Forum - View topicMawaru Penguindrum's dub being directed by... Steven Foster?
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18252 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I'm with you on this. I have seen people rate VoDS an A overall but an F for the English dub and I don't get that at all. I have probably watched VoDS a dozen or more times over the years, both subbed and dubbed (and with Shinkai's original self-dub, too), and the only significant difference I've noticed in the effectiveness of the vocals is that a tweak to one line in the English dub gives one character a somewhat different attitude in one scene - but an attitude that's still appropriate to the circumstances. Otherwise I thought it was exactly on-the-mark for capturing the feel and tone of the work. |
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Animerican14
 Posts: 963 Location: Saint Louis, MO |
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Hey, looks like the dub cast list for the show's main players (plus.... Satoshi, aka Ringo's dad) have been revealed! Not too sure where all that information has been confirmed, but it's in the encyclopedia now. So, uh, off to preliminary speculation/worrying?
Blake Shepard as Shouma Takakura: Relatively indifferent here; have only heard him a bit in a few roles (Angel Beats and Heaven's Memo Pad), and sounded at least okay. But JesuOtaku's description of him being 'talentless' has affected my disposition somewhat.... Emily Neves as Ringo Oginome: Heh, I read someone speculate on a blog that Neves should play Himari. Having only heard a little of her voice-- a rather soft voice when she wants it to be (see: Kaede/Angel from Angel Beats)-- I wonder how it'll play out with someone as eccentric as Ringo. Illich Guardiola as Kanba Takakura: No opinion, really; haven't followed the vast majority of the anime that he's been in, as famous as they are. I'm really curious about others' thoughts on him. Monica Rial as Himari Takakura: The most experienced of the bunch. Have only heard her in a few roles, but I assume she can do her characteristic softness well enough. Wondering how she'll do the Princess of the Crystal, though, without sounding too bratty like I've seen her in some anime. Adam Gibbs as Felzel/Satoshi: Just have to wonder-- is Felzel also Satoshi? (voice isn't a big deal, since Ringo's dad is such a bit-player) Maggie Flecknoe as Masako Natsume: Maybe the one I'm most concerned about. Have only previewed her in a few roles, and I feel that while she can definitely carry off the impression of having been high-born.... she's sounded kinda b****y or at least very brash in all that I've seen of her. :/ Thinking of Saya Takagi from HOTD here. Hope Foster isn't wanting that kind of brashness with Masako. Would love to hear other's thoughts and concerns on this dub cast, especially thoughts of those that are far more experienced in listening to these voice actors. I have very narrow experience with dubs nowadays, never mind Foster dubs. |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8467 Location: Penguinopolis |
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Assuming that's the real cast (with no real source, the credibility is thin), I'm a bit nervous. The only one of those VAs I'm familiar with is Monica Rial, who happens to be one of my favorites (and I think she'll be a fine Himari).
Honestly, who are these people? Emily Neves? She's been in what, five, six anime? Only a couple of them noteworthy. Is anyone really looking for her? I guess you've got to get your start somewhere. I hope the guy playing Kanba does a good job. Japanese Kanba is sublime. This English dub VA has done... that purple haired guy in that Journey to the West show that isn't Dragon Ball (who even remembers that show?). Granted, he wasn't terrible, but Kanba's my favorite character, so my expectations are pretty high. |
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rosebrook11
 Posts: 1181 |
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Having heard Illich Guardiola in a few roles I think he'll be alright as Kanba. He did a great job as Durand from Le Chevalier D'Eon.
I personally thought that Ringo and Himari's VA's would have been swapped since Emily usually does more quiet characters and I've heard Monica do a great job as so many energetic girls. So I'm interested in hearing how it all comes out. |
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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Blake Shepard as Shouma Takakura
Not again...have yet to hear him not suck. Not necessarily his fault, but his shakiness combined with Foster's direction: oy. Emily Neves as Ringo Oginome I don't really know who Emily Neves is, but I'll bring up the only point I have about this when we get to Himari... Illich Guardiola as Kanba Takakura I like him, but he's woefully miscast here. This is facepalm casting. First of all, he has a beautifully unique accent that will stick out like a sore thumb here. His voice suits older characters that have some kind of neuroses to them, and so does his delivery. He has a strong lisp on certain words, and an unmistakable bass and erraticism to how he talks that sounds both like a much older man, nothing like a teenager, and makes for unconvincing "cocky n' confident" roles, working MUCH better with people who only think they are cocky and confident. (Which Kanba kind of does, but not in delivery, that's more of a deep character study. The delivery should be rock-solid resolved.) They had him playing confident young playboys in the early ADV days, it didn't really fit, and I can't say it will now. Monica Rial as Himari Takakura AS. IS. THIS. So. All through watching Penguindrum, I couldn't help but notice that Ringo...not Himari, RINGO, was a "Monica Rial" character. Sympathetically annoying, boisterous, necessary good comic timing...but nope, somehow Monica Rial gets cast, and to the character who needs not one drop of the knowing snarkiness that slips into all of Rial's characters. Himari needed to be cast to a perfectly innocent, crisp, pure and demure sounding VA, which if I understand, is Neves' standby, so they appear to have gotten these completely backward. Yes, Himari has a depth and maturity to her, but it's surprising *in light of* how unexpected it is. I adore Monica Rial, but this is not her kind of character. She's never carried innocent across successfully, she's too coy and adult in her delivery. Facetiously innocent, maybe, but not Himari. The only place she really works is when the Penguin Hat possesses Himari, and even then? That would be more amusing if the voice was this cute little bell of a little girl saying horrible things than Monica's snide delivery. Miiiiiiiiiiscast x1000. I might trust it in a dub with a standout ADR director, but since it's Foster, I'm pretty sure this is just going to sound terrible. Maggie Flecknoe as Masako Natsume: Foster loves using her, and honestly, I *do* like hearing her, when she can be used right. She can act, she has a unique (often horribly grating) voice that you don't hear in anime most of the time, and what I most recognize her for is how real she sounds when she screams/yells. She sounds and delivers lines like a real woman, not an anime character, sort of the anti-Bang Zoom! voice, and there's something unique about that. However, she can also be used horribly, and this is definitely an example of that. Guess what character ALSO needs to have spot-on comic timing? Guess what VA I've never really known to be a good comic actress? Maggie does melodrama, schlock, carnal high emotion well. Humor, not so much. *Restraint,* not at all. This is terrible casting, this dub is going to suck, and I am sad. Let me get a big bag of Wal-Mart Cheetos and sulk. =W=; |
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5480 |
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Is that cast REALLY legit?
Usually the first place that confirms the cast list of various titles is in this sub-forum or wait a while until ANN reports it: http://www.fandompost.com/oldforums/forumdisplay.php?24-The-English-Track |
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penguintruth
Posts: 8467 Location: Penguinopolis |
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I kind of wish Funimation had gotten this.
Wow, I've come to a place where I respect Funimation. Somebody tell the me from six or seven years ago. |
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Adam Wednesdays
Posts: 30 |
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Before I go on, let me just say that I preordered my copy of volume 1 from Rightstuf yestderday. I look forward to impatiently becoming annoyed that it hasn't arrived yet for the next month+.
I think you're dead on about this one. As soon as I heard that Sentai picked this up I just assumed that Monica Rial was going to show up in the dub, playing Ringo (well, you know what they say about assuming...). When I read the cast list for the first time, I was sure I had read it wrong... I've got nothing against Rial, she's often quite good, but this is certainly not the character I would have cast her as. It's possible that a more subtle and versatile director (that's me being diplomatic  ) could get the right kind of performance out of her, but I can't say I see that happening with Foster.
Can't say I really recognize the other names in the cast list (though I'm sure I've heard their voices before), but seeing as the one name I do recognize in an eyebrow-raising role and being led by a director I don't trust with the material isn't making me reassess my opinion that the dub is going to be completely misguided (to once again put it diplomatically). But that's the nice thing about DVDs: you don't have to turn on a language track you don't want to hear .
On another note, something I've just thought of that I'm worryingly curious about, even though asking it may open up an even bigger can of complaint worms: do we know whether or not Sentai was able to license all the music? A large dose of the soundtrack is Triple-H covering songs by another Japanese band, and I think we all know at this point that the licensing costs can be incredibly excessive, and the Japanese record companies so hellish to deal with I worry that this might be a case where getting all the songs might have been cost prohibitive. Which would not be doing Penguindrum any favors, because the Triple H songs are very important to the context of the show. I haven't heard the music mentioned one way or the other. |
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penguintruth
Posts: 8467 Location: Penguinopolis |
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I don't think Rial as Himari is a miscasting at all. Maybe it's just my severe bias for her, since she's one of my favorites, but when I think of her performance as Hyatt in Excel Saga I think she can very well play a more gentle character than she usually does, like Himari.
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Divineking
 Posts: 1293 |
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I'm not gonna lie here. I really, really, really hope this list is fake. Pretty much all the actors listed are miscast and Foster seems to have avoided the picks that should have been really obvious ( i.e. Greg Ayres as Shouma and Chris Patton as Kanba, though there's a chance Patton could be Sanetoshi which would also work). Guess we'll know for sure when they give an official announcement or if someone gets their hands on the set before then.
I've been trying to give the dub a fair shake since I was worried the moment they said Foster, but this really is helping things for me. I'd really hate for this show to become one of his total hackjobs... |
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penguintruth
Posts: 8467 Location: Penguinopolis |
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Chris Patton as Kanba? He hasn't got the gravity. He's already screwed up one of my beloved characters (Greed), no reason for him to do another. |
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dragon695
 Posts: 1377 Location: Clemson, SC |
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I wonder how on earth they are going to localize this. To be quite honest, it comes off as a completely unintelligible mess in its effort to be so postmodern. And that was in its original Japanese. Dubbing something like this is a trainwreck waiting to happen.
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Animerican14
Posts: 963 Location: Saint Louis, MO |
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It looks like this was where most of this apparent cast list originated, a thread from Behind the Voice Actors: "I contacted Sentai Filmworks to find out information on the English dub of Penguin Drum and Mike Bailiff was kind enough to send me the English Cast list."
As for Maggie Flecknoe's role as Masako, there seems to be evidence in this instagram photo of hers that shows a still from an episode with the dub script dominating the page. If you look REAL closely and manage to read some of what's written, the script seems to strike close to home to the meaning of the scene in question (if my memory serves me right). It also helps that her description reads: "My view: Loving this character! #anime" Maybe she's liking Masako enough that she'll go beyond what JO seems expect of her? Listening to her more "normal" voice in the demo reels on her website also seem to invite a bit more confidence. ~~~~ To add a bit to what I know about Emily Neves: apparently she was a semi-finalist in American Idol, and has done quite a bit of theater work. (Here's the link to an example of her American Idol performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7SQMSKWAMI) Ringo does quite a bit of singing, so maybe that aspect played a role in her being chosen for the part. For those showing confidence in Monica Rial's performance as Himari: mind if you point me to some specific roles where she does do gentle and somewhat demure as well, and not super smarmy? (or heck, even provide clips that exhibit that?) As experienced as she is, I haven't heard her in a whole lot of roles, and those I have (like Panty from P&S) definitely have this smarminess to her. The closest approximations I have in mind is a few minute's worth of her performance as Sakura from Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and the big-boobed nurse lady from High School of the Dead (Shizuka, whom I honestly thought was Stephanie Sheh!). Those approximations seemed fine to me. I guess my critical palette really isn't developed quite the same way as JO, since Blake Shepard sounds quite fine to me overall (thinking of Jo's hated Angel Beats! dub here). Maybe it'll work out with the other voices, at least for me. I have to wonder just how long those of you decrying the dub so much beforehand will stick around with the dub before never touching it again.... will "giving this dub more time" ever happen with Mawaru Penguindrum? (Believe me, I know that's "give it more time" excuse is old and tired, but still.) Or at least would you check the dub of later episodes? Last edited by Animerican14 on Mon Nov 26, 2012 12:23 am; edited 1 time in total |
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getchman
 He started itPosts: 9122 Location: Bedford, NH |
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a few i can think of the top of my head are Mizuzu in Air, Angelica (occasionally) in Gunslinger Girl, Lumiere in Kiddy Grade, Saki in both seasons of Steel Angel Kurumi and Yuzuha in Utawarerumono. |
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Divineking
Posts: 1293 |
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Penguindrum was my top show from last year, and possibly good enough to make it into my all time favorites so in light of my skepticism I will watch the dub as I'm buying the set, and not listening to the english track would make me feel as though I've wasted my money buying it since I don't buy sub only releases. As long as the dub isn't ear-bleedingly bad, or unfaithful to the point of being a parody(and either scenario is feasible since I don't like most of Foster's stuff to begin with and he is infamous for parody scripting) I can sit through it. If it is that bad though, I just won't listen to the rest when I get the second half of the show. Trust me I would love for all my fears to be unfounded and for the dub to be mindblowingly amazing. After all I'm buying the set, so the joke's on me if the dub is bad and I spent money to get it 
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