Forum - View topicSchool Rumble Dub - FUNi screwed it up!
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Jedi General
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Well, part of it anyway. While full of FUNimation's trademark rewrites, most of of the dub is pretty good. However, during "Cats Go Meow", the middle portion of episode four which showcases spoiler[Yakumo's mind reading ability], FUNi completely removed the narrator from the English track!
 Those watching the dub who have never seen the series fansubbed (or read the manga) may not have any idea what's going on if they don't turn on the subtitles. Otherwise there's just a lot of silence where there should be a narrator speaking.
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 12108 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Well, since the topic is being brought up, I got my starter set in last week and took the DVD with me to a convention this weekend so my friends and I, who love this series, could hear what it sounded like.
Now, one friend of mine is a HUGE Harima Kenji fan and he absolutely loves the franchise and cheers for Harima to someday end up "lucky" be it with Tenma, Eri, or Yakumo. He loves his attitude and charisma, thanks in big part to Hiroki Takahashi's voice acting. But after about 2 minutes in to the first episode where we finally got to hear him, he was going ballistic screaming "WTF did they do to him?!" and claiming, "I got to find out this dub actor's name so I can make sure he dies," etc. It was actually quite comical  .
He's more of a dub guy as opposed to me, and I found it a big surprise that even he got so worked up about it. I mean, Brandon Potter (Harima's dub voice) sounded like a wannabe Steve Blum. It was so bad in a dead pan way, that I just am not feeling the same kind of charismatic, yet bone-headed personality that his Harima Kenji. Overall, I feel the dub is pretty bland and several steps below the original cast in terms of delivery and casting. It's not even so much an issue of getting the right pitches or whatever (Harima and Yakumo ), but it just feels very generic and not as.. peculiar, especially in character chemistry, which is probably the most important aspect of enjoying the series next to their hilarious "monologues of coincidence."
I'm also disappointed FUNi didn't make much effort to try and explain some of the cultural references and jokes. The first episode had a few liner notes at the top of the screen, but after that, they just seemed to drop off completely. I'm hoping they'll consider putting them either in the DVD extras or as an insert book with the case in future volumes. Last edited by Tony K. on Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:20 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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I found the whole Suki, Ski, Sukiyaki pun fest in the first episode funny, but believe some people out there might have been lost. Later in the first episode I love the Tofu delivery car racing by. Moments like these had me laughing, but they are cultural and in jokes that can be missed by others. On the plus side I love the magnets that came with this DVD! Despite the lack of on DVD extras Funi still does a nice job with packaging (I love the reversible cover) and goodies. |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 12108 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Yeah, I think cultural jokes add an extra layer of depth, especially for people who are just generally interested in Japanese culture as a whole. I remember watching the WannabeFansubs' version, and they did a terrific job with the word jokes and cultural references.
This is why I'm sometimes reluctant to buy certain titles that, frankly, are just better via fansubs. Given all the notes and stuff in something like Yakitate!! Japan, I don't know if I'd ever buy the R1 version unless it came with a lot of insert booklets or something. Same goes for Hikaru no Go. I was lucky that ADV decided to put forth a great effort for titles like Azumanga Daioh and Cromartie High School and Right Stuf for Kare Kano in terms of liner notes, as I think it's very helpful in better understanding the series and their respecting viewpoints. I think I remember a majority of School Rumble's gags for the most part (I'm waiting to see how they handle Karasuma's kappa jokes), so I'm not as upset about it right now as opposed to the overall dubbing. |
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youkai_ronin
Posts: 117 Location: beneath the starry night sky |
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Generic, yes that seems to fit the dub pretty well(although I liked Luci Christian as Tenma somewhat) not to mention the lack of explanantion for the cultural references; though its already been mentioned. Also in one of the episodes when they explained Yakumo's ablility tospoiler[read the minds of those who loved or liked her] the english audio just completely ommitted it?? WTF?! Oh well, at least I can watch it subtitled(though I probably should've just downloaded this and saved myself some money; I would've had the cultural joke inserts too).
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Gundam Junkie
 Posts: 89 Location: Great Britain; with an emphisis on Great |
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I've seen a few little clips on the official website. (Funimation)
While they had me and my brother in stiches I wasn't too impressed by the dub quality. Then again, I'm an anti-dub type of chap, so maybe I'm just biased. I really want to get my hands on a copy, but I'm not sure if a Region 2 DVD is available yet. |
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rizuchan
 Posts: 993 Location: Kansas |
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I actually rather liked the school rumble dub. At least, compared to what I was expecting. I was rather disappointed by the lack of linear notes. I understand the jokes, especially because I've seen the subs, but I've gotten my father into anime, and it was rather a pain trying to explain some of the jokes to him.
I loved Tenma's voice actress. Not so much at first, but I really began to feel like she suited Tenma perfectly. She's one of the few VAs that seems to always use the appropriate voice tone for a situation. Harima's voice didn't strike me as horrible either (though I didn't like some of the dialogue changes they did to his lines) and Hanai's was great too. Most of the other voices felt pretty bland though, (And in the case of Akira, not bland enough! All of her dry humor was pretty much lost) and I was sorely disappointed in Yakumo's voice. As for the narration lost in... Episode 4 is it? I wasn't sure if it was a mistake or intentional. I personally can understand why they would do it intentionally. I rather like having to figure things like that out rather than having a narrator spell it out for me, and have Yakumo's line at the end make me go, "Oh, I GET IT", but unfortonately without the narration it felt like there was way too much silence. The episode was written for a narration so having it left out felt awkward. Its funny to still say I rather liked the dub, but it had a charm to it, and IMO Luci Christian stole the show. |
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7595 Location: Wales |
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Didn't you bother reading the initial post? This is the reason the thread was created in the first place. |
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