Dream Casting: Recasting The Bubblegum Crisis English Dub
Another anime in bad need of a new English dub is the original Bubblegum Crisis, an eight-part ultra violent cyberpunk OVA from the 80s. Licensed by AnimEigo, a dub was produced for this title way back in 1994 by Southwynde Studio, who dubbed very few programs. In fact, other than Crisis and Crash, they only dubbed Riding Bean and Battle Royal High School. From what I can gather, none of these dubs were any good. I’ve had personal experience with the Crisis dub, however, and it truly is a relic in need of updating. It’s not as though the script was that poor. The writing was fairly decent for the dub. The problem lied in the uninspired casting and wooden acting. It caused everything in the dub to come across as very dry and unnatural. The title itself is unlikely to recieve any such dub updates, given its age and relative obscurity in today’s anime fandom. Ideally, though, some other company, not AnimEigo, would take this title and release it with a brand new dub. This is a dream of mine. But it’s not going to happen. And so, I shall recast the show myself! I will use Canada’s Ocean Studios as a template for this new dub. Ocean has produced a number of decent dubs, and even two amazing ones (Death Note and Black Lagoon), and after careful consideration I’ve decided to recast the dub with their talent pool. Enjoy! Marÿke Hendrikse (Revy in Black Lagoon) as Priss Asagiri (formerly Sinda Nichols) Reasoning: Hedrikse gives a brash, hostile, cynical attitude to Revy in the amazing Black Lagoon dub, which can be focused into the similar Priss. She may have to soften a little, though, since Priss isn’t quite as destroyed inside as Revy. I’m sure she can add a bit more texture to the role than Nichols did. Better directing would help. Lisa Ann Beley (Relena Peacecraft in Gundam Wing, Murrue Ramius in Gundam Seed)) as Sylia Stingray (formerly Jemila Ericson) Reasoning: Beley has this very collected sound to her, but a little breathy, too. It makes sense the older and wiser Sylia to sound like her, with a bit of that nuturing quality to her, but a sense of sexuality, too. Tabitha St. Germain (Naomi Misora in Death Note, Soma Peries in Gundam 00) as Linna Yamazaki (formerly Elizabeth Becka) Reasoning: St. Germain has a very leveled voice, but with almost a hint of breathiness to it. It’s just right for the mostly conventional Linna. Shannon Chan-Kent (Misa Amane in Death Note) as Nene Romanova (formerly Susan Grillo) Reasoning: Judging by her performances in Death Note and Gundam 00, Chan-Kent is clearly capable of sounding bubbly and flakey, as Nene can be at times. But I think she could also sound determined, as well. Actually, the English voice actress for AnimEigo would have been fine if she learned to act a little better. Shannon-Kent sounds similar, but she’s clearly got more acting chops. Brad Swaile (Light Yagami in Death Note) as Mackie Stingray (formerly Frank Trimble) Reasoning: Swaile can do a teen boy’s voice rather well (just listen to his Light or Gohan). I just need a clean-sounding young man’s voice for this role and why not the fantastic Swaile? Alex Zahara (Lockon Stratos in Gundam 00) as Leon McNichol (formerly Brad Moranz) Reasoning: I needed a steady voice that could be likewise charming and playful. I felt like Zahara did a good job as Lockon and I’d like to hear him as Leon. Trevor Devall (Mu La Flaga in Gundam Seed) as Brian J. Mason (formerly Eric Paisley) The rest: David Kaye as Largo (formerly Pierre Brulator) Michael Adamthwaite (Ribbons Almark in Gundam 00) as Daley Wong (formerly Marshall Caroll) Michael Dobson (Dryden in Vision of Escaflowne) as Quincy (formerly David Arnold) Cathy Weseluck (Mirai Yashima in Mobile Suit Gundam, Dorothy Catalonia in Gundam Wing) as Sylvie (formerly Martha Ellen Senseney, Lum in Urusei Yatsura) Chantal Strand (Lacus Clyne in Gundam Seed) as Anri (formerly Katherine Kopec Burton) Ellen Kennedy (Lebia in Silent Mobius, Suzunagi in Ronin Warriors: Message) as Vision (formerly Mindi L. Lyons, Ten in Urusei Yatsura) I felt like David Kaye, known for playing aristrocratic antagonists (Trieze, Sesshomaru) would fit the arrogant super boomer. Michael Dobson’s a natural choice for the gravelly president of Genom. Cathy Weseluck can do gentle with a bit of edge, so I think she can handle Sylvie and Chantal Strand is known for a very soft, warm voice, and Anri is such an innocent. Michael Adamthwaite and Ellen Kennedy were more of me just wanting kinds of voices to fit character types, so it might not work if they’re not delivering well, but I’d like to give it a chance, anyway. Southwynde Studio’s Bubblegum Crisis is pretty awful. The script is decent but the voice cast sounds like they’d never worked in voice acting in their lives and probably wouldn’t work again. It’s like some kind of audition reel. It’s not just bad, it’s waterboardinig bad. It’s weird when an otherwise well-scripted dub is stuck with a bad voice cast. Especially one that went through the trouble of dubbing all the songs, and some of them decently. I really like Bubblegum Crisis. I like the Japanese cast quite a bit. It features Toshio Furukawa, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Shuichi Ikeda, and Michie Tomizawa, none of them names to sneeze at. An OVA as good as this deserves an English version that’s at least presentable, doesn’t it? Hell, they can use the same dub script if they wanted to. Say yes to a hurricane tonight, mad machine, cause you can say ‘bye bye my crisis’ and it’s still never the end when you chase the dream. ALTERNATE CASTS Funimation: Meredith McCoy as Priss Asagiri Colleen Clickenbeard as Sylia Stingray Laura Bailey as Linna Yamazaki Monica Rial as Nene Romanova Joel McDonald as Mackey Stingray J. Michael Tatum as Leon McNichol Jason Liebrecht as Brian J. Mason Justin Cook as Largo Sonny Strait as Daley Wong R. Bruce Elliott as Quincy Leah Clarke as Sylvie Colleen Clinkenbeard as Anri Kelly Manison as Vision Animaze or Bang Zoom: Karen Strassman as Priss Asagiri Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Sylia Stingray Michelle Ruff as Linna Yamazaki Julie Ann Taylor as Nene Romanova Brianne Siddall as Mackey Stingray Crispin Freeman as Leon McNichol Steven Blum as Brian J. Mason Crispin Freeman as Largo Robert Buchholz as Daley Wong Michael Forest as Quincy Jessica Straus as Sylvie Stephanie Sheh as Anri Karen Strassman as Visionanime
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Episode 50 ENGLISH DUB Review
Episode 50, "A Disturbance in Central"
*****SPOILERS***** Synopsis: Roy Mustang and his group are joined by troops from the East who support them. The higher-ups notice that Roy’s group is not killing anybody, only disabling them. In the council room, Olivier mocks the other officials for the weakness of their soldiers. She suggests taking over the Central toops herself, but is told that she’s only there to restrain the Briggs troops. She laughs at this, as she is sure if it came to that, her troops would abandon her instead of giving in. Elsewhere, Briggs troops, led by Buccaneer, prepare to go into battle at a location in Central. As Roy’s troops run out of ammo, help arrives in the form of an ammo-filled supply truck. Roy finds Maria Ross in the front, and it’s revealed the person who put it all together is none other than Jean Havoc. Edward, Hohenheim, Scar, and the chimera (save for Heinkel, who is hurt) head for Central. Mei is in Central with Envy and heads to the underground. Olivier kills one of the generals and injures another. Pride’s clanging on Alphonse’s head is heard by Father in Central. Edward and the group enter the path to Father via Laboratory 3, where they split up into groups. One of the remaining officers activates the white "immortal army" homunculi, whose screams can be heard by everyone. Comments: It’s been a while since I did one of these, so bear with me. There seems to be an overall good quality to the English dub of this episode. That is to say, pretty solid performances from the voice cast and a good script. It’s not perfect- every now and then you get a minor character with a truly grating voice or a VA performing woodenly. It’s things like this that prevent it from excelling from "good" to "awesome". Maybe I’m just being a perfectionist, but then again there are some English dubs which I think are a lot better than this one, so I’m not biased against dubs in of themselves. Stephanie Young is a really excellent Olivier Mira Armstrong. It’s important to me, since she’s one of my favorite characters. You can tell she’s enjoying herself playing the role and it’s working well. She has that real air of confidence to her, bordering on arrogance, that comes across in the perfomance and voice quality. I really buy her as this character, this badass hardened soldier who lives by different rules than most. She’s especially good in this episode. Travis Willingham’s Roy Mustang continues to impress, as well. He sounds really natural in the role. I even found that his subordinates sounded good in this episode, which is a rarity. Most of the VAs for them I could take or leave, leaning towards the latter. But Havoc sounded good and even Fuery. It felt like a special effort was put into this episode. I was even comfortable with Vic Mignogna’s Edward. It’s not what I prefer for the character, but he did well for the few lines he had. Overall, a solid dubbed episode. Overall ENGLISH DUB Score: 4.5 out of 5Otaku Revolution Anime Discussion #1: Classic Remakes Casting
I thought I’d attempt something new for a change and start up a discussion about something anime-related in the hopes of having more communication with the people who come here (all three of them). Feel free to comment on this, suggest other topics for later discussions, and/or links to helpful material regarding the topic at hand.
Topic #1
With classics like Space Battleship Yamato and Mobile Suit Gundam being remade, do you feel like original cast members should reprise their roles after decades have passed? For example, should Goro Naya continue on as Captain Okita? Should Tohru Furuya continue to play Amuro Ray? If so, why? If not, who should play the roles? Suggest new VAs if possible.
Gundam AGE Episode 05 Review
Episode 05, "The Demon Boy"
*****SPOILERS***** Synopsis: Emily is concerned when she overhears Flit commit to continue piloting the Gundam. As the Diva nears the colony Fardain, Captain Grodek is contacted by Federation authorities who plan to strip him of his command (which he usurped). Grodeck blackmails the official who comes to arrest him. Emily confronts him about his behavior and he reveals his attack plan to her. Flit encounters a boy named Desil who gives him a strange feeling. The UE attack Fardain and Desil gets in the Gundam, taking off in it. Flit and Woolf launch in Geoaces to retrieve it, but Desil easily takes out enemy MS. Desil later meets with cloaked people. Comments: It looked like Grodek’s actions were coming back to haunt him. However, with a little blackmail, he managed to avoid arrest. I doubt this is the last we’ll hear/see of this matter, though. Grodek commandeered a Federation battleship and its mobile suits. The top brass won’t stay silent on this. But I thought it was extremely smooth how he handled it for the time being. He really is my favorite character. Emily is really starting to freak out. She’s determined to stop Grodek and prevent Flit from becoming a soldier for the Federation. Her heart is in the right place- she’s concerned for Flit’s safety and doesn’t like Grodek’s dishonesty- but something tells me she’s on a downward spiral of sanity. I hope they don’t make her lose her mind completely. Then again, it might be more interesting that way. Flit meets mysterious youngster Desil in this episode. Desil gives Flit the same feeling he had when he was with Yurin a few episodes back. And somehow he’s not all he seems to be. I wonder if the masked man in the cloak who came to him at the end of the episode will be the Char of this series. It seems like Yurina and Desil are Newtypes, but they might not call them that in this series. Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Teaser
Quake With Ennui: Yoroiden Samurai Troopers OVAs (PART ONE)
Quake With Ennui: Yoroiden Samurai Troopers OVAs (PART ONE)
In 1988, a television anime about five bishonen dressed in multi-colored armor, carrying weapons and elemental powers aired on Nagoya Television. This Sunrise-produced series was called Yoroiden Samurai Troopers ("Legendary Armor Samurai Troopers"). It was later localized as Ronin Warriors in the United States, aired in syndication and then on Cartoon Network’s Toonami block. Names were changed, as well as eyecatches and theme songs, but there were few, if any, cuts made to the bodies of the episodes. There were also three different OVAs produced to continue the adventures of the five heroes: Gaiden, Kikoutei Densetsu, and Message. They found their way to North America and were put in with the TV series on DVD, even dubbed with most of the Ronin Warriors cast reprising their roles. Ronin Warriors was a big deal to me back in the day. I watched them well before they were on CN. It was the first anime I watched in its entirety. When I found out there was more to be watched, I found some cheap VHS fansubs and bought them. The last OVA wasn’t even fully subtitled, but I watched it anyway. This was before the DVD boxset, mind you. None of the three OVAs are particularly great. In fact, only the second one can be considered "decent" and the last one is monumentally lackluster. But nobody ever seems to talk about them, and I’ve always told myself I’d review them some day, if only for some laughs. Ever since obtaining the DVD boxset of Ronin Warriors, I’ve been watching the flip sides of the discs, which have the original Samurai Troopers episodes in Japanese with subtitles. So often, in fact, that I’ve forgotten most of the English dub names. So in an effort to avert confusion, I suggest going to the Wikipedia page where you can convert the YST names into RW ones to follow my reviews. So let’s get started with the first OVA, a two-parter. OVA 1: GAIDEN Episode 01, "Once again! Samurai Troopers" Our story begins in a dark alley in New York City, where a familiar green armor (the Korin armor) brutally kills a bunch of street toughs who, by the look of things, aren’t so tough. The obviously posessed armor (nobody notices there’s nobody in it?) closes in on two of them and then there’s a pan up for a moment. Then a powerful ghost-like thing comes out of it. He’s very squat, has a big nose and pronounced earlobes. Hm. What kind of anti-Semitic show is this? Oh, because he’s in New York, he’s a Jew, right? That’s fucking racism, man. Not cool, Sunrise.Anywhoozle, the leader of the Samurai Troopers, Ryo, is given a surprised birthday party by his fellow troopers. Sans, of course, Seiji, who went to New York. Ryo notices a news report on Seiji’s Korin armor being spotted in NYC and decides to go there himself. But his friends all anticipated this. Touma goes there first with Nasuti and Jun (nice job taking civilians on a potentially dangerous mission) while Shu and Shin take the plane Ryo’s on. Apparently, Seiji was lured to America by a supposed find of a family artifact. As the plane flies over the city, it’s attacked by Fyvush Finkel and like Sully, the pilot makes a water landing.
Dragon Ball Kai – Episode 96 Review
Episode 96, "Combine Our Power! The Mightiest, Final Kamehameha"
*****SPOILERS***** Synopsis: Gohan resigns himself to death as Cell powers a Kamehameha which will destroy the planet. However, from the afterlife, Goku encourages him to strike back. Gohan fires a one-handed Kamehameha and the two beams meet. Gohan struggles to overpower Cell. Piccolo, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, and Yamucha all attack Cell, but it does little to stop him. Suddenly, when all seems lost, Vegeta attacks, giving Gohan an opening to finish Cell off. Gohan’s beam finally overtakes Cell and he dissolves in the blast. Gohan has won the fight and saved the world. Comments: Ah, the long Kamehameha duel. I’m actually fond of this part. I know that it takes up a lot of time, but I don’t feel like it drags on. I feel like it gets the time it needs, given the gravity of the situation. It gets the right build up and ends with the proper catharsis. By the time it ends, the viewer is ready to pass out from the intensity, same as Gohan. You get a real sense of victory from what happens. I seem to remember Z proper overextending the bit where Goku’s allies all chip in to try to wear Cell down. Whatever the case is, I was dreading having to see Piccolo et al thrown back for a half hour. But it’s all very compact. Their loyalty to Goku, and Gohan by extension, is really touching. They know they can’t defeat Cell, but they owe Goku so much, they can’t just stand by. Vegeta delivering the last blast before Gohan overcame Cell was a good part as well. Vegeta must’ve had to overcome his pride to help out. Naturally, Piccolo was the first to jump to Gohan’s aid. I really liked what Yamucha and Tenshinhan’s thoughts on the matter, their lives having been touched by Goku to a great extent. Gohan finally overcomes Cell and destroys him. My favorite character will probably always be Goku, but I have a great affection for Gohan, too, and was glad to see him as the hero here. One of my favorite parts is right after he collapses, when the fight is finished, and we see Gohan breathing hard on the ground as the Earth and Goku are also shown and Gohan and Goku are thanked by the narrator. It gives a real sense of passing the torch. (Though with the Buu arc, it didn’t turn out quite that way.) What I was really impressed with, besides some of the reworked art shots, was Shunsuke Kikuchi’s score. Sometimes its placement in Kai makes it awkward. Too few pieces are used, and the ones that are used are used too often. But here there’s the perfect economy and each piece suits the scene it’s in perfectly. I especially liked the use of movie 9’s music, it being my favorite musical suite in the franchise. This episode has the perfect use of every piece. It’s a fantastic episode. Overall Score: 4.5 out of 5Dragon Ball Kai – Episode 95 Review
Episode 95, "Bye Bye, Everyone! This is the Only Way to Save Earth"
*****SPOILERS***** Synopsis: Cell declares his plans to self-destruct and take the Earth out with him. He gloats over his apparent victory. Gohan regrets not finishing Cell when he had the chance. Goku thinks hard, then finally says goodbye to his friends, teleporting over where Gohan and Cell are. Goku places his hand on Cell and teleports away with him to Kaio’s planet. He apologizes to Kaio as Cell begins to explode. The explosion destroys Kaio’s planet and takes Goku with it. Back on Earth, Gohan dispairs over his father’s demise. In the afterlife realm, a dead Goku apologizes to the dead Kaio. But they notice that Cell isn’t there. On Earth, a beam cuts through an enormous cloud of smoke, piercing Trunks. When the cloud breaks, Cell appeaers, in his Perfect Form again. Cell reasons this is because of the Saiyan cells in his system, which cause him to be stronger whenever he returns from near death. He also knows Goku’s teleportation technique. Gohan powers up, happy that he can repay Cell back for his father’s death, and vowing to kill him. Vegeta is so enraged by Trunks’ death that he attacks Cell, but it’s of no use and Cell injures him. Gohan takes a beam for Vegeta which damages the left side of his body. Cell decides he’s had enough of the fight, and prepares to charge up a Kamehameha to finish Gohan off. Comments: Okay, so, wait. Wait. Why didn’t Goku teach any of the others how to use Instantaneous Movement? I mean, there was all that time training and he didn’t think that it could be useful if somebody else besides him could use it? Somebody who was a little more expendable? Imagine if the person who sacrificed themself was Oolong. Yeah, I went there. Teaching Oolong to teleport. Well, that might not be the best idea, since he’d just be using it to get into women’s changing rooms. Then again, I guess it would ultimately result in the same thing. Somebody sacrifices themself, Cell explodes, Cell comes back. But maybe they could have teleported him out sooner or something. It seemed like Goku was thinking awfully hard about what to do before he decided. In that same time, he could have teleported Cell away and returned, too, but he wasted time saying goodbye. I know that this sort of takes the air out of the sacrifice, but Cell coming back did that on its own. Speaking of Cell coming back, what’s the deal with that? He says that because he’s a Saiyan he grew stronger from being near death, thus his return in Perfect Form. Okay, I guess I can buy that, but wasn’t his whole being blown up? Before it was said as long as he has a single cell in his brain he can come back, but his entire body blew up. Then there was that time earlier when Goku blew off his head. Maybe it’s that there has to be AT LEAST that cell in his brain. It all seems a bit convenient for Cell to come back his his Perfect Form, but there’ve been more convenient things in the show before. I guess. I remember when I first saw Goku’s sacrifice, back in the Toonami days. I must’ve been real emotional around that time, because I was actually tearing up. And this was when Sean Schemmel’s Goku sucked and the Bruce Faulconer music was being used. So even with the impediments it made me sad. In fact, I think it was around this time of year, too. Wow. This episode marks where Kenji Yamamoto’s music is first replaced by Shunsuke Kikuchi’s. It feels a little weird hearing Kikuchi’s music in Kai after so many episodes with Yamamoto. Apparently, though, Toei aired on the side of caution when it came to the big plagairism kerfuffle. Instead of just not using the offending tracks, they didn’t use any of them, and went to Kikuchi’s stuff. It’s good music, mind you, but the placement isn’t always great. Overall Score: 4 out of 5Dragon Ball Kai – Episode 94 Review
Episode 94, "The Perfect Form Breaks Down! The Super Iron Fists of Rage Explode"
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: Everyone is impressed by Gohan’s power except Cell. Cell powers up to his full power, but Gohan is unmoved. Gohan takes a punch from Cell but is unharmed. He delivers a sharp blow to Cell’s mid-section, then one to his chin, knocking Cell down. Cell is angered by this. He tries hitting Gohan, but Gohan blocks and delivers a kick that sends Cell flying and crashing into the ground. Cell uses various techniques, but to no avail. Cell can’t believe he’s actually feeling fear and retreats into the sky. He fires a powerful Kamehameha, intending to destroy the Earth, but Gohan fires his own, overpowering it and sending the beams hurdling towards Cell, hitting him. Cell is greviously injured. Goku urges Gohan to finish Cell off, but Gohan disagrees, wanting to make Cell suffer. Cell once again regenerates. Angry, he amps up his body, but is too slow to keep up with Gohan. Gohan kicks Cell so hard that he throws up Artificial Human 18 and his Perfect Form breaks down. Cell transforms back into his Semi-Perfect form. Enraged and devestated at losing his perfect form, Cell tries to strike Gohan, but can’t. Completely outmatched, Cell puffs up his body to enormous proportions, telling Gohan it’s the end.
Comments:
Gohan continues to be totally badass in this episode. Cell is completely overwhelmed by his power and speed. Especially the speed. The key difference between Cell and the rest of the fighters is that he’s extremely fast, so even if they had enough raw power, they’d be too slow. Trunks learned that a while back when he found his ascended Super Saiyan form was no match for Cell. But Cell makes the same mistake Trunks did in his fury and loses his Perfect Form because of it.
The art is a bit inconsistent in this episode. There are times it’s decent, even pretty good, but then you get moments where the characters seem a little off. I do especially like all the shots of Gohan glaring at Cell. My favorite shot, though, is Gohan smirking, taking pleasure in Cell’s plight. It’s a pretty scary sight when you think about it. I always liked the sparks the Super Saiyan 2 form makes, the effect is really good.
Another scene I really liked is Cell’s Kamehameha being destroyed by Gohan’s own. We all know that they’re getting into a duel with Kamehamehas in a bit, and a lot of people overlook this. Gohan easily counters Cell. Cell is just completely outclassed. Returning to Semi-Perfect form, he’s actually no longer a match for several of the others. Cell’s pride is smashed.
An excellent episode, despite the art flaws.
Overall Score:
4 out of 5