Con Today, Gone Tomorrow

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!

Summer Wars Cast and Inuyasha Final Act Re-Casts

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!

Big Fun Update!

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!