Funimation's Roll-Out Riot Day 1: The Prelude

Disappointing. Weak. Anti-Climatic.

These are some of the words already used to describe the first day announcement of Funimation's Roll-Out Riot. However, we here at Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover (and by "we" I mean myself and my stuffed Saber's Lion plushie) see things a little differently.

True, I'm not doing any dances with wolves over 15 films from the Shaw Brothers, films coming from the Hong Kong-based Celestial Pictures that have the world’s largest Chinese-language film collection, 15 films that have been digitally restored from original negatives and that cross multiple genres. Why am I not super-excited?

I'm not the target audience for this lot of licenses. You might not be either. However, take a moment and think: are there a lot of people who have been buying Asian live-action films lately that aren't anime fans? Hasn't Media Blasters claimed their live-action sales were a big part of their "success" that allows them to release anime? (I certainly remember those posts!)

Let's face it, live action is just plain more popular in this country! These movies automatically have a greater sales potential than any anime. (Depressing but true.) Further, there are 15 titles to choose from! 15! Sword of Swords, The Duel, The Lady Hermit, The 14 Amazons, Shaolin Hand Lock, Invincible Shaolin, Soul of the Sword, Life Gamble, Shaolin Rescuers, Shaolin Prince, Bastard Swordsman, Opium and The Kung Fu Master, The Supreme Swordsman, Return of Bastard Swordsman and Hong Kong Godfather. I'd bet good money everything on this list with the words "sword" and/or "Shaolin" will sell well too.

Personally, I don't see this as an "anti-climax" as some have put it. This is a prelude to the anime glory that is to come. These live-action films will do what they have for other companies, provide new income and potentially new anime consumers as well. Many an anime fan and Funimation consumer has asked "what happens when Dragon Ball Z stops making money?" We all know that one series has been a cash machine for the company, so what happens when it finally stops printing money? Well, now we see the hedging of bets. Live-action Hong Kong films that will add to the steady income of the company during their release cycle over this year and 2011.

I see this move as a good diversification move. In the past, I would have rolled my eyes but I've since seen sales numbers for Asian films and come to realize there is a voracious fanbase for them who NEED TO BE INDOCTRINATED IN THE WAYS OF ANIME!

So for today's part of the Roll-Out Riot, color me disinterested (though a few of those titles sound kinda interesting) but not disappointed. This is yet another move by Funimation to strengthen the company at time when it's competition is suffering. And of course, this is but the first day. In addition to the Hong Kong announcements, they also announced Apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Now, I don't know about the rest of you but there's a lot of important subtext to read into this move. Apple's pretty much owned all competition with these products.

Still, the lack of anime licenses is a bit of a letdown.

Riot Rating:

1 of 4.



I think this licensing move is wise and that it will pay off but I need more than anime Apps to be really pleased. Still, I believe Gen Fukunaga is planning for the future in clever ways. (Holo must be giving him good advice.) Spice and Wolf first season set review coming this weekend after the Roll-Out Riot!

Yeah, Spice and wolf review after the Roll-Out Riot ends. I had to make sure there was some anime talk in this blog post!

Bye-ni!

The Perils of the PS3 and Funimation's New Year Roll Out!

Ah, Christmas was good for me and I hope it was for all of you who celebrated! And of course, if you didn't celebrate Christmas, I hope you had some equally enjoyable celebration, holiday, party, festival, pagan ritual, cult event or whatever!

Just thought I'd check in to talk about a few things.

First, on a personal note, I got a lovely PS3 for Christmas! It's great, so great in fact that I've been almost relentlessly playing on it since I plugged it into my TV. It also kinda creeps me out just a bit. I was born in 1982 and originally played freaking Nintendo. This thing is so far above the original NES console that actually thinking about the leap in tech is kinda dizzying. (Am I the only one who ever thinks about this? My first computer used 5.25 floppies for crying out loud!)

The PS3 has more space on it's hard-drive than my actual computer does, can access the 'net through the wireless network in my house and the graphics are just amazing on the games I've been playing. (Got Ghostbusters, Dead Space and Silent Hill: Homecoming and bought Devil May Cry 4 myself. All fun by the way though I have sort of a love-hate relationship with Devil May Cry.)

Anyway, I've been a slave to the sleek black gaming deity for a while but I'm finally starting to disconnect more.

Though I'm also having an extremely strong desire to write brutal and bleak Dead Space crossover with various anime fanfic. Let's not dwell on what that indicates about my psyche.

So speaking of anime: An important news item is that Funimation, their name be praised by all English dub fans, is doing a week-long Roll-Out Riot starting January 4th. Yes, I know you know but maybe you don't know what I know you know or someone else doesn't know what we know that we know, you know? (I've always wanted to write something that pointlessly wordy and confusing. ;) )

Next week I'll be showing up every day to comment on the choice of show. Hopefully I'll even post something semi-interesting!

Till next time my friends!

Bye-ni!

Merry Reindeer Everyone! (That's Christmas in Hiyono-speak.)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

It's me again, you're humble Richard J., hoping to snag a little delicious Christmas dinner soon. (God, I can smell the ham cooking right now and both a pecan and a sweet potato pie were made last night! DROOOL.)

Before I eat or go through the loot for this year, I wanted to wish all of my readers a wonderful time today and all the way to New Years. May your time be blessed and fun!

So whether you like your Christmas like this:



Or like this:



Just remember this: Whether you are a person of faith or a non-believer, this is the time to set aside hate and try, if only for a brief moment, to find comfort, joy and love with our fellow human beings. I hope that everyone out there is finding a bit of peace this year and that all of you my readers will stick with my unreliable self in the New Year to come!

Bye-ni!

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!