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Gundam AGE Episode 07 Review

Episode 07, "Evolving Gundam"

  *****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: Captured by Zalam mobile suits, Flit is brought before Don Boyage. He questions the actions of the Zalam and Euba, since the UE could attack at any time. Don Boyage expresses his desire to use the Gundam to fight Euba. Grodek explains that the Federation isn’t strong enough to fight the UE, thus his request for warships. When Euba mobile suits show up, Grodek and Flit escape among the chaos. Don goes out in his own mobile suit.  Flit in the Gundam gets in the middle of the fighting factions and tries to reason with them. Suddenly, the UE attacks. Largan arrives in a mobile suit to hold the UE off while Flit takes the Gundam to the AGE system. The Gundam is fitted with new parts and arrives to help.  Comments:    I can’t imagine me giving less of a shit about this show.    The introduction of the two warring factions is fine. It wouldn’t surprise me if people kept fighting with each other even with a common enemy. Zeta Gundam had that. The Zalam and Euba factions have neat insignia and I’m digging their mobile suits, too. However, there’s nothing about what these two groups are fighting over, and the Zalam side especially seem more like comedy relief rather than a serious threat. I’m waiting around for them to all just go away so we can get back to the real story, because this shit is about as good and integrating as the silly crap in Double Zeta.    Even Grodek was boring in this episode. We did get a nice scene with him and Flit where he puts out his hand, but past that, it feels like he’s just going through the motions. Flit seemed pretty mechanical, too. In fact, all of the characters were robotic, except for the aforementioned comedy relief. At least the guy with the fro, Largan, finally took part in a battle. Though after all that waiting he easily gets his ass handed to them. I guess they’re going to need Woolf again.    The Gundam AGE gets a new add-on armor that makes it look like Gundam Maxter. I hope it tackles like a football player, so at least it’s over-the-top enough to come back around to entertaining.    I’ve gone from not caring much about this show, to liking it slightly, and now I can barely stand it. I almost hate it. The art is inconsistent, the animation is awful at times, the story is boring, and the characters are uncharismatic. Right now the show is just a waste of time. If it doesn’t pick up soon, I’m dropping it. As flawed as it was, Gundam 00 was better than this.     

Overall Score:

2.5 out of 5

   
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Dragon Ball Kai Complete Review

Starting in 2009, Toei’s refurbished, "refreshed" version of Dragon Ball Z began to air on FujiTV. It recieved high ratings throughout, but was cancelled after 98 episodes (97 aired, 1 DVD/Blu-Ray exclusive). The purpose behind this creation, Dragon Ball Kai, was, besides celebrating the 20th anniversary of DBZ, was to provide a filler-free version of the show, staying closer to the original manga by Akira Toriyama. It was even touted as the "Toriyama Akira Original Cut Version". There would, as a consequence, be fewer episodes. read more

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Dragon Ball Kai – Episode 98 Review (FINALE)

 Episode 98, "Peace for the Future! Goku’s Soul Lasts Forever"

  *****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: Trunks arrives in his timeline. Meanwhile, Gohan relaxes with Gyumao, baby Trunks learns how to walk, and Mr. Satan shows off for an audience. Goku watches from the afterlife. Kaio wants Goku to help him build a new house. In Trunks’ time, Bulma notices how grown he is. He tells his mother about how Vegeta tried to avenge him. Hearing a newscasst about the Artificial Humans, Trunks takes off to fight them. Trunks confronts the 17 and 18 of his time and destroys both of them. Time passes and Trunks is stalked by Cell. The two fight and Trunks is the victor, destroying Cell. In the afterlife, Goku accidently destroys Kaio’s new house. He convinces Kaio to show him the master martial artists in the afterlife. They head off to meet them.      Comments:   In the (unfortunately) final episode of Dragon Ball Kai, the Cell arc wraps up with Trunks’ triumph over the Artificial Humans and a few other things. It seems like they moved around the events a little by having Trunks arrive in his time, then going back to the regular timeline for a bit and back. I like the rearrangement because it allows some non-Trunks related material before we get to his stuff, thus he doesn’t quite dominate the entire episode. My favorite scene is the one where baby Trunks tries to walk, and refuses help to get up.   In his timeline, Trunks relays what he learned about his father striking out at Cell when he died and future Bulma is somewhat surprised. I think that’s my second favorite scene (Bulma says, "I guess he did have a side like that"). Soon he’s off to destroy 17 and 18. It’s worth noting, as Trunks did, that this version of them are much more cruel. However, they’re probably weaker than the 17 and 18 of the regular timeline. Of course, Trunks takes them out easily, since he’s strong enough to defeat Semi-Perfect Cell (something Imperfect Cell learns the hard way), but I got the sense that 17 and 18 in Trunks’ timeline aren’t as strong.    One wonders how society carried on after Trunks finally defeated all the Artificial Humans of his time period. Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan, and others are dead and there aren’t any Dragon Balls anymore. Perhaps the Kaio from that timeline could contact the Namekians to use their Dragon Balls to wish people back to life. Come to think of it, why didn’t Kaio from Trunks’ time period help out at all?    Speaking of Kaio, what’s with the footage of him and Goku meeting the other Kais and participating in the afterlife tournament? That’s all anime filler, it doesn’t belong in Dragon Ball Kai. And it’s in this weird montage of scenes from throughout the show, set to "Dragon Soul". I think this is Toei’s way of saying goodbye to the viewer, but it comes across as a little lazy. I think they should have shown scenes of the Buu arc instead.    It’s too bad Kai ends before the Buu arc. Maybe someday we’ll see it Kai‘d. Until then, this has been interesting. Later!   Overall Score:

3.5 out of 5
 

 
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Voice Actor Comparison: Dragon Ball/Z/GT – Piccolo

Original Video – More videos at TinyPic

My pick: Toshio Furukawa

Reasoning: I love how Toshio Furukawa can sound snarky and arrogant one minute and really serious and sharp the next, depending on Piccolo’s mood. He’s got that devilish feel to him. However, it’s not a "character voice"; it sounds natural in every scene. As far as the English dub(s) are concerned, Scott McNeil’s Piccolo edges out the competition by having a wild flare to it, while still remaining solidly rooted. In comparison, Sabat’s Piccolo seems a little bland and the others just sound plain bad. read more

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Gundam AGE Episode 06 Review

 Episode 06 , "The Light and Shadow of Fardain"

*****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis:  Flit tells Emily he’s not going to resettle in Tordia. Woolf visits a friend who he orders a custom mobile suit from. Flit and Emily find themselves in the middle of a mobile suit battle in the city. They’re saved by a man named Iwark Bria, who takes them to the slums. Iwark tells them that the conflict sprang from the old colonial war from years past. Grodek visits a man named Don Boyage and requests four warships which he’s willing to sell for military secrets. When Iwark’s daughter goes missing, he climbs into his own mobile suit with Flit and Emily. After they find the girl, Iwark goes off on his own to fight the other mobile suits. Flit requests that Vargas bring him the Gundam. Once in the Gundam, Flit confronts the other mobile suits. A UE mobile suit arrives and Flit engages it, but it suddenly disappears. Flit becomes surrounded by other mobile suits.     Comments:    Emily’s really starting to annoy me. It’s one thing if they’re planning to have her spiral down until she’s crazy, but as she is now, she’s just nerve-wracking. We get it, you don’t want Flit to join the military. But if you’re so worried about him dying, why don’t you join up as well and chip in somehow, making it less likely that he’ll die? I understand her frustration, but she comes across as overprivledged. You can’t isolate yourself from the conflict occuring.    I wonder what the colonial wars were all about. Maybe it was just like the Federation-Zeon conflict in Mobile Suit Gundam. But actually, it doesn’t appear that there’s any real big difference between the two sides. We don’t really find out whether or not it was a war for colony independence or what. It’s just two different colored MS firing at each other in the middle of a frickin’ city. Shouldn’t the colony have Federation protection against this kind of thing?    Both Woolf and Grodek are ordering something. Woolf wants a custom mobile suit, which I’m looking forward to seeing (though his current white one is pretty neat). Grodek wants ships, and he’s willing to exchange them for classified information. He’s not a very good Federation officer. He’s totally doing things for his own ideals and with his own plan. I wonder how many of the crew of the Diva, if any, know what he’s up to. Surely he can’t keep it up for much longer, though I doubt he plans to. I don’t see things ending well for Grodek, which is a shame, because so far he’s my favorite character.    Is that guy with the orange ‘fro going to finally pilot a MS?   

Overall Score:

3.5 out of 5

 
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Gohan’s SSJ2 Scream

For those interested in hearing what Colleen Clinkenbeard’s going to do with my favorite scene, here’s a sort of "preview". It’s how she does it in Ultimate Tenkaichi:

:  

Pretty good. Too bad Willingham’s Cell is so awkward. I’m sure the scene will be better with Clarke’s Cell.

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Dragon Ball Kai – Episode 97 Review

Episode 97, "Farewell with a Smile! Heading for New Days…"

  *****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: Gohan passes out from the tough battle. Kuririn decides to retrieve Artificial Human 18. Vegeta refuses help from Piccolo. The group (sans Vegeta) go up to Kami’s palace to get healed by Dende. Mr. Satan takes credit for Cell’s defeat. At the palace, Dende heals Gohan. 18 awakens and is shocked to discover that Kuririn wanted to save her. The group summons Shenlong and ask him to bring those killed by Cell back to life. Trunks is revived, but not Goku, as he’s been revived before. Dende suggests using the Namekian Dragon Balls to bring Goku back. However, Goku objects from the afterlife, saying he prefers staying dead. Kuririn wishes for the bomb to be removed from 17 and 18. Shenlong grants the wisih and disappears, the Dragon Balls scattering again. 18 refuses to thank Kuririn, but says she’ll see him again. She then flies off. The group all decide to go their own way. The next day, the group sees Trunks off in his time machine to his timeline.      Comments:   This was the last aired episode of Dragon Ball Kai in Japan. There’s another episode, but it went unaired, and can instead be found on the final DVD or Blu-Ray.    In the aftermath of the battle with Cell, several things occur. The first is, Vegeta’s pride has taken such a hit he can’t even bring himself to going with the others. Who knows what Vegeta expected of the Cell Games, though? By the time Goku stepped in the ring, it was clear to him that he was outclassed. Then when Goku surrendered, he figured it was all over. He was shocked to discover that not only is Goku superior to him, power-wise, but that his son was even moreso. In this episode we get a humbled Vegeta. He still spits at Piccolo’s offer, but it’s clear he’s not going to be making any declarations of how great he is. He even apologized for getting in the way in the last episode. Now that he knows he’ll survive after all, it must be difficult for him to live with it.    Mr. Satan takes credit for Cell’s defeat. Even after all that happened, the announcer man and everyone else seems just fine believing that Mr. Satan defeated Cell. I think they need to believe it. It’s the only thing that makes sense to the public at large. But that’s kind of weird when you consider that just a few years earlier in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai, giant ki blasts were being thrown around and people were flying. I guess over time people forgot about those things. Mr. Satan is the champion the people need.   I always liked the bits with Kuririn and Artificial Human 18. First she just leaves, completely unappreciative. Then she returns when she sees Shenlong. She jumps out from hiding to tell everyone that 17 isn’t her boyfriend, it’s her brother (the resembalence should have given it away) and take off again. But she did basically imply she would see Kuririn again, which Yamucha picks up on. I really love how Piccolo has no idea what anyone is talking about in regards to Kuririn’s feelings. The part where Kuririn gives Gohan a thump is great, too.    Speaking of Gohan, is it just me, or was Masako Nozawa totally hitting it out of the park this episode? I mean, her Gohan sounded just as fresh and solid as it ever has. Especially when Gohan is talking about Kuririn’s situation, she makes him sound so adorable. And likewise, Aya Hirano might be stunt casting, but I’ve come to really like her Dende. Nozawa and Hirano really made this episode. Of course, Mayumi Tanaka as well.      Overall Score:   4 out of 5  
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Dream Casting: Recasting The Bubblegum Crisis English Dub

 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 Vision
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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 5    
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MG Delta Plus – WIP Update 02

Been awhile since I’ve had a solid update regarding this project…

 

Things haven’t been going so well. Lots of little issues here and there have been adding up. Just yesterday, I’m really close to finishing the legs, and the paint chips off on the same piece on each leg. FFF.

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