KNT now on Crunchyroll

[Sinder]

Like SPC, KNT is now available in full on Crunchyroll (and has been since May), complete with subtitles. You can watch the whole series for free without signing up.

I've never actually seen the original series before (except for clips here and there), so I'm going through it now, though I'm kind of skipping to the end and watching the last episode first, as I've always wanted to see it. I'm struck by how similar the plot is to the SPC dub, and it makes me wonder if they might have hung onto the original script for this one.

A question for Tigriss, felineki, or anyone else who might know: When Otama is revealed as "head of the Cat family," what's the significance? The Nyankee aren't related, so is she supposed to be like a mob boss, or something?

[LonePhantom756]

AHA! You're still around, eh? Considering that your initial fanfic "Crimson Dawn" was one of the things that opened my mind to the potential for fan content, I've always been hoping to chat with you more!

And yes, it IS surprising how many connections the SPC stories share with the KNT episodes, isn't it? Myself, I can't help but wonder if the Discotek subbers used the SPC script as a guide for things like Koon no Kami's general plots, and what have you...and yet, at the same time, there's enough differences that the original scripts probably WERE different enough.

[rcom88]

Thanks for making this thread. Honestly, before you said something, I had no idea that KNT was on Crunchyroll. I've been meaning to watch the entire KNT run for the first time, and now I can.

[felineki]

The thing about Otama being the head of the Nekonin Clan was really just a random gag they pulled out of nowhere to parody the startling revelations that often occur in series finales. No real significance other than for a quick laugh, and to give Otama an excuse to act all serious and boss-like for once. Like the narrator himself says in that same episode, "All sorts of things happen in the finale!"

As for the plots in kNT and SPC being similar, I'd have to try and find it again, but I do remember seeing someone on the internet once say that a translator who worked with Streamline Pictures was on the SPC staff, and gave the writers a brief summary of each episode's plot. So even though the dialogue was entirety rewritten, they would have had a general idea of what the plot was abut. Take that with a grain of salt though, as I haven't confuirmed it.

[KageReneko]

That makes sense... Except for the Nuclear Potato episode that is totally diference to Karamaru Wants to be a Hero...

Anyway, is funny to see how the american staff managed to take a random background object and transformed it into the main core of the episode...

[LonePhantom756]

In the absence of a reliable translation device, necessity and creativity are required to fill in the blanks.

I've been learning that during my desperate attempts to try and find a means to translate the images from the KNT Memorial mangas that I happen to have on hand. ^_^;

[Tigriss]

Stickied for awesome, much like the SPC thread.

A question for Tigriss, felineki, or anyone else who might know: When Otama is revealed as "head of the Cat family," what's the significance? The Nyankee aren't related, so is she supposed to be like a mob boss, or something?

Hey, another veteran still alive and kicking.

Well, I'd go with felineki's take on it, although I thought it may have been a plot they would have used had the series continued. If I'm remembering right (someone chime in here if you know), it was used as a plot point in a doujin or two. Or even the preview we got for what the continuation of the series might have been? I need to go look for that.

As for being the head of the "family", this isn't the mafia, it's just a title referring to them as a group, although I'd say it isn't a stretch to imagine that the Nyanki are descendants of other ninja who have watched over the shogunate before. And if certain doujin stories, the designs of the New York and British Pizza Cats, and designs for the characters for that "Cat Police Beranmee" thing tell you anything, they like doing "clones" or "palette swapped" versions of the characters a lot. They may have had ancestors who looked a lot like our current group of heroes.

but I do remember seeing someone on the internet once say that a translator who worked with Streamline Pictures was on the SPC staff, and gave the writers a brief summary of each episode's plot. So even though the dialogue was entirety rewritten, they would have had a general idea of what the plot was abut. Take that with a grain of salt though, as I haven't confuirmed it.

It would be very cool if you could confirm this! I've always heard two versions of the story, the first one being the most common explanation, that the scripts were deliberately withheld so the writers would be forced to be creative instead of just doing a punchclock translation. The second version says the scripts they got were bad, so they essentially chucked them out and just took the basic plot outline, then filled out the rest on their own. It'd be nice to hear something a little more "official" from someone in the know.