Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover

Con Today, Gone Tomorrow

2011-10-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

So NYCC is more or less over now. If you were expecting any big news and amazing surprises, you got a few but the showing was overall kinda weak. I mean, sure, Funimation dominated, which is generally a good thing in my opinion, but most of the other companies were weak.

VIZ pulled off a nice little victory though with the announcement of an English dub for Tiger & Bunny. Although, honestly, I think we'd all have been more surprised if they chose a different way to go about things. Knowing VIZ, this will be a long wait but apparently they're already in pre-production.

Tiger & Bunny has been a fairly sucessful hit in Japan or at least it's gotten a solid following. Sunrise plans to announce a new phase in the franchise soon! Too bad Sunrise keeps working with problematic distributors. VIZ has been very iffy for a while, with their long delays and questionable production values but at least they still seem to grasp that there is value in English dubbing. For that, I thank them.

A minor victory for VIZ but a good one.

Oh, right, almost forgot. VIZ has been waiting to release Inuyasha: Final Act for so long that I'd started to think that maybe they forgot they had it. The dub cast for that one unfortunately has a number of recasts but, hopefully, they won't be too glaringly obvious. The annoucement feels very tacked on though.

My guess is that VIZ really wanted to get this on [adult swim] but they didn't want it. That seems counter-intuitive since Inuyasha was a successful show on there but that programming block isn't very interested in shows that aren't their own anymore. Watch for maybe one or two anime to show up though just to keep a few fans hopeful.

I've been looking forward to Inuyasha: Final Act so I'm grateful though disappointed with VIZ at the same time. Grateful they licensed it but disappointed by the lack of original cast members. I don't know exactly why they couldn't keep everyone since some of the people they didn't cast still work as VAs. I'll still buy it but not ASAP.

As for Bandai Entertainment. . . well, as the old saying goes, if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all. Seriously.

Though I will say that all of those pro sub-only folks who wanted more mecha instead of moe might be getting an eye-opener. Mecha show from popular franchise? Sub-only. Moe show? English dub, extras and massive promotion. Hmm, me thinks this was not what they expected.

Not that it'll change their minds! The massive success of Funimation isn't even enough for some folks to realize that steady and dependable plus English dubbing is a very successful combo.

Oh, by the by, in case you didn't catch it, Yen Press is going to release more of the Higurashi manga. Massacre arc is coming. (Why this was something to be left out of a panel report is beyond me. The series may not be the biggest hit ever but it's not unpopular.)

Bye-ni!

It Begins Again: Con Coverage

2011-10-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

First things first, I've once again neglected this blog. I know, it's a bad habit! Unfortunately, law school actually takes some effort! Who knew?

Anyway, let's get this party started!

So New York Comic Con has begun and already Funimation has scored a rather stunning hit. (And be advised, I've been told that there was a lot to come so this may not be the end!) I don't think it would be unfair to say that many fans were expecting Aniplex of America to be the major newsmaker at this con. Prior coverage of the con certainly didn't indicate huge news from Funimation. Let's start with a look at the one's we expected more from first!

Aniplex's news was limited but fun. For this blog, news on Blue Exorcist and Oriemo is bitter due to the sub-only releases but I can honestly say that I hope the fans who can enjoy these releases will enjoy them. I continue to believe both could support an English dub.

Better news on Madoka Magica was had though! First, we've got not just clear news of the goodies for the LE but also a bit of the English dub casting and pre-order linkies! Madoka's official site lists release details but here's a breakdown of the goodies with my personal biases applied!

Let's cut to the bottom line! This release will be single style, which means about four episodes a disc, even for the Blu-Ray. The first volume comes out Valentines Day next year (talk about irony) and will have an SRP of $94.98. You can apparently get it at $74.98 though. Still, that's HIGH for only 1 volume. Apparently, there will be 3 total volumes, all expensive for the LE. (And really, why would you buy the regular editions? Seriously, if you're buying singles, might as well go all out!)

The first volumes goodies are nice though: First, an English dub! Thank you! This is my favorite feature whether on DVD or Blu-Ray. Cast in some of the major roles are Sarah Williams for Sayaka Miki, Cassandra Lee for Kyubey and taking on another lead role in addition to Squid Girl's. . . well Squid Girl is Christine Marie Cabanos as Madoka herself.

These are fairly new voices and you'll largely know what you think of this casting if you've watched K-On!'s English dub. We can hope for success but we can't be sure if will come.

Extras for the regular and LE version of Madoka's volume 1 are soundtrack CD #1 with Yuki Kajiura awesomeness, ending theme song "Magia" music video by Kalafina, a trailer collection (why do they even calls these extras?) and the ubiquitous textless opening and ending vids.

I'm surprised a CD will be available for both release types. CDs are a great item and I've missed them since Geneon's downfall.

The LE exclusives for Volume 1 include: An exclusive collector's box (Daddy like), 2 cases with double-sided covers (we talking thin packs or full size?), a deluxe 24 page booklet that includes character designs and a special short manga plus the nebulous more companies always use when they want you to think something has lots more when it really doesn't. The short manga is what I want to see most. Character designs are fine and all but. . . what's the point when I can see the characters in action in the show?

Also included are: a double-sided poster (I actually hate these because I can never decide which side to show!) a Kyubey sticker (he's watching you contract!) and collectible postcards! (To mail or not the mail, that isn't even a question!)

All in all, it's a pretty swanky haul but I still feel that Madoka's chances are very limited over here. At least one industry insider has expressed agreement with some of my posted comments on Madoka. We'll have to see though.

Moving on, let's talk about Funimation's surprising announcement that might just change the anime industry forever. Hey, when you're the so-called 900 pound gorilla, every step you take can shake things up a little.

First, lets start with a basic synopsis: Funimation isn't in the streaming business. However, streaming is very useful to them. They're even going to have a subscription service. Now they've joined forces with a company that wants to stream anime worldwide, the company Niconico. Some take this to mean that Funimation will now begin to phase out streaming in favor of letting Niconico handle things. I disagree personally with that assessment as I think there are still things Funimation wants to stream for pay. Let's set that all aside though because this deal is pretty awesome.

Alright, the meat of the matter is now Funimation's got it's hand in joint licensing with Niconico. What does that mean for you and me? It means more anime getting licensed and it means riskier anime getting licensed. It also means that now there's new considerations for home video releases; a new company with different ideas of what they think will be a success working with a cost-effective distribution system! Basically, we're going to see some shows that we wouldn't have seen absent this deal. And if Funimation's own policy of producing an English dub for home video releases is extended to this new venture, which would be wise in my opinion as fans will associate this new venture with Funimation proper, then we'll be getting more English dubs than we might have as well. (However, there is not yet evidence to support this. I merely speculate.)

The first shows involved are: Shakugan no Shana III, Future Diary aka Mirai Nikki, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (what a mouthful!), C³ and Maken-Ki!, most of which are well anticipated or already loved shows. I won't fault any of them but I must salivate over Shana III and Future Diary! Both are must haves if they come to home video (assuming Shana gets her original English cast back, I don't think I'd accept another voice for Shana besides Tabitha St. Germain!) I'm surprised that only recently I was thinking "wow, I hope Funimation will license Future Diary" and now this. I can think of several VAs I'd like to hear voice Yuno.

Hey, universe, if you're going to grant my wishes, how about making Yuno Gasai love me?

. . . .

I'm still very attracted to her. She does everything out of love!

Funimation also announced some new licenses proper with Fafner and Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror. Considering the complete set of Fafner at my local movie stop is like $100+, I think I'm intrigued by that pick up.

Also in manga news, Yen Press announced a "game changer" of their own with plans to get manga in the US up to date with manga in Japan. I doubt this will immediately end scanlations but it will make it increasingly obvious that they are not necessary any more and it'll give fans a legal option. They announced some new licenses and a license rescue too.

Yen Press added the Puella Magi Madoka Magica manga, Soul Eater Not!, The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan (which I think I'll have to buy) and Until Death Do Us Part as new licenses. Licensed rescue from Stu Levy's limbo zone was Alice in the Country of Hearts. A manga based on a dating-sim based on Alice in Wonderland? Interesting.

So for now, that's my full commentary. I'll post again tomorrow unless I feel absolutely compelled to post sooner.

Until then, remember that every fan can and does make a difference!

And also, Yuno Gasai is someone you should probably listen to. Really.

Bye-ni!

Madoka Magica to be Dubbed!

2011-07-29T13:43:00.001-07:00

Aniplex of America, perhaps best known at this time for charging a small fortune for the Garden of Sinners movies, has just made a lot of magical girl anime fans happy with the announcement of an English dub for the absurdly popular Puella Magi Madoka Magica making this only the second dub the company has done by their own will. (They'd re-released some dubbed series but only Durarara! had a dub they were paying to produce.)

Personally, this is a big shock to me because despite the insane popularity of this series right now, it's a magical girl anime and so far in the US such anime have apparently died sales wise if they weren't called Sailor Moon. Some suggest that mainstream male fans are afraid of their macho points dropping if they watch magical girl anime while female anime fans often prefer more shonen or yaoi-esque titles. Others claim that merely using the words "magical" or "princess" in the title of an anime dooms it to being considered a series for pre-pubescent girls. Regardless, this turn of events leads me to think there are 3 possible explanations for this English dub being announced:

First, that Aniplex is convinced the massive online fan popularity of Madoka Magica will translate to big sales and/or they've gotten so much pro-dub feedback on this one that they decided to dub it despite all of the previous failures of magical girl series.

Second, Aniplex isn't aware of the previous failures and/or does not understand that they'd probably get better sales dubbing Blue Exorcist and Oreimo. They simply believe that western the fans will flock to it like the Japanese fans.

Or third, someone made a contract.

Frankly, I think the third choice is the most likely.

As I see it, Madoka Magica will not actually sell well despite the huge fan popularity. The reality is that many of the fans online who practically worship this series probably won't bother buying it. They've already got it subbed and downloaded onto their hardrives and for far too many anime fans in general, that's more than enough. The reality Aniplex of America will likely soon discover is the same harsh one that the other anime companies have learned before: magical girl series don't sell well in the US.

Or I could be wrong. Madoka Magica is a harsh deconstruction of many of the tropes and plot elements of a typical magical girl series. It does not bode well though that even a beloved classic power house of a magical girl series like Card Captor Sakura can't even get a dubbed full release here.

Then again, I was wrong about this series getting a dub at all so what the hell do I know? I can't lose my head over these things. I should just be happy about this news!

Anyway, we know Blue Exorcist and Oreimo fans who wanted a dub are screwed and sub fans will pay a hefty price for these releases despite that. Compare Aniplex of America sub-only sets with releases from other companies and you have to ask yourself why the cost is higher for sub-only from them when they are the US arm of the Japanese company that OWNS the series to begin with. A licensor incurs costs licensing but a US branch incurs more to license? That seems unlikely.

Oh well, some fans like paying higher prices for less content. And don't forget those pretty boxes! Ignore that fans just a few years ago said "screw the box I want my anime to be cheaper!" Ignore it like the NASA data on CO2. I guess the feelies consisting of sixteen ending card postcards, a double sided poster and a 24 page booklet of character designs will have to try and make fans feel like it was worth it. (Wow, remember when we used to get LE sets that came with swag plus bilingual releases?)

Then again, there are fans who will jump for joy to pay more because the releases are more like the Japanese releases. (Ah, anime fans are just weird. Complaining about costs when it's a license by Americans but praising expensive releases when the Japanese come over and do it.)

Well, this bit of con news is certainly welcome to me one way or the other. I love magical girl series and this one will get into my collection! Maybe I'll even help some of you, my readers, to add it to your collections on the cheap? Hmm, maybe I will. You'll have to talk to my partner in this plan. . . .

He can be very persuasive. Don't miss out, plan ahead to save for the release of Madoka Magica!

Bye-ni!

Anime to Beat The Heat With +Contest Update

2011-07-24T07:37:00.001-07:00

Greetings and salutations my fellow anime fans and friends! This month has been so blindingly hot that your blogger host has occasionally found himself half dead! The rest of the time I was either running family errands or becoming a bit addicted to Funimation's website. (Some Summer vacation, I think I'll have more free time when I go back to law school!)

Anyway, seeing as how most of us are likely suffering in this heatwave (wow, just a few months ago we were having record cold) I thought it wise and prudent and reasonable and some other words that make it sound like this post is more thought out than it really is that I should make a list of a few anime series that I think can help you beat the heat!

After all, if you can't use anime to make your life's problems more bearable, what's the point of watching it at all?

First up is Kanon!

Before you even finish the first episode, you'll feel cooler thanks to the heavy emphasis on snow as a motif! Virtually every outdoor scene is fluffy white with sparkles of ice. If you imagine yourself as the characters, you'll feel cooler in no time flat.

Imagine eating ice cream with Shiori outside in the snow. The real world may be blazing hot but Kanon's world is nice and cool. Every gentle breeze carries a nostalgia for the winters of your past and each girl is a soothing balm to the soul.

Of course, you may end up crying, but that's the price you have to pay for snowy winter in July!

But if Kanon's not your cup of tea. . . .

How about a hefty dose of Kamichu!

Yurie can teach you all the ways to relax and veg out in the heat! From helping adults rediscover their summer memories to curling up on the floor for a nap, Kamichu is the series where a student goddess can teach you all about living your life lazily.

Join in on a beach trip that's more than the usual fanservice-filled beach episode, take laziness to a whole new level and spend some time with a sweet goddess-in-training.

Kamichu is a series that reminds you not to go outside and die of the heat. Don't forget to make a donation to Raifuku shrine though!

Of course, sometimes summer heat can be worth the trouble. There are hot springs and beaches and even public baths that are well worth visiting. So maybe you'd like to head out in the heat with. . . .

the girls of UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie!

Let Valkyrie take you on a tour of the best bath house this side of Tokyo! Join Sanada for a great hot spring bath after nearly freezing to death! Don't allow Laine to drive you to the beach but enjoy a day there after taking your own vehicle!

If there's one thing the cast of UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie knows, it's how to enjoy themselves on a hot day. Of course, fanservice here isn't remotely optional and you will probably be required to see some flashy transformation sequences. Maybe this is what summer is really all about?

So that's a few anime to help you beat the heat! Hopefully, we can all avoid dying from this heat wave that is making all of us realize the horrors of our local electric companies jacking up rates during the summer months! (Yes, they commonly do this and no the extra cost isn't just from your air conditioner.) Make sure you drink lots of water (soda and tea can dehydrate you!) and you stay out of the sun as much as possible. If you start feeling dizzy or disoriented, get to a shady place or inside, drink water and have it poured on you! Watch out for your older relatives and little kids. They're especially vulnerable.

Contest Update: I've decided to extend the entry deadline AGAIN for the Top 5 contest as I can currently decide the winner with a coin toss. (Maybe this was a bad contest after all?)

If you do want to enter, please use this

Contest Entry Link!

Join me next time, same blog channel, same blog idiocy!

Bye-ni!

A Day No Nipa Was Had

2011-06-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

As I'm sure any Higurashi: When They Cry fan has heard, Funimation will not be licensing more of the series nor will they be going after anything "that bears even a minor resemblance." I think this was a hyperbolic way of saying "no, we aren't going after Umineko, so stop asking!"

I would very much like to say that I'm shocked by this outcome but I'm not. Frankly, I expected this would be the outcome for a long time. There are many fans who do what they should do: they buy and support the shows, manga and such that they like. Unfortunately, there are many fans who just go to an illegal source and thereby contribute NOTHING.

Higuarshi: When They Cry had many fans who weren't going to contribute the series success over here. However, I won't bother with some long anti-piracy rant because the truth is those who refuse to actually support anime are so far in the closet of denial that they are giving tours of Narnia.

These so-called fans are always a problem. What really nailed the coffin shut on Higuarshi: When They Cry was the death of Geneon.

When the series was first being released, it had buzz behind it. It had fans interested and it was new! There are so many anime fans who simply don't care about anything that isn't new. Being new and different got people's attention and they thought, "hey, this show is like a mix of Groundhog Day and a horror flick" and they kinda liked it.

Then Geneon fell. The once mighty giant reduced by several costly failures, Japanese patrons who no longer wished to be part of the R1 market and the simple fact that anime fans just don't seem to like buying even when they changed their prices.

For about a year or so, the show was in limbo. I personally didn't even watch the first episode of the Time Wasting arc because I hated the idea of being stuck halfway for a long time. The waiting was terrible and many fans just gave up after a while and either moved on entirely or downloaded fansubs.

After a long wait, Geneon's Japanese parent finally forged a distro deal with Funimation to finish what had been started. Fans rejoiced! Except, the sounds of the cheers were muted because so few remained to nipa about it. How many sales were lost by that long wait? We can never truly know.

Following the completion of the first runs of series, Funimation and Geneon quickly put out full series sets. These could have sold well-enough to prove the franchise viable after the weak sales of the singles completing the first run. Sadly, Higuarshi: When They Cry didn't sell very well.

Why?

This is the key question. In this article, the situation is explains thus:

As one can expect, when you start to release a series, or provide the re-release, it may do well enough to cover what it’s done but not enough to justify going after more. Or, it may do so poorly that you run screaming from the thought of ever going near anything like it again

This is, sadly, a very key point in this sad development. The first part of the release by Funimation was just a distro with Geneon. The re-release was, in essence, Funimation testing the waters to see if the series could actually do well. By this point, the buzz is gone and fans are spending more time and effort bitching about the English dub, bashing the show as lolicon fodder or generally dismissing the first series while begging for the sequels.

This was a recipe for disaster. It might have turned out okay except that Funimation was increasingly under pressure to improve their bottom line as Navarre prepared to shed itself of the company and fans found their wallets growing thin as the early recession pains began to spread like cancer.

All of these factors played into this loss to fans. At this point, we can only expect a sub-only release at best from any current company and that itself might be very unlikely as whatever sales numbers the companies have right now are apparently pretty bad. I personally don't think we're going to see any more of Higuarshi: When They Cry's anime licensed. There are newer and more likely to sell well shows to license.

However, that does not mean that there is no hope!

We fans banded together once and fought for Higuarshi: When They Cry! We battled for our goal of nipa-ing with Rika, hanging with Mion, going treasure hunting with Rena, battling Satako and going crazy with all of them, but especially Shion.

This thread, specifically Sophie's post, should be read. One of the things she posted was this:

Heck, you could probably get the money together to license and distribute them yourselves. It’s probably not expensive anymore. If Umineko sold as poorly in Japan as you say it did, then go after that one. It’s not as big an undertaking as you might think especially if you pool your money.

Now, many are taking this as some sort of dig at the franchise. That is a misinterpretation. What Sophie is indicating to us is that Higuarshi: When They Cry, for numerous reasons, is not a hot property and even the Japanese know it. She's telling us that the cost of licensing isn't astronomical.

Consider this for a moment: how many anime fans actually have jobs? How many have some money to spend on things? How many of us couldn't afford to contribute a lot but could throw in a few bucks here and there?

The fact is, fans aren't putting their money where their internet rage is. Without money, NOTHING is possible. If we fans want to get more of the shows we want, maybe it's time we started doing exactly what Sophie suggests? Pool money. It might take years before it was a viable option but to quote a cliche, Rome wasn't built in a day!

In two years, I'll graduate from law school. In three, I will hopefully have passed the bar and in four I hope to be gainfully employed by the military (branch yet to be determined) as a JAG officer. Now, that's going to provide me with a fairly decent income. If I can get a job as an assistant DA after leaving the military many years after, that would pay much better. If I managed to become a judge or get certain side jobs, I'd be well off.

Money is something all of us are pursuing on some level, so why not be thrifty while we're doing it and prepare for a day in the future when we CAN pool money and we CAN license an anime ourselves! What's more, there are many people in the US who are willing to invest in the future. With the right pitch, we could even get investors.

Really it all comes back to fans. Whether you accept the truth that pirating and illegal streaming distribution and bootlegging are a cancer on the industry or not, I think it would be foolish to deny that fans have power.

We the people can do almost anything we set our minds to. It just takes time and money.

So do you think a few nipas are worth it?

Well do you fanboy?

Bye-ni!

Squidgasm

2011-06-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

I've been a little hesitant to post my feelings on the depressing news of no more Higurashi: When They Cry or Familar of Zero licenses for Funimation but a recent bit of news has me a bit happier.

Now, I don't want to alarm anyone but a cephalopod invasion force, said to be headed by a powerful squid, is soon to be upon us! Militaries worldwide are preparing for the terrible war that is to come while some are already turning into quislings to welcome our new squid overlords. Truly it is a dark day when any man chooses to abandon his fellow humans in favor of joining forces with the creatures of the deep blue sea.

John Sirabella has informed us of the coming war and confirmed that the enemy has learned several languages, including Japanese and English! They will arrive with plenty of extra support as well, so we must be on our guard and ready to prevent this dangerous force from taking over the land!

We do have photo intelligence on the enemy's leader and there are some sketchy reports of an ability to vomit ink. One agent reports that the enemy has tentacle hair!

We lost contact with that agent shortly thereafter but we do not fear the worst as the agent was male. We've never lost a man to a tentacle yet!

Unfortunately, gender equality laws forced us to place women on the front lines of the last skirmish with the tentacles, resulting in unspeakable casualties. Fortunately, our early intelligence does not suggest that the squid's tentacles are naughty.

The first battle will begin on September 27 according to our intelligence. The Squid Girl, as she is known, will personally lead the attack on we dry-landers! All hope is not lost however as we've heard rumors that she may have a weakness!

We must all join together and take part in this battle against the Squid Girl! You can pre-order intelligence reports regarding the effort to battle the cephalopod armies here. Or you could attempt to gain favor with your new squid overlord by buying an idol to worship.

Together, we must stop the Squid Girl!

Although, her arrival will be another victory for English dub fans.

Look for despair next time as I discuss why there's not much to nipa about. Future blog entries shall be reviews and perhaps a video.

Bye-ni!

Return of the Heretic

2011-06-03T22:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry all for the long absence. First it was my Legal Writing assignment (80% of final grade) and then studying for and taking finals (several being 100% of final grade) and then I packed up and came back home for the summer. Yes, I returned home to a house that isn't air-conditioned on account of my mother not being able to afford it and the power company being a bunch of lying, cheating, evil and cruel jerks who send out employees to read meters when then just put down whatever the year before's reading was and leave. (Aside from a signed confession, we're quite sure we've enough evidence that anyone, except the power company reps who INSIST that mistakes NEVER happen, would believe.)

Of course, none of you are interested in my trials and tribulations.

Sadly, this post is mostly that kind of chatter. I got a late start on it due to a power outage yesterday and today being a "run around with my Mother and take care of things" day.

Well, I got a new phone out of the deal. Once the rebate check comes in, it will only have cost like $10. (I can't find a belt holster I like though.)

So enough about me, let's talk about this blog. Some of you have surely wondered if this blog was dead.

I hereby assure all of my readers (God bless all of you or if you'd prefer may Haruhi bless you) that I fully intend to keep up this blog and get back to posting my thoughts on things. I make no claim to know any deep secrets or to have any special knowledge but I do love English dubs and I do worry deeply about the legal anime industry. While others may worship at the alter of digital-only subs forever, I never will.

Also I'd like to do more contests in the future but for now, the current one will be it for a while due to financial strains. (I have to get my own anime before I can get anime to give to you for free!) However, there will be a second Strike Witches contest when the second season comes out. Same deal as the first one when the time comes.

As for now,

please enter the current contest

if you have any interest in any of the series or if you don't want them for yourself, enter if you know someone who'd like them. Currently I can flip a coin to decide the winner. Go here for contest details.

Finally, I'm going to try and post more because I'm seriously falling down on the job! I'll post again before Monday about some of the current dubbing plans, promises and possibilities.

Bye-ni!

Funimation Commentary +_+

2011-04-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

Dubs and the hope for a better future, these are what all living things need.

And maybe some more free time. I've been swamped lately. I've taken a few short breaks to surface the web or post a comment but haven't had a long break to blog lately. (Who knew law school involved so much actual work? Perhaps I should reconsider the ministry.)

So there's been some fun news about English dubs that I'm sure you already know because you probably read the same news articles I do. Of course, you wouldn't be coming to this blog if you didn't want to read someone else's opinion on those reports! I have a duty to satisfy my readers! I must find something worth adding to the conversation, even if only to provide a cheap laugh at my own expense.

First, lets talk about Funimation: As you know, the company has been sold by Navarre to a group of investors for an all-cash bargain price of $24,000,000. Gen Fukunaga, known to those who work under him as "Lord of Nightmares Fukunaga"* lead a group of rich investors in taking Funi off Navarre's hands. Navarre will continue to handle distribution.

So what exactly does this sale mean for we the anime consumers? Will this buy-out mean the dawn of a dark age or a new era of glory? Well, that's largely in Gen Fukunaga's hands if you ask me. Given how cunning he is, I expect Funimation will remain strong post-sale. According to Robert of the Anime Corner Store:

Gen really is the smartest guy in the room in the R1 Anime biz, and is one of the few people who has actually gotten rich from it. He put together this little Anime company with the help of a some private investment money, built it up with the help of his family connections in Japan, and sells it a few years later at the top of the market to Navarre for $142 Million, and then (with the help of a little more private investment money) buy's it back from the same now debt laden company six years later for $24 Million - 17 cents on the dollar - and got to run the thing the whole time. Unreal. In the end, Gen had to round up a group of investors who could easily afford to loose a few million.

Robert notes that Navarre's corporate commentary shows they've lost their taste for the R1 anime industry and see it as a big waste of money. Frankly, I'm neither surprised by that nor am I willing to disagree with them. Thanks to the "anime should be free!" crowd, the bad economy and a general unwillingness by many fans to just be nice and open-minded, the R1 industry is in decline.

I do think the fact that Gen Fukunaga still wants to be a part of the industry is a good sign though. I also expect that we will see many more deals like this one in the future.

That's right anime lovers, because of all those people who love anime too much to pay for it, we're going to see more "based on X" productions for profit. Nothing wrong with that necessarily but I think we're all too familiar with the failures that have happened. Even decent efforts have often suffered from a severe case of they just didn't care.

On a better note: Funimation has gotten additional rights to Fractale and Freezing! That means we're going to see them get DVD/Blu-Ray releases, which also means English dubs will be made for them!

So long as Funimation doesn't change their "no sub-only" policy following the sale, which I don't expect them to do, we can look forward to these two series and more. If the policy does change, I think it will signal the end of English dubs in R1 because the biggest brain and pocket said "nah, not worth it."

Anywho, Fractale and Freezing dubs are expected. I haven't had a chance to watch much of Fractale due to working on my legal memo but what I've seen was interesting. A bit odd but interesting.

Freezing has my attention more at the moment. I do enjoy bloody battles and fanservice sharing time and space. Plus I find the heroine Bridgette L. Satellizer to be just awesome. Her character design and personality just push my buttons in all the right ways. Plus I love the core plot of invasion and desperate struggle. I love stories where humanity has to fight against terrible odds since it tends to result in scenes of sacrifice that display the best traits of the human species: love for others, willingness to fight and die for higher ideals and the lives of others and the sacrifice in general.

My inner cynic must be suppressed at all costs, lest I lose faith and do things that would only get me on the nightly news broadcasts. (Don't worry, I won't blame anime. It'll totally be society's fault! ;) )

She doesn't do VA work very often but I'd kinda like to hear Alese Johnson as Satellizer in Freezing. Anyone want to voice an opinion on that one?

A few other issues with Funimation you may be thinking about:

First, we've all probably taken a moment to feel some emotion over the legal headache 4Kids is in. Amazingly, I can actually make some sense of the legal jargon popping up and I can tell you that, at least from what I'm reading, 4Kids's only hope is that they drafted a really good contract and that there's no evidence they planned something like this from the start.

Also, for those concerned, nothing I've read would suggest a strong case against Funimation for their role in 4Kids little fun and games. I haven't seen a link to the actual documents filed with the court (which would be REALLY informative and nice to see) but the cited Hollywood Reporter would seem to suggest that 4Kids is the bad actor here.

4Kids conspired with Funimation to fraudulently hide from Plaintiffs more than 45% of the total income Funimation paid to 4Kids from the sale of the home videos," the complaint states.

Allegedly, 4Kids not only licensed YGO, but also several other Japanese animation series it didn't own. Under the terms of this supposedly secret deal, which allegedly included a strict confidentiality clause, 4Kids didn't have to do much besides perform certain marketing services. It was Funimation's job to produce and distribute the series, and for this right, Funimation paid a $1.3 million advance and gave over nearly $4 million in a service fee, which was allegedly then hidden from the plaintiffs.

Emphasis added my me. This is the part that I think is the reason we're not seeing Funimation already being sued considering they've got a lot better pocket to go after considering 4kids has gone the route of Chapter 11. (They'll still die but now their creditors are humped along with them.)

Since Funimation doesn't appear to have had any contractural obligation to inform anyone of anything they paid 4Kids. I'm not seeing anything so far that even says they knew 4Kids was pulling the wool over the Japanese owner's eyes. A confidentiality clause isn't exactly an unknown thing in contracts, in fact it's standard boilerplate for some types of contracts. That clause alone does not a "conspiracy" make.

Again though, without seeing the actual complaint filed and such, I'm unable to really analyze the matter. Anyone got a link to the court filings?

Another issue I wanted to mention to everyone: Funimation's charity auctions for Japan are nearing their end! I don't know if they are planning more but now is the time to bid on some sweet English dub VA sigs! (I'm eyeing one particular item myself.)

Last thing I wanted to talk about is Strike Witches is getting a DVD/Blu-Ray combo release soon and Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts will also come out dual format with a fraking ton of extra content! The LE's got the chipboard art box, Right Stuf will throw in a bonus gift with purchase and on the discs will be:

Special Features: Mission: Impossible: Baka Preview, Baka-Only Cross-Dressing Contest, Mission: Impossible: Baka Mission 01, Mizuki Himeji Girls' Meal, The King Game in Fumizuki Academy, Special Christmas Footage, Promo Videos, Original Commercials, Original DVD Spots, Textless Opening Song, Textless Closing Songs.

Dang that's a lot. You all know how much I love Strike Witches so I'm actually going to double-dip on that one! (Well, actually first dip as I got the first DVD set from ANN for review and thus it was free.)

Now I leave you blog readers with these parting links: Alter's Shirley Yeager figure, Alter's Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke figure and a sweet figure of Katejina Loos!

Why Katejina you ask? I say, why not? Her English VA in Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2 is Nicole Oliver and she's AWESOME as her. God I love her line after you shootdown 1,000 enemies in a mission. DWG2 is a highly addicted game for me, I've got over 200 hours play time on it! (Yes, I know, I should get more sun and be more productive with my life.)

Well, that's it for this blog post. I've written this a bit late at night so please forgive any typos. I may clean it up later.

Bye-ni!

Richard J.'s Top 5 Contest plus Bonus

2011-03-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

Okay, after a minor delay due, I hereby fully and officially open this contest! Here is your chance to enter the Richard J.'s Top 5 Contest and to get your choice of bonus: a new release from what is available at Robert's Anime Corner Store or your choice of where I donate $50 for the charitable benefit of Japan! (Yes that is a bonus too, you get to make a donation by proxy! That's good for your karma!)

Just to make it clear, here is the list of series again:

The winter drama Kanon, the mecha experience RahXephon, the action-packed Gunslinger Girl, the wild sci-fi adventure Outlaw Star and the moving but controversal Koi Kaze.

This contest, click here to enter, will take entries until the July 4th. There are several reasons for this long run time.

First, I want there to be plenty of time for people to enter. Second, I want more time to get my computer issues worked out. (I miss Photoshop.) Third, this way I won't have to worry about shipping the prize to the winner until I'm back home where I can deal with postal workers I know and trust. It's also when the last contest ended so there is symmetry.

Here are the basic rules:

Although highly unlikely, I reserve the right to cancel this contest at any time. This contest is open to any person with a mailing address, prizes will be shipped anywhere! Winners' names will be posted here at Blog Of A Heretical Dub Lover but mailing addresses will be provided only to professional postal staff of my choice. No one else will be told.

Winners' addresses and E-mail addresses will be erased once the prizes have been shipped. Non-winners' names, E-mail and mailing addresses will not be given out to any one and will be erased when the winners have been confirmed. Non-winners will not be contacted, spammed or harassed in any way. I am not interested in ordinary humans! I reserve the right to retroactively add new rules in the unlikely event that they become necessary.

One entry per person/mailing address. Prizes will be box sets of contest insitigator's choice.

Click here to enter and have a chance to own the series I consider to be my personal Top 5 and get a chance to either get a 6th series box set or the chance to make me donate money on your behalf to a charity of your choice to benefit the Japanese people suffering after the earthquakes and tsunami! Personal gain or altruism, which will the winner choose? (I'll never tell.)

Just like last time, I will post winner's names and if any winner wants, I'll post their comments on the contest or anything else. Also, as always, I welcome ANY comments, even negative ones. I will never delete a comment that I disagree with. Only Spammers will be deleted!

Contest Entry Link!

Bye-ni and good luck!

Contest Titles and Question

2011-03-23T11:33:00.001-07:00

Hello bloggies and welcome to the contest title listing post. Here you will find a list and as I'm currently on my laptop sitting outside a classroom waiting for a speech, I'll have to get back to you with the contest rules and entry link.

For now, please consider these titles my Top 5 (not in any particular order.)

Kanon: This series focuses on Yuichi Aizawa and his return to the city he spent time in as a child. As he reconnects with girls from his past, Yuichi must deal with both the supernatural and the promises he made then and now. Kanon is about friendship and love and the power of those promised bonds. It is a series I consider to be a true masterpiece of anime and while some will dismiss it due for being moe or based on a visual novel, I think the overall message of the series is too important to ignore. It has one of ADV's most acclaimed English dubs performed by a cast of fan-favorites. Kanon should be a part of every anime fan's collection in my opinion. So here's a chance for you to get it as part of my Top 5 giveaway contest!

Outlaw Star: One of Bandai Entertainment's best series, Outlaw Star is a thrilling space adventure with a great cast of characters and a surprisingly deep plot. While some mysteries are never solved, the central plot of the Galactic Leyline and the purpose of the Outlaw Star itself comes to a powerful conclusion. Outlaw Star's English dub features a number of great performances by the VAs, some of whom you won't hear often or at all in recent productions. It is a classic and a wonderful gateway anime for luring new fans to the anime side!

RahXephon: Some claim this series to be superior to EVA, others say it is not but few if any call if anything less than darn good. Personally, I consider it to be one of the best series out there that merged mecha with epic plots and god-like powers. RahXephon has a rich tapestry of a plot which encompases multiple generations and temporal mechanics plus deep emotional bonds of love and hate. It is powerful series with fantastic battles and considerable plot twists. RahXephon is a series that demands multiple viewings to fully grasp the nature of the character relationships. Get it in this contests and bask in understanding!

Gunslinger Girl: This was my first intentional anime purchase and it convinced me that anime fandom was my destiny. In this story, follow the girls of the Social Welfare Agency and find yourself asking hard questions about their situation. Enjoy the beautiful animation and hauntingly lovely music. Gunslinger Girl can be a hard series to watch at times but it is an amazing anime. The English dub is one of Funimation's finest productions and a powerful action-drama. Add Gunslinger Girl to your collection by entering this contest!

Koi Kaze: What does it mean to fall in love? Koi Kaze explores this question with a twist as it delves into a relationship between a brother and sister who steadily grow closer. The series is controversal and portrays a very difficult subject matter with a degree of honesty and seriousness often lacking in other productions. Koi Kaze isn't a series for casual fans and many anime fans will never see it. Yet this series is one of the best if not the best anime that Geneon Entertainment released before fading away. The English dub features performances that are worthy of critical acclaim and are heart-wrenching sincere. From my contest to your collection, let Koi Kaze into your heart!

So that's the list for the Top 5 contest! Please comment as you see fit about them! I'll be posting the contest rules and entry link in a separate post later. My computer's hard drive died but I've got another in my desktop now. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to re-install or get around a lot of computer red tape to get Photoshop back up and running or get all of my info out of it. Plus my Spring Break was less break and more "run around helping my family to get things in order or face financial disaster" so I've actually got more free time now that I'm back in class than I did then. Yeesh.

If it weren't for my commitment to this contest, I'd not do it at all as it will mean I don't have as much for my own collecting.

Of course, I'm sure this contest will be a dissapointment to some. The titles are older and the genres not very consistent. That being the case, I offer two special options for this contest to the winner! The winner will get their choice of a special bonus!

The winner of this contest will have the right to choose between a new and available title of their choice, order of title to be made through Roberts Anime Corner Store, or a $50 donation to a charity of the winner's choice that is working to help the Japanese people! In other words, you can choose between a new and available anime in addition to my Top 5 or you can choose to have me donate $50 to charity for the Japanese!

Comment on this bonus and let me know if you think it's a good idea. Until later, I'm Richard J. signing off!

Bye-ni!

Japan Before and After

2011-03-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

I ran across these images while looking up news on the disaster in Japan.

The old saying of a picture speaking a thousand words has rarely been truer than here. Take a look and you'll understand the sheer horror of what has happened.

Please remember to give to a legitimate charity seeking to help the people of Japan.

They are going to need it.

I'm sorry to be a downer. I'll try to be more positive tomorrow when I open the contest.

Tragedy in Japan

2011-03-12T07:34:00.000-08:00

My Dear Readers,

As an anime fan, as a caring human being and as someone who knows what it feels like to lose a loved one, I want to take a moment to ask that we all try to do something for Japan.

Over on Funimation's Blog, they've posted links to several reliable charities that are working to help the Japanese people in the wake of a devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake and a horrific tsunami. While I'm certain we will hear about millions and even billions in pledges and spending from governments, I implore all of you to make some small donation of your own. Please visit the American Red Cross or GlobalGiving's websites for details on where you can direct donations.

ANN has a longer list of choices here.

This tragedy in Japan is very serious. There are over 9,000 missing in Miyagi's Minamisanriku, that's more than half the population of an entire city. Please, think about the sheer weight of this disaster on Japan and the collective body of humanity.

There was an explosion at Fukushima nuclear power plant. Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan has declared a state of emergency there. An attempt to reduce the burden on the nation's power grid by anime fans has begun under the fitting moniker of Operation Yashima. (EVA shout-outs while trying to help in a disaster, anime fans are truly amamzing people.)

The death toll in Japan is rising, with at least 1,700 feared dead. Hundreds of bodies were transfered to Sendai in the Miyagi Prefecture and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said:

This is the largest earthquake since the Meiji Era, and it is believed that more than 1,000 people have lost their lives.

I know this blog is often quite silly and maybe a bit self-absorbed but this is serious business my readers. Please take a moment to do your own small part to aid the people of Japan, who have given us all such joy through anime, to begin the recovery from this tragedy. Donate to a reputable charity. Make a post somewhere about the tragedy and how to help. Even just buying some anime/manga/figures/whatever and informing the retailer that it's part of your effort to help the Japanese because of this disaster can make a small difference.

Every small difference combines to make a great difference and help the people of Japan to cope with this horrific event that has befallen them.

Please keep the Japanese in your hearts right now. As fans, I feel we owe them that much at the very least.

Thank you, God bless you and bye-ni!

Media Blasters and More Dubbing + Computer Woes

2011-03-04T16:28:00.001-08:00

I'm popping in again to briefly talk about some more English dub news from MB! Well, news in the sense that it's already been announced at real anime news sites but maybe you missed it. I can't keep 100% up-to-date myself due to class work! (Fortunately I'm entering Spring Break soon! I'm going to spend it with my family, hopefully getting them to watch some more anime!)

Anyway, for Kanokon fans (hey, can't we all appreciate a nice guilty pleasure title?) the OVAs have been not only announced but according to this blurb, they'll be dubbed too. Good news but tempered by perviously observed technical errors. Man, hope they go back and fix some of the glaring ones for the complete collection.

I won't hold my breath though. I'm not into that kind of thing.

Also, a previously released sub-only series, Magical Witch Punie-chan will get a re-release with an English dub too according to them. This makes yet another English dubbed re-release from Media Blasters to be happy about! (My magical girl love gets a new show! Especially something like this one.)

Details on both plus a little something for the hentai fan in all of us here.

Magical Witch Punie-chan was previously released in 2008 sub-only. I'm hopeful that this is a sign that the re-releases they've so far are selling well. (I'm still hopeful that perhaps Simoun will get a worthy English dub. I deserves a really good one.)

As I see it, MB is still not in the best of shape and I question their long-term ability to survive, especially considering that we are about to hit a second economic downturn (brace yourselves for that $5+ gas environmentalists wanted to see!) but at the very least, I'm very grateful to them for remembering to serve the needs of anime fans who prefer English dubs to Japanese with sub-titles!

Also, an update on my computer: it is working, more or less, but really needs help. I can barely even log onto this site to make this post!

Hopefully over this coming week, I can get it fixed. I can't really afford a new computer right now on top of my anime habit. (Geez, why does law school have to be so expensive?)

Post any comments you have! I really do read every one and I feel just a little more like my existence has meaning when I see them.

Bye-ni!

High School of the Dead Dub Cast Revealed!

2011-03-04T16:28:00.000-08:00

As I'm sure you've all realized previously, I'm a bit pro-fanservice. Interestingly enough, I've actually been anti-zombie for a while after watching a particular zombie movie and discovering that there was a limit to the amount of gore a man can take in before he loses his taste for it. (The scene in question involved a lawnmower and quite a few zombies. Gooey ewwie.)

When I heard about High School of the Dead, I found myself at first not interested. Then I read a bit about it and started getting interested. Then I heard who the artist was and I just HAD to check it out. I was quite happy when Section23 decided to do an English dub for it. I've wondered for a while who would be cast.

Well, we've got the answer now!

Additional details claimed in this post on Mania.com's AoD section, official status unverified.

I think this is one of best casts I've seen in a while. I especially like seeing Illich Guardiola for Kouichi Shido. His voice was the very first one that came to mind when I started thinking about an English voice for that character. (No offense whatsoever for Mr. Guardiola, I just think his voice will be perfect.)

I'm also extremely pleased by the casting of Taylor Hannah as Saeko Busujima. Having enjoyed her voice work in a number of other series, I think she's going to just kick ass in this role. Listen to a clip here. Check out all the clips and decide for yourself!

My only negative is for Hisashi Igo being voiced by David Matranga. I don't know exactly why but I REALLY thought Chris Patton would be superlative casting for that role. Sadly, I think he's dropping off the anime radar a bit. (Mr. Matranga is very talented though. I'm sure he'll achieve something great with this.)

I hope to see some High School of the Dead DVDs or Blu-Rays before too long.

So what do all of you my dear readers think about the casting? Are you pleased or pissed? Comment before They get you!

Bye-ni!

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties

2011-02-22T12:18:00.001-08:00

I apologize for the lack of posting lately. There's been a perfect storm of legal writing and exam studying combined with severe technical difficulties. Hopefully, I should have some of this resolved by week after next.

Maybe.

You see, the problem is I do my blogging on my desktop computer which is, unfortunately, reaching the end of its life. To keep from losing it entirely before I can ready a replacement, I'll be doing almost everything off of my laptop. So please understand that for a while after this post, my blog posts will lack pics (no image editing software on the lap) and may be a bit less complex than some of my previous blog posts.

However, I'll try to blog a bit more to make up for it.

Info on the contest, entry E-mail link and list of titles in the package will be made public March 14th. Since my Top 5 may not be to everyone's liking, there will be a special bonus that I'm sure will make the contest appealing to more folks.

What will that be? Eh, you'll have to wait and see! (Yup, I'm a terrible tease.)

Bye-ni!

Happy Valentine's Day 2011!

2011-02-14T09:31:00.000-08:00

Well, once again the time to post has arrived. The pole is or was supposed to close today if I set it up correctly. Hopefully, everyone who had an opinion took the time to make it known. (If you didn't feel free to comment about your choice. I do read all the comments!)

So with that bit of housekeeping behind us:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day has a long and storied tradition going back much farther than the commercialized version many deride in modern times. However, I'll let you my loyal readers discover that on your own. Rather than blog about the past, I'd like to post some adorable Valentine's themed anime pics, comment on a featured couple and generally act like a man who is a hopeless romantic at heart.

Love is a theme in story-telling that transcends almost all others as a timeless element of the human condition, so it comes as no surprise that it pops up in anime. It is also no surprise that countless fans can find evidence of love in the interaction of characters. From casual talk of nothing to fierce arguments, there's no moment in anime or any story-telling that can't be parsed out for subtext and innuendo. Not even brutal fights between characters who appear to hate each other.

Of course, sometimes fans will ship a side character with a main one or even invent their very own character from that pitch dark nightmare known as the mind of the fanfic author. Tremble in horror at the thought.

The cute so adorable it terrifies the world! Fear the Pika love!

Whenever exercising one's imagination, please try to avoid the creation of yet another demonic Sue. Remember, whenever a fanfic author creates a Mary Sue character, God does a face-palm. The Creator is having migraines as a result. Please, think of the Creator.

Fanfic authors and anime writers can sometimes get on the same page though. Some series see the addition of new subtext and even obvious shipping elements to cause a character relationship that started out more ambiguous to become more romantic/emotional. Often this occurs as a result of anime writers either having their own opinion on the ship or simply misunderstanding cues from the source material.

Seriously, they're just friends. The manga already picked Orihime for the OTP. The anime writers may have missed that memo though. (I know I did. Actually, I think a lot of fans did.)

When discussing shipping of any kind on any level, remember that while emotionally investing in the love between two (or more) fictional characters is fine in moderation, it can be taken to extremes. Advocating violence against opposing shippers or equating them to mustachioed Austrians is rarely the best way to debate someone, even if it can be quite amusing.

Now for a brief talk about our featured couple:

Domon Kasshu and Rain Mikamura!

Recently I've been watching G Gundam and frankly I really admire the relationship writing in the series. Sure, as an entry into the deep and often highly complex universe of mobile suit wars, G Gundam isn't exactly the deepest or necessarily the best written anime ever.

However, there is a depth to the love story of Domon and Rain. It is as if the writers decided that since the series wasn't going to involve as many plots and deep thoughts as a typical Gundam franchise entrant, they'd devote themselves instead to portraying the complexities of love. If that was their goal, they succeeded.

At first, the viewer can't be sure that Domon really does care about Rain. He starts out far too driven and angry. Yet every scene between them carries something, even if it is just a small gesture or glance, that shows just how deep their love goes. One scene from the first Bandai box set that struck me is when Rain is trying to repair the Shinning Gundam while feverish. At first, Domon does as she asks and lets her work alone but when he sees how much trouble she's having, he has her direct him to make the repairs. In a short time, they're finished despite earlier scenes and dialogue making it clear that the repairs were going very slowly and Domon isn't very good at fixing the Shinning Gundam alone. Another scene before then had Domon and Rain work together in a fight and as a result unleash a bit of Domon's true power. Together the two are just better.

Later scenes of Domon desperately begging for Rain's life or the two of them spending time together emphasize it but there are no scenes where you can't sense the love they have. For a series that is quite a bit silly at times, G Gundam has perhaps the best written love story of any Gundam series, at least of the one's I've seen.

In closing, Valentine's Day isn't something to cynically write off as a commercial waste of time. It's a day for reflection on the heart, a time to remember love or seek love or declare love and a brief moment when you should be able to ship without feeling embarrassed. Anime fans need moments to ship without embarrassment.

So remember:

Remeber to vote in the poll if it is still working! I'll announce the specific prize anime in a later blog post. I'm not quite sure exactly when I'll be able to buy them. (Remember, I have no sponsors for prizes! It'll all from my pocket right now!)

I'm happy to remain your blog navigator, Richard J. Hopefully, I'll be around for a long time to come even if my posting is a bit sporadic. (I am WAY too lazy.)

Bye-ni!

Update and Poll

2011-01-23T14:38:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I have returned from a combination of winter break laziness and first week back at law school mental breakdown! Richard J. here to try to get things going again on this blog. (Wow, I have GOT to stop doing this whole disappearing thing!)

Anyway, let me explain myself. At first I was on break. . . .

Oh the joy of sleeping in late, eating home-cooked meals I didn't have to cook myself and just being lazy in general. I played games and watched anime and read manga and relaxed HARD. I spent lots of time with my family, talking about all kinds of things both serious and light-hearted. I helped clean up a building (urgh) and cleaned a little in my room (yah!) and then I just sort of went into hibernation for the last week of break.

Seriously, I basically did nothing for the last week but eat and sleep.

It was bliss. Of course, I meant to do some blog posting too but, well, like I said I got pretty lazy.

Then, my winter break ended.

I figured I was relaxed enough to be ready to deal with the rigors of law school once again. So I drove up, unpacked and got ready for the start of a new term.

Sure, I was a bit nervous because I still didn't have some of my books (slow delivery is slow) but I wasn't too worried. I mean, I've done this sort of thing before. Last term wasn't so bad in the end. I even did pretty darn good on my finals! (High Bs and an A.)

But then classes started.

I wasn't mentally prepared after all.

Yeah, it was kinda like that.

I didn't freak out in class or anything but my stress levels shot through the roof. I started drinking to mellow out. A bottle of wine was gone in less than a week and I usually drink so little and so slowly that a bottle of wine lasts nearly a full month.

Obviously, I was a bit nervous.

Then things started to pull together as the week went on.

My books came in, my family helped me to get one of them from a special "first come, first served" deal after finding out the one I ordered was wrong and they even came up to visit yesterday.

I'm feeling quite a bit more mellow now about this term. Ah, I think I can manage this after all. Hey, if I could make it through the first term and pull off those grades, then this shouldn't be too much worse, right?

So that's how I came to be in a good enough mental state to start blogging again.

To make it up to everyone for being gone for so long, I'm doing another contest! I want your opinions though! So take some time and do this poll for me.

What Prize Should The Next Context Have?

I'm going to be quite busy this term but I hope to be able to post enough to please ya'll!

Until the next post, please vote in this poll and comment if you want! Future polls will be widgets but I wanted to confine this one to this post to make sure it gets attention.

My plan is to give away some anime and I need to know what method to my madness you'd prefer!

Until next time bloggies!

Bye-ni!

*Edit: I just want to clarify: Yes, I meant "contest" and not "context." I'm not sure if changing the title will foul up the polling so I'm leaving it that way. (Thanks to bal-anime for putting me on notice!)

Merry Christmas in 2010!

2010-12-25T11:22:00.000-08:00

I know you'll probably read this late but I just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

This is an important time of year, where people take a moment to hopefully get past the consumer mania and remember family and loved ones. This is a time for couples, for children and for friends! Take a moment and remind someone you care about that they mean a lot to you and your happy to have them in your life. Far too often, we neglect to tell people how we feel about them because we think they already know.

From someone who struggled with severe depression for years: no, they don't know. They believe sometimes but until you make it clear, they don't know and they doubt. So tell your parents you love them or your spouse how glad you are they said yes or your children how special they are or just a random buddy that they can be pretty cool sometimes.

And remember that Santa isn't just a cute girl with blue hair who bring kids toys, she's also a symbol of humanity's collective ability to suppress the worst parts of ourselves to bring joy to others. Santa is a symbol of our ability to be selfless. Don't focus on the buying or the getting; the season is all about the giving.

Also, forget about that image of a jolly elderly gentleman as Santa. That guy retired a few years back to pursue his mining hobby more seriously (what, you didn't know that was where the coal came from?) His replacement is a lovely and refined young lady.

See?

All last night, Santa went around the world at Mach 100, using her incredible lock picking skills to enter houses and leave gifts. Of course, she's got a lot of helpers too! Her army of elves!

Santa's elves worked for hours that became millenniums last night, just to bring joy the world. It was exhausting work!

Fortunately, good Otaku know to treat Santa's elves with kindness because Santa and her elves are wonderful and sweet!

Also, Santa has been known on occasion to, when sufficiently angered, unleash a horde of living nutcracker soldiers that marsh endlessly and fire armor piercing candy canes.

Some still live today who witnessed the Great North Pole Civil War wherein the previous Santa launched a dashing counter-offensive against an entire squadron of Reindeer equipped with heat-seeking eggnog rockets with just himself, 3 nutcracker soldiers and a ninja. (Needless to say, Santa won that fight but the mysterious Mr. X continues to battle to turn Christmas into X-mas! Fight him wherever you can!)

Santa fights to keep Christmas as more than just a day where the retail stores bask in the glorious profits that make it possible to keep millions employed and feeding their children. Santa fights to make sure everyone remembers Christmas is really about giving and bringing happiness and acceptance to all of humanity, regardless of religion or anything. Only a kind heart is needed to enjoy the special happiness of giving to make other's happy!

Though the getting can be pretty sweet too.

I got the first set of G-Gundam! Did you get anime too? If you did, please post about it!

If not, is there something you'd like to share about Christmas in 2010? A happy moment with someone important to you? A special gift? Please post if you want to.

Remember, the joy is in giving and spending time with those you love but most of all, it's in spreading the happiness inside you to all the good people of this world!

Bye-ni!

MB to Fans: Kashimashi and Loveless Dubs Coming!

2010-12-02T21:31:00.000-08:00

I haven't had much time to blog lately due to upcoming Law School finals (pray for me) and spending time with my family over Thanksgiving break (when I should have been studying for finals) but I've got to comment on this news! We'll have to wait until next year but here comes some English dub action for Loveless and Kashimashi!

You may recall I mentioned Sirabella's talk of a Loveless dub way back.

Wow, MB is really making an attempt lately. If only they weren't sucking so badly at actually getting the shows out. Hopefully, they'll start getting their act together soon because I'd like to own these. (Quality issues notwithstanding.)

I've actually been interested in Loveless since I came across the first episode on a Newtype-USA preview disc. The sub-only release annoyed the daylights out of me back then and still does. However, it will be nice to see it finally get a chance to shine in English. (Well, hopefully they don't screw up on the English dub.)

Loveless could do very well with an English dub. It's already sold well to hardcore fans and now it has a chance to draw in new fans. The series may get a second-wind from this.

Kashimashi was a show I actually watched about halfway through via fansubs. I liked it and hoped for a license, fully expecting an English dub to be had because I reasoned that the show was a good mix of successful genres and could easily reach beyond just the "oh, is that lesbian loving?" fanbase. Sadly, MB wasn't as confident about it as I was but I feel a small bit of satisfaction now. Guess sub and dub fans can both have what they want with this series now. We'll need something new to fight over.

Yeah, that should do until the next big battle comes along.

The manga kicks the anime's butt a bit but Kashimashi is pretty damn good in any format. Looking forward to this one!

Regardless of past feelings, this is great news once again for English dub fans!

So when does the other shoe drop?

Seriously, I know bad news is coming from somewhere so where and when?

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED *DUB FAN PARANOIA*

Wow, maybe Fan Love is really winning the battle after all.

Well, after getting good news and staying up past my bed time, I have to go. Again, pray for my success on my Law School exams. (Or if you have no faith in a deity, please just wish me the best of luck. I can use all of that I can get!)

Bye-ni!

Dubs Rising: Clannad After Story, Rosario and More!

2010-11-13T16:36:00.001-08:00

Hello to all of my followers! (You're still out there right?) Looks like once again, the Fates are smiling on we English dub fans! Once upon a time I made a heartfelt wish. It was a small and simple one but important to me.

Now that wish has been answered.

Today, news came from Izumicon via a post on Mania.com's AoD board and later ANN, that Clannad After Story and the Clannad movie will be getting an English dub! David Williams will return to ADR directing to co-direct with Janice Williams! There will even be an exchange program like there was for Clannad, meaning once again English dub and sub lovers can live together in peace and harmony!

Well, okay, that's probably wishful thinking since there's always someone who has to spoil our fun with unnecessary fan hate but right now, I'm giddy with joy! I feel like Scrooge when he found out the spirits did it all in one night! By taking this course of action, Sentai Filmworks will please a hell of a lot of anime fans and prove once again that the anti-moe fanatics that attack all Key productions can't do much against the consumer might of dedicated pro-anime fans!

Remember, though the battle may be a long and difficult one, in the final battle good always triumphs over evil. Fan love will, in the end, prove victorious over fan hate! So take a moment my readers and congratulate yourselves on being part of why these English dubs and more are happening. You told them what you wanted, you bought what you could to show them your support and now English dub fans are getting a little encouragement!

Further, Section23 licensed Needless, a series that from what I've read will become a personal favorite. (Crazy sci-fi action mixed with wacky hi-jinks and lolicon themes? Dudes, you know I'm there!)

Of course, that was a sub-only announcement, right? I mean, they usually are right?

Wait, hold on, let me double-check that news article from ANN. . . .

Ooh snap, Needless is getting an English dub too! (Okay, I didn't really need to check, I already knew. Did you?)

Truth be told, I barely even pay attention to license announcements that don't come from Funimation any more since most of them are sub-only but lately, the fragments of ADV have gotten my attention! Now, if they can just get into an all-dub-all-the-time mode of business, we'll be in full on miracle of anime time.

As long as I get what I want, I'm quite satisfied to be proven relatively wrong about the future of the fragments. (Though I think I'm being proven right about the need for English dubs!)

Speaking of Funi. . . have you been waiting for the English dub cast to be announced for Rosario Vampire or it's second season, Rosario Vampire Capu 2? Have you perhaps felt a sense of faint hope that the series might get the art box treatment? Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

I'll assume you want to know so here's a cast list for Rosario!

Moka: Alexis Tipton
Tsukune: Todd Haberkorn
Kurumu: Brina Palencia
Yukari: Monica Rial
Mizore: Tia Ballard
The Bat: Jerry Jewell
ADR Director: Jason Grundy (No relation to Solomon.)

If you don't believe me, go to Funi's blog and check it for yourself! Oh and some additional details:

Rosario + Vampire
Available on DVD Spring 2011
•Art box
•Art booklet (subject to change)
•Contains episodes 1-13
Rosario + Vampire – CAPU2
Available on DVD Spring 2011

So we've got another sweet art box and booklet coming our way like the one for Sacred Blacksmith. (Ooh, will there be another centerfold? Dang Funi, how about one of these for season 2 of Strike Witches!)

Well, that's a lot of awesome English dub news from the big Funi wolf and the rising starfish of Section23/Sentai Filmworks! I love it when good news happens! Lately, it seems like a lot of good things are happening. I got a fair bit of money recently thanks to a family member repaying the loan I gave them previously, several anime I'm interested in are getting English dubs and I'm feeling slightly confident about my law school finals. Guess I should end this blog on a happy note right here!

Oh, wait, I think I forgot something. . . .

Ahh! Stop the death glare! I apologize about that! Chrome Shelled Regios also got it's English cast announced by Funimation and it will also get the spiffy art box plus bonus item treatment!

Casting News:

Layfon: Todd Haberkorn
Nina: Brina Palencia
Felli: Monica Rial
Sharni: Eric Vale
ADR Director: Chris Cason

And some additional info via blog post:

Available February 2011 featuring:
•Art Box – Holds Part One and Part Two (sold separately)
•Collectible Miniature Flag
•Contains episodes 1-12 on 2 discs.

Wow, today was a good day huh? I'm a tad bothered by the English cast repetition Funimation's got going but then again, their regular VAs are quite talented in my opinion so it's fine.

I'm seriously looking forward to more Clannad goodness! Guess I'd better start carving some starfish. (By the way, if you haven't gotten the first season yet, now is the time!)

Honestly, I am so happy for this news! I kept my faith until the very end and triumphed! I'm happy pink!

Bye-ni!

November 11 on Veterans' Day

2010-11-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Due to finals prep and mental fatigue, I've been lax (again) at posting. Still, I think today's an important day so here's a quick post!

Today is November 11th, a very important day for anime fans. Obviously because it is day we honor the prestigious agent of MI6 (or the British Secret Intelligence Service if you prefer the proper terms) from Darker Than Black, November 11!

A remarkable contractor using the ability to freeze in battle, he-

November 11: Hold on there. I think you're missing something important.

Richard J.: Hmm? What are you talking about? Not second-hand smoke again.

November 11: Well it does have 680 to 823 nanograms of carcinogens but let's set that aside for a moment. Today is Veterans' Day, which is at least as important as honoring me.

Richard J.: You have a point. Let me try this again.

Today is November 11th, Veterans' Day! Today is a day used to honor military veterans, those who live and those who have fallen alike who have served this country and so many others as well. Originally, Veterans' Day was called Armistice Day and was meant to celebrate the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I and to honor the service of fallen military members who's efforts made that cessation of war possible.

President Woodrow Wilson first declared the federal holiday in 1919 and the 1926 Congress passed a resolution requesting President Calvin Coolidge issue another proclamation to observe the day with appropriate ceremonies. Congress enjoyed themselves so much, they passed an act in 1938 to make every November 11 a legal holiday "dedicated to the cause of world peace." (It went from clearly honoring soldiers to generically honoring world peace just before the world went crazy again. Perhaps they were being sarcastic?)

Fast forward to the year 1953 and a Kansas show store owner by name of Alfred King began a quest to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans. Well, after WWII it probably seemed unfair to only honor WWI vets. It likely was mostly due to having a son who fought in WWII but it was much more than a personal dream.

Proving that ordinary an citizen working toward a goal can accomplish great things, King sought to expand the day to all veterans both alive and fallen and his efforts in his home of Emporia, Kansas got the attention of the Emporia Chamber of Commerce. They took up his cause (in large part due to 90% of Emporia merchants honoring the day plus the Board of Education) and in 1953 Emporia became the first town in America to celebrate Veterans' Day. With the aid of local congressional Representative Ed Rees, a bill for the holiday made the rounds in Congress. On May 26, 1954, the bill was signed into law, on June 1st it was amended to change "Armistice" to Veterans (only politicians could have forgotten that was a big part of King's effort in the first place) and October 8th, President Dwight Eisenhower officially changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day. (Officially there is no apostrophe but the common grammatical inclination is to add one.)

Incidentally, from 1971 to 1978, Veterans' Day was not necessarily celebrated on November 11th. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved the day to the fourth Monday of October (okay, I think they got a little too removed from the history there) but it was moved back after the obvious retaliation for ignoring the historical relevance of the date. Unfortunately, after the change back businesses, schools and local governments have begun to ignore the holiday and by extension the service and sacrifices of millions of veterans, 24.9 million approximately, in the United States. (I didn't get the day off from class and no one mentioned the holiday. Sad panda.)

So, I hope you'll take a moment after reading this post to be grateful for the service of a veteran. War is a horrible thing and no honorable warrior longs for it but when times of trouble have risen, when the fates of free people have been placed upon the shoulders of a brave few, soldiers have done their duty and those veterans of wars and conflicts past deserve our respect and gratitude. I may have opened with a bit of light-heartedness but I must say that no one can question my belief that the men and women who've given so much for so little long ago earned the right to my respect and thanks. I hope you'll join me in saluting our veterans.

November 11: I may not be American but I can't disagree with your sentiment at all.

Richard J.: Well, that's it for this post at Blog of A Heretical Dub Lover. I know it wasn't very anime-centric but do consider buying and watching Darker Than Black for November 11 while you take a moment to honor our veterans!

November 11: Oh and for information on second-hand smoke, you might want to try government websites. Governments are always trustworthy after all.

Richard J.: Really?

November 11: I'm only kidding.

Richard J.: So long everyone and thanks for all the posts!

Bye-ni!

Sustain the Industry Video! First Vid EVER!

2010-10-30T12:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, now that midterms are over (hurrah!) I'm back to hopefully entertain you here at Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover! I'll post several things to make up for the long drought but up first is my first forray into YouTube land!

Yes, I decided to make a Sustain the Industry video like I talked about before and try to get in on Robert's special deal before it was too late. I actually planned to do this a while back but, well, midterms, studying, activities and general malaise kept me from getting to it.

Better late than never, yes?

I'd love to hear your comments about this video. Do you think I did an okay job? What did you like or dislike? Did I go way over the top with Windows Movie Maker?

Well, short post is short. Let me know if you'd like to see more videos on this blog from me.

Bye-ni!

Kanokon Mess and K-On Dub Update

2010-10-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

Hello blog followers, readers and my fellow borderline manic-depressives! Welcome to Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover, where one fools fights in a never ending struggle for truth, justice and the American dub way!

Or something.

Today the net brings up a new wrinkle in the land of English dubbed anime that I want to post about. Media Blasters let loose upon the Twitterverse the news that Kanokon will not be getting it's remaining two singles. This is further characterized as a positive decision. ANN's report here for a bit more detail and hopefully some important updates over time.

My big question of course is: What about the English dub?

There are a number of factors to consider obviously. First, MB was using a budget studio for the work, so that may factor into the ability to complete the English dub. However, the weak economy, depreciating value of the $$$ and of course the reality that MB doesn't have the sales figures of Funimation means that the English dub is in question.

The cost of producing an English dub has been averaged at around $7,500-$10,000 per episode. (Costs obviously can be higher or lower but these are the shorthand figures.) That would mean that it would cost at least an additional $60,000 for finishing Kanokon's English dub if the only episodes dubbed so far are the ones on volume 1. Plus an extra $15,000 for the OVA episodes.

John Sirabella of MB has commented on the ANN forum. This post is especially important and may hold the key to my query about the English dub. (However, it's a tad vague and quite clearly indicates that from here on out, we're probably going to see few if any English dubs from them.)

In fact, that post makes me think MB is going the sub-only boxset route from here on. Oh joy. Maybe they think that will help with this little venture?

Before anyone asks, I don't yet know exactly how this will affect my agreement with Zac/ANN to review Kanokon's further volumes. Hopefully, Zac'll let me hit the box set for them. (Assuming the English dub does continue. Otherwise, my ability to review would be slightly hampered.)

In other news, Bandai has given some more details of the K-On! dub, including that the songs will not get English versions.

To be honest, I was quite interested in the K-On! release before I read that article. Now it's singles (and I'd have to get the LE ones to be satisfied), that's 4 releases that we all know WILL BE DELAYED TOO MANY TIMES! Plus, with the English dub not planning to include English versions of the songs, the dub will hit a personal pet-peeve of mine.

When a character in an anime is singing, the English dub VA should be used for that scene in the English dub. Nothing is being taken away from the likely VERY TALENTED performance of the Japanese VA. Rather, we fans thereby gain a net benefit of +1 to Songs Performed in the series! Not to mention that it is jarring for me as an English dub preferring fan to hear the vocals shift from an English VA to the Japanese for the singing.

Now, I will say this: I can be quite reasonable on this issue. It's not like I'm now saying "screw K-On! I don't want it!"

Do no misunderstand me, I'm still interested in the series. However, now I'll be waiting until all the volumes are out (because I refuse to buy Bandai's delaying tactics as they come out) and I have to tolerate an annoyance.

If I'm lucky, the English VAs will be so close to the Japanese VAs in sound that the switch will be painless. Still, I can't help thinking that Bandai chose the English VAs, several of which can actually sing, solely for the purpose of a publicity stunt for convention concerts. (My opinions on this subject are my own and in no way should be attributed to the VA whose Twitter I just linked to. She is blameless here.)

Well, those are my opinions and rants for the day.

Tune in next time for videos, me asking your opinion on something important and, hopefully, something you'll find funny.

Bye-ni!

Anime Review: Bludgenoning Angel Dokuro-chan.

2010-10-08T14:46:00.000-07:00

Anime Review # 007
Title: Bludgenoning Angel Dokuro-chan
Release Type: Complete Collection!

Warning, beyond this point I, Richard J., your faithful if ineffectual blog Navigator, cannot advise you to read if blood, angels or twisted and semi-crude humor bother you.

For everyone else, I have a few words about Bludgenoning Angel Dokuro-chan! From the Japanese company MediaWorks and the US company Media Blasters comes this twisted and brutal tale of one boy destined to create an inappropriate paradise on Earth and the violent yet adorable angel sent to deal with him. Based on the original novel by Masaki Okayu, who after watching this show I suspect wanders the streets at night with a bat, Dokuro-chan is a unique anime viewing experience.

The Plot Synopsis:

Bludgenoning Angel Dokuro-chan is a relatively short series dealing the the trials and tribulations of one Sakura Kusakabe. At first, his life seems okay. He chats with classmates, he walks with a girl he returns home to find another cute girl in a sexy state. Seems like a classic harem series and if not for the opening, you'd be forgiven for not expecting the extreme violence that comes next. What follows after a bloody death is a quick resurrection by Dokuro-chan, the murderous yet loving angel! Sakura's life rapidly goes down hill as his classmates begin to treat him like a pariah, get turned into animals or vanish without a trace. Violent and bloody death (then resurrection) becomes the constant in his life. Fortunately for him, he's either a severe masochist or the poster boy for Stockholm syndrome!

The series is a quick watch as each episode is half the length of a normal TV ep. The OVA series is included with the TV series but it's far too short. The focus is on twisted gags, parody, blood, subversion of expectations, angels that bludgeon, a sensitive salaryman, adorable designs and blood. The series is also about extreme violence and a theme song with images of blood, torture and death that will stick in your head for days.

Did I mention the blood?

The Packaging:

Bludgenoning Angel Dokuro-chan had a prior sub-only release from Media Blasters which was also a complete collection. Personally, I think this release has the superior look but let's just look at it on it's own.

First we have a cover featuring Dokuro-chan with her Excaliblog in hand (surprisingly, it's a real weapon) with Sakura behind her and chibis everywhere against a backdrop of blood and darkness.

Perfect.

The back cover features a few choice screen caps, including one of Sakura reduced to chunky salsa and a smiling Dokuro-chan about to dish out some serious pain. A red skull with a halo serves as a creative and effective feature grid. It clearly says we've got an English dub now. And there is blood of course.

The cool skull design (did you know Dokuro-chan's name means "skull" in English?) appears on the disk, perfectly placed to create the look of a cyclops. Blood splatters are there too.

The Reasons It Rocks:

In case you failed to heed my warning and have made it this far despite not being a fan of bloody violence caused by angels, I think it's time I tell you, this series is all about the angelic wrath of the cutest sadist in recent anime history. Bludgenoning Angel Dokuro-chan derives considerable twisted humor from the brutal slayings and magical girl parody resurrection scenes of Sakura. Over-the-top blood and violence is a key part of what makes this show so much fun to watch. The sheer insanity and Sakura's reactions, ranging from irritated at having his head pulped to genuine moments of fear, make it all somehow funny.

The big improvement over Media Blasters's previous collected release is obviously the English dub. It features a cast your ear will probably recognize but I'm just going to talk about the two leads. Really, with a show this short and so much of the humor being based on Sakura and Dokuro-chan's interactions, you MUST like these performances to enjoy the series properly.

Fortunately, veteran VAs Johnny Yong Bosch portrays Sakura Kusakabe and Wendee Lee tackles Dokuro-chan with surprising perfection. Honestly, I never expected to hear Dokuro-chan's "Pipiru piru piru pipiru pi!" successfully translated into English!

Johnny Yong Bosch's take on Sakura is a departure from his numerous badass roles like Ichigo in Bleach or Zero in Code Geass. He doesn't even sound like Koizumi from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The voice he does for Sakura is somewhere in between and it's quite fitting and in line with the Japanese performance. It gives off a vibe of frightened child.

Then there's Wendee Lee's take on Dokuro-chan which convinces me that she can play anything. Honestly, she actually kinda creeped me out at times. She manages to capture Dokuro-chan's loving yet sadistic nature perfectly. The scene where she's trying to get Sakura to give her back her halo was just eerie thanks to her disturbingly perfect take on Dokuro-chan. Honestly, I think this might be some of her best work in terms of characterization.

Bludgenoning Angel Dokuro-chan features a warped world filled with odd characters and events that are so twisted, zany and out there that you will either love it or hate it. If you've ever found yourself complaining about anime being too repetitive or maybe you're just in the mood for something that proves that ANIME IS NOT FOR CHILDREN, then this is the series to watch. There just aren't many comedies that successfully use violence and gore but this series does it flawlessly.

Now for a counter analysis.

The Reasons It Sucks:

Make no mistake, Bludgenoning Angel Dokuro-chan is not a series for anyone who can't stand the sight of blood or is bothered by wanton acts of violence and cruelty. Frankly, there are times where if you take a moment and actually think about the events in a serious way, you'll get the chills. Dokuro-chan is an angel but she's rather closer to Lucifer than the typical ones you see in fiction.

Which leads me to another concern. Personally, I have strong religious views but I don't allow things that aren't intended to be taken seriously bother me at all. However, I could understand someone being potentially offended by the portrayal of angels and the idea of God sending assassins after people and such. Sure, it's all done for the sake of humor and to add to the insanity of the setting but I feel it should be mentioned here.

The last weakness is that the series is short and depending on your tastes in humor, might not have much re-watchability. Really, this is a love it or leave it series in my opinion. If you don't like the type of humor Bludgenoning Angel Dokuro-chan

Graded It For You:

If you like the kind of humor and madness Dokuro-chan has to offer, you will enjoy it intensely. If you like cute girls and don't mind blood and gore, you'll probably like it a lot. If you are remotely bothered by blood, violence or an angel that bludgenons, I think you should stay clear! Overall, I think this grade is most appropriate. . .

Here are the usual suspect retailers where you can order it: Robert's Anime Corner Store (remember, post a vid and get a $25 merchandise credit but only if you do it before the end of October!), The Right Stuf, Amazon.com and Best Buy are carrying it.

Pipiru piru piru pipiru pi!

Er, I mean bye-ni!

THANKS FOR READING!

Summer Wars Cast and Inuyasha Final Act Re-Casts

2010-09-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

Hey all of you English dub lovers out there! Richard J., blog navigator and blood-sucking lawyer in training, is here to talk about a few English dub news tidbits. You're probably aware of them but if not it's news to you and if so, hey, at least you get some giggles from watching some fool flounder about like a castaway adrift in a sea of pitch.

But enough about me, lets talk about the much-talked about Summer Wars!

First, you might recall the lengthy rumor mill about the license back before it became a certainty. (EVA Rebuild #2 was also involved in that rumor mill and thankfully was also grabbed up by Funimation!) Basically, the rumors came from a UK company about an English dub being worked on for Summer Wars by Funimation.

Well, now we see the fruits of that labor. From one blog to another, I think that cast looks pretty darn good. It's actually a fairly diverse group if you look at the whole thing. Several major veterans and several rising stars. Maxey Whitehead is building a rather quality resume with Funimation, having worked on two of their higher profile series, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Soul Eater. Clearly the people who complain about a lack of new and/or young talent in Texas need to perk up their ears a bit.

Summer Wars appears to be getting a high level of treatment, though I've heard about some rather serious glitches at a screening. Hopefully, those will get worked out but I believe that a screening is a far different creature than a final production release. Sometimes, one takes the draft version to a screening or a problem that appears to be related to production is actually caused by technical difficulties. In any event, we'll have the chance to learn the truth soon.

Best quote from the Funi blog quotes:

WarGames re-imagined as a Japanese ensemble family drama. And then animated. – John Gholson, writer for Cinematical

Assuming he meant this War Games, that's like telling me they took an old Mercedes (cool car) and refurbished it, added enough electronics to practically allow for space flight and then painted it like these otaku lovelies.

Yeah, that quote alone puts this one on my Top Buy list.

And yes, I'd totally drive that to work. Even if I were PoTUS.

Especially if I were PoTUS! (Air Force One with Nanoha on it? Pure concentrated awesome!)

On the Inuyasha: The Final Act front, we've got word of recasts starting on this page of AoD comments on Mania.com. Fairly reliable sources apparently. No outright confirmations from VIZ that I know of but hey, since when does VIZ really tell us anything?

As it stands, it is confirmed by the VAs themselves that Kelly Sheridan and Kirby Morrow are reprising their roles of demon hunter Sango and the lecherous monk Miroku respectively. ANN lists Jillian Michaels, Richard Ian Cox and Scott McNeil as reprising the roles of Shippo to fox demon, Inuyasha the loud warrior and Koga the wolf demon as well.

Confirmed recasts are Michael Dangerfield taking over the role of Sesshoumaru and Kira Tozer taking on the role of Kagome.

This of course screws around with two of my favorite ships but I think Dangerfield can handle the role given some of his previous work I've heard (take Johann Trinity and just deepen the voice a bit, add a pinch of aloof gruffness and bake to taste.)

Tozer I'm not so sure about. Of course, Moneca Stori's voice for Kagome was always a bit of an acquired taste for many with some liking her work from the get go, others growing into it and others still being quite unhappy about her work. Me personally, I always liked her voice work on the show though I could never really figure out exactly why. (I know that sounds odd but I felt that there were flaws in the performance but I liked the performance in part because of them.)

For some non-anime performances of Kira Tozer, check here. Go here for some clips. This might be her first anime role.

So the question is, what about the last few major players? Will they be re-cast or reprised? VIZ isn't exactly a font of fan communication lately (or ever) so we've just got to keep our fingers crossed, our ears open and our teeth brushed.

So what are your thoughts on all of this? Are you excited about these English dubs? Are you apathetic? Will you donate money to me? (What if I post videos?)

Well, that's it for this blog posting. Stay tuned for more of my pointless posting!

Bye-ni!

Need a Replacement Photo Host.

2010-09-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Richard J. here to navigate the blogosphere with all the care of a drunken Congressman a stimulus bender! Viva la spending other people's money!

After having a second issue with Photobucket, I've decided that I really should just avoid the irritation of dealing with them getting worked up over content. So, for the sake of ease of use on this blog for future reviewing or posting about anime that might be a tad ecchi, I need a new place to host photos so I won't have to deal with images being removed for violating idiotic terms of use!

Really, even drawings are a problem? What the heck is this world coming to?

Anyway, if I'm going to be able to show the cover for the DVD of Kanokon volume 1, I've got to get different account.

So can anyone help me out here? Let me know if you have any good suggestions!

Bye-ni!

Anime Review: Kanokon (ANN Ver.)

2010-09-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

Anime Review # 006
Title: Kanokon
Release Type: Singles

Since I thought some of you might like to see it despite it not making it to ANN, here's the final draft version of my Kanokon review. Although it wasn't used due to senior reviewer deciding to review Kanokon after all, you wonderful people get a chance to read it anyway! (Excuse the lack of linkies.)

Kanokon Volume 1 Review:

Synopsis: Kota is an ordinary high school student, with the looks of a little boy, who happens to learn his school’s secret. Yōkai are amongst his classmates! Fortunately for Kota, they’re mostly friendly. Unfortunately for Kota, two of them are a little too friendly. Chizuru is in love with Kota but new student Nozomu wants him too. Both are willing to “express” their affection in every way possible and poor Kota’s protests just can’t deter these girls from trying to get out of their clothes and into his pants. And for at least one of the girls, that includes a little spiritual possession.

Review:

Take one sexually-aggressive fox girl yōkai, one quietly lascivious wolf girl yōkai and one semi-perverted but self-conscious high school boy and you’ve got zany trouble in the sex-comedy outing that is Kanokon. Based on a series of light novels licensed but never released by Seven Seas, Kanokon the anime is a series that wants to tell a simple story about a love triangle. It skips the drama and moves on to the ecchi fun but also seems to want to skip out on exploring part of its own premise.

Kanokon’s first episode is somewhat bland and has poor transitions between flashback moments and the present day scenes. Little information is provided that the viewer wouldn’t already know just from a trailer or reading the synopsis on the DVD case. Kota Oyamada is a high school student with the nickname “King of Eros” and the subject of Chizuru Minamoto’s sexual advances. If she isn’t trying to strip him, she’s hanging all over him or tempting him in a completely unsubtle manner. Kota’s unwillingness to more strenuously protest Chizuru’s advances might be more acceptable to his classmates if they knew she was a yōkai fox with supernatural powers. Unfortunately, Kota is the only one in on the masquerade and Chizuru has no concept of decorum or personal space. Naturally, her nymphomaniac actions drive much of the shows humor.

Adding to the madness is the arrival of Nozomu Ezomori. After a brief meeting that manages to show that Kota really is a nice guy and also a bit genre savy, Nozomu stakes out a corner in Kanokon’s central love triangle. She’s a quiet yōkai wolf girl and while there are a few mentions of her supernatural power being potentially greater than Chizuru’s, neither girl seems interested in a magical battle. The two high school girls compete for Kota’s affections with bad cooking and sexually provocative advances. Their dueling escapades can be very funny to watch, especially their childish bickering, but there is a lack of depth. The girls’ reasons for falling for Kota are largely unexplained, even by the standards of the average harem anime. Kota himself thinks it may have more to with his smell than his personality.

Depending on the viewer’s mood, Kanokon will either be a cotton-candy romp of fanservice fun or a bland pudding of disinterest. Simply put, in these initial four episodes there is little beyond pure zany sex-comedy silliness. Certainly this can be enjoyable and fulfilling but not if the anime fan watching was hoping for a spectacular or emotional yōkai battle. At least in these episodes, the fact that the two girls competing for Kota’s affections are supernatural beings seems a minor detail at best. The supernatural aspect is primarily to add to the fetish fuel content, as in the “toad oil” scene or when Chizuru possesses Kota. Episode 4 “Can’t Take It Off’ is really the only time in this volume that any sort of magic power is even necessary to resolve the plot. Several of the yōkai showoff their abilities, albeit only in ways that trigger more fanservice, and all of the girls get a chance to indulge a few more fetishes via cosplay. The episode is quite ridiculous and fun, easily the major contender for best episode on this disc.

Kanokon’s strength is that it truly enjoys being an ecchi sex-comedy, with Chizuru representing the sex maniac character type in a rather lovable manner. At the same time, it’s easy to wish the anime staff had chosen to focus a bit more on the supernatural elements or at least put a tad more emotion into the series. The first episode, dull as it is, provides some subtext that suggests that Chizuru falling for Kota may be because he is the first person not to reject her completely upon finding out she’s not human. The first volume of Kanokon will have the right audience laughing at the wild sexual antics of the “King of Eros” Kota and his two co-queens. All of the characters are likable and appealing visually, though lacking in depth.

Media Blasters’ release of Kanokon under their Anime Works label may contribute to a negative fan reaction from even the right audience though. Arvintel Media was tapped by Media Blasters for the English dub, producing a language track that while serviceable has highly detrimental flaws. In terms of translation and casting, Kanokon has a decent English dub. The use of the term yōkai wins points and most scenes flow well in English. Dorothy Elias-Fahn’s Chizuru mixes sexy and cute, managing to be quite likable in the role with a more adult quality than the Japanese. She also expresses a pleasant duality of voice when speaking to Kota versus other characters. It’s clear the actress enjoyed herself. Mona Marshall feels somewhat off as Kota and a few scenes, mainly in the first episode, feel uneven. While not a bad performance, it is less than expected. Rounding out the triangle of affections is May Kao as Nozomu. Her character’s first appearance is a bit weak but she builds on it. Her best line deliveries are when Nozomu is insulting Chizuru, though that’s not to disparage her other scenes. May is a surprise gem, with greater vocal presence than her Japanese counterpart.

Where the English dub for Kanokon fails is in technical merits. While initially doing a decent job, the third and fourth episodes have severe and highly noticeable errors. Episode three features a moment of silence where the English audio cuts out during Chizuru’s bath and episode four has Kota speaking as if in a bad Godzilla film dub in one scene. Given that Media Blasters has elected to only produce English dubs for select title, it would behoove the company to place a greater emphasis on quality if they intend to skimp on quantity. Arvintel’s work on this dub initially shows promise but someone clearly dropped the ball twice. Japanese dub fans have a clear advantage with this release. Ayako Kawasumi’s Chizuru has slightly more emotion but an overly cutesy tone. Mamiko Noto’s Kota has greater consistency and vocal presence. The brothers of the female leads sound especially better in the Japanese dub, having greater vocal presence and line delivery. Miyū Takeuchi however feels a bit lifeless as Nozumu.

This volume has minimal extras: a clean opening and closing. The opening theme “Phospher" by Ui Miyazaki is sprightly but has better visuals than lyrics, showing the cast of characters in action with several fun images of the secondary characters reacting to the viewer. The closing theme “Koi no Honoo” Yui Sakakibara is stronger. Although the visuals are lacking without the credit text, the song gives a warm emotional feeling. The music is catchy with lyrics that provide more intimacy than the episode content so far. As of now, the themes are the only extras but John Sirabella of Media Blasters is looking into acquiring a series of video omakes.

Overall, the first volume of Kanokon is an average sex-comedy fanservice title. While there is a possibility the content will become more complex as the series continues, if the viewer isn’t interested by now, this is probably the wrong show to watch. For those who enjoy the silly and sexy antics, Kanokon is still more of a guilty pleasure than a top tier favorite due to the lack of depth.

Ratings:

Overall (dub) : C-
Overall (sub) : B+
Story : C+
Animation : C
Art : B
Music : B-

+: The cosplay episode is crazy fun, the characters are surprisingly likable, fetish fuel.

-: First episode is dull, virtually nothing to offer beyond sexual humor in these episodes, the English dub has serious production flaws and some miscasts.

So that's my ANN review of Kanokon! It may read as a bit more critical than normal but I really just could not see this as more than a guilty pleasure anime. Some guilty pleasure anime have more going for them: a sweet romantic angle, great action or just more depth than the average in terms of story-telling. Kanokon, while very funny to me, is just plain not going to appeal to a whole lot of people. Even some fans of ecchi comedy are going to be turned off by it.

Still, I enjoyed it despite the technical problems with the English dub. Really, if not for the fact the problems were relatively brief, I'd have dropped my grade even further. And to think, I said positive things abotu the studio before discovering those mistakes! (I'd seen the first ep streamed and it seemed fine so I somewhat assumed basic competency. Oops.)

Anyway, my score via catgirls would be:

I laughed but I had to endure the first episode's extreme weakness first and I only really started enjoying it in eps 3 & 4. First volumes like this are generally pretty weak but this was surprisingly so.

Bye-ni!

Blog Update: My Time Management Skills Suck!

2010-09-12T13:33:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Despite how it may have seemed, I am actually alive and kicking. I just have the worst time management skills of all time. My ability to to schedule and to keep a schedule is terrible.

Here I am at law school and half the time I don't even do all my reading and such for class because I can't seem to make myself keep to a schedule. Sadly, this is a life long problem and it will probably never improve. Well, maybe I'll get better when I join the military. A JAG officer probably needs to be disciplined right?

Anyway, today I make a vow to you my followers (and I'm grateful to all of you new followers!) and that vow is that I will try to maintain at least a 2-3 blog posts per month average from here on out. I'm actually a bit disgusted with myself for letting this blog lay fallow for so long. So I'm going to try and get my act together from here on out.

Now, lets talk about something cool that's going on in the anime fandom world!

Robert Brown of the Anime Corner Store, to promote the recent fan movement to "Sustain the Industry," is offering a $25 merchandise coupon for customers who put up their vids and show they bought from RACS. Details here.

Can I just say, I admire the person who came up with this idea of promoting the industry. It's a true act of positive effort to improve the rather bad situation anime fandom is in. (And the more gets sold, the easier it is to justify the costs of an English dub!)

If any of you have bought from RACS recently or plan to buy from them in the near future, you might want to take advantage of this. (Who knows what videos might show up.)

By the way, a minor update since I'd previously mentioned I'd be writing a review for Kanokon for ANN and for the stream of Strike Witches season 2. Theron Martin decided he did want to review the first volume and he has obvious seniority, so my review got rejected. (Sad panda.) However, I'll be writing reviews for the next volumes when they finally get out. In the case of Strike Witches season 2's streaming, as it turns out I can't review both that and the DVD release. So, in order to be able to review the English dub for season 2 as well as season 1, I've opted to wait.

In the near future, I'm going to try and find out about some other series I'd like to review that are coming out soon. (Hopefully, Zac will be receptive.)

Last thing, on a personal note, my family's income has dropped significantly and things are tight. Still, we've got a little discretionary funds so I'm still able to buy anime/manga on occasion. I've just got to keep my electrical bill low, not have cable/satelite and take advantage of every damn coupon I can. I can't even eat out more than about once a month. Basically, if we could just sell some property so we're not being strangled by the taxes (they doubled when the economy tanked, thanks very much government leeches!) and at the right price, we might actually be okay even with no one really working right now.

Anyway, law school isn't quite as hard as people made it out the be (or I'm not working as hard as I should) and I'm feeling surprisingly good about my life right now. Not great, since I have no real social life but okay.

All things considered, just being alive is something worth grateful for right now.

Bye-ni!

Embarrased About Being Gone So Long.

2010-08-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

Richard J. has returned, now with 3 times the stain fighting power!

After a whole lot of soul-searching and talking with my family, plus a bit of number-crunching, I've decided that my life is still worth living (more or less) and that my plans for the future can still work out. Although things will likely be much harder unless the real-estate market picks up.

Still, I feel like I've got to move on with my life and stop letting myself be held down by my family's issues. I can't fix them and they aren't something I should have to take responsibility for.

So I'm back. I feel a little embarrassed and nervous about how long I've been away from this blog but I hope you'll once again join me.

My next post will be made from the city of Macon in the state of Georgia, one of the 50 great United States. I'll be attending law school starting next week (mandatory orientation) so I don't know exactly what my posting schedule will be.

However, you can rest assured I will post. I've decided to live my life as well as I can from here on out. I intend to get my legal education, join the military as a JAG officer and then stay in until I qualify for full benefits. (Hopefully as a full Colonel or a General. Quite possible for a JAG officer.)

In between, I hope to implement certain plans involving anime and money that would likely never make me a dime but would make some people happy. My plans require both money and legal paperwork plus a slight faith in fandom. Who knows if I can ever take the initiative and make my desires a reality but no one profits from never trying. (Okay, some people do, but I don't want to be a serf to the federal government.)

In the next few weeks, I'm going to learn whether or not I'm really cut out for the legal profession. Hopefully, I'll make some friends and enjoy my 3 years of legal learning. Otherwise, hey, I can always cash in my chips and try another table. I don't really care what I do as long as I do something that gets me the future I desire.

Bye-ni!

On Break To Be Miserable.

2010-07-14T16:00:00.001-07:00

I hate to do this but I need to take a short break, a few days, to try and improve my mood. Unfortunately, today my family got pretty much the worst news possible short of people dying.

Basically, the main income earner of my family will soon be completely out of work and possibly in prison. What for? Essentially, for taking on a client that turned out to be a con-artist and trying to collection on a debt while doing it. Got to love our "justice" system.

Well, things are very bad right now and my family is going to lose a lot. We're desperately trying to see what property we have that can be sold and if there are any other resources we can tap. In other words, we're about to drop a few rungs on the taxable income ladder.

I need a few days to sort myself out. I'm trying not to be completely depressed or outraged because depression and rage are pretty useless in a situation like this. Right now, I've got a lot on my plate. I'm entering law school soon on nothing but loans and moving away from home again, I've got to try and figure out how to pay those loans off once I graduate (military service seems like a good idea right now) and frankly I'm just exhausted. I've tried to keep myself busy here and otherwise but I'm just tired.

One of the very few bright spots in my life right now is that Zac over at ANN accepted my offer to write reviews for Kanokon and he also offered me the chance to review the stream of Strike Witches season 2 after a few more episodes air. So, at the very least, I may have a small bit of income from that.

I feel very blessed and lucky to be able to write for a professional website like ANN but I also want to keep doing this blog. Tomorrow I'm going to be going to where my future law school is to try and determine how to move my stuff to where I'll be staying. It's going to be a long but hopefully a happy day. Maybe I'll feel like posting more on Hetalia: Axis Powers tomorrow night! (By the way, today was France and they picked the awesome J. Michael Tatum to voice him. He's great.)

I just hope I'll feel a bit better sooner rather than later. I've been clinically depressed in the past and I don't want to go back there.

This experience has taught me a valuable lesson though. Possessions are nice but in the end, it's the people you really need. Even if my family loses everything and becomes homeless (very possible, we were almost there once before) I hope that I can keep that truth close to my heart.

Bye for now my followers and friends. I will try to pull myself together soon.

Hetalia's England Revealed: Scott Freeman.

2010-07-13T16:06:00.000-07:00

Cavort with a unicorn while listening to the clip here!

Another day, another English dub update from Funimation regarding Hetalia: Axis Powers! Today it is England and I am late, due to worry over family problems and sheer ill feeling.

I'm still not as knowledgeable about this series as some so remember to take any opinions I give with a grain of salt! (Indian sea salt naturally.)

No Hetalia World Buffet today, just a great clip for inducing laughter.

So lets dig into some strange English cuisine and talk about Scott Freeman, the English VA chosen to voice England! First, let me say that although he's done a fair bit of work, I've never really noticed him before. Where have they been hiding this guy? An excellent accent that gives off an English professor sort of feel. (I was worried they might got for something a bit too Cockney.)

Scott Freeman's England comes across as very friendly and fun. This clip is so far my favorite as it is just plain hysterical in my opinion. There's just something about listening to a nation that sounds so normal and professorial suddenly start practically melting into a moe fit as mystical creatures appear. It doesn't look like Scott Freeman's had any major roles before England and my only question is why. He handled this clip wonderfully.

I like how this clip references the considerable depth and scale of English folklore. There are so many fascinating creatures of myth that were first talked about in England, or perhaps when speaking of such things we should use the more fanciful name of Albion for the nation? It's just so much fun to see a series make that cultural trait a major part of the character. For some odd reason, this bit of history is frequently ignored in favor of English characters being depicted as somehow snobbishly above such beliefs.

The clip also manages to make a quick reference to England's historical habit of fighting with people a lot. Colonial expansion was at one point a very major part of England's foreign policy. It would in fact be fair to say that it was the sum of their foreign policy for a time, leading to both unfortunate tragedies and wonderful boons. (The birth of America is a boon in my mind, regardless of what some delusional pundits will say.) Of course, England had plenty of problems at home too with internal disputes and such but they've kept going. England's had a rather colorful history and it's interesting to see the nation depicted here in a light-hearted way. I very much enjoyed it.

The accent choice was very fitting, very acceptable. Very English. My opinion is that once again Funimation has tapped a name we haven't really heard much of before to shine like a newly discovered jewel. Two thumbs up!

Now, tell me what you think of followers of mine! Did you like Scott Freeman's England? Did you like seeing legendary creatures? Did you like the brief moment with another nation? Did you comment yet?

After this week, my family's very unfortunate problems will be resolved one way or the other (pray for our salvation please) so hopefully I'll be in a better emotional state soon. That way, I can blog more and in a more timely fashion. I'm trying to stay calm and sane but really I just want to go lie down and sleep for a month or maybe just cry for a while. I can't though because I'm supposed to be the strong one.

Sorry to mix a personal message in with this Hetalia: Axis Powers English dub commentary but I'm just a bit worn out. I just hope things will turn out well for my family as if things go badly, it's going to be very bad. Like "oh look, we have no steady income and we're having to sell everything to pay our taxes and bills" kind of bad.

England does not approve of cruelty to pixies.

Bye-ni!

Hetalia's China Revealed: Clarine Harp.

2010-07-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

Immortal link to this news.

Following my tradition of commentary on Funimation's casting choices for the English dub of Hetalia: Axis Powers, it is time to blog about Clarine Harp, the pick to play China!

As always, I'm a newb when it comes to Hetalia, so my analysis could easily be very flawed.

Once again, an episode of Hetalia World Buffet was included with this news update from Funimation. Feel free to chow down on Chinese food with Clarine and Char! In case you just want to skip that though, here's some release info about series extras:

Episode 2 Commentary (Italy & Germany) “The Flower Apron,”
Episode 9 Commentary (U.S.A. & Russia) “The Cold War,”
Episode 12 Commentary (France & U.K.) “Nice Dover,”
Episode 16 Commentary (Japan & China) “Far East Brothers,”
“The Hidden History Hidden Within Hetalia” Historical notes,
Show Comments by Director Bob Shirahata,
Director Bob Shirahata’s Ending Sequence Comments,
Textless Closing,
Trailers

Not a whole lot of info here besides the (parial?) list of extras for Hetalia. A little fun in a restaurant, a little silliness and a little more with two lovely ladies of Funimation!

Now, I'll express my opinion on China's new English VA, Clarine Harp's portrayal so far. First, I feel that the accent here works very well. It's not too thick and it conveys a sense of aged wisdom. There's something subtly playful about it. I like this vocal characterization very much.

Also, if they hadn't told me who was doing it, I would not have believed it. Seriously, what the heck did Clarine Harp do to sound like that? She sounds like a guy! She totally does. I mean, damn.

Moving along, this choice of first look scene is very appropriate, conveying a feeling of long-suffering that culminates in a bit of humor. This is in keeping with the depth of history that modern China carries. Although from what I've read the living nation is a modest 4000, well, lets just say that China goes back a long way. It makes sense he'd be a bit relaxed about things. Heck, he's been dealing with people forever, considering that fossils of Peking Man found in the country may date back as far as 780,000 years ago, when fire was the new big thing. Modern China's turn to the authoritarian side isn't too far from the historical suffering brought on by the numerous battles and struggles that have led to it either, giving a feeling of stability out of the chaos.

In other words, China's very old and has been through a whole lot, but he keeps trying. It makes a certain degree of sense that they picked Clarine Harp to voice him, given her extensive body of work as both a VA and as a DVD producer. Here, she shows off an impressive skill at sounding like a man. I honestly can't remember any voice like this one from her before. I usually think about how she sounds in roles like Jody "Blue-Eyes" Hayward in El Cazador De La Bruja or Sei in Burst Angel. A sexy yet deep voice that makes me think of chocolate. This voice by Clarine is new to me.

Her performance here is not merely without defect in my opinion but also something surprisingly new. I've heard Clarine in numerous roles and own many of the anime she's done work on both in front of the microphone and in the production side of things. This is fascinating new ground for me.

My overall opinion right now is we just hit the jackpot! I mean, this casting choice is inspired. Good work Funimation!

Now it is your turn to tell me something. Do you want more of this accent? Do you fear China's space-based weapons program? Do you wish for a taste of that fortune cookie? Do you plan to post a comment?

It's a trap! (Although, would it be so bad to fall for him?)

Bye-ni!

Hetalia's Japan Revealed: Christopher Bevins.

2010-07-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

Elegantly click here to explore this truth.

Continuing my probably pointless coverage of Hetalia: Axis Power's English dub cast reveals as Funi does them, despite some already knowing via other clips, Richard J. here to blog. Today's VA of choice, Christopher Bevins!

Blah blah, haven't seen enough Hetalia to be considered an expert. Yadda yadda, just my opinions. Jibber jabber, anime is awesome.

New from previous posts here is the inclusion of a Hetalia World Buffet episode, a short video exploring the creative process behind the English dub and other production-related issues. It's a little silly in spots but it is interesting, with packaging mock-ups, talk about graphic designs with Diana Zaky, the discovery of an extras disc (what will be on that?), convention freebies and the chibi-explosion bandanna. Plus Japanese food. Yummy!

A fun little video but the sound was kind of wonky in places.

Now, lets talk about Japan's characterization in the clip, though very briefly as I think having a cursory knowledge of Japanese culture and history is a responsibility of any anime fan. Personally I thought the accent was very under-played, meaning they didn't make him sound like he's spouting engrish at all turns. (I admit to being worried about that.) At the same time, it's a bit too subtle I think. At least in that clip, I could barely tell there was an accent. It sounds so natural that you almost don't notice it.

Then again, that may be a result of the quiet and elegant tone of voice as much as from intent. Fitting for a nation that is a thinker. Japan's scientific advancements aren't limited to anime you know. Of course, Japan has baggage like most other nations too, especially ones that went through an imperialist phase. Like many nations that have gone through such a phase, Japan would very much like to move on and put the past in the past. The stain on the nation's honor isn't easy to clean.

Providing Japan's English dub voice is Christopher Bevins, an actor, ADR director and script and line producer. The man has a gift for disappearing into his roles. In one series, he can be a brash hothead, in another a smooth talker who oozes sophistication. While it's not fair to say that actors who lack a large vocal range are poorer actors, it does make them easier to identify. Christopher Bevins is a chameleon.

Listen to Apollo in Aquarion, then Dr. Schneider in El Cazador De La Bruja and then Kanone in Spiral. Go ahead, I'll wait. They don't sound hardly anything alike. Same guy, this guy and now he's going to bring Japan to English dub life. Groovy.

Still, I'm not sure quite yet about this performance. The VA's talent is undeniable but that accent was a little too modest for my ears, I expected something a little thicker. Perhaps it's just the clip itself, which is largely poking fun at Japan's love of cute while also saying "hey, we rock technology" or maybe I was just expecting the wrong thing. This accent is very simple, very natural, so it feels much less comedic. The scene is very early in the Axis' relationships and Japan is very subdued early on. I want to hear more before I really decide.

I'm neutral on this pick for now. I'll be back for more soon to talk about Hetalia: Axis Powers! (And if Funimation will stop for a while so I don't have to make more than one post a day, I'll have reviews!)

Tell me your views my followers. Am I wrong about the accent? Does Japan automatically get a pass because anime rocks? Thumbs up or thumbs down on the Hetalia World Buffet? Post it notes.

To chibi or not to chibi, that is the question.

Bye-ni!

Hetalia's Germany Revealed: Patrick Seitz.

2010-07-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

Efficiently click here for a short vid and article.

It's been a bad day for me but a good day for Hetalia: Axis Powers fans I think! Richard J. here to post incredible legible content about Patrick Seitz, the VA chosen to give Germany a chance.

Once again, I've watched little of Hetalia, so remember that my opinions are largely based on first impressions and my personal biases. Also from a little first hand experience as I have actually been overseas. Actually, I spent a while in Germany. (No, not like that! Get your heads out of the gutters!)

First, let's talk about the clip and the character. The accent choice for Germany is, thankfully, not the extreme stereotypical "where are your papers" sort of voice we've heard countless times in movies featuring Nazis. In fact, my God, they even hint at Germany's bitterness in this clip at being constantly reminded of that part of his life.

Unlike many portrayals of Germany in movies and TV, this series actually seems to want to recognize that Germany is not inherently EVIL. Quite the surprise considering Hollywood still loves to poke the nation in the eye with that one. Godwin's Law isn't actually written in stone but quite a few people forget that the nation which is today almost synonymous with a mustachioed corporal, has actually historically suffered quite a bit from wars. The aftermath of the last big one wasn't exactly good for them. I feel that Germany in Hetalia represents in part the will of the German people to strive to do what they can for their nation, even if they personally disagree with it.

Germany's a bit of woobie if you ask me.

Now about Patrick Seitz, I must say several things. First, I consider him to be one of the finest male English VAs around. If you doubt his talent, I command you to watch Koi Kaze. Second, I think he has the right voice for this role, a mix of strength and softness, giving him the ability to seem very stern yet capable of being very likable. The German people are actually rather nice. Third, I am increasingly happy to see people like Patrick Seitz working on Funimation dubs, as he has previously worked primarily in California. (You know, that state we hardly get any anime English dubs out of anymore but they used to produce some of the finest.)

We're lucky to have him as Germany. Patrick Seitz is multi-talented, having written numerous ADR scripts and adaptions as well. I really and honestly can praise him all day but I think I've posted enough.

The portrayal so far fits the nation well I think, feeling very accurate with the take charge attitude, the list of rules (Germans do as a society seem to like order) and of course the salute joke. That joke works so well. With an English dub, I can even follow what he's saying now in that scene!

I'm quite happy with this choice for VA and liked the accent very much.

What say you blog followers? Was that accent suitable to you? Do you like being ordered around by Germany? Interested in having a few beers with him? Post your post-able comments!

Too manly.

Bye-ni!

Hetalia's Russia Revealed: Jerry Jewell.

2010-07-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

Click here for the vid and short article.

Richard J. here to talk about Russia's VA, Jerry Jewell and how I feel about him and his character.

Let me begin by reminding everyone that I have seen very little of Hetalia: Axis Powers but I'm increasingly of the opinion that it is crazy fun.

Basically, I love the accent. It's just so. . . osmotic Russian. It reminds me of the old Cold War era movies, the accent helping to emphasize the slightly crazy communist evil. This take on Russia, at least from that clip, seems to be going for the quietly Yandere madness of a barely restrained madman.

I love it. Russia has a bit of a history of conquest as well as generally unpleasant events happening to its people. Add in the brutal Russian winter and you can really understand why the personification of Russia might be just a tad dark inside.

Now for his VA, I dig Jerry Jewell. He's great and I feel a bit of Barry The Chopper in this clip. At the same time, I think his overall performance might be more like Tony in Blue Gender. At first your like "oh, he seems nice" and then the sanity leaves and the vicious madness descends. Delicious.
Jerry Jewell's a great choice if you ask me, which you probably didn't.

Jerry Jewell's talent isn't used enough if you ask me. He's got the ability to play crazy in a truly breathtaking manner and yet he can also produce a nice voice and feel to a character that makes you feel like you know someone just like him. Rarely has he gotten a chance to show off that range in one character. Picking him for Russia is inspired casting.

What I most like though is the sheer guts with taking the plunge and going for the accents. In our currrent polically correct environment, it's refreshing to see a company say "screw the whiners, we're making it awesome." I imagine America's VA will be a bit silly no matter what though.

Anyway, the accents aren't poorly applied in this scene, suggesting they'll be the sort of "people will get what this accent is but they won't laugh because it sounds silly" sort of accents. That scene sounded just fine to my ear and I found the transition to creepy very smooth. (Admittedly, I've never been to Russia but France sounded less accent-heavy than some French I've met.)

I personally think this is a great first listen and a perfect VA choice!

What do you think? Accents working for you? Do you want to invade France? Join Russia for a few glasses of water? Let me know what you think!

So creepy and yet so bishonen.

Bye-ni!

Hetalia English Cast News + Con Leftovers

2010-07-07T07:38:00.000-07:00

Anime Expo has ended. Yet it shall live on in our hearts forever!

Welcome to Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover, I'm your semi-sane host Richard J., here to talk about what I didn't talk about before. First though, lets chat about Hetalia: Axis Powers!

While many were sleeping, Funimation's Char, cosplayer and brandmanager for Hetalia, put up a post the company blog giving us a whole lot of English dub cast information! Here's a list for those who despise videos with the passion of a hot blooded mecha pilot!

Lithuania: Josh Grelle
Estonia: Mike McFarland
Latvia: Ryan Reynolds
Romano: Ian Sinclair
Spain: Dave Trosko
Greece: Vic Mignogna
Liechtenstein: Cherami Leigh
Switzerland: John Burgmeier
Poland: Ryan Bijan
Ukraine: Lydia Mackay
Belarus: Monica Rial
Holy Roman Empire: Chris Cason
Chibitalia: Brina Palencia
Rome: Christopher R. Sabat
Austria: Chuck Huber
Hungary: Luci Christian
Sealand: Maxey Whitehead

They're also planning to announce Russia, China, Japan, England, France, America, Germany, and Italy's VAs one nation a day with special video clips of the English dub for each. Plus, some nations will get extra behind-the-scenes material, where the English dub's creative brains are picked. Perhaps they'll answer the question burning now in the heart of so many Hetalia fans: "is pasta really the key to world peace?"

ANN's article makes mention of the unusual path to us that Hetalia has taken as controversy drove it from a TV showing and onto the Internet, where it's popularity got it additional seasons. I have to wonder how much money the creators saved by not showing it on TV. It's well known that many anime that air on TV in Japan do so because the air time was bought by the production committee for the anime or other producers. Generally speaking, the networks in Japan don't actually pay for anime to air so it costs money to put the show on TV. One wonders if direct to Internet showings would actually save money and allow for higher production values or more episodes.

Anyway, make sure the check out Funimation's sneak peeks at the Hetalia English dub!

Now, let's talk Anime Expo con leftovers! I didn't comment on every piece of news that came out of AX (though I mentioned the stuff I thought was epic enough) so here's a bit of extra on some of the items I didn't discuss.

First, let me once again thank Cliff a.k.a. ExcelGenerations on Mania.com's AoD forum, who attended the con and helped provide some first hand news! (And no, I didn't bribe him to do it, he's just that cool.)

Okay, on to the con leftovers! Om nom readers, om nom.

One of the few new licenses to come out from AX without any word or rumor of an English dub came from, I'm sure you could have guessed it without thinking, Nozomi/Right Stuf. That series was So Ra No Wo To.

It's okay that there's no English dub though, Nozomi knows what anime fans want! And that's to save money! Thanks Nozomi for helping me to save my money by putting out a product I won't buy. I can use that money to buy more anime with an English dub or pay my ever increasing taxes.

Or I could just turn around and after skipping So Ra No Wo To buy a likely far better series, the beloved masterpiece of social commentary, surrealism and sheer crazy awesome that is Revolutionary Girl Utena! (Which has an old but uniquely capable English dub.) Remastered and to be re-released by Nozomi, Utena is a series that many were waiting for a license rescue on. It's about time this one was gotten. (Ten dollars says it outsells any of their new licenses.)

You know, I think a problem of the anime industry in R1 isn't that people don't want to buy anime, it's that fans sometimes take a long time to find out what anime they want to buy. By the time enough people have bought something, the company has already declared it a failure.

It's sad that Nozomi continues to do only sub-only or license rescues for their new releases. Apparently that's just the way they're going to be forever. (Well this fan doesn't want sub-only so screw you guys.)

Now for some Cliff's Notes, paraphrasing and my opinion mixed in for spice.

A Media Blasters rep spoke about the sales ratio for hybrid anime releases (those with English and Japanese dubs) vs. sub-only ones. According to him, hybrid releases bring in more money but they cost more upfront to do. The company wants to approach niche shows carefully by subbing first. While this makes sense to me, I feel it also hinders the sales potential of the shows. Especially as they've admitted to underestimated several series' potential but they may go back and dub more, depending on how things go. This is in line with other things they've said, which I mentioned in a previous blog.

Also, hentai sells real good and buyers have expressed a desire for an English dub, leading to many adult releases getting English language tracks while regular releases suffered. Perhaps this explains some of Media Blasters recent and very ecchi licenses?

The representative was also a bit dismissive of purist type sub-elite, describing some in a most unflattering fashion according to Cliff. Specifically, he referred to some such posters on the Anime on DVD forum. (Gee, wonder who he could have been referring to.)

It's not surprising to me that they don't have a very good opinion of these elitists. This is the same group that says they don't buy R1 releases, they don't think anime should cost money and that fansub groups are superior to the R1 companies.

Here's a direct quote from Cliff about the Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan special edition release that features an English dub:

BTW Bludgeoning Angle Dokuro Chan is FULL OF WIN! 10/10 must buy! My brother friends and I were up all night laughing our asses off. It' selling like crazy at the Media Blasters booth. I thanked them so damn much.

I think those first two sentences would have looked nice on a DVD case. It also sold a lot of units, remaining in stock only because they brought many copies with them.

Clannad is selling strong too, with one worker saying that they are regularly selling out of the complete collection (you know, the one with the new English dub) and that it did eventually sell out at the con, as did Black Lagoon and Baccano. Cliff's not so sure about some of the other series being sold there though, specifically he thinks Eyeshield's sales were soft. (The curse of sports anime.)

That curse didn't hit Bamboo Blade though as from what was said at the con, it sold very well. A cheap license that sold well, if only we could see a future complete collection release with new extras. (Please Funimation? Please?)

Cliff also informed me that the Hetalia English dub's accents sound pretty damn cool. Sales were very strong for the "con exclusive" My Bride is a Mermaid release, which sold out very quickly. Order your copy today from Robert's Anime Corner Store, Amazon.com or Right "You No Get English Dub" Stuf and sleep with the fishes.

Mmm, Masa.

ARGH! I MEAN SUN! SUN!

Cliff had an update on a long awaited title:

Oh Edo Rocket! Will be released on Nov 20th. Funi said it had alot of production delays which caused it's long overdue release. BTW it looks really funny!

So things are looking up on many fronts and down on a few. Anime Expo was great this year for English dub fans and for attendees.

Well that's it for me. I'll post again later this week, probably a review next.

Bye-ni!

4th of July Message and Strike Witches Contest Winners!

2010-07-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

I hope that you've taken time today to remember the sacrifices made throughout the history of this country, the lives lost on all sides, so that you can have the freedom to pursue your own happiness without fear of your life or liberty being taken from you by the whims of aristocracy. Please know that what we were born with is not guaranteed. Only by recognizing threats to our liberty and defying those who would impose their will upon us, can we as a nation retain our sacred rights. The wisdom of our founders should help to guide us.

Soldiers, thinkers, the wealthy and the poor, we have always tried to come together in times of crisis and suffering to bring a light of liberty into the darkness. It is my most solemn wish that we may see this nation through it's current time of troubles.

May we shepherd the state toward a rebirth and bring our nation back to a time of prosperity, liberty and true hope.

Thank you for your support of this blog. There are many places in this world where having a free-thinking blog leads to prison. Remember the simple truth that you were created with the right of free-will, the right to choose a path of your own making and to be secure in your possessions and body against the undue whims of rulers. I ask that you take a moment to think of the liberty you were born with and remember that many people have died in our history, men and women, educated and not, wealthy and not, of all ages, creeds and races, that you might have your inalienable rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

And that is all the seriousness from me you'll have to deal with for a while! (I hope.)

Today being the 4th of July, we've reached the end of my Strike Witches contest! The names of all the contestants were written down on pieces of paper and mixed thoroughly in a box before being drawn, so that the winners would be chosen at random! The date of the contest's end was intentional though, as the overall goal of the witches in the series is to defeat the Neuroi and liberate the conquered European lands.

Will they succeed? Will you enjoy finding out? Does the show deserve the criticism it gets? It's time for 3 lucky winners to learn those answers!

Those winners are:

Dana Staab

Matt Ryan

Jacob Gehman

Thanks to everyone who participated. Although you did not win your own set of Strike Witches, I hope you will consider buying this series for your collection and that you will continue to support this blog! Perhaps my next contest will be luckier for you.

For now, Bye-ni!

Aniplex of America Licensed Durarara!! Dub Planned!

2010-07-03T08:10:00.001-07:00

I wake up late and yet another shocking twist in the roller-coaster of happies that is AX this year.

I think I'm running out of happy to go around. After this article came out, that English dubs for the Aniplex of America licenses were highly-unlikely. Hideki "Henry" Goto said "Making an English dub takes a long time and costs a lot, so we may miss the release timing for future releases. If a title has a chance for TV broadcasting, it is possible to create an English dub, however, we don't plan to make a dub version and release it later." Personally, I figured that meant, unless the anime is going to be on TV, there won't be an English dub.

Well, perhaps not as Durarara!! has been licensed. This was expected after sources in the UK stated it was getting a US release but that same source informed us the release would be sub-only. This information seemed to be partially confirmed by ANN in this article. Now, new sources are saying Durarara!! is a "special case."

Perhaps the fan reaction changed someone's mind? Perhaps Durarara!! will be on TV?

Who knows and who cares, we have yet another English dub happy moment here! Durarara!! will get an English dub! (One hopes they could cast those Baccano cameos with Funi's help but that might be asking too much.)

Details on the release come from Japanator.com:

The show will release in three parts, each one containing 8 to 9 episodes, which seems to indicate the inclusion of the yet-to-be-released bonus episodes (12.5 and 25).

Well now, that's an interesting release format. It harkens back a bit to the old singles style, only with more episodes. Perhaps this release method will help the show be more profitable? I hope they have two discs per part, so we don't have to listen to videophile's complaining. (It would be ironic that we English dub fans won't have a reason to complain but they might.)

I'll be honest, I'd given up on this one. After reading the UK news, I figured this was yet another case of a new company saying "English dubs are the opiate of the masses" and ditching them in favor of sub-only releases. Not that all companies can even get that right.

I'm very pleased that Aniplex of America has at the very least realized the potential of this series and that an English dub matters. Very pleased. And very happy I and so many others were wrong about the UK news. (Well, at least we have the excuse of believing something that was believable.)

I hope to report more joy as the madness continues! Like the confirmation that Funimation will NOT be censoring Dance in the Vampire Bund when it comes out on DVD! As this info comes from Bal-anime, a great follower and a great fan! You can trust it.

No censored Mina. Thank God.

Bye-ni!

Funimation Wins The Con!

2010-07-02T18:48:00.000-07:00

ANN just posted so much win for Funimation it makes my head feel explodey!

Funimation has licensed for simulcast (and probably more) Shiki, Black Butler season 2, Sekirei: Pure Engagement, Legend of the Legendary Heros and Sengoku Basara season 2!

Plus God loves us because they also got Darker Than Black season 2, Shana season 2, the movie and pretty much the whole franchise, A Certain Magical Index to go with the Railgun license and the Trigun movie! (And that last one will be out in theaters!)

Oh God, I've wanted more Shana for so long and now, I almost feel like I could cry! Damn it Funi, if you dare to re-cast, I'll kill myself, take over hell and return from the depths as an unholy abomination that H.P. Lovecraft would have worshiped as the supreme being. Do not screw this one up!

Get me those OVAs and Omake too please! I'm so psyched!

And wow, I was certain Darker Than Black season 2 was screwed out of a dub! I'm so happy to be wrong.

AND THERE'S MORE!!!!!!

They license rescued some of the all-time best Geneon series! Texhnolyze, Ai Yori Aoshi, Armitage III, Haibane Renmei, the Hellsing TV series, Serial Experiments Lain, and tons of Tenchi franchise stuff!

Special detail from the Panel Report:

According to data collected from their DVD surveys, the majority of anime fans are dub fans, so Funimation will continue to produce dubs for every title that they release. Interestingly, from the same surveys, it appears that although 51% of anime fans are ages 25+, and 40% are in the 18-24 demographic, the largest source of new fans is the 13-17 market.

In your face sub-elite! To regular sub-fans, lets unite and help to grow the anime fanbase more and more!

Kiss the foot of Funi! Heck, even racing fans are celebrating right now, since Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Nationwide! (The universe is in a good mood tonight.)

There's so much win in this news, I can't even contemplate it right now.

I just feel. . . happy.

Thank you Funimation for truly making me feel good during a time of personal and familial hardship. You have given this fan a moment of pure bliss.

Bye-ni!

A Certain Scientific Railgun, Hellsing and Black Lagoon are Fun. (Update 3!)

2010-07-02T11:55:00.001-07:00

From the Geneon Universal Entertainment Japan industry panel (think they've made the company name long enough?) comes several surprisingly under-reported announcements. Additional information makes these seem like full licenses too!

Apparently, A Certain Scientific Railgun/Toaru Kagaku no Railgun has been apparently licensed and marked for distribution via Funimation! Here's the quote from the remarkably vague report:

Black Lagoon, Hellsing, and Toaru Kagaku no Railgun will all be released by FUNimation in the United States, the latter of which is the only new announcement. High School of the Dead will be announced "sometime at this event," but when exactly is a "secret."

Follow ups came fairly soon though and now we have confirmation! A Certain Scientific Railgun is great all by itself, but the new Black Lagoon OVAs AND the rest of the Hellsing OVAs?!? Damn awesome news!

So that's a whole pack of new anime that will be coming to the US, via Funi, which hopefully means an English dub will happen for it. (Seems much more likely now that these appear to be proper licenses!) At the same time, I'm sure we don't have to wonder "wait, do they mean the new Black Lagoon OVAs and the rest of the Hellsing OVAs or just the old stuff they're already doing?" They've got them, don't worry!

I figured they wouldn't bother to act like it's news if it were the old stuff and I was right. Funimation's made some recent comments about big news and getting some shows fans were clamouring for, and they weren't kidding. I believe we can be certain now that these fan-favorite (and profit-making) anime are about to be in our hands. The only questions really are "will we get steelbook cases again?" and "will we get awesome English dubs with the same casts" again. This remains a crucial quesiton, though hopefully one that will answered during a certain upcoming panel.

Also, the Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works movie may be announced as licensed before the con is over! Not to mention High School of the Dead. Heck, that's going to be a first-run Hybrid release via Sentai! Plus a simulcast!

Ooh, things are heating up and I'll keep on bringing you my silly commentary on it! I'll also hopefully be able to report many more English dubs! Already, things are getting better for we English dub preferring fans!

Bye-ni!

*Update 1: An ominous line from a live-blog of the events:

10:48:56 For the dubs, we will discuss those with funimation but we don't want to

I'd like to think that is a miscommunication but if it isn't, then it would appear that the Japanese don't think English dubs are a good idea. (Fortunately, they'll be talking to the one R1 company that most strongly disagrees!)

*Update 2: Funimation confirming via Twitter that Hellsing Ultimate 5-7, Black Lagoon and A Certain Scientific Railgun are theirs! Sentai grabs High School of the Dead, plans English dub. Added more pics.

Holy Hannah, talk about a good day! Major fan favorites are coming back and we've some awesome new titles! I'm very excited and pleased by this turn of events, though I hope this doesn't completely ruin Funimation's upcoming panel! (Will they have anything left to announce?!?)

*Update 3: Should have checked my PMs (why aren't I getting E-mail notification of them?) because I have word from Cliff/ExcelGenerations:

A couple of the QA was wrong as well. Geneon said they WANT do dub all those shows they have to discuss. And also the dvd/blu ray question was they have the blu ray quality but it's up to the distributor if they will release.

So, Update 1's info is fooey. English dubs are desired!

Bandai At AX: All Your K-On! Are Belong To Us!

2010-07-01T17:44:00.000-07:00

In a move that is both a surprise and totally expected (a surprise because we didn't think they had the money and expected because the show is rather popular) Bandai Entertainment kicked off the Anime Expo convention by announcing the license of K-On!, a show that swept Japan and many non-Japanese anime fans up in it's depiction of a group of girl's activities as they form a light music club. (Panel Report here.)

Various sources and rumors make the likelihood of an English dub highly probable. Zac Bertschy of ANN posted this on ANN:

There's a dub, they introduced the voice actresses at the panel. Full report up in a mo.

Edit: whoops, no they didn't. Fixed.

Still fairly sure this is getting a dub.

From that confusion though, we get Zac's very reliable assurance of a dub. Beyond him we have the comments from Bang Zoom! CEO Eric Sherman regarding Bandai Entertainment's decision to bet the company's future on two big projects. One of these was the continuation of the Haruhi franchise (the second season and the movie) but the other remained a mystery, likely until now. Assuming this is the second title, we can feel safe in the knowledge that Bang Zoom! will be dubbing K-On!

Additionally, Bandai Entertainment is planning to use a similar marketing strategy to the Haruhi franchise, involving live-action videos with popular VA Cristina Vee as Mio, Karri Shirou as Yui, "Kix" as Tsumugi, and "Briana" as Ritsu. This marketing decision increases the probability of an English dub as it shows a higher level of dedication to the series.

Allow to me personally voice my desire to see them make a great English dub with dubbed singing. I know some hate English dubbed songs but actresses like Wendee Lee and Cristina Vee have shown that they can sing very well, so why not use them? Done right, as Bang Zoom! has done in the past, K-On!'s English dub could be amazing. Dare I even say, profitable?

Unfortunately, right now, we don't have true confirmation yet of exactly what is going to happen with this release. The second season is unlicensed (though we may be wise in believing that Bandai Entertainment has a right of first refusal with it) and no details were given of the release format.

DVD? Blu-Ray? Singles? Sets? Limited editions? Plushies? No one knows but the men in the suits who stare at anime. Here's what they shared with ANN:

Bandai Entertainment Marketing Director Robert Napton clarified with ANN that the release format of K-ON! — whether it will be Blu-ray Disc, DVD, or both — has not been decided yet. The panel announced a cast for Bandai Entertainment's K-ON! marketing videos, but Napton emphasized that no announcement has been made about an English dubbing cast, or whether there will be a dubbing.

We don't know all the details yet but hopefully, in time, we will have details that rock. I honestly believe this is the second series Eric Sherman mentioned and that we will get an English dub for it. It just doesn't make sense otherwise to pay what is likely a very high licensing fee for a show that you then intend to market to the "niche fans."

What I do know is that this license will likely prove to be either a great success or a total flop. Potentially, the mainstream fans may find themselves interested (who doesn't love cute girls and music?) but the problem lies mainly with the countless anime fans who illegally downloaded K-On!. Will they step up now? Will they prove their fan love?

At the very least, we know this series is extremely popular with many fans. People are paying to translate the hentai doujinshi of it at least!

Uh, or so I heard.

I'll be watching the Anime Expo coverage as more develops out of there to comment and provide another point of view on things. Perhaps I'll even entertain you?

By the way, if you haven't entered my Strike Witches contest, you've got only a few days until the winners are chosen by lot! Go here, enter and maybe win!

Bye-ni!

Golgo 13 Dub Talk, Kekkaishi Thoughts and Seconds

2010-06-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to my mad mad little world of English dub love! Today, it's nothing but dub talk from a recent cast list to a show on Adult Swim to the fate of second seasons licensed by other companies!

Note to sub-lovers, we're all anime fans here. You're welcome if you're not a sub-elite (someone who thinks all English dubs suck/are evil) and please, comment if you want to! Only spam gets deleted on this blog!

First up, lets talk Golgo 13. Mania.com's Anime on DVD section has news on this license's dub cast, giving those of us who can't buy everything right this second (though we try and get credit card debt as a result) a chance to learn who will be the numero uno sniper of the anime multiverse.

The answer is: David Wald

Some niche fans might recognize him from this completely under-bought project called Halo Legends where he voices the totally minor character of Master Chief. Not that anyone has even a clue what I'm talking about but Halo is a really underground game no one plays.

Don't worry if you've never heard of it or the actor or that fire is hot and trees are pretty. ;)

Full cast list for those who hate clicking linkies!

Voice actor credits:
Golgo 13 - David Wald
Dave - Chris Ayres
Quaid - Jason Carroll
Flannagan - T. Postlethwaite
Captain - Justin Doran
Regan - Rob Mungle
Campbell - David Matranga
Wayne - Andy McAvin
Manager - Mark X. Laskowski
Natalie - Taylor Hannah
Howard - Andrew Love
Loren - George Manley
With - Kalob Martinez, Donnna Hannah, Luci Christian, Shanna Lea

So it looks like Golgo 13 is going to have an interesting cast, sadly lacking in Hilary Haag though.

Next up for discussion, one of the few anime on Adult Swim, Kekkaishi!

When Kekkaishi got licensed, I pegged it as a shonen show that would be relatively predictable. Just a sit-back-and-enjoy-the-action kind of show. I'm currently enjoying the series' English dubbed run and I have to admit, I underestimated it a little.

Kekkaishi is actually a better show on some levels than I thought it would be. Personally, I kind of expected something Bleach-lite, lots of spirit fighting and some humor and not much else. However, while the show doesn't rank up in my Top 5 list of anime, it's actually got a feel to it that I really like.

The action level is fine but what I really like about it is the humorous and unusual lead character. Yoshimori Sumimura, given voice by Vic Mignogna, is highly likable and surprisingly easy to relate to. His family and tradition obsessed grandfather drives him crazy, he only does his job as a kekkaishi because a certain girl also puts her life on the line to fight evil spirits and he'd rather be baking! (Heck, this show earns points just for that, the man has culinary talent.)

I like the dynamic that is in play with his friend and fellow kekkaishi Tokine Yukimura, played by Laura Bailey, the VA who got me into anime. Unlike some shonen fighting series, the hero is not unaware that men and women form relationships! Yoshimori actually likes Tokine and tries to show it and she actually appreciates his gestures. Sure, she's got some minor tsundere personality traits but mainly she's just unaware of what he's actually thinking most of the time. It's an interesting dynamic as both are technically rivals, Yoshimori's screwed up BADLY at his job in the past and doesn't seem to take it seriously and Tokine is so focused on her work that she can't seem to grasp signs from Yoshimori.

TVtropes.org says it needs more love. You might want to give it a shot. It's not exactly blowing it's genre rivals away but it's getting stronger and there are hints of something more to come. VIZ picked a surprise winner.

Ah, English dubs. I love being able to truly immerse myself in a series through them. I'm sure Kekkaishi's DVDs will lack a separate signs/songs/onscreen text sub-tack like so many of VIZ's releases but at least I can enjoy the English cast to my heart's content.

Maybe I won't love everything about Golgo 13 but at least Section23 is giving me a chance to enjoy the series to the fullest by providing an English dub! At least they appear to still believe in English dubs, despite some rage-inducing choices.

Every English dub that gets made nowadays is a special, rare treat. Not every English dub is perfect, not every English dub is even necessarily good. They are, every one, important to the future and fate of the anime industry in my opinion though. So I am glad for them, even if they aren't all perfectly tuned to my tastes.

Now on to something I think many of you have been thinking about. Funimation's recent refusal to license second seasons for several of their shows. I'm not going to go into the individual merits of each choice or even go down a list.

What must be said and what must be understood however is that this is a situation that will only continue to get worse. Right now, the Great Recession is upon us, the fansub leeches have tricked fans away from legal and revenue producing choices and new and/or smaller anime companies think English dubs are an unnecessary expense.

We know the truth. We know English dubs are valuable and important parts of the anime industry and critical to growing the fanbase. We also understand and accept that they can be costly.

Fans must step forward to improve the situation. We must educate ourselves about bootlegs and actively fight them, we must use the legal anime streaming and download services but most of all we must unite as English dub fans especially to demand dubs! How can anime fans accomplish this?

I have some thoughts on this but I must wait to see how my families problems and how my own situation comes out first. Still, if some random guy with criminal charges filed against him can get hundreds of dollars in donations to license and dub an anime (no one is 100% clear on the legitimacy of his intentions) then couldn't someone with a less dubious background actually get a few thousand?

Think and reflect upon this question: would you donate money to a group that was legally backed and partially funded by an anime fan or fans?

Your homework is to comment on this and tell me what you think! Could you trust a fellow anime fan or fans with your money if they had a legally set up company/trust/nonprofit for the purpose of licensing, dubbing and promoting anime?

Please tell me your thoughts, for I believe that as with politics, it is the people/fans who must act to right the ship of state/the anime industry.

By the way, I've got a certain bloody angel's DVDs on their way to me along with another big and recently dubbed series that is apparently selling well. (Who knows what shows I could be hinting at?) More info on them later! Reviews of them too!

Bye-ni!

Resting But Thinking. . . . SW Contest Update

2010-06-24T20:53:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Richard J. here (no, really, I'm alive!) While my will to blog has been poorly affected lately, it's not like I haven't been thinking about what to do here.

Articles, reviews and general silliness on my part have all been planned. I'm hoping to also catch up on some things I'd planned to do in the past and just plain forgot to do. Basically, I'm going to try and start getting my act together more over the next few days. However, for a little bit longer, I'm going to try and rest myself up.

For a while now, I've really been feeling down and worn. Sometimes I felt up and worked on this blog or posted on Mania.com's AoD forum or ANN or Funi's blog. Mostly, I've been really wasting time doing nothing of great significance. Well, I am taking swimming lessons but those are more tiring and a bit stressful. (I've been playing mindless games and over-eating a lot. Depression repression.)

Well, if I don't start doing something I'm going to go completely nuts. The heat is terrible, the family finances are barely holding up and a family member is in serious trouble that just won't go away. It's just so nice when people are punished for obeying the law and doing their job. (Yes, I'm quite bitter and damned angry. The unfairness is disgusting.)

I realize though that nothing is going to change unless I choose to act. It's a small step but I can at least re-organize my room and do more on this blog right? Those aren't Herculean tasks right?

So look forward to more from me. I'm still here.

And so is my contest! (Ooh, mood whiplash!)

When Strike Witches was licensed, I felt a personal call to anime fan duty. I openly supported the show because I thought it sounded interesting and vastly different from many of the shows being licensed at the time and, in a twist worthy of a pretzel, an off-hand comment about ANN's review staff not being capable of a review that didn't insult Strike Witches' fans, I received an offer from Zac of ANN to review it.

Now, for the price of FREE, you can own this series that I thought was pretty damn fun. Go to this blog post for details, click here for my ANN review or go ahead and enter the contest here! (Just give me your name and address please!)

Every entry counts! Even though you can't all win, you're all very important to me for having entered!

Bye-ni!

Happy Ani-Father's Day! (Manga Style.)

2010-06-20T15:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day! Master of procrastination and recently recovered from an illness (minor), it is I, Richard J., here to bring you another dose of Blog-o-rific fun! (Warning, do not drive while under the influence of this blog.)

Finding positive father figures in anime can be hard, due to so many missing fathers and Gendo Ikari wannabes, but there are some good ones out there. Unfortunately, my favorite is only in manga format right now! Still, it would be a waste to not use him just because of a minor technicality. (Heck, I'll even tell you whose voice I think would work well with him if an anime was made and got an English dub!)

So let me introduce you to Mr. Koiwai of the distilled happiness and sunshine manga Yotsuba&!

Why is Mr. Koiwai a great father? While overseas he found himself taking care of the odd girl and ended up adopting her, which alone makes him better than many people who turn a blind eye to children in need. Further, he brought her to a wonderful neighborhood where Yotsuba made friends immediately with the Ayase family (especially Ena, the youngest sister) and the tomboy Miura. Mr. Koiwai might seem like a slacker but he does work hard to provide Yotsuba with a happy home.

Mr. Koiwai provides Yotsuba with a new life that we can only guess is considerably better than how she lived before. Every day is an adventure and a smile. While he might not be the perfect parent, there's never any doubt that loves his rambunctious daughter and all the odd things she does.

In terms of parenting skills, Mr. Koiwai can be a bit unorthodox and sometimes he even seems irresponsible. In the first chapter of the manga, he lets Yotsuba explore the new neighborhood alone. While that might seem unthinkable to us, it's actually quite safe for kids in Japan and the hyper-awareness of "stranger danger" in the US is out of proportion considering the actual statistical analysis of the threat. (Besides, Yotsuba escapes Fuka quite easily when she remembers her father's warnings about strangers!)

Mr. Koiwai can act like a big kid himself, taking on the persona of Boxer Man for instance, but really, he's such a wonderful example of a loving father. Personally, I feel that fathers aren't often portrayed well in the United States (Homer Simpson clones and over-bearing dominators abound) so I adore the affectionate way he indulges his daughter's odd but lovable nature. Unlike some parents, who treat children like programmable robots, Mr. Koiwai lets Yotsuba be herself.

So many times in the manga, from her playful antics to learning how to do important tasks in life, Mr. Koiwai always lets Yotsuba be Yotsuba.

And perhaps letting a child be herself is the greatest act of good parenting possible. It's no wonder Yotsuba cherishes her father the way she does.

Mr. Koiwai takes his bundle of joy and innocent happiness on all sorts of adventures too. Trips to the pool, a totally not fun ranch and even to Fuka's high school. When he isn't taking her himself, he's signing off on another family friend to take Yotsuba somewhere wonderful, like when Jumbo takes her, Ena and Miura on a cicada hunt. (Yotsuba brought a lot of happiness to the Ayase family home that day!)

It's plain to see that Mr. Koiwai loves his daughter. Even though she can be quite the handful at times. Yotsuba reminds us all that our parents, especially our fathers, often deserve a little more love and respect than we give them. Her father represents many of the things that make fathers worthy of that love and respect.

The combination of loving father, slightly flaky nature and occasionally wise parent mixes wonderfully in Mr. Koiwai. That mix is why I personally think that John Burgmeier would be a great choice to voice the character if he were ever animated. There's something about his voice that I think would really jive well with Mr. Koiwai's calm attitude. Mr. Burgmeier has a way of sounding silly yet wise at the same time, as when he voiced Shigure in Fruits Basket that really fits with how I feel about this character.

Plus I think he could easily emote just the right tone for those rare instances where Yotsuba goes a little too far with a prank or genuinely puts herself in a dangerous position. Those few moments where Mr. Koiwai actually has to punish her seem loving in a way too.

Sometimes she draws on his face while he sleeps. Sometimes she forgets to buy what he sent her to the store for. Sometimes she unknowingly puts her own life in danger. However, one thing is always certain with Yotsuba and her father. There is always love there. Nothing can break the warm bond they have that forms the core of the joyous manga that is Yotsuba&! I can't imagine the series without the combined father and daughter hi-jinks or the simple sweetness of their bond.

Amazingly though, where it can be hard to find any parent, let alone one so understanding and positive as Mr. Koiwai in any series, Yotsuba&! has more great fathers!

Asagi, Fuka and Ena's daddy works hard and is rarely seen. His eldest daughter and wife, in the rare dark humor moments of the series, act wistfully like he's already passed on! Still, he's kind when there and loves his family. He gets shoulder massage coupons from Ena (one of which he plans to keep until the day she gets married!), laughs at his daughter Fuka's silly jokes and recognizes that his daughter Asagi clearly takes after her mother. He's got things together better than Koiwai too.

Jumbo's dad runs a flower shop and actually believed his son might have snagged Fuka as a girlfriend. (Plus he complimented her beauty, clearly Jumbo's dad has good taste.) He thinks quite a bit of his HUGE son and they work well together. Plus he gave Yotsuba a ton of flowers! He's only normal big but he's got a HUGE heart.

Well, that's it for this blog posting. Tune in next time for more of my rambling. I'll try to speed things up a bit too. Between the heat and the random thunder storms that kill the power, plus a recent minor illness, I haven't felt like working too much on this blog. I'll try to get things together more soon.

For now, I hope all of you with good daddies got a chance today to say "thanks" to them. For everyone else, remember the good example of Mr. Koiwai and try to bring a little sunshine and understanding into someone's life. Who knows, maybe you'll inspire someone to be a better person.

Bye-ni!

Anime Review: Eureka 7

2010-06-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

Anime Review # 005
Title: Eureka 7
Release Type: 2 Anime Legends Complete Collection sets

After a long week of technical difficulties involving digital cameras, Photobucket refusing to upload and raging storms killing the power right as I get to work on important things, an anime review is finally getting uploaded! Blog Navigator Richard J. here, ready to fill you with my evil. Also, taking a different approach to reviews from previously, let me know if you prefer the old way or this new way.

Since Bang-Zoom! dubs may become a thing of the past, I decided to review one of their works that didn't really get the praise it deserved early on. Eureka 7 is a 50 episode opus from studio BONES, the animation company best regarded for their work on Fullmetal Alchemist and the recent Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood series. Honestly though, if you've never heard of BONES before now, you've missed out! The series director for Eureka 7 is Tomoki Kyoda, who has worked on the Halo Legends OVA. Dai Sato provides the series composition and scripts a dozen episodes. (Oh and he worked on the scripts for episodes of a very niche series called Cowboy Bebop, which I'm sure you've never heard of at all.)

The Plot Synopsis:

Eureka 7 is a series with multiple co-existing plots that are interwoven into a whole that is satisfying though at times confusing. On one level, there is the story of young love blossoming between Renton, a boy who thinks his life sucks, and Eureka, an almost emotionless member of the renegade Gecko State organization. The Gecko State as a whole is involved in a war to protect and establish contact with a species of intelligent life that the government wants to exterminate, this adding the plot of war and government conspiracy. On top of these plots there is also a solid element of philosphy questioning the meaning of life, love and what it means to be human.

You will, however, be forgiven if you don't catch all of that on the first watch through or even understand half of what characters say before 2/3rds of the episodes have been watched. Most unfortunately, in order to streamline the series early focus on young love and mecha action, the overall plot is sometimes left as unexplained as some of the character's back stories.

The Packaging:

Eureka 7 was previously released by Bandai Entertainment USA in singles format but for this review, I watched and own the Anime Legends sets. Here's a peek at the covers!

Here ar the two sets side by side. The imagery in many ways mimics the series shifting in focus to larger issues than Renton and Eureka's bonds.

This first set's cover gives a certain laid back feeling. Don't be fooled.

The Nirvash Type 0 seems a tad imposing but really, it's just a big surfer looking for a good wave. Also a badass killing machine when necessary.

Oh look, the back covers are kinda bland.

The Reasons It Rocks:

In terms of it's English dub, Eureka 7 can be a bit uneven in places but it takes advantage of a truly talented cast of VAs. Taking the male lead role of Renton is Johnny Yong Bosch, a frequent actor in Bang-Zoom! productions though not the role originator for this series. (No, he didn't do anything nefarious to steal the role, in fact JYB had to deal with some bias against him early on due to a bad rumor about him!) His performance as Renton works surprisingly well, despite sounding quite whiny early on. There are subtle changes as the character develops, especially as he takes up his famous father's work. The female lead is played by Stephanie Sheh, who routinely proves why Hollywood's desire to cast her as "Asian Best Friend" is beyond idiotic. Eureka begins as a virtually emotionless character (and flashbacks show her even less emotional in back story) who's inability to understand her own emerging feelings towards Renton causes enormous problems for the Gecko State. She is the most important character in the entire series, for reasons that remain unexplained and unclear for far too long. The changes in her vocal performance as Eureka mirror the dynamic development of the character.

Backing up the two major leads are a group of powerhouse VAs in secondary roles that are nearly as important as the leads. Crispen Freeman brings an imposing sternness to the role of Holland, the leader of Gecko State, a man who knows all the answers but rarely shares any of them. Until his back story is explained, you will be forgiven for thinking he's a jerk at times. Supporting him is Talho, played by Kate Higgins. Talho's role in the series is Holland's support and Renton's surrogate older sister. She's filled with resentment early on and constantly pushes both Holland and Renton to be better people. She and Holland could almost be seen as the adult versions of Renton and Eureka from a certain point of view.

Acting as antagonists to Gecko State are Kim Strauss, who is simply menacing as Dewey Novac and Kari Wahlgren, who is brilliant as Anemone. Where Dewey Novac operates as the looming menace to Holland and a disturbing mastermind behind a plot that threatens the very universe in which the series takes place, Anemone serves as a twisted mirror reflection of Eureka. While both VAs perform brilliantly as villains, sometimes outshining their heroic counterparts, Wahlgren's Anemone is a performance that alone makes Eureka 7 a show worth owning in my humble opinion.

In terms of plot and production, Eureka 7 is solid overall. The animation is just beautiful, creating a unique world that is filled with unusual creatures, a unique phenomena called Trapar Waves that allow for surfing mecha and character designs that are all special in their own way. The series features a world with a surprisingly well-developed system of culture, politics and physics. The plot provides opportunities for action and intrigue as well as tender moments of love.

However, there are some weak points.

The Reasons It Sucks:

There are three major issues I have with Eureka 7. They are, I feel, issues that could be of importance to you too.

First, there are three children in the series who, once introduced, remain present and important throughout the series.

They are, frankly, very annoying. While children in everyday life can be annoying at times, generally they aren't quite as irritating as these kids. In at least one episode, their complete lack of ability to comprehend the seriousness of their actions puts the Gecko, the ship the character live on, in jeopardy. In other episodes, their pranks against Renton escalate to what might easily be called cruel levels.

If you are like me, you may be a little too pleased when Eureka slaps one of them. The series would have been better off without them or at the very least, should have removed one of them since only two get proper character development.

Second, the English dub can trigger a sense of sadness when you listen to it. Bob Papenbrook, who plays the role of Ken-Goh for most of the series died from medical complications before completing his role. His replacement, Kyle Hebert, while a fine actor, is noticeably different sounding, which also creates a tonal dissonance from the previous performance. It is easy to tell the difference, which only reminds you of why there is a difference. There are also problems with the flow of lines due to some restrictions on the translation and dubbing process.

Finally, Eureka 7's plot suffers from a lack of viewer information. In the beginning, the plot focuses on Renton's desire to protect Eureka and prove himself worthy of her, while barely hinting at the larger story. There are numerous character interactions, events and lines of dialogue that simply make no sense until much further in the series, when Holland and Eureka's full back stories become known. There are also certain characters, such as Greg "Dr. Bear" Egan, who do nothing but spout what upon first viewing may seem like utter gibberish.

This series benefits tremendously from repeat viewings but that means the first viewing can be tiresome at times as the viewer asks "okay, what did that mean?" repeatedly before being rewarded with clarity.

Graded It For You:

Despite it's flaws, Eureka 7 is a solid series that is highly entertaining. It seems to meander at times but most of those moments are actually important character developing incidents or plot-relevant events that only seem unimportant. The English dub is solidly cast and well-performed, though a few issues hurt it. This is a series that you should consider adding to your collection. My grade is. . .

Where can you buy this one? Robert's Anime Corner Store, TR SI, Amazon.com and Best Buy all carry it!

Oh, the sets actually have the same number of discs as the singles, with all the content, so you are not missing out by picking up the collections. See for yourself!

Wow, that's a lot of discs to take up so little space. That's it for this review. I hope you've enjoyed reading this and that you'll let me know if this new approach to reviews works better for you. Also, I hope you'll forgive the delays this week. Normally I'm just a lazy bum but this time, I really was having problems. At least one more review is coming soon plus several articles.

Bye-ni!

Strike Witches Contest Update: Proof and Request

2010-06-03T07:10:00.000-07:00

The heat of Summer burns my resolve to ashes and leaves me barely able to function. Especially with a camera. Richard J. here, letting you know that delayed reviews will be forthcoming soon, once I've had a chance to re-take some pics. (Wow, the first batch looked so clear while I was half unconscious from sleep deprivation!)

Today, let me first give you a bit of photographic proof that, yes, I am quite serious about this contest:

BEHOLD!

Yes, gaze upon yee mighty and despair!

Or salivate with anticipation at getting one of these FREE ANIME BOX SETS for your very own! If you haven't entered the contest yet, you've got until July 4th! Click here and E-mail me your name and address! Some of you have already done so or informed me that you'll be abstaining since you've already got this series (maybe you'll be more open to the next contest?) but I'd still like to add some more names to the pot.

Just a reminder, here is the Contest Disclaimer and Baseline Rules:

Although highly unlikely, I reserve the right to cancel this contest at any time. This contest is open to any person with a mailing address, prizes will be shipped anywhere! Winners' names will be posted here at Blog Of A Heretical Dub Lover but mailing addresses will be provided only to professional postal staff of my choice. No one else will be told.

Winners' addresses and E-mail addresses will be erased once the prizes have been shipped. Non-winners' names, E-mail and mailing addresses will not be given out to any one and will be erased when the winners have been confirmed. Non-winners will not be contacted, spammed or harassed in any way. I am not interested in ordinary humans! I reserve the right to retroactively add new rules in the unlikely event that they become necessary.

One entry per person/mailing address.

And the sets are still REGION 1 DVDs, though I will ship internationally. (Yeah, how many contests are open to all nations! I am the man.)

Okay, you can stop laughing.

Now, a personal request: If you know any anime websites or fan-groups that might be interested in promoting this contest, blog or Strike Witches in general, please contact them and share this blog post with them. I'm a bit shy of the idea of trying to self-promote this blog since I'm clearly a total amateur but I know how much people love contests.

Also, feel free to comment more! Some of you are regular commentators (love you guys!) but I want everyone to feel free to comment on anything I post. If you think I'm a moron, post it! I won't delete any comment unless it is spam. Which, sadly, has popped up twice so far, usually with racial slurs thrown in for fun and profit. Why do people make spam bots just to spew vulgarity?

Too bad we can't deploy the Witches against the spamers.

Still, you can join Yoshika Miyafuji and all the girls of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing by just clicking this link and entering my contest! Wow, do I have a one-track mind today or what.

Well, I've still got some pictures to re-take for reviews and some article ideas to consider, the heat to deal with and too many off-line problems and responsibilities to struggle against (my family's serious problem is still not resolved, though the outlook seems to be improving) so I'll end this post today with some words of wisdom I found on the Internet:

You do not greet Death, you punch him in the throat repeatedly until he drags you away.

Fight on English dub fans! And consider having the Major join your side.

Outside she's laughing, on the inside. . . .

*Edit: By suggestion, here's a link to my review on ANN of Strike Witches. (By the by, I'm going to ask if I could do some more reviews for ANN soon so hopefully, this one won't be my one and only.)

Bye-ni!

Catgirls in English Dubs + SWC Update!

2010-05-26T15:46:00.001-07:00

Richard J. here! In honor of all the cats I've had as pets over the years and in the hope that the dogs trying to kill my last two will be caught soon, I decided to do an article on Catgirls in English Dubs. (It's okay to laugh.)

But first, a brief update on the Strike Witches Contest. The number of entries so far is low and the chances of winning are quite high, so get your entry in soon! Just click here to enter! Include your name and address, one entry per person/per address please!

Remember, I bought these with my own money just to give them away to YOU!

Now, back to the Catgirls!

What is it about Catgirls? Why are they so popular? Google gives us 220,000 hits for just the word Catgirls. Nothing to sneeze at. There are numerous websites dedicated to Catgirls and both and fan and official art enjoys depicting non-Catgirl characters as Catgirls. Even cosplayers love to throw on the neko mimi (cat ears) for fun and profit.

So why are they so popular? Perhaps it has to do with the legends of the Nekomata or the fact that many anime and manga fans worship Osamu Tezuka, who created one of the earliest depictions of a true cat girl in the 1950s. Or maybe we're drawn to them because they are related to the harbinger of political and economical doom, the dread Demon Cat. Perhaps it is just a sign of the love of cats in general. Did you know that in 2001-2002, there were 73 million owned cats in the US, with 3 out of 10 households owning at least one?

Regardless of the reasons, Catgirls are popular. And in English dubs, they require a special performance to really work right. A quality of feline virtue is needed to do them justice. Here, I will talk a bit about some of my personal favorite Catgirl performances.

First, I'll start with an old favorite.

Aisha Clanclan is an example of the more Western ideal of a Catgirl. She's a wild, troublesome girl capable of ferocious violence but also playful. Hungry for adventure, emotional and very willful, Aisha brings a lot of spunk to the cast of Outlaw Star from the moment she's introduced. This 18-year-old Ctarl-Ctarl officer never hesitates where battle is concerned, displaying strength that Gene Starwind describes as that of ten men. Aisha even claims to be "immortal" at one point, though she's probably exaggerating the immense physical power of the Ctarl-Ctarl race.

Aisha is voiced in the English dub of Outlaw Star by Selece Zan

Zan gives Aisha what is, in my opinion, a voice that will either grate your nerves or win your instant praise. She brings the sometimes childish Aisha to life in a way that many voice actors today never quite manage. Aisha NEVER sounds low-key or like her lines are just being read off a page. Every single line has force behind it, from her initial appearance where she tries to appear to be a strong-willed officer of the Ctarl-Ctarl Empire in charge of finding the Galactic Leyline, to her later appearances as a semi-destitute demoted officer to her incredible battles with the space pirates after the Outlaw Star, never do you doubt that the actress is enjoying herself. The performance Zan gives for Aisha never feels dull and ALWAYS adds a feline feel to her as she frequently adds purrs, growls, hisses and even the popular nyaa sound found in Japanese onomatopoeia. While her pitch can bother some, her emotional investment in the character is simply beyond question.

If you don't already own Outlaw Star on DVD, consider picking up a copy! This is a classic series.

Next, let's look at a zany comedy series' answer to proper maid service.

No one comes close to beating Ms. Sanada for employee of the year. Taking a scene-stealing role in the UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie franchise (they changed it from Princess due to Best Buy's request) Ms. Sanada is the Head Maid for the Valhalla royal family and a self-described lover of Valkyrie, the sometimes buxom adult, sometimes little child runaway princess of Valhalla. She never fails to squee over Valkyrie, even displaying a love for the fake Valkyrie Ghost in the second season and going to extreme measures to protect her princess. Ms. Sanada transformed an untold number of innocent girls into Catgirl Maids with her Cat-Girl Ray Gun in her first appearance and generally makes everyone wish they had such a dedicated servant working for them. She does however display signs of insanity.

Ms. Sanada even dressed up like a super hero to try and help little Valkyrie. Bringing the crazed Catgirl Head Maid to vocal life is Christine M. Auten. The performance of Ms. Auten is a combination of devotion, insanity and pure motivation to do the best job possible. From the supportive side of Ms. Sanada, shown in her devotion to Kazuto, Valkyrie's beloved fiancé' to her rampages against anyone who dares to threaten the princess, Christine Auten gives Ms. Sanada a strong performance. The UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie franchise just wouldn't be the same without her. The delivery of lines, especially Ms. Sanada's frequent moans of woe and squees of joy just work so well. Though my personal favorite scene comes in episode 8 of the second season, when Ms. Sanada is trying to make it through a snow storm and has visions of little Valkyrie, adult Valkyrie and even Valkyrie Ghost in a what is both a strangely sweet scene and one hell of a les yay moment.

All viewers should beware, Ms. Sanada will not only transform you into a Catgirl maid, brainwashed to love Valkyrie, she'll also forget your name. Still, you've got to admire her absolute devotion. Consider taking her home today.

Next up is a cat in a hat that could give Dr. Seuss's creation a heck of a fight.

Blair the Witch, identified as a target for Soul and Maka in Soul Eater's first episode is quickly revealed to be just Blair the Cat. Although she does have "a ridiculous amount of magical power!" Providing a sizable portion of the series fanservice as well as showing off her magical powers of destruction when necessary, Blair's Catgirl quality comes through in her clearly catlike nature when in her human form. While not the most important character in the series, Blair's supporting role helps to add a bit of fun to otherwise deadly serious story arcs.

Leah Clark voices Blair in the English dub and while lacking many of the more vocal components of a typical Catgirl, she delivers every line with a playful selfishness that many a cat owner can nod their head at. Blair comes across as a very aloof cat, very self-oriented. In human form she thinks like a cat and generally displays a cat's quality of sheer arrogance and seductiveness. Leah Clark's ability to deliver Blair's lines with a general playfulness and a teasing quality helps to make the character more likable despite her flaws.

Also, there is something about Clark's voice that really adds a feeling of depth to her roles.

All in all, Blair is a sexy, arrogant and relatively dangerous Catgirl who shouldn't be taken too lightly. Hurting those she cares about, even if she only cares for selfish reasons, will get you smashed by pumpkins. Soul Eater is a series that revels in it's strange magical world, consider embracing this series soon.

Last by not least, let us take a moment to remember something.

There are Catboys too. Despite even government forms frequently listing "Catgirl" as a race, Catboys do exist.

Oberstammführer Schrödinger significantly appears in the fourth Hellsing Ultimate OVA and rapidly proves to be almost unique in the series as a villain that actually survives contact with Alucard! More than that, he gets what seems like a certain death scene that actually can be a bit shocking, only to appear later with his cute shotaro face in an expression of evil glee. Dressed as a Hitler Youth, displaying a twisted loyalty to the Major and a taste for bloodshed that is truly disturbing coming from someone who looks so young and sweet, Schrödinger is an enemy with great potential. Holding the rank of Oberstammführer, roughly the equivalent of a warrant officer, in Millennium's Werwolf forces, Schrödinger enjoys sitting underneath the Major's throne like a pet. He appears in the Hellsing Organization's conference room to deliver a message in his role as envoy, flirts with Seras and gives Alucard a rare chance to fail to kill someone. His ability is self-described as being "everywhere and nowhere" making him a truly exceptional threat to London's defenders and a physics reference.

Now, if only someone could cut through the red tape and we could GET MORE HELLSING ULTIMATE!

Not exactly helping male viewers avoid falling for a trap, Schrödinger is voiced by Laura Bailey in the English dub. Though frankly she sounds so different in this role I wouldn't have believed it was her if I hadn't read the cast list. The playful and perversely cruel personality, the sheer audacity of this Nazi Catboy, are given a decidedly wicked life by one of my personal favorite voice actresses of all time. Schrödinger's evil and humorous nature are just deliciously voiced by Laura Bailey who makes him utterly irredeemable yet somehow lovable. Every moment Schrödinger is around, he gives off the feel of a content cat, revelling in his love of war shared by the Major.

Cute yet horrific, evil but affable, Schrödinger's smirk of cruelty reminds me of a cat that plays with a mouse. Fear him but respect him on DVD today.

Well, that's it for me! I hope you've enjoyed my look at Catgirls (and one Catboy!) in English dubs. Please take a few moments to consider entering my contest by clicking here and providing the necessary info! Stay tuned for a review or two before the end of the month!

Bye-ni!

Strike Witches Contest + Predictions

2010-05-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not dead, just got lazy again. I have an excuse though, I gave blood recently! The turn out was pretty low. Kinda depressing.

Depressing like my predictions for the future but we'll get to that in a second.

Everyone, I am officially opening a contest to win a copy of Strike Witches on DVD! When this series was first licensed by Funimation, I made a vow to buy 3 copies to support it. (I considered this license a very bold move and one I wanted to support.) I now have 3 extra copies of Strike Witches on hand.

I'll post photographic proof of such later on. Every blog post until the contest's end will include a minor contest update from now until July 4th. This contest will be open for ANYONE to enter. I will ship to any location ON EARTH! (That can in fact be reached by some postal service.)

Contest Disclaimer and Baseline Rules:

Although highly unlikely, I reserve the right to cancel this contest at any time. This contest is open to any person with a mailing address, prizes will be shipped anywhere! Winners' names will be posted here at Blog Of A Heretical Dub Lover but mailing addresses will be provided only to professional postal staff of my choice. No one else will be told.

Winners' addresses and E-mail addresses will be erased once the prizes have been shipped. Non-winners' names, E-mail and mailing addresses will not be given out to any one and will be erased when the winners have been confirmed. Non-winners will not be contacted, spammed or harassed in any way. I am not interested in ordinary humans! I reserve the right to retroactively add new rules in the unlikely event that they become necessary.

One entry per person/mailing address.

The DVDs are Region 1.

The DVDs include both English and Japanese dubs, English subs and a commentary track. And you might even get an iron-on patch. Of course, you're also getting this:

Sexy girls, sci-fi alternate history plot and plenty of action with a healthy dose of fanservice. Want to get all of that? Send an E-mail to my E-mail with Strike Witches Contest in the subject line. Include your name and address. Also, please post a comment with your thoughts on this contest or my future predictions! There will be 3 winners so you've got a great chance of getting some free anime!

Now, on to my predictions for the future.

First, VIZ will drop the Shonen Jump magazine, leaving us with no monthly manga anthology magazines of note. I believe this will happen before the end of next year, possibly before the end of this year. Why? Well, VIZ layoffs mainly and the growing trend in that direction in general. VIZ already killed Shojo Beat and Yen Press recently made Yen Plus a soon-to-be online magazine rather than a physical media title.

I believe the trend is clearly against Shonen Jump's continued publishing in the US. I have seen it removed from store shelves in numerous places, primarily Wal-Mart, providing anecdotal evidence.

My second prediction is that Bandai Entertainment will cease to exist. It may hold up until after the new Haruhi releases come out (they recently announced Haruhi-chan and Churuya-chan shorts) but I wouldn't take bets at this point. I've been convinced they were going downhill for quite some time, in fact I started thinking about it right after they started doing more sub-only. I thought that would be a coffin nailer.

My evidence? Well, they've become the sultans of delaying tactics, with virtually every anime they've released since last year being delayed multiple times. We've seen their number of licenses drop significantly, their sub-only catalog grow by leaps and bounds and now they are apparently selling off some of their licenses to Section23! Although these were formally Bandai Visual licenses, Bandai Entertainment did more or less take over Bandai Visual's holdings when it died. Clearly these license were sold for quick cash. (To fund the Haruhi franchise or a mysterious other new license? Only time will tell!)

Frankly, I think a combination of the fansub leeches and the poor economy (which the federal government keeps insisting is getting better) is responsible. I believe that with several of their licenses being series with strong fansub communities (and thus larger leech populations) and with the drop in people's personal incomes due to job loss, higher taxes and general economic depression, they're simply destined to die. I fear for the future of all of the companies but they are currently the most vulnerable in my opinion.

While I believe they will complete their work on Haruhi-related projects, I'm not sure about anything else. By next year's end, possibly sooner, I think we'll be talking about closure plans. I believe Bandai Entertainment as the US branch of Bandai Namco Holdings, will not see the 2012 elections.

My third prediction: I have a feeling that Section23 will announce another English dubbed production before the end of the year. This is just a hunch. Evidence suggests they are recovering from the ADV fragmentation trauma, which surprises me a little (though they are still in need of outside capital, suggesting they remain vulnerable to death.)

Well, that's it for this blog post! I'm Richard J., your Navigator, signing off!

Look for next week to make up for my laziness from this week! No lies!

Bye-ni!

Big Fun Update!

2010-05-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

Hiya dubbies! Richard J. here once again, proving that evil never truly dies. I was planning a silly post but I'll delay it another day or two (haven't finished it anyway due to teh lazy) to bring up an update.

A BIG FUN UPDATE!

First, a few quick Tweets from VAs info: Stephanie Sheh has finished the Endless Eight dubbing (hmm, not really endless was it?) and Kelly Sheridan has begun work once more as the awesome badass Sango the demon slayer! I adore Sheridan in that part so I'm super psyched that I'll absolutely get to hear her in Inuyasha: The Final Act. (The way VIZ is going lately, I was starting to worry!) Even ANN cares about this one.

Now if they'll just ensure a certain VA gets to come back for Naraku, then I'll stop worrying.

Oh and Funimation did some license announcements. I for one am thrilled! The forums are already filling with "why harems?" and "this is why I don't buy anime" types of posts but, hell, when do anime site forums NOT fill with that kind of negativity? Plus, perhaps the "I don't buy" crowd should consider that the reason the anime they like doesn't get licensed is that they don't buy anime.

The consumer decides what series will be licensed and as it turns out, anime with fanservice, harems or other forms of wish-fulfillment like violence and super-powers are what sells best. Why? Simple, reality sucks. Instead of spewing fan hate, maybe folks should spread some fan love for their preferred genre? (Nah, that'd require them to respect opinions they disagree with!)

Anyway, the license pick ups are: about fraking time that Rosario + Vampire and Rosario + Vampire Capu2 got picked up. I have no opinion on Chaos;HEAd, Chrome Shelled Regios, Rideback and Heaven's Lost Property aka Sora no Otoshimono yet but an excellent license rescue for GUNxSWORD. (Seriously, this show is pretty damn good.)

Also, Funimation announced English dub casts for Eden of the East, Casshern Sins and Shikabane Hime (WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG?!?)

Quoting from ANN article:

The English dubbing cast for Eden of The East (with ADR director Mike McFarland) is as follows:

Akira Takizawa: Jason Liebrecht
Saki Morimi: Leah Clark
Juiz: Stephanie Young
Kuroha Diana Shiratori: Christine Auten
Daiju Mononobe: John Gremillion
Micchon: Stephanie Sheh
Haruo Kasuga: John Burgmeier
Sis: Lydia Mackay
Kazuomi Hirasawa: J. Michael Tatum
Satoshi Osugi: Michael Sinterniklaas
Panties: Newton Pittman

The English dubbing cast for Casshern Sins (with ADR director Jason Grundy) is as follows:

Braiking Boss: Paul Slavens
Casshern: Eric Vale
Luna: Trina Nishimura
Lyuze: Brina Palencia
Leda: Shelly Calene-Black
Ohji: Jerry Russell
Ringo: Monica Rial
Dio: Jerry Jewell
Dune: Jason Douglas

The English dubbing cast for Shikabane Hime (with ADR directors R. Bruce Elliot, Terri Doty and J. Michael Tatum) is as follows:

Keisei Tagami: J. Michael Tatum
Makina Hoshimura: Luci Christian
Ouri Kagami: Aaron Dismuke
Rika Aragami: Cynthia Cranz
Saki Amase: Monica Rial
Takamasa Sōgi: Joel McDonald
Itsuki Yamagami: Cherami Leigh

I haven't watched Eden of the East or much of Casshern Sins so I'm not sure what the think of those dub casts yet. Shikabane Hime's however, I am liking that cast. Aaron Dismuke for Ouri is an especially nice surprise. Can't wait to hear him in it.

Great big con announcements to be had here though. And so far, all of Funimation's licenses have gotten dubs! As long as that continues, every one of their licenses must be treated with special care by English dub preferring anime fans. Whether you think their dubs are great, mediocre or completely blah, the point is there's always a dub for you to try and find out if you like it or not with them. You get the chance to decide for yourself if they've made a good dub or a bad one.

We don't get to make that judgement as often as we'd like. So let's enjoy it every time and support everyone who is happy these shows were licensed and will be dubbed! Even if you hate these anime, remember to be happy for those who love them!

Well, that's all the time I have for today. Soon I'll post a silly thing, a couple of reviews and info on my Strike Witches contest.

See you next time, same blog channel, variable blog time.

Bye-ni!

Happy Ani-Mother's Day 2010!

2010-05-08T22:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day! Welcome to my blog, welcome to my madness. Last year, I did a list of mothers and mother-figures in anime that I liked. This year, I thought I'd talk about a specific mother in an anime with an English dub that I can talk about in a bit more detail. So I'm going to examine an anime mother in a series many fans would like to see more episodes of licensed. Chigusa Sakai from Shakugan no Shana, played to perfection by the talented Lalainia Lindbjerg.

Chigusa Sakai is a gentle but opinionated woman who displays a level of understanding of the heart and the nature of love that appeals to me. The first season of Shana is the only one available right now that's dubbed but it also has wonderful examples of this loving mother's wisdom. What makes Chigusa a great mother is first and foremost the level of trust she shows for her son Yuji. She accepts his explanations for things quite easily and gives him the best advice she is capable of giving at all times. Her personality is actually a nice contrast with the tsundere nature of Shana. Throughout the series, she always treats her son with caring and respect. Given her son's situation, her constant warmth is a comfort.

In a way, Chigusa becomes a surrogate mother-figure for Shana too. The most important scene to me that illustrates this is her explanation of a kiss. The English dub handles this quite well in my opinion, managing to give the discussion a serious feel without coming across as preaching. Chigusa's words illustrate a deeply personal opinion being shared rather than a "listen to me little girl" moment. Chigusa manages to really get across the idea that kissing isn't something to be taken lightly (and it is much more serious in Japan than in most Western countries) while also encouraging Shana to make her own choice on the matter. Another moment comes when she encourages Shana to wear a yukata for the city festival. Essentially this moment is a clear blessing by Chigusa for Shana to have a relationship with Yuji.

As Shana's father-figure, Alastor becomes concerned that she might be encouraging Shana to move too quickly toward emotional/phsyical relationships. When he talks to Chigusa, he ultimately comes to the conclussion that her advice was in fact good overall and her wishes for Shana were more or less in line with his. Having a Crimson Lord's approval can't be considered a minor thing! Considering Alastor's presumed age, his approval of her wisdom is quite telling.

Chigusa Sakai provides a loving environment and stability for Yuji, helping him to feel more human despite his situation. There are times where a viewer might wonder if perhaps she suspects quite a bit about her son's situation. Her response to his martial arts training especially seems to indicate she at least thinks there's more to it than just "she's teaching me." Knowing Chigusa, she probably saw the romantic subtext easily. I mean, she's quick to help Shana get in touch with her girly side.

Lalainia Lindbjerg brings Chigusa to life in the English dub with a voice that really helps to cement that hot shounen mom character trait. Her voice is just lovely in this role and so different from other roles I've heard her in like Yukio Washimine in Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage and Anew Returner in the second season of Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Honestly, there's just something I love about her voice in this dub. She sounds so warm and gentle yet with a feminine will. Very motherly, very good.

What I like most about her voice though is how the smoothness of it feels similar to the way Yuji's English VA sounds. The two voices compliment each other in a way that enhances the mother-son dynamic.

As mothers in anime go, Chigusa Sakai is in the top ranks and Lalainia Lindbjerg plays her very well. It's a shame we haven't gotten the second season of Shana over here in R1 land yet. Even more of a shame that even if it's licensed, it might not get a dub. Still, you can at least get a taste of the English dub at Funimation's video portal.

Well, that's it for this edition of Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover! Show Chigusa your love by considering buying the set for Shakugan no Shana and show you're own mother, grandmother or motherly figure some kindess this year. Remember, we all come into this world only because our mothers love us. So long as your mother isn't an abuse monster, try to show her some respect and affection.

Bye-ni!

Random Dub Updates

2010-05-04T21:18:00.000-07:00

Due to a combination of inherent laziness and massive cleaning duties (oh God, the horrors I've seen and smelled) I've been a bit lax in posting. Hopefully, I'll have several reviews up this month and perhaps even a delayed contest! I'm just trying to have fun while doing all of this so schedule slips are inevitable.

Now put down the torches and pitchforks, gather in a semi-circle around me and let this old man (27 is kinda old right?) comment on some dubbing news.

The April 30th ANNCast revealed some details on MB's English dubs for Kanokon and Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan! I haven't actually listened to the audio myself but the details were mentioned here on Mania.com's AoD forum. Personally, I saw the mention of "partisan politics" with the ANNCast and just said "okay, can I please have my anime talk without that?" Really, unless a law will affect anime or a politician is bad-mouthing it, I'd prefer to not have to hear about anime and politics in the same article.

BUT I DIGRESS!

The news is, Dokuro-chan will get a Bang-Zoom! dub and Kanokon will get an Arvintel dub! Now, the former should remind us all that Bang-Zoom! isn't gone from this business yet and we've got several chances coming to show our support for them. The later might make some wince. I've personally not heard an Arvintel dub before to the best of my knowledge but I'm glad to risk the possibility of a bad dub than have no dub at all. I'm a gambling man, I'll take a chance of quality over the certainty of absence any day. Media Blasters may not always use the best possible dubbing studio but at least they're still trying to dub some things. For a while there, I thought they'd completely abandoned us English dub fans.

God I hope Christina Valenzuela is cast in this somewhere.

Also, I have to admit I have a fondness for fanservice comedies so I'm pretty happy with Media Blasters' licensing choices lately. As a wise person posted, even if you think another series was more deserving of an English dub, that's no reason to bring other series into the debate. It's not a zero sum game.

Oh yes, I wish I had those kind of problems.

Also in the news (well, if you bookmark Twitter accounts) Stephanie Sheh revealed on the 29th of March that she'd started work on the English dub for Haruhi's second season! Recently, she posted that her work on Endless Eight recording had started. It looks like Bandai Entertainment's needed time to get everything together, hopefully so they can dub both the new season and the movie together. (Or the Japanese were late delivering production materials or it just took this long to get ready or Stephanie Sheh is late to the new dub recording or any other dozen possibilities!)

It is great news for fans to learn that this dub has started though and to have further proof that, yes, the original English cast is back. Since this English dub is coming from Bang-Zoom!, we should pay special attention as well. What is the future of Bang-Zoom! dubs after they complete work on second season of Haruhi and the movie The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya?

Mikuru: That's classified!

Richard J.: Curses, foiled again! Sometimes, I fear the secretiveness of our temporal overlords.

Well, that's it for this random and slightly pointless dub update. I'll try to be a little more interesting in the near future. (Do you like catgirls?)

Oh, before I go, let me thank all of you for reading this blog! I really never expected to have so many followers when I started. To be honest, I didn't expect to break double digits. So thank you all so much and I hope you'll continue to enjoy reading my posts!

Bye-ni!

Fan Love Vs. Fan Hate.

2010-04-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

Watashi no namae wa Richard J. and this is Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover, the place to spend a few precious moments of your life knowing you're somehow making the world a better place for English dub preferring anime fans! Today I bring you a bit of my thoughts on two competing aspects of fandom. Fan Love and Fan Hate!

I apologize in advance for the gratuitous use of TV Tropes linkies. (It's their fault for being so infinitely linkable. And addictive.) Please note, this is not intended as a rant.

So lets begin with a basic premise on my part: I believe that fandoms live and die by their willingness to adapt to and absorb new fans. Most fans lean toward the casual side of things and, over time, many fans who start young will age and leave the fandom entirely. Therefore, new fans must be found and encouraged to join the fandom community (or at least indulge privately) to maintain the fandom's overall numbers. (Any organization that suffers numerical attrition over time will eventually cease to exist right?)

Now let's talk about Fan Love and Fan Hate in detail.

Fan Love is something that's actually rarer than you might think. Some fans are very easy to please and make squee in joy. These fans are generally warm, friendly and typically a bit more open-minded. Anime fans of this type will gush over a series in a way that almost makes you wonder if they've had a bit too much sugar while you wish at the same time that you could be that happy while watching the same series. (Or any series if you're jaded enough.)

These fans are generally newer fans, not yet driven to cynicism by the constant flame wars and debates. (Subs vs. Dubs, lolicon and "is X genre ruining anime forever!" threads can kill these precious fans' very souls.) These fans get blasted by the Internet backdraft caused by both fans who treat anime far too seriously and fans who are filled with Fan Hate. Newer fans especially can feel very intimidated by the ostensible authority or power of older and "wiser" fans who more or less tell them they are morons for liking a show/genre/trope that is "obviously cliche" and "terrible."

Fan Love dies as a direct result of intimidation and massive pressure to stop enjoying something. Further, fans who like shows that are more niche or just different from the acceptable mainstream often encounter the problematic phenomena of loving a show that has a Love It or Hate It nature. In this scenario, a new fan filled with anime love finds a show and thinks "wow, I love this! I want to share my feelings with other fans because this show is just so awesome!" They go onto a forum or even start a face-to-face conversation with another fan they know. The result: They learn that the show is very polarizing and are assaulted with Fan Hate for loving the wrong thing. This is especially likely with certain types of shows.

Do you love guilty pleasure fanservice series? You're a pervert! Do Yaoi/Yuri tales make you squee? You're an annoying fangirl/fanboy! (This happens especially with Yaoi fans due to the larger fanbase spawning more bad fan examples.) Did that show with cute young girls make you smile? Prepare to be called a pedo! The scenarios are endless and new fans are often not prepared to deal with the sheer blast of Fan Hate they can get.

Finally, Fan Love sometimes results in fans actually liking an anime or a character in an anime for the same reasons as the Japanese. This might sound like a good thing but sometimes it turns out that other fans from your culture/ethnicity/whatever hate that anime or character because of those Japanese loved aspects. (The Trope Site's Anime/Manga examples include several characters I personally adore.)

Fan love can go way too far and become obsession as well, resulting in the more serious Japanese version of the Otaku rather than the "another word for anime fan" version used in the USA. Fan Love can occasionally, especially if the fan has low self-esteem and a high degree of Fan Hate exposure, result in becoming a hikkomori. Yes, you really can send some people into deep depression and isolation just by being mean to them. Straws and camel's backs, you feel me?

Despite all the issues, Fan Love is a necessary part of the fandom. Without fans who gush over a series or just promote the hell out of it, newbies can feel very alone in their likes and dislikes. It's fairly easy to go to any anime forum and find Shonen fans but you're going to have a much harder time with some genres. Specific series can be hard to find fellow fans of too if they are niche, old or just different. Naruto fans are everywhere buy how many Koi Kaze fans do you know?

Fan Love provides an endless source of new possibilities for fans, giving fans a chance to re-consider a show that reviewers have trashed or re-discover their own Fan Love. Sometimes fans become jaded by repetition or just get bored with their favorite genre/shows and Fan Love brings them back in. Fan Love can also provide a new perspective if everyone else is complaining about shows they've never even seen before or English dubs they've never heard.

Fan Love is good and needed for anime fandom. I Believe that Fan Love is lacking right now and that fans have become very cynical and often quite harsh in their way of thinking. There's so much doom-saying and bad-mouthing right now, with many fans often posting about how the latest anime season is "the worst ever" every time a new season starts. How does this make fans who like the new shows or old shows being slammed feel? Doesn't the overly negative nature of Fan Hate make fans feel unwelcome in the fanbase? If those fans are new fans or fans who buy a lot, wouldn't the negativity hurt the financial future of anime?

I believe it can and does. So let's talk about Fan Hate, what it is and how to push back with love! (Oh boy, I sound like a motivational poster or something.)

First, Fan Hate often flows from Hatedoms. Essentially, the number of fans who despise something grows enough to coalesce into a faction which attempts to purge all who disagree with them through a combination of constant complaints and sheer vitriol. Have you ever had the experience, as I have, of a Sub Elite responding to your "I love this dub" comment with "you're a racist because you don't watch in Japanese?" This is the kind of insanity that I think of as Fan Hate. It's nonsensical and extreme.

TV Tropes has a nice list of specific forms of Fan Hate and irrational stupidity here. Read it and then go on a forum, try to catch all the types! Fun for fans of all ages, flame protection recommended. (No, seriously, read that list.)

For those who don't won't to read the list, I'll quickly go through a few favorites from it. One type of Fan Hate I've seen a lot comes from the Anne Titlement type of fan. This fan complains about how their kind of shows aren't being made and another kind of show sucks because it's not what they like or want to see made. (Every moe fan should recognize this kind of fan.) The anime fandom is crawling with this variety of Fan Hate, which involves berating fans for being fans. A subset of this type of hater is The Barney Execution Squad. This is when a fan hates a show that clearly isn't intended for them at all! It makes little sense for a fan of serious seinen drama to rail against the evils of fluffy shoujo comedy right? Not all anime is intended for all anime fans.

On that note, Hentai is not for children so don't complain about tentacles being inappropriate for children under 3 to play with due to being a choking hazard. (Warning label joke or horrible statement? Discuss.)

Another Fan Hate spewer is The Willfully Blind: this group of fans refuse to recognize potential strengths of a work or anything positive about it. Fan Hate from this type will accentuate the negative beyond what might be considered rational, going as far as to outright ignore anything else in the anime. You might not recognize this kind of Fan Hate at first because sometimes the hater has a point. However, just because they hate the Tsundere female lead doesn't necessarily mean the show is all about women beating on weak men. Perhaps the series even directly addresses the very issues the blind hater is pissed about but they refuse to acknowledge it. The Willfully Blind can also be found dispensing Fan Love but the Fan Hate form tends to be tenacious and damaging to fandom. Expect this guy to show up frequently on threads and remind everyone how much he HATES THIS SHOW/GENRE/TROPE.

The most extreme form of Fan Hate comes from The Crusader. This fan hates something so much they actively seek to attack it at EVERY POSSIBLE OPPORTUNITY. These fans are obsessed and will point out why they hate something constantly, often derailing threads over it. A frequent result of this actor's efforts are Fan Hate heavy mini-flame wars that break out in threads that originally had little or nothing to do with the subject being vigorously debated. (A poster constantly mentioning how they hate something in most or all of the posts they make is prone to Fan Hate of this kind.)

The Fan Dumb in Fan Hate is nearly limitless. Having a divergent opinion in and of itself can trigger reprisals, even in a Fan Love heavy fandom. This is when consensus reality meets fandom in a horrible event called Fandom Heresy.

Anime fans consider certain aspects of fandom to be universal and you will get Fan Hate blasted if you disagree! Don't like Cowboy Bebop? Do you think Miyazaki is crap? Depending on the site, do you like English dubs, dislike fansubs or think lolicon hentai is free speech? (Okay, I admit, that last one is pushing it for most fandoms period but drawings [u]are not[/u] the same as pictures of real children.) If your opinion isn't the same as the majority, you might be in for a Fan Hate pile-up. The problem here comes from having an opinion that tends to be extremely rare period. Fans aren't too likely to hit this one, unless it's the classic and can we please stop fighting over it Sub vs. Dub debate.

Fan Hate can push new fans away, make old fans weary and just make the entire experience of joining a fandom more trouble than it's worth. I can honestly say that I got lucky and joined the anime fandom at just the right time and ended up feeling quite welcome. Nowadays, the Fan Hate is so severe and fans so focused on what's streaming now (legally or illegally) that I often wonder if I'd have even become a fan if I were getting into anime in recent times.

Fan Hate punishes anime fans for being fans. It makes a fan, who may already feel unwelcome in other fandoms due to liking anime, feel even more unwelcome. Fan Hate is unnecessary too. A negative opinion doesn't have to be cruel or hateful!

Example, a Dub Fan posts "I really loved Haruhi's VA! Wendee Lee was just great!"

Reactions: -Sub Fan: "Actually I prefer the Japanese seiyu Aya Hirano over Wendee Lee. Haruhi's just a cool girl in any language though."
-Sub Elite: "Wendee Lee sucks, she can't act at all. No dubber can. Aya Hirano rules!"
-Crusader: "Moe blog Mikuru ruins the show. I hate moe. I want it banned."
-Anne Titlement: "Why couldn't Kyoto Animation have made more Full Metal Panic instead of that crap show!"
-The Willfully Blind: "That Haruhi show is terrible! The episodes are out of order! That's just stupid."

One of these reactions is negative but not an example of Fan Hate. Pretty obvious right?

Fan Hate can have beneficial effects when it's toned down a notch or three. It can encourage variety in a fandom and it can help people avoid shows they wouldn't like anyway, though due to The Willfully Blind and people complaining about shows they don't watch that can also backfire. Fan Hate can discourage some of fandoms negative aspects by constantly reminding fans to avoid sterotypical/bad behaviors and to think outside the genre. Still, Fan Hate tends to be a destructive force that makes new fans feel unwelcome and old fans cynical.

Counter Fan Hate with Fan Love! Don't be afraid to gush about a series you love and try to be polite and inviting with all fans, especially new ones. Treat questions and comments with respect, even if you disagree. Remember, having a different opinion doesn't make the other person wrong, it just makes them different. (Yes, even if you really can't grasp how they can feel that way.)

Fan Love builds the fandom and Fan Hate tears it down. Remember and go in peace.

Bye-ni!

23 + 13 = Dub Sniper.

2010-04-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

After a long week of cleaning, hauling garbage, moving furniture and suffering a few pulled muscles, another exciting and fat-free addition of Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover is here! (We apologize for the wait on a previously mentioned planned segment. Please join me Sunday, April 25th for Fan Love vs. Fan Hate.) I'm Richard J., navigator for the blog and sole writing talent. (Any use of plurals such as "we" is solely for a cheap effect.)

Anyway, after returning home today from a long clean-up and having a lovely dinner with my family, I found out that Section 23 had licensed the Golgo 13 TV series! In the past, their licenses meant little to me but this one adds another planned dub to their short (but growing!) list of bilingual releases!

Golgo 13 is a 50 episode series from 2008-2009 and the first set will appear at fine online retailers (and perhaps by divine grace at Best Buy and other brick and mortar stores) in July, meaning that this deal has likely been in the works for a while and production may very well be under way already. Plus as a bonus there's no mention of outside partners from the info I've read, suggesting this is Section23's baby all the way.

The series has clear appeal beyond the average anime fan as well, giving this license and release a distinct chance of actually kicking butt in sales. The series is about an assassin for the love of cookies! People LOVE stories about assassins! I mean just look at how many movies, video games and books there are about them. I expect Duke "Golgo 13" Togo, the assassin lead, to do well over here. (Heck the manga's been in circulation since 1968 with 156 volumes so far in Japan and VIZ has started putting it out over here with 13 volumes out.)

All that's really left to do is settle on the marketing methodology. (I'd highly recommend trying for a TV deal with this one.) Oh and give us a really sweet cast!

Crap. He'll wipe out the Texas VA pool by tomorrow. ;)

One way or another, I think this is a good move by Section23 and while my money issues are slowly (very slowly) working themselves out, I've been hearing about Golgo 13 for years and am interested in the anime. My family's legal/financial issues are continuing to threaten everything but I'm increasingly confident that this nightmare will end happily and the problems caused by one jackass con artist will end well. (Too bad I can't hire this guy to take care of the problem for me!)

Bye-ni!

Gurren To the Movies

2010-04-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

Back early by follower request! I'm your navigator Richard J., once more bringing you commentary on English dub news, personal interests and the occasional bout of insanity. Today, I'd like to talk about Aniplex's plans to bring out the Gurren Lagann movies. (In case the one who asked me to talk about this wishes to remain anonymous, I'll leave out names.)

Normally, I don't care about compilation/re-telling movies for anime series and, in general, I ignore their release. However, this deal has implications that go far beyond these movies and WILL affect at least 5 more shows. Add to that a request from a fan, how can I possibly not talk about this deal?

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann was not as big a seller in the US/R1 as it could have been, largely due to Bandai Entertainment's rather complicated release structure. The multiple SKU releases, beginning with sub-only sets followed by both regular and special edition hybrid DVDs, actually triggered a backlash against Bandai and anime in general from Best Buy. Shortly after, anime shelf space was diminished. This is not a mere coincidence.

This loss of shelf space added to the decline from previous losses due to Musicland's bankruptcy. Anime in brick and mortar stores keeps declining and with it, the overall industry here suffers. This is ignored by fans who insist despite evidence to the contrary that online sales will make everything up. Well, we're about to see how wrong that is. Aniplex has entered into an exclusive deal with Bandai to sell Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Guren-hen and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Ragan-hen on their new online store. Apparently, the previous test with Kannagi worked out for them. (Yes, I think it's clear that was a test and not a new business model for Bandai Entertainment itself.)

The Aniplex viewpoint on all of this boils down to wanting to hit the fans fast and hard to get as much money as possible. Note the MSRPs for these movies, they are what you'd normally expect to pay for hybrid release singles, the LEs are the price of a boxset. You can buy the first season of Strike Witches off Right Stuf for about the same price, less if the discount isn't as good with Bandai's site. According to Chris Beveridge, this isn't going over great with fans, especially dub fans. Some fans are happy about this, primarily R2 importers but they are not representative of the R1 anime consumer base.

Chris cites several important factors that are wrong with this exclusive deal, like how fans prefer to buy from a select few retailers (and Bandai's site is brand new, meaning it has no established customer base, remember that) as well as pointing out that site discounts can be smaller and shipping rates higher, plus you can't combine other shows you want with the order. To quote Mr. Beveridge: "it's very discouraging to be a fan (and even more so if you're a dub fan)"

Read that article, it's quite good and points out a lot of flaws in the Japanese approaches to the recent crisis in the anime industry. Also, he thinks this deal with Aniplex will only result in a couple hundred units sold directly to fans and seems to have doubts as to it's legitimacy as a business model. (Ooh, bet that'll PO some folks.)

Also, keep in mind this quote from the Executive Vice President for Aniplex's International Business Development Group, Hideki Goto:

Of course, it is ideal to make an English dub. However, there is also a trend that fans want to see new titles as fast as possible. Making an English dub takes a long time and costs a lot, so we may miss the release timing for future releases. If a title has a chance for TV broadcasting, it is possible to create an English dub, however, we don't plan to make a dub version and release it later.

Translation: "English dubs take too long and sub fans want everything right now so screw you dub fans! Unless you watch TV."

Do I even have to point out how few anime go on TV nowadays? Does that change the fact that a sizable portion of the anime consumer base prefers English dubs? No to both questions, you already know this line of thought is flawed. Aniplex is saying no to dubbing to satisfy the "we want it now!" crowd, who by all accounts want digital downloads, not DVDs to begin with!

The real goal is clearly to transition to a direct market approach where the Japanese companies just slap subs on their existing product and sell that to fans. What makes this deal so insulting is that if the Japanese hadn't been making it so expensive to license all those extras to begin with, maybe the market would be in better shape. For years, fans have been complaining about how the R1 release lacked features from the R2s. The English dub and sometimes English commentary was the primary value-added feature for releases over here and now that's being phased out in favor of Japanese release plus subs. (The prices will go up too as the Japanese consumer base continues to decline. Bandai Visual will live again!)

What can we fans do about the Gurren Lagann movies and the five shows that will come after them? Right now, not much because this is a situation in which the companies just can't grasp a basic truth: English dubs are important even without a TV broadcast. The Japanese are focused on hardcore fans right now and, in the process, are losing fans both here and in Japan. Gurren Lagann didn't do as well as it could have in mainstream release but it did far better than it will getting the niche treatment. Five more shows will follow and suffer because of failed logic. There's a recession going on, people are out of work and anime is being sold at far fewer places. The anime bubble burst because of declining shelf-space and the beginnings of the economic downfall combined with outrageous license fees. Unfortunately, the current round of experimentation to keep sales high while everyone's wallet's are empty seems hell bent on achieving this goal:

I predict that Bandai and Aniplex will not find this working out as well as they think it will. I hope English dubs will appear in the future but Aniplex at least seems mostly unconcerned about them. The prestige of anime is fading but there is hope, once the economy rights itself. (Of course, given the current talk of VATs and jacking up our electric bills, that may never happen.)

As an English dub fan, I am willing to fight this problem. I will support any company's plan to dub what was not dubbed before, such as Media Blaster's plans with Dokuro-chan and other titles. I'm not a big booster for MB, certainly not a fanboy as I've been accused of being for Funimation (meh, it fits more or less) but they've really earned my support recently. And, amazingly, despite a price drop that scared the crap out of me, Kanokon will not be losing its English dub! (Thanks bal-anime for letting me know about that. I didn't ignore your PM, I just wasn't sure how to fit in a mention here until now.) Buying series that were previously sub-only after they get an English dub is a great way to encourage companies to keep English dubs alive.

However, just buying newly-dubbed re-releases may not be enough. I want to help series and OVAs that are unlikely to ever get an English dub. I want to see anime get licensed that would never be licensed without special support. I want to promote anime in general and improve the public image of anime. (Not that anything can help some idiots to get why anime rocks.) There's something I want to try but I won't be able to do it for a while due to lack of money. However, though it may take a few years to implement:

For now, no dubs for Aniplex's series that aren't on TV or licensed by other, more dub fan-friendly companies. Send out an E-mail, talk about it on forums, be prepared to deal with sub-elite but don't attack normal sub fans for just being happy about the releases. Fight on.

We can win. Never forget that your individual contribution REALLY DOES COUNT!

Bye-ni!

Bandai Denies Death! Cites Movie Deal!

2010-04-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

Welcome fellow anime fiends to another slightly more exciting than professional paint watching episode of Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover! It's been a bit since last we met hasn't it? Off-line life has seen me put to work at sundry necessary tasks while falling into slight depression. We apologize for the lack of blogging.

With that apology out of the way, let us talk about the latest from the anime grapevine that concerns dubbing or that I care about. Bandai Entertainment USA, which isn't exactly king of the hill lately, answers the concerns of its fans by licensing a film of minor importance. (And by minor, I mean FREAKING AWESOME!)

Yes, they've gone and licensed The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya! (Guess we're not using Vanishment huh? Despite the fact it's a real word? Despite it likely being YET ANOTHER math reference, which are legion in Haruhi land? Oh well.)

Anyway, this movie is one of those "knew it was coming but still excited" deals for me. Honestly, I never doubted they'd pick it up once they got the second season. (Now that, I worried about.) And it appears that there will be a dub for it too. At least, that's how I interpret the whole Bang Zoom! Entertainment will co-produce an English language version thing. Given the apparent level of success this series has achieved and Bandai's OBVIOUS belief in it, since they are dubbing the second season with the original English cast, I'd be shocked if the movie didn't get a dub.

Seriously, a lack of English dubbing for this movie would be like saying "fans, we know you want this movie more than anything else, so we decided to screw over a bunch of you for giggles."

The movie gets a dub. Deal with it sub-elite. (Regular sub fans rejoice along with dub fans, for we shall all reap this bounty of delicious Haruhi fun!)

Bandai also announced the start of an online store. This says two things to me: 1) they're considering even more direct-to-consumer marketing and 2) they're trying real hard not to die. The store is heavy on the new and popular (makes sense) as well as some Japanese imports. We'll see if it grows or fails.

I personally hope they put any old stock that's Out-Of-Print on there. Some of their shows are insanely hard to find discs of at sane prices.

Moving on, Funimation announced that they've got a deal with Fuji Television in Japan to simulcast shows now. They talk about it on their blog a bit too.

The first episode of one of the new licenses, House of Five Leaves, is already streaming on Funimation's website, YouTube, and Hulu. Ooh, linkies.

Despite looking like horror samurai fun, this series sounds a bit more slice-of-life-ish in the synopsis on ANN. A timid ronin named Akitsu Masanosuke joins a charismatic guy as a bodyguard and hangs with his quirky group of bandits. If nothing else, it sounds very different and very not-moe. Personally, I hope its mere existence will convince some anime fans to chill out and stop constantly blubbering about how "all anime is moe and sucks now!" and "this season is the worst season ever!"

Really, does all of that doom-saying and bad-mouthing accomplish anything except making fans who LIKE the shows being slammed feel unwelcome in the fanbase? (And if those fans are new fans or fans who buy a lot, could not the negativity adversely affect the financial future of anime? More on my views of that early next week!)

Also up for simulcast is The Tatami Galaxy, another unusual show with a funky art style.

Seriously, these are some different looking shows coming out lately. I'm intrigued by the style alone with these two series. Synopsis of the anime is laking but according to the article, it's based on a novel about a nameless protagonist in his third year of college who is looking back at his early years and his adventures with a circle (that's a club/organization/thing) which involve. . . something that will hopefully interest anime fans!

Setting aside my warped sense of humor, this deal seems quite interesting. It goes beyond these two series. I don't know the nitty-gritty details but Fuji TV isn't exactly a small time Japanese company and this deal comes after they just increased the length of their Noitamina block. With at least five series planned to air this year alone, that's a lot of simulcasting for Funimation. Here's an important comment from the press release:

“This is a fantastic opportunity to work again with the formidable Fuji TV,” said Gen Fukunaga, president and CEO at FUNimation Entertainment, “particularly on the debut of a new Noitamina lineup. This highly-rated block has already launched hits like ‘Eden of The East’ and 'Tokyo Magnitude 8.0' and we hope to extend that success for these new series in the U.S.”

That comment says something. It says "expect us to license some or all of these shows." So, if Funimation keeps with current business models, that means DVDs (maybe Blu-Rays) and English dubs will be had. However, this increase in simulcasting also suggests that it will be used as a means to cherry pick. They can't dub and DVD/Blu-Ray everything they simulcast right?

I sense a disturbance in the dub force approaching. Then again, all of these series are SHORT too and that could actually benefit hybrid releases and make them more affordable. (The basic pattern is, first set sells best and all the rest decline in sales.) It's even possible that fans will shift to watching these legal simulcasts, thus increasing the number of fans orientated toward lawful consumerism. Hopefully these simulcasts will benefit all anime fans and not just sub-fans.

Now before I go, let me ask a question that's really started to bug me.

Why hasn't anyone licensed A Certain Magical Index or A Certain Scientific Railgun?

Take a look at this girl:

Seen her before? I have. Her name is Mikoto Misaka, a character in both series, and I've seen avatars of her, fan art and official art all over. Even on non-anime sites. I've seen fans talking about the two shows a fair bit and both series are pretty successful in Japan with bonus episodes popping up on their DVDs. They've got manga, light novels and the hentai artists are drawing Mikoto and her friends when they get tired of drawing K-On! girls. (Um, not that I look at a lot of hentai.)

My point, the two series seem to have legs. Along with the aforementioned K-On! and it's sequel, A Certain Magical Index and A Certain Scientific Railgun seem to be pretty darn popular and both sound like they'd be successful over here. While I'm more than willing to embrace some of the recent licenses that have popped up from all R1 parties, I'm ever more puzzled by the lack of these licenses.

I know the anime industry here is hurting due to the economy going bad and the increased corporate taxes (not to mention property, utility and other taxes that we all suffer through) but are these series really that hard to get at the right price? I mean, am I crazy or shouldn't these have been licensed by now?

Anyway, that's it for this edition of Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover! I've gotten more followers and I owe all of you more posts, so look forward to more content soon. Perhaps even a crappy web-comic since everyone seems to have one nowadays.

Bye-ni!

Oh dear. Kyon, you'd better make sure she gets a part in the dubbing!

Strike Witches Review Up On ANN!

2010-04-07T02:00:00.000-07:00

Hello all of you out there who read my poorly written and not-updated-enough blog! Some of you already know this but awhile back, I was given the chance to write an official review for ANN (that's AnimeNewsNetwork.com for anyone who somehow has never heard of them.) That review is now up! Yippee-ki-yay, John McClane!

Here's a direct link to my review!

The experience of getting to write a review for an official and respectable source like this was great. I learned several things, like how you really shouldn't bug your editor when he's working and that I tend to repeat words and have some other issues. (I'll try to work on them and hopefully none of you have suffered too much from my blathering here. ;) )

I have no idea if I'll ever get to do something like this again. I'm not expecting to but I'd say yes without hesitation if asked. (I'd beg to do more but I'm not sure how effective that would be.)

Anyway, just making a mention since several of you encouraged me previously about this!

To think this is all because of some forum bluster on my part and probably some sort of pity on Zac's part. So this is all because I use the Internet!

The Internet works in mysterious ways. Does that make it God?

Nah, probably not, but it is awesome that I got to do this. (Now I'd better stop writing before I start developing Swollen Head Explosive Syndrome.)

Next post will be much more serious.

Bye-ni!

Of Dubs and Men

2010-04-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

Hello all of my 11 followers! Are you doing well? Are you happy? Are you bored?

Are you still out there reading my ramblings? Please say yes, you're support is all that keeps me alive. (Okay, respirating a mix of O2, N2 and other gases plus regular caloric intake keeps me alive but your support makes mere survival enjoyable.

Anyway, I'm here to blather yet again about some great news in the English dub world and to let you know my thoughts on what is going on.

First, lets have a yippie for VIZ getting Kekkaishi on to Adult Swim!

Yeah, funny how Adult Swim was all "we're getting rid of anime!" a while back and now they're all "dudez, we's gots some animuz fur yer!" Perhaps they found out that anime fans, while not giving them quite the ratings they wanted, are critical to the late night programming succeeding? Who knows, who cares, more anime on TV is ALWAYS A GOOD THING!

Some exceptions may apply, void where 4Kids is applicable.

Let us also rejoice at Funimation licensing Black Butler!

Gee, that doesn't quite look like my kind of show but it could be awesome. Many expect the dub to cast Brina Palencia as Ciel. Apparently they wish to conveniently ignore the existence of Maxey Whitehead! Defy expectations in dubbing!

Anyway, lets talk about some fully confirmed English dub casts!

Do you remember that Bandai licensed the second season of Haruhi? Did you know there was great uncertainty about the English dub cast? Well, that's been cleared up and we now know that the original English cast is back to show us the awesome again!

In case you don't like to click links, here's the cast that's been confirmed:

Haruhi Suzumiya: Wendee Lee
Mikuru Asahina: Stephanie Sheh
Yuki Nagato: Michelle Ruff
Kyon: Crispin Freeman
Itsuki Koizumi: Johnny Yong Bosch

Sorry Asakura, you're going to have to wait a bit. Who knows, maybe you'll get to be in a future dub?

In that same ANN article, Vampire Knight's main English dub cast was presented!

Perennial fan favorite Vic Mignogna, the lovely Mela Lee and rarely heard but often loved Ethan Murray join together in a cast that has left many fans saying "what the heck?" A few in a good way, many in a negative way but then poor Vic seems to have a personal hatedom to go with his fangirls. (He has lots more fangirls than haters though so he probably doesn't care too much.)

I haven't seen Vampire Knight so I don't know if the casting works or is horrible but personally, I like all three of these VAs. I'm eager to give this dub a listen. (Assuming I can buy the DVDs down the road.)

Still, VIZ is being much more creative with its English dubs lately. That should be praised considering how much some fans complain about "assembly line dubs" and such.

Last but far from least, let's talk about the Clannad dub!

Awesome! I've been unable to fully watch the first episode in English due to Section23's Anime Network hating my computer. (My computer seems to be hated by many streaming sites. I think it has to do with my local ISP sucking and being on an over-burdened line.) However, there are some great clips of the English dub online at YouTube and they've given me a chance to enjoy the show a bit.

I will have this one even if I have to eat dust and misery for a month to afford it! Here's the cast!

Tomoya Okazaki: David Matranga
Nagisa Furukawa: Luci Christian
Kyou Fujibayashi: Shelley Calene-Black
Botan: Melissa Davis
Ryou Fujibayashi: Brittney Karbowski
Tomoyo Sakagami: Kaytha Coker
Kotomi Ichinose: Emily Neves
Fuko Ibuki: Hilary Haag
Youhei Sunohara: Greg Ayres
Mei Sunohara: Serena Varghese
Akio Furukawa: Andrew Love
Sanae Furukawa: Kara Greenberg
Voice of "I": Shannon Emerick
Girl: Melissa Davis
Yukine Miyazawa: Maggie Flecknoe
Misae Sagara: Elizabeth Bunch
Naoyuki Okazaki: Chris Hutchison
Kouko Ibuki: Stephanie Wittels
Yusuke Yoshino: Illich Guardiola
Junior Male (from Ep 24): Josh Grelle

That's a very nice cast. Especially awesome choice for Fuko. I love Hilary Haag's voice so much. I've really missed her.

Plus the character I've been the most curious about in this show is Fuko due to the whole "loves starfish" thing.

I find the oddest things interesting in series huh?

Well, that's all there is for me to talk about today. Hopefully, I won't be venting my spleen any time soon about negative or unhappy things. Currently I'm waiting to learn more about several situations before raging and working on a few reviews, maybe even an "official" one. (Now if Zac will just get back to me.)

I'll post again soon! In the mean time, check out the new English dubs hitting the market, keep loving what you love and never forget that you are a human being who deserves respect! Never accept flak from the haters!

And no matter how much you love English dubs, don't pretend you can get people into them.

Trust me, this can not turn out well.

Bye-ni!

April 1st Update: Hanging In!

2010-03-31T23:23:00.001-07:00

Hey out there! A quick update to let you know I'm still around!

I'm just letting you all know that I've shifted my goals in life from anime to cooking, so this will clearly be my last post here.

:(

Alas, I must pursue this new love with all my heart as soon as I can! Why, there are so many dishes I must learn to prepare. Roast Snipes with Baka Sauce and a frosty treat called Revenge for dessert should come first on the menu.

. . . .

Or I could stop making bad jokes and get back to proper posting on the 2nd.

. . . .

Yeah, but, I'm a cook now. I must leave the path of anime for that magic white hat and those lovely sharp knives.

Very sharp, glittery knives.

They sparkle in the light so keenly.

Twinkle twinkle little knife, how I wonder who you'll ice.

Uh, wait, what was I saying? Oh, yes, the blog! Well, after a brief delay brought about by a case of lazy with a side order of minor crisis, I'll be getting back to my half-baked attempts at entertaining you soon.

First up, a run down of new menu options out there! Some lovely meals are now coming with a side order of English Dub, which always hits the spot. Then I'll regale you with a review of a favorite restaurants where they serve witches and fans. Maybe I'll even bitterly discuss the burdens of having no money to buy the best ingredients.

Well, look forward to our next exciting edition where we'll be cooking with Suigintou! Look forward to it!

Bye-ni desu!

Section23/ADV To Dub Clannad, Ghost Hound & MORE!

2010-03-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

Ah, it's nice to be proven wrong about a company.

Richard J. here to add my voice to the legions of fans who are currently filling the world with their squees of joy.

From the very beginning, I thought Clannad and Ghost Hound were EASILY the titles that would sell the best and would benefit the most from English dubs. Now, we're finally getting those dubs we should have had from the beginning! (Pass the Hilary Haag please!)

Plus we're getting dubs for Blue Drop, Tears to Tiara and Fist of the North Star: Legends of the Dark King. (Can't say I'm interested in all of those but dubs are always a welcome addition.)

Hopefully these dubs will improve Steven Foster's image with some fans. (While he's not as awesome as Kyle Jones, he's hardly the menace some fans make him out to be.)

I may have to skip meals for it but I'm getting Clannad no matter what! Just when I was starting to convince myself that I really wouldn't have liked it anyway, they go and do this. Thanks guys.

Now can we please dub more? Pretty please?

Bye-ni!

Kanokon Dub Update + Vampire Bund Censorship News!

2010-03-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

Greetings and salutations fellow anime fans, I am Richard J., your slightly demented but typically friendly blog host! Welcome to another edition of Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover, where I pretend to be important!

Today was going to be a post just about a few new developments on the censorship front with Funimation but our good friend bal-anime was nice enough to treat me to some news about the Kanokon dub! (Which made me very happy. I love dub news!)

What was revealed about the dub? Two cast members!

First, we have Jessica Gee playing Kiriko Takane. This is according to her website, which also has a slightly better list of her anime roles than ANN, and appears very much a fully confirmed fact.

Next, we have Steve Cannon, possibly better known to some of you as Steve Staley! He's voiced several characters I'm quite fond of like Hitsugaya from Bleach and Soma from Kannazuki no Miko/Destiny of the Shrine Maiden. (His ANN profile has a pic and I don't know yet which character he's playing so no character pic.)

Now, this comes from Amazon.com's listing for the first volume so while good news, it should be taken with a grain of salt as Amazon does on occasion get their anime info wrong. Also, we're still unsure of the studio being used. It could be Bang Zoom, it could be Arvintel or it could be someone else in LA that we either don't know or wouldn't expect to be used.

Still, dub news is dub news and I need to start getting a little more serious with my efforts for this blog!

Speaking of serious, Media Blasters, the company that will be releasing Kanokon, had to make a tough choice and recently cut it's workforce. This prompted the team at ANNCast to make some rather dismal predictions about their future.

Humorously, major player at MB John Sirabella responded over at Mania.com's Anime on DVD section. If he's actually worried, he hides it very well. Personally, I'm not buying that the company is doomed. Should you buy any English dubbed anime they've got out? Yes, go for it! But I'd say that about most anime!

Well, since we're getting serious, lets talk about a topic that is close to my blood pump: censorship. I am a very strong Free Speech advocate. I've been quite vocal all over about my irritation with Funimation over their statement of intent to censor the DVDs for Dance in the Vampire Bund.

It now appears that, perhaps, we won't have to worry about censored DVDs after all. On their Blog, Funimation has begun backtracking away from the apparently VERY UNPOPULAR choice to censor their DVDs. Robert of the Anime Corner Store (buy from them, they have awesome customer service!) talks about this on his blog, including a great quote from a company rep at Funimation. From what is being said now, the issue was never a matter of legality as the first 7 episodes are okay for uncut on DVD. Either someone was being overly cautious or they thought censored anime would be easier to market.

Hmm, apparently all the rage over that decision is changing their minds!

Good job anti-censorship otaku!

Well, that's all for today folks! It's been a crazy week for me but hopefully sanity will be restored on all fronts soon. I'm hoping for the best but planning for the worst.

Bye-ni!