#I think some of the casting choices will have to be changed for the dub

[blue-dream-rhapsody]

Really, sincerely. As much as I love Bleach even beyond my obvious area of focus—and I do—if they’re really announcing any special anime projects for the anniversary I pray to GOD it is not a full reboot of the original anime. It is an extremely flawed adaptation, but I truly would rather read it beginning to end anytime I want in the manga format than have to sit through the anime pacing for all of it all over again over years and years of slow production. And yes. I even do not want them to redo the Lost Agent arc. I’d watch it, but I don’t want it.

I’d love them to adapt the novels (at least the more canon-compliant ones, I know Spirits Are Forever With You is very contentious there). Depending on the characters they focus on, even new original stories Kubo supervises and writes would be preferential. (My own agenda there should be obvious but I’m open to other focuses too.) Just a shorter, but awesome new project gets my vote miles ahead of another ten years of anime production for a show I’ve already seen, when I could literally just read it in a few days.

[miyakuli]

PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo

Game of Stones

Paranormasight is a half-horrific, half-thriller visual novel (I'll come back to this later) in which we follow several characters who find themselves involved in paranormal events caused by curse stones that are said to be able to bring dead people back to life. I really enjoyed the game as a whole, but I have to say that I found it very inconsistent in the way it unfolded.

❤ The game is very pretty. The chara-design is really well done and perfectly matches the characters' personalities, the semi-realistic backgrounds (based on real locations and redrawn on top of them) are superb and have a vintage feel to remind us that we're in the 80s, and the animations are quite often effective at giving you chills. ❤ The characters are the game's greatest strength. None of them are smooth, they all have their dark side and convincing motivations, some are certainly more complex than others, but each has an interesting evolution. And as much as they work well individually, their interactions with each other are also nice. You become attached to this group and find yourself excited when their paths merge (at least, I was rejoicing a little xD) ❤ As soon as you enter the game's menu, you realize that the soundtrack is going to be amazing. The themes are varied in style and mood, and contribute effectively to the dynamics of the scenes. ❤ There's a non-linear aspect to the plot, since we'll be following several character paths at the same time (represented by a flowchart), which will often overlap. As a result, you won't be able to unlock certain scenes without having fulfilled specific conditions in other routes. This gives the game a pleasant and original puzzle aspect.

+/- In fact, we often have to glance at the menu files containing all the historical information as well as the character profiles to help us move forward and understand the underlying plot, which makes the player an active part of the investigation. The story evolves in a coherent manner, buuuuuuuuut is a bit predictable when it comes to big revelations... +/- Some very good directional ideas, for example using the 360-degree rotation of the mouse to create some very scary moments (with jumpscares that really got me) or even playing on a rather surprising meta aspect…….but it all runs out of steam very quickly. Indeed, all these mechanics are concentrated mainly in the prologue (which is rather long, it has to be said), after which we find ourselves in a more conventional thriller with more "banal" scenes with no real gameplay apart from the choice of dialogues and exploration. This gives an impression of inconsistency in the evolution of the game, and makes the loss of that initial momentum almost bland. However, there are still a few good ideas here and there (such as an escape game phase), but I don't think they live up to this introduction. +/- The game asks the player to adjust the volume of the voices at the start….but the game is not dubbed xD actually, the option has its importance later in the story but I swear it gave me false hope at the time x')

✖ No skip option for dialogues already read, which quickly becomes annoying when you want to unlock the various endings. ✖ It's amazing how rushed the true end is! It's to the point where it didn't make any impression on me at all, and the final revelations fall flat. And I still come back to this feeling of inconsistency; we have an intro that is terrific for an ending that is anticlimactic (and it rhymes). ✖ Some of the characters sometimes make rather humorous faces that don't really fit in with the drama of the sequences at times; I didn't understand this choice…

If you're looking for a visual novel with a solid storyline and a charismatic cast of characters, you certainly won't get bored with this title. However, don't expect a purely horrific game, given the rather blatant change of tone and the more basic mechanics after the introduction. Why this choice? That's the real mystery of this game…

➡ My personal VN ranking (in french) ➡ My Steam page

[kidnamedbird]

Hello all!

It's me, Kid Named Bird from Team Kid Named Bird. For clarification, I'm actually named after the team, not the other way around. I'm the lead translator and dialogue letterer for Beyblade X, or at least I was. I am heartbroken to announce our indefinite hiatus from the BeyX manga; if we do get back to it, we'd finish off all the year one content (up to the likely incoming subtitle/branding change) and all of the extras that go with it. This would leave us with a finite amount of work for us to do and a nice archival version of the beginnings of X.

To explain why we're ending our release, I'd like to say it's not because we don't want to. We'd love to continue on this project because we all really adore this manga. It's hard not to grow fond of something you've poured so much time into. I never really even planned on forming the team to translate the manga until the first chapter was about to come out. I had translated the prologue chapter as a fun side-project — I learned how to letter and translate because of it! So once some of my veteran scanlator friends and some brave newbies hopped on the project with me, I felt like we could actually take a bite out of this massive undertaking. A 36-72 page manga every month for a team of mostly employed/student volunteers is insane, especially when you consider the amount of redraws we had to do on this specific work. There were so many text overlays we had to draw over or speedlines (blech!!) we had to clean up, and usually tens of pages of them. Sometimes we had to do the work of a weekly manga series translation to get our stuff out depending on the amount of pages we did. After a while, that took a toll on our team. We can only do so many 50 pagers in a row before it completely consumes all of our free time outside of our full time work or education. I knew that as soon as we got behind by one chapter, we'd not be able to catch back up. It would just cause us too much grief and stress. I didn't want to do that to my team of unpaid volunteers, so I made the choice to throw in the towel. We were doing pretty professional work for free, and we got burnt out. We all had entire lives outside of BeyX, and I wanted my team to live them. It wasn't a decision I made lightly, or without reason. The official release is coming out soon, and if you don't mind the dub names, the previews looked pretty good! They seem to be Singapore/South East Asian exclusive for now, but I'm sure someone will snag the scans for them. Also, the anime, for the first time in Bey history, is almost exactly the same plot-wise! Previous series manga and anime have diverged wisely, but as the manga and anime have an overlapping writing staff this time, the stories hit almost all the same beats. If anything, I think the anime takes the manga's story and gives it far more breathing room and better pacing. The extra character-focus episodes have done wonders to help develop the cast further and make Bird's journey of perseverance all the more compelling. You will still get to experience the story of X in different ways, but maybe without us. If we had the time, energy, and ability to sustain our bodies, we'd still be working on this manga, I promise you that. The kind words we have gotten from our readers have meant the world to me (I tear up at them sometimes!). I hope that one day, we can return to finish off the first year of BeyX content. If we don't, then oops! Every member of our team has other projects we work on, so you can find us there. I can't tell you what those projects are for our privacy and safety, but we do them! For now, this is Team Kid Named Bird spinning out.

3! 2! 1! Let it rip with us next time, whenever that may be! Thank you so much for supporting us!

[trainerfangirlsmile]

I went to see the second to last show in the Anastasia The Musical run in Mexico and oh my god:

So first of all, this was the first Mexican production that I ever saw in an established theater as opposed to a tour production (that was the Cats Mexican Tour back in 2019) so I was a little excited about that fact and how it would feel.

I had heard one negative comment about it, mainly how the sets and costumes didn't make justice to the original production (this couldn't have been MORE WRONG they were absolutely breathtaking)

There was a young girl (couldn't be more than 9 y/o) that was asked if she had seen the original movie and her answer was no, which made me think that for a lot of young kids the show could've been their first approach to Anastasia and I think that's beautiful

Now onto the musical itself:

The 3rd call for starting was made by little Anya and her voice was so adorable! She also made the call for starting the 2nd act during intermission

Most of the songs were adapted from the Madrid version rather than from the Latin American Dub of the movie (where the songs were sung by a popular Mexican singer called Thalia) and while at first it slightly disappointed me, it didn't affect the value of the production at all, I found myself vibing to the music all the time

Gleb's actor had a higher-pitched voice than Ramin, which at first surprised me, but he also managed to make a much more awkward Gleb that you could, not root for per-say, but understand him and his motivations from the start? One of my friends knew nothing about the changes in the musical, but this is how they felt about it (also please take into consideration it had been some time since I had last seen a "grand duchess slime tutorial", I may have forgotten some stuff)

Vlad was a delight to see on stage, he was funny and charming, every time he came on stage you knew you would laugh, also he was shorter than Lily's actress, and it made funnier some jokes, we stan an unhinged couple

Dimitri amazed me. He was very tall and had a great singing voice, I was so nervous for the adaption of My Petersburg, but you can imagine my surprise when he made a great rendition of it, also ohmygoshhhh him in In a Crowd of Thousands? I kid you not, his yearning almost made me faint, seriously, he and Anya left almost no space for Jesus and I was over there in the second floor gasping for air when he said "your highness", the chemistry was off the charts

Lily was a riot the whole time she was on stage as well, funny, sarcastic, you named it she had it. Land of Yesterday was one of my favorite choreographies from the original production and it did not disappointed me!

The Dowager Empress had this ring in her voice that kinda reminded me of older Mexican dubs? Which makes no sense considering her age but at the same time it does considering her character, such talent she has! She and Alix's actress also made it more obvious through their short interactions that they weren't in the best of terms which I thought it was a great Easter egg for historical fans

The ensemble was amazing! They were all so incredible to watch, during Quartet at the Ballet, the dancers got such a big applause that it warmed my heart, they were seriously so amazing!

A song I was surprised that shook me emotionally was Stay, I Pray You; I had always enjoyed the song and think it is beautifully written, especially because it reflects how one may feel leaving your country "by choice" (I may be projecting a bit into it) but seeing it live and in my native language just broke me, beautifully done by the cast

Mariana Davila as Anya was such a treat to see live! I wish I had been able to meet her at the stage door, because she was just breathtaking! Her voice was so beautiful and it left me speechless so many times during the 2 ½ hours of the show, I hope she gets so many more roles and that I can keep watching her! Again, her chemistry with Dimitri was amazing and she also looked beautiful in Anya's dresses.

I left this as my last point because I think it was my favorite part but, as I had said before, a lot of the songs were adapted from the Madrid cast which, if I remember correctly, had been adapted from the Spanish Dub of the movie.

A lot of movie fans had voiced their disappointment at not being able to hear songs like Once Upon a December with the original lyrics, and Mariana had said that they had tried to change them to the ones we were used to

Upon starting the show and realizing the new lyrics, I thought, "Well, maybe it was just for some specific shows or dates" and proceeded to enjoy the show

AND THEN COMES THE END OF ACT 1 AND GUYS

Journey To The Past was sang with the exact same lyrics as the Latin American Dub from 1997.

I am not joking when I tell you that the second that I heard "No me falles no..." I looked towards my friends and was already getting my eyes welled up with tears, it was such a flashback to being 5 years old coming home from blockbuster on an early December day and just, gosh, it was too much emotionally, I really cried throughout the whole song

Also, last year, I went on an exchange program, and some of the trips I was able to make were to Paris (since it was really close to were I was studying at the time) and just, seeing the images from Paris was also a reminder that I had been able to make many dreams come true in the last year, including watching this musical

It didn't help that the lights started from the seats towards the stage, it was so poetic, I still feel emotional thinking it and it has been like 23 hours since I experienced this.

Mexico is so talented, I hope we can continue to enjoy these experiences, and not only in the capital city, everyone in all the 32 states deserves to have a magical time

[orangepeelshortbreadcookies]

So I'm seeing quite a bit of seething outrage in the tag and maybe I'm just adding fuel to the fire here but... the Netflix adaption was pretty good? It's not perfect, the modern storyline in the first two episodes are quite bad in parts (thanks a lot, Auggie 🙄). Some of the dialogue is also weird and clunky in the first two episodes. But it really, genuinely picks up the pace afterward. First and foremost, the visuals are beautiful. I like how the show expanded on the characters in modern times, adore the friendship between the Oxford Five, and I'm in delulu about Jin's and Will's ending (something something ships in the night 😭). Even Auggie has her moments in later episodes, and I find myself pretty satisfied with the end of her arc. The transition from page to screen is mostly effective, and I appreciate that they can just let the visual storytelling do the talking instead of just a lot of declarative statements for character introduction in the books, that could (at least to me) get tedious at times.

I find it to be one of the adaptions where the changes make sense. The diverse cast makes sense. The book takes place in China but it's a story about humanity. Plus you already have your all-Chinese adaptation (a few times as well). Widening the geographic scope to get a new perspective on the story is a pretty valid reason for an adaption. Plus, transnational adaptions happen All. The. Time. Taking shows and movies from other countries and putting your own national take on it is a pretty popular practice. China definitely does it.

The Netflix show has these intimate, quiet moments that are very compelling, and the besutiful music helps further highlight that. On the other hand, I can see where the white-washing argument from some of y'all came from. While I don't necessarily agree with it, I think it's a reductive and just not very accurate description for this show in particular, there are however certain scenes that I would dub Joseph Campbell-infected, which seems more fair and specific to me.

Something that's more baffling to me is the disagreement over Ye Wenjie's portrayal in the show. That she's a bitter, mental old lady in comparison to her counterpart in the book. Did we read the same book??? What did I miss? How was she not a bitter, mental old lady in the book? It's the whole point of her character. That she was a deeply lonely, traumatised woman whose repressed anger and resentment were indistinguishable with intellectualism and who mistook her cynicism for objectivity. Of course she was mental. She was in the midst of a silent breakdown, for otherwise an emotionally functional person would not have made the choice she did and DOOMED THE ENTIRE HUMANRACE TO EXTINCTION. Also her confession to Shi Qiang in the book? Where she believed that the Trisolaran would save humanity based solely on the fact that they are more technologically advanced? That was bonkers. She echoed the sentiment of many real people from her generation, people of invaded countries who look upon the historical colonialism fondly or as a desired solution, because the system in power has failed them. I know actual people like that in my life. They are my loved ones, and they enforce such beliefs on their children, us, like how Wenjie condemned her belief upon the rest of humanity. It's a complex, thorny legacy to carry, and it is insane that we have to carry it. Wenjie is a genius, she's a grieving, empathetic woman who could not access her emotions in a healthy way because she was fucked over in 100 different directions, AND she is an old, bitter, intergalactic war criminal whose mental state is definitely in jeorpady. She is all these things, and both the actresses in the Netflix show did a phenomenal job of portraying every facet of her character.

[kaiowut99]

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX Episode 105 Subbed (Finalized)

(Previously: Episodes 102-104 Subbed [Finalized])

(Check out my Subbed!GX Stream Masterpost!)

TURN-105: The New School Year Starts! A Premonition of Turmoil

As the new school year closes in, Manjoume spends the day prior painting blue the building made white by the Society of Light. Elsewhere, Judai reflects on his battles thus far with Neos after fighting together against Saiou--from the experience of losing to Ed and his cards all becoming white, then meeting the Neo-Spacians and acquiring the Neo-Spacian cards before taking Ed head-on one more time, to his forming a tag-team with Ed to battle Mizuchi.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We're so back. and ready for some finalized emotional hits

(EDIT, 1/26: Reuploaded due to forgetting a name in the In-Between Animation credits during the ending; I'll be posting the corrected hardsub with 106-107 in the next 2-ish weeks)

After my hiatus once I finished finalizing my Season 2 subs in early October, in which I was able to get some other special stuff worked on, what better way to come back to things for Season 3 than with a recap episode? Episode 105's all done, as we get a little downtime after the end of the battle with Saiou for Manjoume to get some repainting going (which he bails on), Chronos and Napoleon grilling Samejima for his choice to let Ojin and his laser satellite participate in GeneX, and Judai taking us down the Season 2 memory lane to reflect on his second and third duels with Ed and learning about the Neo-Spacians and Light of Destruction in between (the latter is worth holding onto...), as well as their Tag Duel together with Mizuchi, while Manjoume thinks to his last duel with Judai and resolves to defeat him eventually as he walks back to the Red dorm--only to find an unexpected guest hogging up the bath in his special room. It was always a nice shake-up to have Rei rejoin the cast here after GeneX, and though she doesn't duel much (Mystic cards when), she does get her moments here/there in Season 3's first half. But other than that, not much to really think on; Samejima ends the episode by setting out to bring in Professor Cobra, who "quickly raised the level of the Duel Academia's West Campus," to help Judai grow--and knowing what comes next, that sounds like an A+ move...

On a side-note, it always amused me how the only clipshows here to be kept the same in the dub were the Ed/Judai rematch and the Mizuchi one; for some reason, 4Kids thought to add back a ton of footage for the other ones that wasn't really needed. If I had to guess, it was to help time commercial breaks better (and also padding since they cut Manjoume's bumping into Rei in the bath), but just a quick lol. (Also, the change from Samejima being grilled about letting in Ojin and effectively aiding the world's destruction to some fake lawsuit Crowler and Bonaparte were bringing up on him... why. [also also awkward Syrus-in-Blue OP edit my beloved])

That all said, a new season means a new set of OP/ENs, and this time it's a new set of songs too! Saying goodbye to 99% and Wake Up Your Heart after 80 episodes, we're given one of the best OP/EN combos in Teardrop and The Sun (aka "Taiyou"). Teardrop, also by 99%'s BOWL, is more on the melancholic side (helped by the shots of Judai being in a funk himself yet still putting on a brave front; this version of the OP was never released textless, and I'd had a textless edit I worked on previously, but was able to revamp it nicely) and ends up being appropriate for how this season ultimately goes, while The Sun is a great rock song from BITE THE LUNG (that maybe could've used slightly more dynamic visuals for the ED) and arguably could've been a good OP too. I'll be uploading the subbed and textless versions of these over onto NAC with this episode soon, and also my YouTube/Videa accounts.

Animation error-wise, with this being mostly a clipshow, there wasn't too much in new animation to pick up any errors on. I mostly reprised some corrections I made previously, though there was a small one with Manjoume and his megaphone early on, as well as one during the Today's Best Card segment at the end. Details below the cut if interested!

Anywho, enjoy! Think I'll delve back into some double releases for a bit since the next couple episodes are two-parters, so I'll start work on 106 and 107 in a bit, as best boy Johan is introduced and duels Judai, and as we learn about a certain someone behind the scenes. Stay tuned!

Fixes/Edits! (105)

As Manjoume shouts at the Blues painting their dorm blue again, he laughs and haughtily said that they'll repaint it blue to reclaim their pride, but as he does, the megaphone he was holding to his side during the panning shot as he laughs disappears the frame after the pan ends and he starts turning--even though he didn't move his arm enough for it to vanish under the screen. I fixed this by masking out his megaphone and then moving it slightly as he turns forward, then again as he turns to face Asuka as she walks towards him near the end of the shot.

During Judai's flashback to his loss against Ed, I recycled my previous fix to Hero Kid being shown as a Normal Monster by making it an Effect Monster, using the footage I edited in for it.

During Judai's flashback to his/Ed's duel against Mizuchi, I recycled my previous fix to the scene as the Mizuchis acknowledge that Infinite Demon Mirror will destroy all the Dark God Tokens out upon Dark God’s destruction, where Mizuchi #2′s side of their split-screen starts to split away a frame before #1's does, fixed by just holding their split-screen over that early-move frame so that they move simultaneously.

During the Today's Best Card segment at the end, we see Neo-Spacian Gran Mole where Winged Kuriboh's card would normally be, switched in because Winged Kuriboh is this episode's card highlight pick--but as its card spins upward, it ends up randomly disappearing, leaving a blank space where it should be for the duration of when it should be visible. I thought of making a proxy and adding it back in, but it would've been too hard to do with the JP text and the glowing on it, so I fixed this by just removing it and masking in the background over it. For the translated screen in the hardsub, I also placed E-Hero Burstlady where Winged Kuriboh would be just for this episode. (Incidentally, I thought they'd changed some of the rotating cards for Season 3, but they're actually all the same as Season 2's; I think they're changed up for Season 4.)

[guiltymepleasures]

[Series Review] Yu Yu Hakusho (2023)

9/10

As I have said before, I am always apprehensive in watching live actions so I'm also late to this one.

The anime was part of my childhood but since it was dubbed in our own language, they also changed the name of the series and the characters. Maybe so younger kids would remember them better. And I can't remember when I learned the Japanese title of this anime as well as when I learned the characters' Japanese names (or did I even learn them?)

First off, I watched this because I liked the actor who played Urameshi Yusuke, Kitamura Takumi. I have seen his other works and I've always liked the way he acted. And I think he captured the essence of being Urameshi in this one. They removed most of the funny scenes but he still managed the few comedic timing needed.

Uesugi Shuhei, who played Kuwabara Kazuma (a name I just learned by watching this), in my opinion, was the second best casting choice in this series. He was funny and he looked good. I couldn't believe the live action would let him serve looks as well as he did. And the chemistry he had with Kitamura's Yusuke was also something I liked.

Shison Jun playing Kurama was maybe the least one I liked. His acting was okay but maybe I didn't get the Kurama vibes from him. Maybe I had a different notion of how this character was when I watched the anime so there were a lot of moments I found myself thinking some scenes would have been better.

But that's okay because my favorite character, Hiei, was played by none other than Hongo Kanata and this actor has been in my radar since he portrayed other characters in other live actions. His whole being exuded Hiei as I remembered him.

But the best one for me was Go Ayano, who played Toguro. It was a surprise because I just saw him in one of his movies and he was spectacular there. I just loved the fact that he gave his own touch as the villain since I don't remember much about this character. I remember thinking how would they make his physical transformation look good and I'm glad with how they went about it (except that last one where he looked like dried meat, although it looked similar to the anime).

Overall, I was again pleasantly surprised with how good this looked. But I think the major factor was the nostalgia in watching it. There were moments I clearly remember but there were other scenes that made me go "Oh right, there was that" or "Did that happen?"

A fun tidbit: when I was a child, I liked Yusuke and Botan together even though I know they weren't the pairing. An added point to this live action was me rooting for Keiko right from the beginning. So there's that.

[vixendoesstuff]

GOT SOME MORE IDEAS FOR THE SILLIES!!11!!!

So after some deliberate thinking (that is daydreaming about it in class and almost getting in trouble for it) I think I got some more concrete backstory ideas for my OC's. Mighty thanks to @/nerdfins for their help to me navigating the endless amounts of lore and worldbuilding this series has, seriously, why is there so many-

After some research, I decide to change their names. Their names are now Horizon (the Decepticon) and Buckle Up (Autobot).

For Horizon, apparently when I looked it up there's already a character named Hurricane, a "Turbomasters' Defense Tactics Specialist", whatever that is. For Buckle Up, Velocity already exist (a medic for the Lost Light) along with Boombox, apparently. I know it's probably fine if I went with the same character name (these characters are kinda niche) but I just wanna be safe.

Because of the many continuities in the series and how it potrays things, I'll try to keep their stories brief so it can be adapted to different universes if I want to.

Anyway, onto the ramble!

Horizon

As we all know, Velocitron is dubbed the Speed Planet, where everything is centered around how fast one can go, whether it be political issues or just daily life. And as a Velocitron native, Horizon understood that if he were to be recognized by society, he has to follow then norms of the world. But as time goes on, he grew disillusioned by the notion, pained that his worth is determined by how fast he is, and so began rebelling; not participating in races, refusal to modify his components to increase his speed, and generally keeping to himself.

This lead to his ostracization by his peers for how "slow" he is. Never mind that he's one of the few who has a Flier alt-mode in the planet, that just put a target on his back. After loads of backlash and harassment, he couldn't take it, and decide to leave the planet for Cybertron, where he could hopefully live a far more relaxed life.

Somehow it's even worse.

Back in Velocitron, all that was expected of you is how fast can you go in a race track. In Cybertron, your entire existence is put into question, and it determines what kind of life you lead until the end of time. He was forced to work as cargo, and while it was better than risking his life on high speed races, it brought the same amount of helplessness he felt back in his home planet. Seeing the higher ups treat the lower caste bots as nothing but tools doesn't help his case, either.

He grew anger, bitter, mortified. He escaped one bad life situation, only to end up in another, even worse one. It seems like a never ending nightmare for him.

Then he heard whispers from below, about a Cybertronian who swore to destroy the system that governs their planet, to make a new world where everyone is treated equal, where the weak won't have to suffer under the hands of the mighty.

When the Decepticon name was spread across the planet, he was inspired. When their attacks made waves, he was one of many who joined arms with them as a result.

But looking back, was that really the best choice for him?

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Buckle Up

Some say his build is too large for him to be a native Praxian. And to that, he'd say they're right. Technically speaking, the city is not his place of origin. But he's spent so long in them that if anyone asked, it's much simpler to say that he's Praxian.

Not that the experiences he went through there made it worthwhile, though.

He, along with many Sparklings of various ages and origins, all lived in a large, single housing unit governed by their Guardian (he never got to know their name). With so many Sparks in one place, not a day goes by without some sort of fight or commotion happening. And the frequent absence of their "Guardian" doesn't help things. The older 'bots practically had to take over the role to keep some semblance of order around the house.

He got along with some 'bots (even getting closer to one particular bot) but he couldn't help but despise some others. As the years go by, he craved for something more, something lying beyond the walls of his home. And so, once he got his adult frames, he paid farewell to his house mates and got out of Praxus, wanting to see what Cybertron has to offer.

During his travels he gained an appreciation for musical arts, and began searching for job opportunities regarding that genre. Of course, with his build and origin, not many places were willing to take him in. He managed to snag a few spots, but it became unsatisfactory for him as time went on, so he'll quit those. He made frequent visits to his old home every once in a while. Rinse and repeat, this was his life; monotonous.

He did heard rumors of a Cybertronian rising through the ranks, who's determined to beat the corrupt system that governs their planet. He'd be lying when he said he isn't rooting for the guy.

That's until the destruction of Praxus reached his audials. He was in Iacon when it happened. He rushed back to his home as fast as his wheel could take him. But all that was left for him was nothing but rubble, and no sign of online Sparks. Not even the one whom he cherished the most.

When a call for arms is broadcasted by the Autobots, he threw himself into the brutal training to avenge those he lost.

Vengeance can influence a lone soul through many things. But will it lead them to the right path?

And that's a wrap! This is all I could think of for my OC's as of right now, so if y'all have any questions or suggestions for me about them, go wild! I'll honestly take whatever ya give me, this franchise has so many lore it's driving me crazy. Until then, take care!

[fostersffff]

Visions of Mana Demo Impressions

The Good:

I LOVE the big, elaborate, gacha-esque animations that play the first time you do a class change with a character. Excellent stuff, they were clearly tapped into what people (i.e. me) loved about the original the original Trials of Mana and the remake: class changing is cool.

I also love that all the characters get at least three kinds of weapons! I assumed it would just be main character Val who got to choose between Sword, Greatsword, and Lance, but Careena and Morley get Spear, Fans, and Fists, and Katana, Daggers, and Staff! (although they don't have any classes that can use Fists or Staff in the demo, but they're there in the shop)

Actually, I guess this is where I should get into how the classes affect combat, which I am relieved to say is "noticeably". The demo gives you three party members and two "elemental vessels", Sylphid (Wind) and Luna (Moon). All the characters have a base class, but you can class change them by equipping a vessel to them. Val, for example, starts out as a Guard, becomes a Rune Knight when equipping Sylphid, and an Aegis when equipping Luna. Each class uses a particular weapon, so using Val as an example again, Guard uses Sword, Rune Knight uses Greatsword, and Aegis uses Lance. Based on Careena and Morley (whose two classes use the same weapon), the attack strings are the same for each weapon, but certain attack commands can only be learned by investing in a particular class's skill tree.

The classes are further differentiated by having a vessel power, which is a cooldown that works the same between all the characters: Sylphid throws out a boomerang that pops enemies up into the air, and Luna creates a time bubble that slows down enemies and increases party attack and casting speed. Because the vessel powers are tied to classes, they seem to be designed in such a way that they pretty synergystic with the kit of the class (at least based on the demo). Takes some time to charge your shield as an Aegis? Create a time bubble!

I don't know exactly how much variety they'll be able to muster across all eight elemental vessels and five playable characters, but at least based on this demo it feels like Visions of Mana is situated in the same zip code as Granblue Fantasy Relink when it comes to variety, which is I was I was hoping for in my heart of hearts.

Tremendously endearing the have Morley wield a third dagger with his tail. Superb.

You also have a shortcut menu for items and spells, but you also have the Ring Menu, and the Ring Menu is still the perfect ARPG solution for items and spells, as it has been since 1993.

RETURN OF THE MOOGLE STATUS EFFECT WE'RE SO BACK

I'm about to talk about the dub, but before I do: giving the Japanese Dragon Priestess a Southern U.S. accent is a really endearing choice.

The Bad:

I think they dub these games wrong as a joke. Like, Trials of Mana also has a notoriously poor dub, and this isn't really doing that much better despite it being four years later and everyone knowing how bad that game's dub is. Again, it just sounds like no one is 100% sure of their character voice and are sight reading their lines for the first time. Because there's also a lot more incidental dialogue, and because the script isn't based on a pressed-for-space SNES game, I worry the quality of the dub is going to stick out even more.

These cutscenes have a lot of, uh… weird wiggling? I’m not sure how else to describe that thing where it feels like characters are doing large body gestures that maybe make sense in Japanese but not so much in English? Seriously, watch the video: there's 5 seconds where Careena is just wildly gesticulating, saying nothing, while the guards walk up to seize her.

Hoping they can tune up movement a bit between this and the final release. Even in performance mode, the game felt a bit crusty here and there, but there's only one aspect of it that I would argue is fundamentally designed wrong, which is cancelling dash momentum into a jump. It was bad in Smash Bros. Brawl, and it's bad here, but at least it's somewhat mitigated by Infinite Airdashing.

I'm hoping there's a relatively even distribution of "open world" type areas and thoughtfully designed "action stages". The open world area in the demo is neat and I love the pikul, but enemies felt pretty conservatively sprinkled around. I like fighting dudes in ARPGs!

The story felt a little too Saturday Morning Cartoon-y, considering the emotion I most associate with the Mana series is melancholy, but then you get on the boat and the one guy is like “hey you know there are legends that we didn't used to have to send eight sacrifices out to die every year” and your party is like “whaaat, that’s crazy, we have to go die!”, so there might actually be some juice here.

To be honest, a lot of what I have to say about this demo is pretty close to what I had to say about the demo for Trials of Mana years ago. Which is interesting, because as far as I can tell, an entirely different team than the one responsible for that game is making this one (NetEase subsidiary Ouka Studios, rather than Xeen Inc.).

[shihalyfie]

I've noticed you talking about voice acting a couple times on this blog. Would you be able to discuss your favorite vocal performances in the Digimon franchise, particularly your favorite of each season?

Sure! I think Digimon has been blessed with some amazing voice actors and direction both for the original Japanese version and most of our American English dubbing.

Rolling off the top of my head, starting with the Japanese version:

Adventure: I would say probably a toss-up between Taichi (Fujita Toshiko) and Sora (Mizutani Yuuko), mainly because of the little flavor they manage to add in their nuance that can change greatly depending on performance. It's difficult to describe how Taichi can sound aggressive and yet laid-back at the same time, while with Sora there's often a little subtle "petulance" that comes with what she says when she's particularly annoyed, but it's easy to feel both of those when you hear their voices in action.

02: As a self-proclaimed 02 lover I could gush about the casting all day and the nuance each voice actor captures, but after all I have to give it to Daisuke (Kiuchi Reiko) for the sheer range of emotion that comes out of him. Also, it's just plain funny. Whenever Daisuke's flustered or pushed into a corner, he makes these little cute "nggAAAAAH" interjections that are so much fun. That said, special credit goes to Wormmon (Takahashi Naozumi) just for the sheer question of "how the hell do those voices come from the same person?!"

Tamers: Takato (Tsumura Makoto). When I hear the story of how they went all the way back to the studio to listen to Tsumura's tape that almost got completely lost, I believe it. There's such an interesting straightforward innocence in that performance that really sells the character.

Frontier: Tomoki (Watanabe Kumiko). Tomoki is part crybaby, part gremlin, and part sweet child, and I think Watanabe really brought that all out at once (of course, the gremlin comes from Watanabe herself, but it lends a lot of flavor to Tomoki's character).

Savers: Chika (Kikuchi Kokoro). Similar to Takato, I love the "earnestness" that comes out in her performance.

Xros Wars: Kiriha (Kusao Takeshi). I've heard Kusao in a lot of things before, but I'm used to him playing more good-natured guys, so I was surprised to hear him playing someone more overbearing. That said, I like how he came off as more "put-together" and less edgy for the sake of being a tryhard (even though he is a tryhard).

Appmon: This one's another really tough choice, but probably Gatchmon (Kikuchi Kokoro) and Offmon (Shimamura Yuu). Seriously, how is this the same voice actress as Daimon Chika again? Curious and rough-around the edges Gatchmon...? Meanwhile, as for Offmon, well...offu. I don't think I need to clarify further.

Adventure: reboot: Probably Mimi (Kohno Marika). I remember being rather surprised at how fitting her voice was for her version of the character, and it was just very fun to listen to her.

Ghost Game: As someone who's known a lot of Sawashiro Miyuki's roles up to this point, I am amazed she can produce Gammamon noises so well...

Meanwhile, down in the American English dub area:

Adventure: Despite me having mostly switched over to working with the Japanese version at this point, I think Mona Marshall’s Izzy is still an extremely formative part of my perception of him, even considering how different of a character he is from Koushirou. It’s the right mix of smart-aleck but straightforward.

02: Ken is a difficult role to pull off, especially since (from what I understand) most dubs casted for the Kaiser/Emperor before they casted for second-half Ken, but despite that situation I think Derek Stephen Prince did an amazing job capturing all of those facets at once. He also voiced Veemon, and the fact Ken and Veemon are voiced by the same character is a fact I routinely forget unless I’m reminded because of how well the roles are distinguished.

Tamers: Steve Blum’s Guilmon! Dear goodness! It’s nasal but not annoying and still incredibly cute! (Of course, I didn’t find this out until later, but it’s not even that far off from the tone Nozawa used for him.) At the time, it was especially surprising because everyone was used to him having roles more like Yamaki (whom he also voiced -- again, that they share a voice actor is something I forget a lot because of how well it was divided).

Frontier: Michael Reisz as Takuya! He was returning after having been Matt in Adventure, but I’ll be honest in that I think I actually like his Takuya better. He does a good job bringing the gremlin child out of him.

Data Squad: Difficult pick, but probably Crispin Freeman as Thomas. (This is also a returning role for him, since he’d voiced Kouichi in Frontier, but in this case I will also have to say I probably prefer his Thomas.) Since Tohma is a pretty polite and by-the-book person, I think it’s very easy to act him out like someone very flat or boring, so I’m glad this was avoided.

I unfortunately haven’t seen Fusion all the way to the end, so this is where I have to leave off!

[donfadrique]

I've decided to re-watch “The Mark of Zorro” (1940) to cheer myself up. 

I have sort of a plan: 1) watch the black and white version (in the old Soviet dubbing) and write down an emotional brief review in the process of watching it; 2) watch the colorized version; 3) watch the movie in the original dubbing; 4) perhaps write a full review.

I watched this movie a long time ago for the first time (I wanted to watch famous films with Basil Rathbone). But unfortunately, I didn't get to watch the movie properly, and all I remembered were a few scenes. I didn’t like Tyrone Power then, and only this year, after taking a closer look at him, I changed my mind. So this is the first time I'm watching Zorro'40 carefully.

Before we start, a few words need to be said. (However, the film has my full attention from the very first frame, and I'll have a very hard time pausing and writing down these notes!)

First of all, I am not a native English speaker, so I apologize for any mistakes.

Secondly, after watching the movie I want to give my assessment of a) screenplay, b) cast and director’s work, c) posters, costumes, locations, camera work, soundtrack etc. Also, I wanna find the answer to the question, what makes the movie a masterpiece for me.

A separate topic is the homoeroticism of "The Mark of Zorro". We know that Diego's flirtation with Captain Pasquale was part of his plan to eliminate his enemies, but was there a "gay message" in the film, as some movie reviewers claim? Perhaps it was ambiguous humor or an analogue of modern fan service for those viewers who positively evaluate same-sex relationships? Let's try to figure it out.

So, let's start.

1/🗡️

Wow, Diego receives his military education (!) in Madrid (judging by his uniform, he is a hussar), he has a reputation as a duelist (he was nicknamed "Californian cockerel") and, probably, a womanizer. It is not yet known how old Diego is, but the actor (Tyrone Power) is 26, which means the screenwriters were most likely focusing on the canonical novel by Johnston McCulley.

I also really like the design of the credits, the preface and the first lines of the characters, as well as the costumes and the balance between realism and spectacularity of the movie (and this spectacularity is the result of the work of the film crew and fencing skill of actors, and not modern computer graphics etc).

2/🗡️

Aha, "Cadet Vega".

And, saying goodbye to his comrades, Diego thrusts his saber into the ceiling.

"Leave it there. And when you see it think of me in the land of gentle missions, happy peons, sleepy caballeros, and everlasting boredom. Wine! A toast, señores! To California! Where a man can only marry, raise fat children, and watch his vineyards grow."

The most amazing thing is that Diego gives the impression of a very mature and strong-willed person. Like a military general, not a young cadet :) I have three explanations: 1) Tyrone Power himself was like that, 2) he played Cadet Vega like that so viewers would later see the contrast between true Diego and his dandy mask, 3) both factors. But, of course, Power was not just a talented and good-looking actor, he was a charismatic person. A fine choice of an actor to play Zorro. Moreover, Power had a Spanish-like appearance, which is important, for my taste. And his slim body would allow him to convincingly play both a dandy and the "elusive ghost" El Zorro.

3/🗡️

Before I continue watching the movie and taking notes, here are a few interesting facts about actors and my thoughts out loud.

🎭 Everyone knows that Basil Rathbone was one of the best swordsmen in Hollywood. But perhaps not everyone knows that he was twice the British Army Fencing Champion, a skill that served him well in movies and allowed him to even teach actors Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power swordsmanship. (By the way, Rathbone was awarded the Military Cross in 1918.) And! He said about Tyrone Power, "Power was the most agile man with a sword I've ever faced before a camera. Tyrone could have fenced Errol Flynn into a cocked hat." Rathbone's opinion was worth a lot, because he was not only famous for his fencing and acting skills—he was a mega-celebrity (well, years ago I became interested in "The Mark of Zorro" precisely because Rathbone starred there; I had never even heard of Power xD). And yup, as we already know, the movie became a hit, and 20th Century-Fox often cast Power in other swashbucklers in the years that followed.

🎭 The fact that Flynn and Power were lovers can only be of interest to us because Power, due to his bisexuality and communication with homosexuals, was able to play ideally a man who pretended (?) to be interested in the same sex. But since Power's Diego was flirting with Rathbone's Captain Pasquale, I was interested in his views on same-sex relationships. Rathbone probably had a positive attitude towards them, since in 1926 he was very angry about the censorship because he believed that homosexuality needed to be brought into the open (Rathbone was arrested along with every other member of the cast of "The Captive", a play in which his character's wife left him for another woman).

🎭 So far, I like everything about "The Mark of Zorro", except that the screen image is reminiscent of "Captain Blood" (1935), not "Gone with the Wind" (1939), filmed in Technicolor. Perhaps modern viewers often underestimate Zorro'40 precisely because both versions of the movie, black-and-white and colorized, seem "old-fashioned" to them.

An interesting fact. According to Hollywood legend, Rathbone was Margaret Mitchell's first choice to play Rhett Butler in the film version of her novel "Gone with the Wind".

🔥References (if you need them)🔥

Rathbone, Basil (1962). In and Out of Character (Ebook ed.). Lanham, MD: Limelight Publishers.

Higham, Charles (1980). Errol Flynn: The Untold Story. New York City: Doubleday.

[animehouse-moe]

This week is Sk8 3rd anniversary.... So for celebrating, can I ask a few things :

-Who are your fav character from this series? Why?

- What are your fav moments from this series?

-What are your opinions on this fandom's famous ships : Reki/ Langa, Cherry/ Joe, Adam/ Tadashi?

Some tough questions for sure! Also sorry this took me so long to answer, it ended up being a busy day today!

Who's My Favorite Character?

There's so many ways I can look at this. I love Joe because of his dub VA, Miya's an incredibly loveable little trouble maker and the idea with him finding proper friends in the cast is super heartwarming, and Reki and Langa are basically inseparable as characters.

But I think I might cheap out and go for Langa here since he's Canadian haha. In reality though, I think his character is deeply enjoyable, and really shines next to Reki. It's really interesting how Utsumi creates these sorts of dichotomic relationships, because as much as each of these characters (Reki and Langa, Joe and Cherry, Adam and Tadashi) are very much able to stand independently, they are entirely inseparable. It's really great work from Utsumi in that regard because it creates such wonderful dynamics that change based on the composition of the group.

Though at their core, the pairings remain very strong. Regardless of who else is around, Reki (was) always comparing himself to Langa, and Langa (was) existing in his own world. Despite the challenges that face each pair, they find ways to effectively communicate with each other and create deeper character dynamics and developments. Like, without Reki Langa wouldn't understand the joy of experiencing sports, he wouldn't find the spark that was lost with his father. Similarly, Reki wouldn't have found the passion and desire to not only challenge himself, but help another.

And that idea of one pushing the other forward is evident with all the pairings, except for Mya, who doesn't have a pair (though I suppose you can count him alongside Shadow). Which I still love, he's the little adopted child of the whole group and finds himself messing with Reki and Langa, causing problems for Joe and Cherry, and all sorts of other stuff.

What Are My Favorite Moments From The Series?

Oooh, a very very tough question, there's so many haha.

In terms of humor nothing will ever beat Mya pretending to be Joe and Cherry's child. Absolutely hilarious, and the joke finds new life in the dub of it. Can't get enough of the sequence.

In terms of a serious moment, I think it has to be Reki's spiraling that largely appears in episode 7. I really really adore Reki's character in relation to Langa, and how deeply he struggles with the idea of talent vs hard work.

Add on top the romantic undertones to Reki's comparisons, and his incredibly deep desire to not be left behind by his friend, and it's just a really strong emotional sequence to experience.

It's wonderful how Utsumi expresses the very roundabout and nondescript ways that high school kids will experience and understand their emotions, and so abstracting Reki's struggle to really connect with and stand beside Langa as purely a competitive and skill focused affair is great.

Even better is the fact that Langa never even considers the idea of that comparison. It plays into his oblivious nature while showing just how much of Reki's hesitation and despair is in his head because of his own ideas about the situation.

Wonderful wonderful stuff that perfectly sets the stage for the follow-up act of Adam vs Langa which I think is as perfect a conversion you can make on Reki's fall in these middle of the season episodes.

My Thoughts On Famous Ships

To be honest, I'm just a lover in general. I always have an easy time seeing the choices behind the various ships in all sorts of media, so with ones as heavily implied as with Sk8, I really love seeing what gets cooked up.

So maybe instead of my favorite ships, I'll talk about my favorite tags or ideas in regards to them.

I'm a big fan of the gap moe with stuff like a top Cherry, Reki, or Tadashi for example. I just love the idea of the people that are more reserved like Cherry, or more meek like Reki expressing their feelings in a more dominant nature. Of course, it's meant to be very rare and that's the entire allure behind these positional swaps, but I just find it deeply satisfying when Reki is able to express his feelings confidently and head on with Langa, or when Cherry chooses to lead Joe just to see him bumble and get all anxious about the idea.

But even that's not that fun, let's make it a little more daring. I'll be the first to admit it, I don't mind a well done toxic ship. As long as it's expressed as toxic rather than solely romanticized or sexualized, I can easily get behind stuff like Adam x Langa. The idea of Adam slowly cornering Langa and bending him to his desires works great with Adam's character, but then you can conversely flip it where the more accepting Langa can make a move on Adam instead.

In terms of more wholesome but less popular ships, I really really love ShadOka. Shadow's softer side just goes incredibly well with Oka I feel.

Really, the only ship I can't get behind is main characters getting shipped with Miya. I think he's the child of the group so putting him with the characters that are like older siblings and parents to him just feels odd to me. With Reki's younger sister though? Sign me up haha, I just love how much of a nuisance Miya would be to Reki because of it.

[harevutai]

Providence, Curiosity, and You

(Or, why the localization of Neil Saionji's catchphrase to 'curiosity' is dumb and is gonna cause a bunch of problems) So this is something I've been thinking about for a while now, and while I have ranted about it on whatever discord servers I could reach (and also to a good friend of mine who I dragged into yugioh sevens so I would not brainrot alone) I am writing this post because I genuinely feel that like, this dub choice baffles me on so many levels. But let's start from the basics. So. Neil Saionji. Picture below. This eleven year old blonde kid who is a major character in YuGiOh SEVENS, holds a high executive job in the local super-corporation that regulates the entire town and is a genius hacker who could apparently just causally reroute satellites at 3 years old. For the longest time the person closest to him was a sentient massage chair robot, named Sebastian. He also had apparently gone his whole life prior to meeting the main cast without tasting good ramen. This last bit of information has no relation to anything but is funny so I wanted to mention it.

So, in the series, one of the words you'll hear him say the most and that is really most important to his arc and character is 'providence' ('setsuri' in japanese, if you want to organize your drinking game or something. Not recommended for people who need their liver, though!). Providence is usually a term used in a religious context, but I think for the sake of a more general discussion it can be safely defined here as 'an external, omnipotent force that guides people and events towards a pre-determined path'- something that is so intrinsically woven in the fabric of the universe that it is impossible to escape from. This is something Neil is shown multiple times to deeply believe in. He believes things should be according to providence, though he is not always sure what this providence is, or where it's leading him, it seems to initially just essentially amount to keeping the order and nature of things as they are. The reason he opposes Rush Duels, initially, is because they oppose the current status quo- oppose providence- and so he feels that as an agent of both Goha and of this superior force, he has to stop them. But even as he does so, he discovers something even their creator, Yuuga, hadn't seen. The possibility of Maximum Monsters, the area left intentionally unfinished. And as he has seen it, he feels it is 'right' that he use it for the sake of providence. So far, though, you could reframe this in the context of 'curiosity' rather easily and this is what the localization team has done. While this has led to some interesting dialogue being left out, and some other stuff being replaced by generic taunt/countertaunt exchanges, this is par for the course for dubs, so why am I so bothered by it? Well, not only do I feel changing a character's entire motivation with something that does not have nearly the same impact- in fact, curiosity by itself is much more open-minded and in a way goes in contrast to providence!- it will also make some later plot beats to come lose a lot of their meaning, at least I feel.

What I am referring to is specifically the Goha Siblings arc, and more specifically episode 65, 'Solitary Providence'. To give a brief recap, it sees Neil duel Asana under Yuo's orders, and him resigning from his position at Goha after his loss. Now, in the original version this is a very good and insightful episode. Neil has until now- even though he has changed after losing to Yuga- still been a pretty external character. He had a more active role to play in the Team Battle Royale arc, but even then that arc was more focused on Gakuto and Romin reaching a turning point in their character arcs, and on the bigger mystery around Otes and his plans. Otherwise, he's been the overseer, a more benign one after his arc, lending aid to Yuga when prompted but never actively seeking to do so. As mentioned, this lines up with what I believe to be his idea of providence- that things that are to happen will happen, and there is no need or reason to fight it. The universe follows a pre-determined fate, and the only way to free oneself from the chains this realization brings is to accept it and go with the flow.

And this is where it gets him. To follow his providence, he now has to duel against his friends and to do so under the orders, and for the benefit of, someone who directly stands opposed to them. He will still do it of course, and he does. Bound not only by his position as a Goha worker, but also by his providence as such. But he loses. He loses and not only that, he loses to the one thing that was able to overcome providence the other times he lost: bonds. Bonds with people, something he has so far mostly been 'outside' of due to his providence. And what's worse, by the end of it, after he resigned from his position as he muses how he's always been alone, he loses Sebastian as well. The person that had been closest to him, or at least for the longest time.

It's no wonder this episode has the title it has, and it's really what prompts Neil to reflect on his idea of providence, and to realize what he's given up because of his belief. ...Of course, this is all done under the layer of a kids's show about card games, with comedy and lightheartedness to spare: I might go into this more in a separate post, but I do think sevens is very interesting like that, where the fact it undoubtedly is more child-friendly and humorous doesn't stop it from having pretty deep subtext and themes.

The point of all this is, though, do you now understand why 'curiosity' is not a good enough replacement for this providence? Why I think that either they have to change the context of this episode- and Neil's arc- completely, or they will end up with a very weak character in the dub where the original had a much, much more nuanced and fascinating outlook into the conflict of determinism versus free will? (With Neil being able to both innovate and thrive from his providence, but also losing things dear to him and being alone because he just accepted it rather than fighting).

I sincerely doubt curiosity can replicate this duality in any satisfactory way, but since the dub has not yet gotten to season 2, I suppose we will wait and see- but I am not hopeful. I have been burned by the yugioh dub too many times, the latest example that comes to mind being how they handled Playmaker and Ai's relationship in VRAINS. I just wanted to get my thoughts on it out of my brain and written down somewhere, because why not?

Finally, to close on a more positive note, let me also share a screenshot me and my friend took when we were watching Sevens that always takes me out instantly.

[dragontamer05]

Thoughts / sort of rating of the Yugioh dubs;

DM- Look for all it's flaws, weird edits and censorship over all it's fairly decent. Most of the voices are good, generally speaking the tone and story are still relatively in tact. No episodes were skipped or out right cut, although changes were made.

Are somethings handles better/ make more sense in the orignal form for sure but during a time among a sea of very mixed dubs (and even compared to some of the other series 4kids/4K tried) It's honestly pretty good.

GX- Look while I admit to having some nostalgia for it's just.. not great. The joke meter got turned farther up and while some areas they did manage to keep the tone/ emotion- particularly there's a few good lines of Jaden/Judai from the dub when desperately going after Jesse/Johan

BUt oh boy is it sure just a product of its time with just some of the dialogue feeling very peak 2000s energy. And also a lot more questionable voice choices for characters (some is decent tho)

I'll sooner recommend someone watch the sub first if genuinely interested in the series. But if you've got a bit of nostalgia or just want to have some fun riffing on something it can be a fun watch.

Other majour problem is due to the desire of wanting to get on the next series fast as possible it never got completed and never got s4

5Ds- A mess.

Once again for a lot of the main cast voices are okay but definitely getting worse/more extreme in their attempts to try and hide death / censor or alter things. Whole chunks of it simply was not dubbed at all which I'm sure made pacing weird.

Never actually watched it all but oof. Even if everything else was great just the fact that there is a good chunk that got cut / not translated makes it hard to recommend watching it.

Might be a fun curious watch I guess but probably the dub series with some of the most issues (maybe)

Zexal- Well at least it got completed, like DM did so that's something. Personally kind eh about some of the voices. Astral's is great love it, Yuma is okay but I can understand how it may get annoying for some.

Another one with pretty bad censorship problems that I think even some who's only watched dub could probably figure seem off.

Probably could have ended up a lot worse truth be told but even looking at how DM was handled probably could have been better in places.

Still suggest subs over dub generally but if knowing of the changes doesn't bother you / okay with the voices I mean there's worse out there.

Arc V-

Decent. A clear sign of things to change and improvements. Complete series, still some expected censorship and changes here and there but otherwise fairly faithful to the source. No egregious changes even any allusions to death if altered it's in away that still makes sense / doesn't totally negate it just perhaps stated less overtly or something.

Serious moments often able to be kept serious (compared to some from what I recall just the usage of jokes didn't feel as egregious / bad)

Voicing pretty good over all with only a few characters that make me question the voice direction.

Overall, for sure worth watching it's fun (also there are just some great very quotable lines that got me laughing)

Likely helped in part by being owned by Konami thus I'd assume giving them some control/input on how things go

Vrains-

So good. Voice acting great and just everything was handled well I think.

Once again Complete series, some of the typical changes that are just usual stuff at this point but for a series that can get as dark and serious as it does they handled it pretty well. I think honestly they even have a few lines that just wow.

Like as much as it would be great to have them do a dub where nothing gets changed (say for anything that is typically might happen for any localization- i.e like changing a joke that doesn't work in translation or whatever) I'd say it's pretty darn close and over solid job.

I know some people we kinda eh on that ending/scene in the last episode and I get it, wasn't what was expected or hoped for maybe but I thought it was fine. Far from the worst thing they could have done and it still felt at least fitting/ pretty in character. And if your someone watching only dub I think they still manage to hit and keep the emotion of that scene just doing it in a different way.

Sevens-

As it is, Sevens is a pretty goofy show with big Saturday morning cartoons energy. From the get go it had the makings of what would be a fun dub and they nailed.

Voice choices are so good, continuing on the track of completing series and whatever changes might have been made be it dialogue or what have was nothing that I ever noticed or affected the plot/story in anyway.

Like obviously the script can't/won't be word for word exact but I'm pretty sure more often then not whatever was used or said was pretty close to/equivalent there of whatever was in the original anyway.

It's good, it's fun and silly and I can promise that despite what you may think I'd argue the vast majority of jokes come straight from the Sub itself or at the very least it keeps within the general tone /feeling of something the character would say. Never came across any moment where a joke was used that did feel quite right.

As said as it is Sevens is a pretty silly and fun show even in its original form and the Dub does a great job of keeping the spirit alive and story intact

Sub or dub I strongly recommend watching it anyway. Yes it's animated by a different group- no longer done by Studio Gallop. But honestly it fits and works. I have no idea how much was already planned out before the switch was made or any of the behind the scenes but regardless the art/animation style really fits well the tone of the series - and you can still look at it and go 'that's a yugioh'

Plus after the plot of Vrains ngl kinda nice n fun to have what Sevens brought.

Also look it's time to accept that for as much as it is a series that anyone can enjoy the target demographic IS technically kids / a younger audience (and trying to use this as a means to attract more of that younger audience get them interested)

Go Rush doesn't have a dub yet but I'm hyped and am sure it'll be a blast to.

[duhragonball]

What are your opinions on the Funimation VO changes starting with Kai and into Super? I just can’t get used to Bulma

I missed a lot of these changes, since I didn't pay much attention to Kai, and I had to watch the subbed version of Super because it was all we had while it was coming out.

Bulma was the big change, since that happened around the time they released Curse of the Blood Rubies on DVD in 2011, and I think that was when it hit me that Monica Rial wasn't just a Kai-only deal. They weren't going to bring Tiffany Vollmer back for other stuff.

A lot of the voices changed in the Raging Blast games too. I think they had a whole other guy doing Cell, for example. So I thought Dameon Clarke left the cast for some reason, but then he was back in the Xenoverse games. I think sometimes it just comes down to who's available.

And sometimes there's just no choice. I'm not sure when Brice Armstrong stopped voice acting, but his last role on Wikipedia was from 2009, when he was about 73 years old, so I assume he just retired. Since then, he passed away in 2020, and then Chris Ayres in 2021, which means they'll need to cast a new voice for Frieza the next time he gets a speaking role.

I mean, there's a lot of other cast changes we could debate or speculate about. Vic Mignogna will probably never appear in another Funimation production ever again. Even if his scandals hadn't caught up to him, he made sure to burn his bridges when he sued Funi in that defamation lawsuit. I don't think Stephanie Nadolny or Linda Young had anything like that going against them. It may have just been a matter of going in a new direction with the roles they had been playing. And I'm pretty sure the reason Chris Sabat had so many roles in 1999 was because there wasn't a lot of talent available at the time, but now they can actually cast other people. There's a lot I don't know about their behind-the-scenes decisions, but ultimately, some changes are inevitable.

I get the frustration, because I really wanted a dub of Dragon Ball with consistent voice acting from start to finish, and it seemed like we almost got there around 2007 or so, when Funi re-dubbed the Saiyans and Namek arcs. Except... it really isn't consistent, because everybody started in the Frieza Saga, and then they did Buu and OG Dragon Ball around the same time, and then went back and did the Saiyans and Namek. Also, some VA's went back and dubbed over their old performances, so in the Frieza Saga Orange Brick DVD set, you have 2006 Sabat playing Vegeta alongside 1999 Sean Schemmel Goku.

That's the thing. Even when it's the same voice actors over time, their performances still change. Sabat's Vegeta started out as a facsimile of Brian Drummond's portrayal on the Ocean dub. Then he gradually got deeper and more gravelly as he went on, which finally hit its peak around 2008, I think, and then he settled into the version we have in Kai and Super.

Also, once DBS started up, it finally hit me that this thing probably isn't going to end anytime soon. It was one thing to hope for a consistent dub of Dragon Ball and DBZ in 2003. But now Funimation has been dubbing this franchise for a quarter century. They have to cast new voice actors. A lot of the old ones are going to quit or retire or die.

This is nothing new for the Japanese cast, since they started back in the 1980's. Daisuke Gori played Mr. Satan until his death in 2010. They cast Unsho Ishizuka to replace him... until his death in 2018. Currently, Mr. Satan is voiced by Masashi Ebara, age 69. So if they're still doing Dragon Ball stuff in twenty years, I think it's likely that they'll have to recast the role again.

I don't mean to sound morbid about this sort of thing, but that's how it is with a long-running franchise like this. Dragon Ball is 38 years old. Things are going to change, people are going to leave, and maybe come back, and then leave again. That's just how it is.

To put it into perspective, when Superman first started in the late 1930's, radio was a big deal, and by 1940, Superman had his own radio series starring Bud Collyer. Collyer was the voice of Superman until the radio show ended around 1951. Then he and some of the other VA's reprised their roles in a cartoon series that ran from 1966 to 1970. Collyer died in 1969, so I guess they must have had some episodes already recorded before the show got cancelled.

Now, I'm a Superman fan, so I'm familiar with Collyer's performance, but the version I grew up with was the Superman who appeared on Superfriends from 1973-1986, played by Danny Dark. Dark was in diapers when Bud Collyer first played the character, and he died in 2004, around the time George Newbern was voicing Superman in Justice League Unlimited.

So when you look at it that way, the voice changes in Dragon Ball aren't so unusual. It's pretty cool how Masako Nozawa and Sean Schemmel have played Goku for so long, but I don't think they'll be the last VA's to handle it in their respective countries. Goku's already a multi-generational character, and I have a feeling he'll be appearing in cartoons for a long time to come.

[cywatcheshorror]

Manhunter

Personal rating: 3.5/5 ⭐

Release year: 1986

Watched: on personal blu-ray

First or rewatch: first

Content warnings: Depictions of mutilation

Summary: Former FBI profiler Will Graham returns to service to pursue a framed serial killer dubbed "the Tooth Fairy" by the media. (-summary pulled from IMDb, but I recommend looking up the summary on Wikipedia as an alternative)

Review and thoughts below the cut:

Where to start with this one?

For one thing, the casting and soundtrack certainly are choices that were made. As an adaptation of Thomas Harris's Red Dragon, it was fairly faithful, to the point the book could nearly function as a 1-to-1 script. I think there were some small changes to dialogue and one or two scenes overall, but beyond that, if you want an adaptation that's very true to the source novel, I think this is a fantastic example of that. However, I am left on the fence about a lot of the casting choices made in this movie; Brian Cox emotes and moves too much for me to work as a believable Hannibal Lecter. (Do note this film spells it Lecktor. Still can't understand that change.) The rest of the cast kind of didn't leave a lasting impression, save for William Peterson as Will Graham. I think he was the sole casting choice I genuinely liked and could get behind.

I'm not here to speculate on or analyze this movie overmuch. Normally I might but this is such a near-perfect adaptation of Red Dragon that there isn't much for me to say. I have my thoughts on that book, I've written a review for it, and if you follow me either on TheStoryGraph or GoodReads you've probably seen the review, so I'm not here to rehash that. I think it's a great story, and this wasn't a bad adaptation of it.

Brian Cox as Hannibal notwithstanding, the one major thing that really took me out of this movie was the music choices. This has the kind of soundtrack I'd expect from an angsty teen horror in the late 80s, early 90s. Hell, even some non-horror 80s teen movies. The vibe of the music felt so dissonant with the story that it constantly took me out of the watching experience and for that I had to dock my rating. Wasn't bad, but choices were definitely made here. I'll probably be selling my blu-ray, unless my spouse insists we keep it.