjoyable!! thank you very much for your work!!
I was looking for it to possibly rewatch it, and couldn’t seem to find anything… I was wondering if you were ever planning on making it publicly available somewhere, or if I’ve just missed it?
(and now this is going to be horribly embarrassing if I’ve gotten the wrong person, lol. please disregard if so)
Hello!
You got the name right, no worries! It's totally my bad for dragging my feet on uploading the video 😭
It's finally up now! Thank you so much for the kind words! I was also at Anime NYC myself, and it really meant the world to hear the audience laugh and react to my work. While the upload is a bit different than what was at Anime NYC, I hope it's still fun!
(And the link to the Otakon version of the video included in the description, which I sent on VHS tape because Otakon allowed VHS entries, should be the same version that was at Anime NYC, just in different quality. While I still need to make a new VHS recording of the "final" version, I really felt the VHS-ness elevated the edit 🤣)
Back again with another video essay about English dubs of Detective Conan, this time focusing on the localization (or lack thereof) of Heiji's Osaka dialect in English dubs so far. How will Studio Nano's new English dub (available on Netflix and Crunchyroll in South and North America, Australia, and the UK) handle Heiji?
VPR: shaky cam, blurs, motion transitions, letterboxing and pillarboxing
Sources:
Song: "Kimi to Koi no Mama de Owarenai Itsumo Yume no Mama ja Irarenai (Instrumental)" by Mai Kuraki (Detective Conan's 59th ending theme, included with the Detective Conan edition CD for the song, which also comes bundled with a DVD featuring the textless ED)
Detective Conan Episodes 48-49, 54, 58, 118, 189, 277, 968; File 115; Movie 21 (The Crimson Love Letter); OVA 6
CinePacks Free Scribble FX Sample Pack: https://cinepacks.store/collections/free-packs/products/free-scribble-fx-sample-pack
Video transcript under the cut:
Every once in a while, Detective Conan draws attention to the way its characters speak. Tequila's accent, for example, serves as a tell that he's from the Kansai region of Japan, and interestingly, FUNimation's English dub localized this:
[Clips from Episode 54, FUNimation dub]
Tequila: Relay the message to Gin, too, if you don't mind.
Tequila: What noise? Oh, it's just some kid. Dropped a bunch of change.
Conan: I think he was from the east coast.
Megure: How do you know where he's from?
Conan: Not even a minute before the explosion, I heard him talking in a Boston or maybe a New York accent. I was right outside...
I say “interestingly” because another character from the Kansai region of Japan, Heiji Hattori, does not have his accent localized in FUNimation's English dub. He speaks in exactly the same accent as the Tokyo characters, and references to his dialect are removed:
[Clip from Episode 58, FUNimation dub]
Kogoro: This punk's been giving me grief all night! If he can dish it out, he can take it!
[Clip from Episode 58, Japanese]
Kogoro: Don't you mock me with your fancy Kansai dialect!
[Clip from Episode 58, FUNimation dub]
Heiji: Don't give me that little kid crap, Kudo! I know it's you!
[Clip from Episode 58, Japanese]
Heiji: Your fake Kansai dialect was pathetic!
And don't get me wrong. I love Kevin M. Connolly's portrayal of Heiji—you could argue that his performance is a big part of why I ever really started editing AMVs. The altered dialogue in Episode 58 is charming. Kogoro's line is full of the naturalistic scripting that makes FUNimation's dub so strong; Heiji's line is sweet. He's beyond convinced that Conan is Shinichi, despite having met only once before, because Shinichi can't help but be himself around Heiji, and they just click.
But as I see it, Heiji's accent is also an integral part of his character. It's a source of pride for him, and removing it even destroys entire plotlines, such as in OVA 6, where Heiji is unable to replicate a Tokyo accent.
[Clip from OVA 6]
Heiji: Have ya prepared the money?
Conan: No, not like that. “Have you prepared the money?”
Heiji: Isn't that what I'm saying?
So, it's always struck me as a bit odd that, of the five different English dub Heijis I've heard, seemingly none of them speak in a different accent than Shinichi:
[Clip from Episode 49, Voiceovers Unlimited Dub]
Heiji: Your deductions were always a step above mine. I guess you win.
Shinichi: Huh? There's no such thing as winning or losing.
[Clip from Episode 118, FUNimation Dub]
Heiji: What do you mean? I just wanted you to visit.
Conan: You expect me to believe that? You're up to something.
Heiji: No, I swear! No business involved. This is just for fun.
[Conan gasps]
[Clip from Movie 21, Bang Zoom! Entertainment Dub]
Heiji: Here. You dropped these.
Conan: Thanks.
Heiji: Did you know that Nichiuri TV was gonna be bombed? Is that why you brought that thing?
Conan: No, of course not.
[Clip from Episode 968, Macias Group Dub]
Heiji: So that means... that now it's our turn to bat.
Conan: Yeah, it's time to do whatever it takes, right?
Heiji: [laughs] You got that right!
[Clip from Episode 189, G Entertainment Dub]
Heiji: I was shot in the stomach, too. We have got things in common.
Conan: I'm asking you again... what is so important you had to come all this way, and with flowers, Hattori?
Heiji: [laughs] I guess I can't fool you, huh?
There's yet another English dub available now, from Studio Nano, and while Heiji is absent from every episode released thus far, when he does show up, I'm hopeful that he'll speak in a different accent than the Tokyo characters. For the first time ever in an English Detective Conan dub!
Because one very encouraging thing about Nano's work is the emphasis from cast members that Apphia Yu, the dub's director, is a huge Detective Conan fan. Mauricio Ortiz-Segura, Shinichi's Nano VA, describes Yu as a “walking Conan encyclopedia” in a Tweet, and Molly Zhang, Conan's Nano VA, states in a stream:
Molly Zhang: And thing is, the director, Ayu, Apphia Yu, she is a Detective Conan master. Like, she is an OG fan, and she knows how much this means to people watching it. And so, she's made sure that we respect the material as much as we can. Like, truly, OG fans, you are not gonna find a better director for this dub. I know a lot of OG fans don't even care about the dub, but if you do care about the dub, you will not find a better ship captain than Apphia. She's so, so, so, so great.
Further, Zhang later adds:
Molly Zhang: So, I know the director of the show, Ayu, really likes Heiji. So, I'm hoping we can dub her favorite arc.
So, a big Detective Conan and Heiji fan as the dub's director? Heiji having a dubbed “Osaka” accent seems very promising! I can't wait to see what Nano does.
Conan: It's a dialect of Japanese. You know, there are also dialects in the U.S., too, right? Like the Southern drawl.
Jodie: Oh, yes, there are.
Conan: Heh...
Heiji: Osaka-ben is authentically Japanese.
Thank you for the warm response to this video! I'm glad to see that others are excited for how Studio Nano will dub Heiji!
I did want to post an addendum. Listening more closely to the Voiceovers Unlimited English dub, I do actually think Heiji is given a different accent than the Tokyo characters; while it's more obvious in some lines than others, it sounds to me like it could be a Boston or New York accent, akin to how FUNimation's English dub localized Tequila's Kansai dialect:
[Clip from Episode 48; link here for mobile]
And interestingly, maybe there's an attempt to reference the accent's origins being the US east coast, just like in FUNi's dub, as Heiji describes himself here as the "Kudo of the East," even though in Japanese, he's known as "Hattori of the West," and Shinichi is "Kudo of the East"? Except this US-centric view doesn't make sense, given that the Voiceovers Unlimited dub was made for a Singapore audience, and Kogoro later calls himself the "Sherlock Holmes of the East," so it's likely just an error.
Still, the line caught my attention; if nothing else, it's a translation reminiscent of FUNimation's, where Heiji says, "I'm known as the Great Western Detective, or the Kudo of the West, depending on who you're asking," a choice that highlights Heiji's feelings of inferiority more than the original Japanese. Being the "Kudo of the West" robs him of his own name. Unlike in the original, where Heiji and Shinichi are equal counterparts, this translation has Heiji thought of only in relation to Shinichi.
All that said, Voiceovers Unlimited only dubbed up until Episode 51, so it's hard to say how the plot point of Conan failing to imitate Heiji's accent in Episode 58 would have played out in its production. But it might have been left in!
And it does make me wonder. If Studio Nano does localize Heiji's accent in some way, which accent will they choose? Boston, New York, and Southern US accents seem to be common ways of localizing the Osaka dialect in English (with the Case Closed manga even going for the Southern angle), but I think it'd be neat to do something totally different, too!
I made a new HeiShin video! :D It's really been a while, and I wanted to make something nice for the fandom! <3
Unfortunately I chose a long song and struggled with nodes on Davinci Resolve so it's a little...special LOL But I had fun learning the ropes and I hope people manage to enjoy it regardless ^^;
If you choose to watch I hope you enjoy it! <3
Back again with another video essay about English dubs of Detective Conan, this time focusing on the localization (or lack thereof) of Heiji's Osaka dialect in English dubs so far. How will Studio Nano's new English dub (available on Netflix and Crunchyroll in South and North America, Australia, and the UK) handle Heiji?
VPR: shaky cam, blurs, motion transitions, letterboxing and pillarboxing
Sources:
Song: "Kimi to Koi no Mama de Owarenai Itsumo Yume no Mama ja Irarenai (Instrumental)" by Mai Kuraki (Detective Conan's 59th ending theme, included with the Detective Conan edition CD for the song, which also comes bundled with a DVD featuring the textless ED)
Detective Conan Episodes 48-49, 54, 58, 118, 189, 277, 968; File 115; Movie 21 (The Crimson Love Letter); OVA 6
CinePacks Free Scribble FX Sample Pack: https://cinepacks.store/collections/free-packs/products/free-scribble-fx-sample-pack
Video transcript under the cut:
Every once in a while, Detective Conan draws attention to the way its characters speak. Tequila's accent, for example, serves as a tell that he's from the Kansai region of Japan, and interestingly, FUNimation's English dub localized this:
[Clips from Episode 54, FUNimation dub]
Tequila: Relay the message to Gin, too, if you don't mind.
Tequila: What noise? Oh, it's just some kid. Dropped a bunch of change.
Conan: I think he was from the east coast.
Megure: How do you know where he's from?
Conan: Not even a minute before the explosion, I heard him talking in a Boston or maybe a New York accent. I was right outside...
I say “interestingly” because another character from the Kansai region of Japan, Heiji Hattori, does not have his accent localized in FUNimation's English dub. He speaks in exactly the same accent as the Tokyo characters, and references to his dialect are removed:
[Clip from Episode 58, FUNimation dub]
Kogoro: This punk's been giving me grief all night! If he can dish it out, he can take it!
[Clip from Episode 58, Japanese]
Kogoro: Don't you mock me with your fancy Kansai dialect!
[Clip from Episode 58, FUNimation dub]
Heiji: Don't give me that little kid crap, Kudo! I know it's you!
[Clip from Episode 58, Japanese]
Heiji: Your fake Kansai dialect was pathetic!
And don't get me wrong. I love Kevin M. Connolly's portrayal of Heiji—you could argue that his performance is a big part of why I ever really started editing AMVs. The altered dialogue in Episode 58 is charming. Kogoro's line is full of the naturalistic scripting that makes FUNimation's dub so strong; Heiji's line is sweet. He's beyond convinced that Conan is Shinichi, despite having met only once before, because Shinichi can't help but be himself around Heiji, and they just click.
But as I see it, Heiji's accent is also an integral part of his character. It's a source of pride for him, and removing it even destroys entire plotlines, such as in OVA 6, where Heiji is unable to replicate a Tokyo accent.
[Clip from OVA 6]
Heiji: Have ya prepared the money?
Conan: No, not like that. “Have you prepared the money?”
Heiji: Isn't that what I'm saying?
So, it's always struck me as a bit odd that, of the five different English dub Heijis I've heard, seemingly none of them speak in a different accent than Shinichi:
[Clip from Episode 49, Voiceovers Unlimited Dub]
Heiji: Your deductions were always a step above mine. I guess you win.
Shinichi: Huh? There's no such thing as winning or losing.
[Clip from Episode 118, FUNimation Dub]
Heiji: What do you mean? I just wanted you to visit.
Conan: You expect me to believe that? You're up to something.
Heiji: No, I swear! No business involved. This is just for fun.
[Conan gasps]
[Clip from Movie 21, Bang Zoom! Entertainment Dub]
Heiji: Here. You dropped these.
Conan: Thanks.
Heiji: Did you know that Nichiuri TV was gonna be bombed? Is that why you brought that thing?
Conan: No, of course not.
[Clip from Episode 968, Macias Group Dub]
Heiji: So that means... that now it's our turn to bat.
Conan: Yeah, it's time to do whatever it takes, right?
Heiji: [laughs] You got that right!
[Clip from Episode 189, G Entertainment Dub]
Heiji: I was shot in the stomach, too. We have got things in common.
Conan: I'm asking you again... what is so important you had to come all this way, and with flowers, Hattori?
Heiji: [laughs] I guess I can't fool you, huh?
There's yet another English dub available now, from Studio Nano, and while Heiji is absent from every episode released thus far, when he does show up, I'm hopeful that he'll speak in a different accent than the Tokyo characters. For the first time ever in an English Detective Conan dub!
Because one very encouraging thing about Nano's work is the emphasis from cast members that Apphia Yu, the dub's director, is a huge Detective Conan fan. Mauricio Ortiz-Segura, Shinichi's Nano VA, describes Yu as a “walking Conan encyclopedia” in a Tweet, and Molly Zhang, Conan's Nano VA, states in a stream:
Molly Zhang: And thing is, the director, Ayu, Apphia Yu, she is a Detective Conan master. Like, she is an OG fan, and she knows how much this means to people watching it. And so, she's made sure that we respect the material as much as we can. Like, truly, OG fans, you are not gonna find a better director for this dub. I know a lot of OG fans don't even care about the dub, but if you do care about the dub, you will not find a better ship captain than Apphia. She's so, so, so, so great.
Further, Zhang later adds:
Molly Zhang: So, I know the director of the show, Ayu, really likes Heiji. So, I'm hoping we can dub her favorite arc.
So, a big Detective Conan and Heiji fan as the dub's director? Heiji having a dubbed “Osaka” accent seems very promising! I can't wait to see what Nano does.
Conan: It's a dialect of Japanese. You know, there are also dialects in the U.S., too, right? Like the Southern drawl.
Jodie: Oh, yes, there are.
Conan: Heh...
Heiji: Osaka-ben is authentically Japanese.
I wasn't sure about this one but the kind folks at the CoAi server seemed to like it, so I'll trust their judgement.
And just so you know, I read all your tags and really appreciate them. I'd like to reply to all of you but I don't know how Tumblr netiquette has changed since the last time I was active here so I... don't, lmao. Thanks for your lovely comments and reblogs.
This is a redraw of a fanart I made in 2007. I think I made them a bit older in the original, like 12 or 13? But I wanted to draw taller Ai this time so I de-aged and chibified them again lol
