Strike Witches Cast/Character Breakdown!

Hi ya'll and welcome to another epic fail blog entry! I'm you're host, Richard J., wishing he were half as cynical as Akira Kogami as it would help to keep his expectations down.

Then again, with an English dub cast this nice, who needs cynicism?

Yes my friends, Funimation has done it again! Yesterday they announced the English dub cast for Strike Witches and ooh boy, they picked some amazing talent for it. (Clink the link for the trailer!)

Here's the Cast/Character breakdown!


Cherami Leigh as Yoshika Miyafuji



Excellent choice and truthfully the one I was hoping for. Cherami has a natural cuteness to her voice that she's used before as Makoto in Sasami Magical Girls Club and as Patty Thompson in Soul Eater. However, as her work in Bamboo Blade as Tamaki Kawazoe and in Strain as Lottie shows, she can handle a hard-hitting action girl.

Yoshika Miyafuji is a mix of cute and sweet with an ability to kick butt so Cherami's a perfect choice.


Kira Vincent-Davis as Mio Sakamoto



Well this was a surprise. Kira Vincent-Davis is best known to all of us as an ADV cast regular. Hire her for instant awesome. Guess Section 23's dubless state is sending talent fleeing to Funi. And thank God for that.

Kira Vincent-Davis has a natural strength to her voice as well as an ability to play a subtle gentle quality. This is perfect for Mio Sakamoto who is stern but fair, often coming across as a fatherly character. (At least this is my opinion.) I'm expecting something between Ruri of Martian Successor Nadesico and Najica of Najica Blitz Tactics for this role.


Kate Bristol as Lynnette Bishop



Kate Bristol is a surprising choice for Lynnette, at least to me. I was actually expecting someone more like Carrie Savage. However, I do believe Kate is a good choice.

Her work as Kisa in Fruits Basket shows Kate can really crank up the woobie factor when she wants too. That's important to Lynnette's early appearance and a gentle nature is needed later as well.


Jad Saxton as Perrine Clostermann



Oh hell yes. I just have a feeling this is perfect casting. Jad Saxton has a great stern voice she can use but also sound soft with, like with Masako in Ghost Hunt. I have a feeling she's going to steal scenes.


Jamie Marchi as Shirley Yeager



Inspired casting choice. Jamie's voice is very warm but also has a quality that gives her that tomboyish edge that makes it possible to imagine her working on a Striker engine. Shades of Meg from Burst Angel and Integra Martel from Solty Rei? I'm looking forward to it.


Trina Nishimura as Francesca Licchini



If I were still only familiar with Trina Nishimura from roles like Shigure in Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple and Akira in School Rumble, I'd be going "what the hell?" right now. Fortunately, I've been exposed to her work as Nadie in El Cazador de la Bruja. This actress has RANGE. Seriously, she can sound like a stoic badass or a cutesy girl without a problem. Hope she does lazy troublemaker well!


Jennifer Forrester as Sanya Litvyak
Caitlin Glass as Eila Juutilainen



Jennifer Forrester is a name I haven't heard before so I can't really even begin to speculate. Sanya's not a chatter box girl either though. Singing talent is important here as well as the ability to sound perpetually a bit tired.

To be honest, I expected Caitlin Glass to be playing Sanya! Rather surprising to make her Eila, a character with a bit of tsundere in her if you ask me. (Which you didn't.) I think her work as Triela from Gunslinger Girl might be informative of how she'll sound as Eila though as there's a motherly aspect to both characters.

My head does tilt a bit though. Someone in casting must be sick of the folks whinning about Funimation's casting choices being predictable. (Which begs the question: why is consistency of quality a bad thing?)

Last three, one could argue I saved the best for last!


Stephanie Sheh as Gertrud Barkhorn
Luci Christian as Erica Hartmann
Anastasia Munoz as Mina



Did someone order a plate of awesome served with a side of shock? Apparently so as we have Stephanie Sheh cast as Gertrud Barkhorn! Mainly an LA actress, Sheh is A-list talent in my book and capable of handling all kinds of roles. (I ask all of you to check her out as Nanoka in Koi Kaze, she's credited as Tiffany Hsieh.) Seeing her cast here is a bit of surprise considering her previous roles for Funimation have been pretty small parts. Also, Barkhorn is one of my favorites in the series.

For some reason I suspect the voice she'll use will be a little like how she sounded in Ultra Maniac playing Ayu Tateishi but a bit more serious.

Another voice actress we know and love, Luci Christian, will grace us with her voice to bring English life to Hartman. It will be interesting to see how her voice will jive with Stephanie's since both will be playing characters from the same homeland, the Strike Witches' version of Germany.

Somehow I expect Luci to make Hartman sound like one part Yukari from Azumanga Daioh and two parts Suomi Kitano from Diamond Daydreams. That might sound odd but Hartman is. . . well, she's not taking things too seriously for such an ace pilot.

Anastasia Munoz ends my exploration of the cast. She's another surprise though by looking at her ANN filmography she doesn't seem to be a newbie. Mina's VA needs to have a commanding voice and a good singing voice (trust me) and I hope this actress can handle it. I imagine she was cast knowing these things though.

Her casting is another I'm going to be watching to see how it comes out.

Well, that wraps this up. If you haven't already checked out Strike Witches, watch a few episodes on Funimation's Video Portal!

Oh, you noticed the Contest tag? Well, that's there because I'm going to buy 3 copies of this show! (Yes, I am determined to support this one like crazy.) One will of course be going on my shelves but that leaves two copies.

I wonder what I might do with those. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Stay tuned.

Bye-ni!

English Cast of Strike Witches ETA: TODAY

Hey everyone! I'm back and I'm sorry for the long delay in last posting! You ever have one of those days where you felt so filled with anger and depression that you didn't want to do much? Well, I had about 3 months of that. Still posted here and there on other sites but I really came close to leaving anime fandom entirely.

Fortunately (or unfortunately for those who hate me and want to see me leave) I've decided to stick around. If for no other reason than to annoy those that don't like me to death.

And with Funimation's plan to announce the English cast for Strike Witches today at their Funicon 2.0 live con/blog thing, I feel a certain rush of invigoration to talk about English dubs once again!

The 501st has one message to all the haters out there:

VICTORY!

So after I find out what the cast is, I'll come back on here and post my thoughts on the selections! Hope you'll start joining me again my friends!

Ooh, also I should mention I'm going to start treating this blog like it's more of a fun thing for me personally. I was spending 10-15 hours trying to make perfect posts before (yes, I know, it looked more like 20 minutes tops) so hopefully I'll post a little more often.

If it wouldn't bother you few souls who actually read this joke of a blog, I might occasionally mention fanfic I'm trying to write as I plan to get back into that fun hobby.

Bye-ni!

ADV is Dead? Long Live the Fragments!

Back again so soon due to news! ADV has officially announced their demise, more or less, with the company's holdings being spread out over several new companies. (Yeah, this is like the Sentai deal only taken up to 11.)

The company as we knew it is dead. I for one am not surprised.



Seriously, this is a tactic in my opinion to boost the chances of selling off the fragments. Many fans believed that the Sentai Films deal, which is more or less ADV's top dog's new company, would save them. This has obviously proven false.

I believe this is an attempt by John Ledford to make assests easier to sell off. (Not that ADV/Sentai was doing anything much with the Amusement Park Media dub production part of the company anyway.) It may also be an attempt to cut down on taxes. Since any move costs loads it will likely add to costs overall so don't expect big savings for them. (They're all living in Sentai's backyard!)

Essentially, while I hate to be the bearer of bad news, ADV as we knew and loved it died before that first Clannad sub-only set came out. While this move won't affect all of the company's anime licenses, expect a few series to be conviently in the hands of another company when Sentai gets around to doing something.

Long live the fragments! Various licenses, production capability and holdings will be spread among AEsir Holdings, which has "selected" programming from ADV's library and some other worthwhile stuff, the SXION 23 home video distribution company will do the books (or cook them) for AEsir while Valkyrie Media Partners has acquired 100% of ADV's Anime Network television unit, about the only profitable part of the old company nowadays, while Seraphim Studios takes on the gathering dust Amusement Park Media. (If you believe in angels, clap your hands, maybe we'll getting a freaking dub out of them!)

The companies are Houston based (guess Ledford doesn't want to move too far away) but, hey, once you're pre-packaged for bite-size sell-off. . . does it matter?

Some, probably most, of the old employees are now with the new SXION 23 but word is not everyone will be carried over. This is an effort by Ledford to make the parts of the company as sleek and neat as possible so any dead weight or just non-essential personnel are toast. (Heck, essential personnel are screwed too in the long run.)

Ninja Edited In: Interesting news: According to this blog post by Robert of the Anime Corner Store, Ledford is the one not showing up again!

I also think it's worth mentioning that John Ledford is not part of the new company.

Wow, he's already getting out?

Again, in my personal opinion, this is an attempt to make the company more attractive to buyers. Even if I'm wrong, the management isn't changing so the same old bad ideas will keep being floated.

This is why I said dropping dubs was a bad things folks! It's a sign of weakness!

Bye-ni!

Personal Update: My Parent's Wedding Anniversary Is Today!

Hey out there in the land of anime fandom! This is your Navigator Richard J., heretic against the Church of the Holy Fansub!

Due to my health being a little wonky the last week, I fell behind on my promised reviews. (You may pity me or pelt me with rocks, your choice!)

However, on my end there is a happy event. My parents are having their wedding anniversary today! (Sorry but no details because that might get me in trouble.)



I've got a pretty old-fashioned view of marriage. I believe it is a partnership between two people, to face life's troubles together. I believe that marriage is a sacred pledge between two people to struggle together rather than apart.

Despite the rather hostile PC views of marriage, when it works it works GREAT. My parents are my main roll models and have been for quite some time. The reason is that while so many other couples have broken up over minor squabbles like being able to see the wife's face or the ever popular and completely uninformative "irreconcilable differences," my parents have been together through things most people can't even imagine dealing with. My parents have stayed together through things some people kill themselves rather than deal with. Financial problems and relatives from hell doesn't even come close to covering it.

Yet, throughout more hits than a anyone should be expected to take like losing family members to a brutal criminal act, being cheated out of an inheritance and facing an IRS that can't keep it's own books and thinks they are owed considerably more than they are, they've always stayed together. They've never allowed the sometimes painful twists of life to break them apart.

Instead, they've taken a lot of strength from being together.

So, today I'm taking a moment on this blog to A) apologize for not getting to all the reviews and such, B) let you know I have awesome parents who have been through so much and are still together and C) to wish everyone out there an awesome September! This is the month my parents were married and many years later that I was born, so it's a special month to me.

Today has some interesting history behind it too. Poor Poland.

However, the biggest thing I wanted to do is say that I love my parents and I wish them a big, super Happy Anniversary today! With lots of relaxation because God knows they need it.



My parents have been married for very long time (again, I'm not saying how long but my older sister is in her 30s and they don't believe in having kids out of wedlock.) What has made their lives better, what has given them the ability to overcome great adversity, has been a relationship that has withstood the strains of time and personality to deliver them to a present where they are still together and still in love. I've always believed that people need emotional balance in a relationship to make it work and largely I think this because of my parents.

If I were to describe my folks in anime character terms, I think I'd have to say they're kind of like Gundam Seed's Athrun and Cagalli. My dad is a thinker and my mom is a fireball. (For the sake of comparison, just think of the character's inate personalities. My dad has never flown a Gundam and my mom is not from a noble family of the Orb Union.)



Oddly enough, my personality trends toward Kira's, though with a bit less of the messiah archetype aspects and a bit more of the "forced to deal with the darker side of the world at a young age" stuff. (Not to mention I favor girls like Flay and Lacus. Yes I know that is contradictory.)

So my parents are like happily married and peaceful versions of Athrun and Cagalli, I'm a more emo Kira wondering if he'll ever meet his Lacus or even his Flay and my sister is. . . yeah no comparisons are coming up. She's kinda hard to express in character terms.

Maybe Stella without the psychosis?

Oh well. Look for more heretical fun next time on Blog of the Heretical Dub Lover! Tune in same Bat Channel, same Bat Whenever the Heck I Post Time!

Before the end of the week, I promise two anime reviews! And maybe some crazy rambling dementia.

Bye-ni!

Manga Review: Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl

Manga Review # 003
Title: Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl
MSRP on Individual Volumes: US $10.99
MSRP on Omnibus Volumes: US $14.99

Delayed but not stopped, here comes another manga review! I'm your Navigator Richard J., fresh from watching the Team Marilyn battle in The Law Of Ueki. (This series started off as a guilty shonen pleasure but it's gotten better and better as it goes.)

So, now let me introduce you to this complete manga review for Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl! Originally, this series was released as five single volumes and is now being re-released as Omnibus collections. For this review, I'm using the individual volumes no one gives me free stuff to review so everything I review, I've bought. (If I gain enough followers, I can conquer the wor- er, I mean get free stuff to review. Yeah, that's what I meant.)

Our guest host today is Yuria of the manga series Yuria Hyaku-shiki! Tell the folks a few things about this manga please Yuria!

Yuria: Ah, okay. Hello everyone!



The story of Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl is by Satoru Akahori who has been involved with script writing for Dragon Ball Z and Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi among others. So you know you're dealing with talent right?

The art is by Yukimaru Katsura, a talented artist who worked on the manga adaption of AIR. Did you know that series started as a visual novel with ecchi scenes?

Richard J.: Focus Yuria! This is a family blog! (Maybe?) I know you've got a bit of an addiction to H things but keep it together!

Yuria: Oh! I'm sorry, I'll be good. Mostly.

The manga has been published in it's entirety by Seven Seas, who my host is a bit annoyed with due to their canceling a lot of titles he was buying or wanted to buy. The light novels going away really bugs him. They could have at least finished the one's they started.

An anime adaption of the manga was released sub-only by Media Blasters. However, don't let that bother you too much dub fans! The anime was an example of adaption decay due to coming out before the manga was complete. It missed a number of the more interesting twists of the manga, made one character act very out of character and ended in a way so incorrect that had to make an OVA to try and fix it.

Of course, it makes my host's blood boil a little just to hear about that company since they've recently made a bad dub decision and. . . oh, his veins are bulging and not in the right place, so I'd better move on!

Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl was selected as a Book of the Month by Newtype USA prior to it going under!

Richard J.: I'll take over now Yuria! Don't leave though.

First, lets see some covers! This is part of why I recommend the single volumes!



Now here's the backs!



There is a single color page per volume. I would have taken pictures of them but, honestly, I just couldn't seem to get the covers to open enough to take them without damaging my volumes. I don't know if they are retained in the omnibus editions but they are just various images, typically of the girls in the series and some that are just Hazumu the main girl.

All volumes together now!



Yuria. . . Okay, fine, hog the spotlight a little.

Yuria: I'm sorry, I just can't help it! You looked so annoyed before and I know you like my uniform.

Richard J.: You're such a sweet girl.

Okay folks, here's the details. Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl is a romantic sci-fi comedy/drama with gender-bending. Yuri isn't just a theme in this manga, it's very much a driving force.

The story centers around Hazumu Osaragi, a very feminine and delicate boy who has a lethal close encounter with aliens. Fortunately for him, the aliens bring him back to life. Unfortunately, the process doesn't work right and he's brought back as a she! To top it off, he was rejected by the girl he loved, Yasuna Kamiizumi, right before it happened! Hazumu takes the whole gender change remarkably well and, frankly, considering how girly he was before, I think you could safely say he was a lesbian trapped in a boy's body from the start. (His childhood wish was to be a friend's bride.)

Anyway, after the gender change is when things get REALLY complicated. Now, Yasuna's suddenly interested and Hazumu's best friend Tomari Kurusu is freaking out, his father is humorously turning into a dirty old dad, his mother couldn't be happier since she can dress her daughter up and Hazumu's best male friend Asuta can't quite come to grips with the situation because he's torn between thinking of Hazumu as his best bud and as a cute girl who happens to be his type!

And that's before the aliens come to live with him. Well, one alien and a spaceship.

Yes, you heard that right. A spaceship. It turns into a ridiculously moe girl who also wants Hazumu, in a probably platonic way. (However, Jan-puu is also very likable just as a character once she calms down a bit.)

To say that Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl has all the elements of a wacky sci-fi comedy would be an understatement. And it does have some very funny moments, generally involving Tomari freaking out early on about Hazumu's change, Asuta at almost any point where he can't turn off his hormones and of course there's Hazumu's teacher Tsuki Namiko who has but two purposes in the story: to fall in a silly way and to inform the reader, in an over the top way, that she's been single for 35 years. However, this series shines brightest when it gets deep and emotional.

The tangled web of relationships is watched over by another of Hazumu's friends, the quiet Ayuki who thinks of herself as being in a cocoon and has no intention of involving herself in the world as she likes just watching it all. She's a very interesting character in her own right as she isn't emotionless like most loner characters of this style but rather detached from it all. She's an interesting contrast to the alien.

The solid love triangle that forms between Hazumu, Tomari and Yasuna takes many interesting and emotional turns. The book actually opens with a kiss and it ends with a true life-time commitment. There is so much in terms of character development and interpersonal drama that to talk about it all would spoil too much. Let me just say that the alien scientist living in Hazumu's bedroom, who takes on the name Sora Hitoshi, spelled with characters that could be read as "space man," has plenty of research to work with.

Tomari's fierce determination to protect Hazumu, Yasuna's desperate desire for a connection she rejected initially and Hazumu's inability to make a choice lead them down some very unpredictable turns. The character drama between the three main girls is intense and lightened by the comedy bits, though many of those begin to feel quite out of place over time. (And, frankly, Namiko-sensei falling stopped being funny to me in the first volume.)

The plot twists near the end that revolve around the reasons why the alien's regeneration technology turned Hazumu into a girl also play a major role. (Yes, there is an explanation that is quite a shocker.) The reason for the alien and his spaceship girl to have even come to Earth is quite serious as well. Even the feelings Asuta begins to develop toward Hazumu, initially played for comedy, are allowed to be treated seriously.

Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl is a series you need to own. Despite some flaws with the comedy, the romantic drama is incredible and the ending really ties things together and shows just how strong love can be.

I don't know if the omnibuses will contain them, but the individual volumes have excellent omake comedy bits with the cast (several focusing on Ayuki being a bit of a mad scientist) and there are excellent translation notes. Even the Japanese names of flowers are talked about, which is a big help.

Again, here's all the volumes.



I highly recommend this series if you like Yuri stories or if you just want a powerful romance tale. As I've said, the comedy is actually a drawback as the series progresses but it never quite manages to derail the flow and becomes less as the story moves along. I wouldn't buy this manga for the comedy though I wouldn't say it's not funny when it wants to be. (Except with the falling. Poor Namiko-sensei must have pissed of a god of falling or something.)

This manga is available at the following fine retailers: Robert's Anime Corner Store, Amazon, Books-a-Million and The Right Stuf.

By the way, in case anyone has been wondering why I give a link to Books-a-Million and not Borders or Barnes and Noble, it's because I've personally had some negative experiences with Borders and Barnes and Noble, plus they're hurting economically. I've linked to the omnibus editions because of the lower overall cost but I recommend the individual volumes.

Also, you might want to get this figure if you like the manga/anime. I don't own it myself but it makes me drool.

And also, you may want to buy another lovely lady!



Yuria: Huh? Me?

Richard J.: Sure! You've been a good guest host and, frankly, I think you're figure is very nice and more than a little ecchi. Plus my pics don't do you justice as they didn't quite come out right. I think people should buy your figure because you're cute and sexy and I'd like to see your manga, Yuria Hyaku-shiki come out over here. How many other machines like you are portayed with personalities?

Well folks, that's it for another review. I'm trying to come up with a separate scale for manga (Cat Girl Scale is great but I want something different for manga and something for light novels as well since I hope to see Yen Press publish many.)

Since I don't have one yet, let me just go ahead and say I'd consider Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl a Five Star series if not for the constant falling of one teacher, which brings it down to Four. (But this one has special merit, despite coming from a cancel happy publisher.)

*EDIT: I now have a scale for completed manga series! Behold the Library Girl Scale!



Bye-ni!

Anime Review: xxxHolic

Anime Review # 002
Title: xxxHolic
Release Type: 6 Single Disc Volumes (Complete Series Available Now)

Welcome to the Sunday edition of Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover! It's strange, I didn't really feel like doing anything today but I sat down and started working for hours on this anyway. Why did I work today?

Maybe it was inevitable. I'm sure Yuko would say that. As your Navigator, I Richard J., hereby formally welcome you to a shop of wish granting and a review of xxxHolic. This is a 24 episode (23 main eps and one side story) series by Director Tsutomu Mizushima. Director Mizushima also worked on Funimation licensed series Big Windup and Media Blasters licensed series Genshiken. The series is animated by Production I.G. and based on the best-selling manga by CLAMP. (Do I really even have to tell you who they are or give you that link?) Production is by Ayakashi Research Society.

Now, since it keeps raining so annoyingly around my house, I asked-



Ame-warashi: HEY! What do you mean annoyingly? Do you have any idea what would happen if there was no rain? Do you?

Richard J.: Ow! You hit me with your umbrella!

Ame-warashi: Yeah, so what, you rain hater.

Richard J.: Oh for the love of. . . look can you just do what we discussed?

Ame-warashi: Fine. Only because it's favor for Zashiki-warashi.

Here's the deal folks. xxxHolic is a story about Kimihiro Watanuki, a not-so-average high school student who can see and interact with spirits like other people do stray animals. He gets about the same results too with some of the spirits being pretty nasty and others being very sweet. He's got a bit of a spastic personality but Watanuki's not a bad guy at all.

One day, he wanders into a shop that seems very out of place and meets Yuko Ichihara, the seemingly free-spirited mistress who grants wishes. Declaring his visit inevitable, she proceeds to more or less con him into being her choir boy for however long it takes to work off his debt for a wish to keep the spirits away from him. Watanuki's a first-class cook apparently so this is a big win for Yuko.

By the way you might not know this, and some fansubbers and so-called elite fans will mislead you, but the "xxx" in the title indicates variability, like the variability of the needs of the various customers to Yuko's shop, and it's not supposed to be pronounced. The correct way to say the title is just Holic. So don't pronounce the x's when you say the name and tell anyone who does that they are being stupid.

Also in Watanuki's life are Shizuka Doumeki and Himawari Kunogi. As much as Wataknuki wants to pretend otherwise, Doumeki's the best friend he's ever had. He frequently protects Waranuki by using spiritual powers and his skills at kyūdō to send dangerous spirits packing. Himawari is the girl of Watanuki's dreams but clearly he doesn't get that those are actually nightmares he's having. The first anime series doesn't get to it but that girl is trouble! Let me tell you about her-

Richard J.: Whoa! Hold it! No spoilers!

Ame-warashi: Fine. Whatever. I'm talking about Zashiki-warashi then! She's the one Watanuki should be begging to date him. She's sweet, gentle and a nice being! Powerful too though most people are such jerks that they make her feel terrible just to be around them. Why Watanuki chases after that Himawari is beyond me. That girl is nothing compared to my friend.

So, that's the basic plot. Watanuki works for Yuko and in exchange, some day, she'll make the spirits leave him alone. Of course, beings like myself and Zashiki-warashi are a lot more powerful than mere spirits. Then again, Yuko's power is truly frightening.

It's your turn now, right?

Richard J.: Yes. Thank you for your efforts. Now, I'll give my thoughts on the positive aspects of the show.

Ame-warashi: I'd like to hear them.



Richard J.: Sure, stick around as long as you want.

Okay, here are my thoughts on the positive side of xxxHolic. Funimation has released this series as both a 6 volume single disc release with a snazzy art box and as a single box set collection. This review is based on the boxset but I say if you have the space, the money and a desire for more artwork, the singles and art box are quite nice.

On performances in the series: Our guest host is Ame-warashi, voiced by Kate Oxley in the series. She gives off the strong personality of a being unaccustomed to pleasant dealings with humans with just a hint of self-importance. She's an excellent recurring character in my opinion.

Todd Haberkorn brings Kimihiro Watanuki to life. I don't care what any other reviewer says, she's just plain great as Watanuki! He adds such vigor to Watanuki's comedic displays of anger and annoyance as well as a quiet emotional poignancy to parts of the story that can leave you a bit teary-eyed.

Colleen Clinkenbeard gives Yuko Ichihara a teasing and sometimes childish tone while also managing to be quite sexy and wise sounding. It's a multifaceted performance that deserves some praise given how difficult a character Yuko is to figure out. Is she a mentor to Watanuki? A potential lover? A malevolent being out for his soul? All of the above is a valid character interpretation too with what we see of her in the anime. Despite Yuko's frequent claims that things are inevitable, she seems to be quite interested in changing Watanuki's destiny.

Shizuka Doumeki is voiced by J. Michael Tatum and gives off a gruff stoicism fitting to the character. The only real problem is that it is sometimes a little difficult to hear what he's saying! Tatum's strongest moments are when Doumeki acts to defend Watanuki, even against a being that Watanuki wants to protect. He comes across aloof at times but Doumeki really is one of the best friends Watanuki could ask for.

Ame-warashi: And he has such a fresh essence.



Richard J.: Yeah, he does. Wish I had a friend like him.

Despite being the primary "love interest," Cherami Leigh's Himawari Kunogi is an extremely flat character. She's constantly cheerful and utterly oblivious to Watanuki's obvious affection. However, this is not poor acting on Cherami's part. Rather, the anime fails to get into the part of the story that really deals with Himawari. There are hints of her true nature in Episode 8: Contract.

Brina Palencia voices Zashiki-warashi and also Moru. While she's not the best performance in this series (that goes to Todd's Watanuki) she steals more scenes than any other VA. The character of Zashiki-warashi is a refreshing counterpart to Himawari. She's a supernatural being with a crush on a certain boy who is often accompanied by Ame-warashi or karisu tengu who beat the stuffing out of anyone they think has made her cry. Zashiki-warashi also features a lovely character design that seems consistently wonderful throughout the anime. (Here's a story about where to find a real one if you'd like.)

As Moru, she steals scenes like mad in cahoots with Leah Clark's Maru. Maru and Moru are unsual girls who work/serve/are dependent on Yuko. Their background is, most unfortunately, only hinted at in the anime. However, they are constant scene stealers, always saying and doing things that make a person smile. I don't know if they were intended to be "moe" but they trigger that sort of a reaction in me, although their personalities are similar to children and they are clearly wise and strong. The most moving scene with them in my opinion is in Episode 23: Choices. (Oh and FYI Maru and Moru's full names can be translated as Flashing and Streaking, so keep that in mind when watching the first episode.)

Although she plays an active and important role in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Carrie Savage's black Mokona is little more than Yuko's drinking buddy and another harasser of Watanuki. Mokona has a few moments here and there to shine but they are fleeting. The deeper, snarkier tone Carrie uses for black Mokona vs. white Mokona really fits this one's personality but her talent is wasted as the character could be removed from the anime with few problems.

XxxHolic is a fairly episodic and episodes can be a bit hit or miss. The best episodes are those that focus on Watanuki trying to help or interact with powerful supernatural beings or just learning about the unseen world. Episode 4: Fortune Telling is a very calm episode overall but it is also very effective and features one of the most thorough debunking of a fortune teller ever by Yuko herself. (She knows the real ones from the fakes.) Everything on the second box set disc from Episode 7: Hydrangea which features Ame-warashi's first appearance to Episode 12: Summer Shade in which Watanuki and his circle of relatively human friends travel to the beach, are all very good episodes. Episode 11: Confession features the first appearance of my absolute favorite character, Zashiki-warashi. Personally, I find most of the episodes on the third and fourth discs of the boxset to be good as well but some are very fluffy and do little if anything to advance the plot.

Ame-warashi: This is where you tell them the bad part right?



Richard J.: Sort of. Here's where I explain what isn't so great about the show.

Remember when I said xxxHolic is episodic? Well, that's part of the problem. The anime suffers from some adaption issues due to the manga crossing over frequently with Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. The anime removes most overt references to these crossovers, as well as moving some stories around, adding a few orignal ones and so on. The result is that the series narrative is a bit jumbled. It's not a horrible mess but it hurts.

Primarily, this means that the series feels almost like a slice-of-life anime rather than a supernatural chronicle of Watanuki's development as a person, which I believe is the true point of the story. As previously mentioned, the first anime also fails to address numerous issues such as the truth about Himawari and why Watanuki is so willing to keep putting his life on the line. Also, Maru and Moru's nature is left largely unexplained. It is more than a little annoying but acceptable.

Some of the episodes feel week and others just leave you going "okay, that was cool but what about Watanuki and getting the spirits to lay off him?" Also, while xxxHolic can hit us with some truly eerie creatures (the monkey's paw and the hand things creep me the hell out) many of the bad spirits that Watanuki is plagued by are just silly looking. Dark cloudy things with oddly placed eyes and limbs and mouths aren't exactly all that frightening. Plus someone really enjoyed doing that animated smoke. When the series focuses on a spirit, they tend to give us a much better design though.

While I'm talking about character designs though, I have to mention that xxxHolic has very inconsistent ones. The designs by CLAMP for the manga are stylistically rather unique and convey a lot of mood and personality but they don't translate well to moving pictures. I'd call them anime off-model but it's more like variable model. Expect some bodies but if you can get past them, expect some interesting story-telling.

So that's my take on this anime! Cat Girl score card reads:

XxxHolic is available at the following fine retailers, none of whom pay me a dime for my links, in boxset and singles form. Robert's Anime Corner Store, Amazon, Best Buy, FYE and The Right Stuf.

Singles are available at several of these sites as well but the artbox is harder to come by. Want to watch a few episodes free? Funimation as this one up on their Video Portal!

Since Funimation has already reviewed the packaging, here's a link to Hey Nice Package where you can check it out.

Well, that's it for this review. Complete manga review will be up later tonight.

Ame-warashi: You know, I think you did a good job.



Richard J.: Aw thanks.

Bye-ni!

Rant: What Do You Mean It Costs Too Much?

Welcome to the first Rant here on Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover. Please give me a moment to switch borrowed personalities.

Pst. Minoru. You're up.



WHAT! DO YOU WANT A PIECE OF THIS!

Oh. We're doing a Rant today?

I'll be your raging Minoru today, Richard J. Today's Rant is about the cost of anime.

Like the title says, what do you mean when you say it costs too much or a new boxset set is "premium pricing" at $59.98 or even $49.98 for HALF A FREAKING SERIES!

I know, I know. Arguing about the price is pointless. Anime effectively has no value due to all the illegal free subbing. So, while you can argue that the official releases have come WAY the hell down in cost, you can never quite convince people that they are getting their money's worth. R1 companies used to use premium packaging and physical extras to entice buyers but now that doesn't work well enough and the number of anime consumers has dropped.

They've cut costs as much as they can and in the cases of several of Funimation's competitors, tossed out the English dub which is one of the very few features that actually counts as 100% value-added content versus fansubs/bootlegs of the Japanese release. They've cut the disc count and gone for cheap packaging, dropped on disc extras for the most part and all of it to bring the overall price down. According to Robert of the Anime Corner Store, keepcases can save a studio 2% or 3% in replication and transportation costs due to their lighter weight and thus are cheaper to ship in bulk. We also know that the costs of anime dubbing have actually dropped below the often quoted $10,000 an episode number. (Which is good to know as I intend to one day use any spare thousands on paying for dubs to be made for shows I love. Yes, I'm serious.)

So what is going on? People still complain about the cost because it's still more expensive than free and, since Funimation is now the only company really licensing a lot, they get to be called an evil monopoly. For managing to not massively cut back on releases, and even expand a little, they're labeled that way. People still complain about the prices and always will. They'll complain about companies not running themselves into the ground too. It only makes sense if you're brain is wired wrong but run with it folks!

Meanwhile, the number of anime consumers continues to drop, not only here but in Japan too! According to ANN, sales in Japan for the marketplace of games, music, manga, films, etc. fell for a second year in a row in 2008. The market fell 2% to $136.357 billion. (Yes, I know that sounds like a lot but remember, that is not the net profit, that's the value of the industry. Little of that is liquid assets. Traditional income sources like DVDs and such fell 3.9%, after having already dropped 3.6% in 2007. Some good news on TV and the net though with television and broadcast revenues increasing 2.9% and Internet sales increasing 12.5%. Unfortunately this doesn't make up for the falling DVD sales and, no, Blu-Ray doesn't either. In other words, the Japanese costs are going up on a product that many people don't even want to pay for.

On the US side of things, the economy has gone to hell and if the economists are right, either we're getting set up for another big drop or we're still not going to see enough jobs coming back. So anime consumers look at the price for a half series set, say "wow, expensive" and just download it. Even though the cost is demonstrably lower than it used to be. Plus, falling sales in Japan mean that eventually there will be increased licensing fees while the value of the US dollar has dropped so low, foreign governments are losing confidence in it.

Geneon prices? DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THEM? Over a $100 bucks for a 13 episode series? TODAY'S PRICES ARE NOT PREMIUM!

A big part of the problem is that no one actually cares about the costs to the company. They just want it cheap, fast and perfect. Period. No exceptions, no concern for reality. You see this kind of mentality everywhere nowadays. People simply don't care about the logistics of things.

Another part of the problem is that corporations have been made into a modern day bogeyman by the general media, with people being told that they are all extremely wealthy and just charge people apparently for giggles because it could all be free if not for the evil and corrupt corporate executives. Look at the "Funimation is a monopoly" line that people are using in many places now. They suggest that their prices are higher for no logical reason other than they've managed to not shrink while others have all but vanished from the market place. (Dear goodness, heaven help us when success is rewarded with paranoid delusion.)

If Funimation qualifies as a monopoly at all (it doesn't under the classic "only one firm produces the good" definition though it does under more modern ones) it may be considered a "natural monopoly" because anime distribution costs a lot to start up, has marginal at best profit and has numerous natural barriers to entry, such as the need to form a relationship with people from another country as well as to convince anime fans to become anime consumers. The fact is, however, that if Funimation is a "natural monopoly," then they are actually considering their competitors price-structures, which is the exact opposite of what bad monopolies do! Do a price comparison on MSRPs for them and other companies and you'll find that when both titles have an English dub, the prices are more or less the same and can be better than their competitors.

Look at the MSRP for half series sets of Sasami Magical Girls Club originally at $39.98. Compare them to ADV's Clannad release MSRPs at $39.98. Sasami has a dub. Clannad doesn't. Does anyone actually believe Sasami sold better than one of the most highly fan-anticipated series of the year? (Oh and Sasami's come way down in price too.)

Yes, that evil Funimation, charging so much more than their competitors for anime sets! Fiends! (Yes I'm aware that $49.98 and $59.98 are also used but again, consider the presence of a dub and compare. They differences in price are just not significant.)

Moving on, the vast majority of anime fans/consumers simply do not know what it actually costs to make anime, distribute anime or do anything legally with anime except buy it. $59.98 is a fairly typical MSRP for season box sets of live-action series that are out of the mainstream. Supernatural season 4 has such an MSRP. It also has a lot of bonus features but it already made back many of it's production costs in commercial sales while it aired on US TV and product placement. Anime sales in R1 represent virtually the only profit the R1 company gets for the series. Also, complaining about the half-series sets: 13 episodes is considered a cour in Japan, though it can vary dramatically. That's the equivalent of a full season over here. So in my opinion, current prices are in line with many live-action TV series releases so, frankly, I wonder what exactly fans are comparing the current prices to. A theoretical price? A price of Free? Bootlegs?

Heck, I've been buying for years now and by any rational and objective standard, the prices are at a low for anime. To consider the current pricing to be premium is just. . . well, I'd very much like to know exactly what a fair price is under this scenario because even sub-only half-series sets aren't that much cheaper than this when they are cheaper and if Bandai is any indication, they're going to be LESS cheap going forward. In fact, this is almost a certainty as maintaining profit margins with a continually diminishing number of actual anime consumers and the rising costs of doing business. (Taxes are going up and so are utility costs! Damn I love paying more for my electricity so some bureaucrat whose got millions can feel like he/she's "saved the planet" don't you? By the way, guess what a confirmed "natural monopoly" is? You're local power company! Don't like your power bill being so high? Your SOL! Oops, didn't mean to get political, won't happen again in this Rant!)

So, to bring this Rant to a conclusion because it needs one at this point, anime is NOT premium priced and is in fact MUCH CHEAPER than it used to be. English dubbed anime is especially cheap when you consider the cut profit margins for the R1 company. Cut profits that have led to ditching artboxes and sweet on disc extras.

Now, does that mean we shouldn't want more bang for our buck? Should we not expect extras on disc or better packaging? HELL NO! We should want them. We should demand them! All I'm saying is we have to expect to pay more for them and, for now, we shouldn't expect anyone but VIZ, Funimation, Bandai (when they have a TV deal) and Media Blasters (when they feel like it but don't expect them to get back prior casts because they aren't doing it with Ikkitousen: Dragon Destiny and NO I AM NOT BITTER ABOUT IT AT ALL) to do an English dub and as time goes on, none of them will provide bonus on disc content unless they got a really great deal on it as a standard feature for a release. (Why do the Japanese charge for extras separately from licensing? They can so they do because they need the money too!)

I suggest a new take on Limited Editions: Extremely small runs, less than a 1000. Very expensive, totally tricked out, for the HARDCORE fan of a series. And sold online only because that cuts the price too. Direct to consumer from the company too, they can have an unpaid college intern handle it.

That's it for this Rant. I'm sure you're all hoping to never see another one. Back to you Akira-sama.



Hmm, she's stunned. Well, this has been Richard J. in Minoru mode ranting at you. I would have gotten it up sooner along with some more reviews but I've been sick this week and only really started getting back on my game yesterday. Expect two reviews this weekend though. One anime complete series set and a complete manga series. Ones from a favorite company and ones from a company I am now only finishing already begun series from as I have vowed to never again start a new one from them!

By the way, I think an Ame-warashi must be hanging around my house because it's been raining daily for about three weeks now. Seriously, I am not kidding, the house of Richard J. has been rained on daily for weeks now.

Bye! Akira-sama cute mode will be back next time!