Forum - View topicSamurai Champloo DVD LE + Artbox- Thoughts
|
Goto page 1, 2, 3 Next |
| Author | Message | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
darkhunter
 Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
|
|||||||||
|
Yup, got my artbox today and have some pictures up. The pictures are big, so I link them instead of posting them.
The Yellow Bandana http://premium1.uploadit.org/darkhunter/Shamploo-002.jpg Wrinkle can be iron out. Artbox: Top: http://premium1.uploadit.org/darkhunter/Shamploo-006.jpg Left: http://premium1.uploadit.org/darkhunter/Shamploo-005.jpg Right: http://premium1.uploadit.org/darkhunter/Shamploo-004.jpg Spine (back) http://premium1.uploadit.org/darkhunter/Shamploo-003.jpg All I can say is I like the bandana. It's a huge cloth with art on it. Even if you don't wear it on your head, you can pin up the bandana and it would be like a wallscroll (kind of). I like the bandana, goood choice by Geneon. As for the artbox, it's could have been better. Two dice on the right? Couldn't they use all of those other impressive artwork I seen online. The left and righ artwork isn't good as the spine. Or maybe they could of feature Jin on one side and Mugen on the other side? The Red background is okay, would prefer a white box though to match the cover of the DVD. Well, we'll see what happen when Geneon release the boxset. DVD Review for Volume 1: Animation: A (Beatiful art and fluid movement) Story: A (if you're an action fan, this has a lot of style) Packaging: B (Could of been better, I really like the bandana and the dvd cover is nice) Music: A (Downtempo hip hop, best ending song and unique openning theme) Sound: A (5.1 Dobly Digital English and DTS 5.1 Japanese, Good dub also) 
Last edited by darkhunter on Sun Jan 16, 2005 5:50 pm; edited 4 times in total |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
josue98
Posts: 19 Location: Puerto Rico |
|
|||||||||
|
Hey, that bandana does look nice! ... But the box does look sort of plain (in the pictures anyway). Well, mine also shipped, should be getting in by Monday, hopefully.
Thanks for the review. In your own words though, how much fun is it? 
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
darkhunter
Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
|
|||||||||
I don't want to overhype this series too much.... Lets just say if you keep an open mind, you'll definitely enjoy Samurai Champloo. I like the style and excution. Each episode has a story and it changes the pace of having to sit through a continous storyline. Each episode is self contained. The music beats is infectious and the swordplay is done really well. Jin and Mugen have thier own style and personality. From the opening sequence, it seem that Mugen style is like a "rooster", while Jin style is like a "fish". You know what i'm talking bout when you watch the openning. Rememer all the naysayer backthen that said Hip hop and samurai won't mix or how crappy it's going to turn out. Typical anime fans hate rap and hip hop with a passion. But you don't hear much complaint about the hip hop in champloo now a days because champloo prove them wrong. It created something fun and new....something different (sort of), even if hip hop isn't your thing. Like I said earlier, just keep an open mind. With the current crop of samurai anime coming out: Peacekeeper, Otogizoushi, SAmurai 7, Shura no Toki...samurai champloo is my favorite of the bunch. Plus the Bandana (or cloth) is really huge: 23"x23". Samurai Champloo is also feature in the latest Animerica magazine. Last edited by darkhunter on Sat Jan 22, 2005 2:38 am; edited 1 time in total |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
deathbringer
Posts: 276 |
|
|||||||||
Really? You don't hear many complaints? Because I hear them all the time. I don't like rap and hip hop. And I don't like Champloo. I thought it was a stupid idea. I can't understand why people treat Watanabe like a god when I've yet to see a series from him that's really any good. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11296 Location: Frisco, TX |
|
|||||||||
|
A friend of mine got the DVD as well. I've seen enough of it in Japanese through fansubs, but would like to see it in DVD quality and hear it in DTS some time.
I only watched a little of the first episode, and the dub seems OK. For my own personal purpose, I'm only concentrating on the main three characters Mugen, Jin, and Fuu. With a lot of the comparisons people make between Spike and Mugen, I suppose it was only expected to have Steven Blum be his voice. I personally don't like it too much, but since I like his voice in general for all the other stuff he's done, it's not really good or bad. Mugen's Japanese voice definitely has a more wild sound to it, though, which I feel is very essential in expressing his character. Mr. Blum doesn't quite have that deep Japanese twang that the original does, but maybe he'll get better. Fuu is the best out of the three. Whoever is dubbing her has a very good voice and matches the cute and perky one of the original seiyuu. I find this very pleasing as a big problem I usually have with dubs is that they aren't very good at dubbing high pitched girls a lot of the time, but they did an excellent job here  .
Jin, on the other hand, sounds terrible. He sounds too malicious and not calm and collected like his Japanese counterpart. The thing about Kirk Thornton is that he has a tendency to sound the same in a lot of his roles; kind of monotone, which in this case is good, but also a little too heavy in his acting due to his voice. Easily the worst dubbed voice out of the three. I can only HOPE he lightens up a little more. I'm going to try and borrow the DVD so I can listen to the DTS and hear the dub a little more. Overall, it's not as bad as I had feared it would, but Mugen and Jin could use a little work since I feel they're such bada$$ characters and deserve a little better treatment than this, but I think a lot of people who aren't as picky as I am about dubs will like it. It's not terrible and it's really just my own personal preference since I kind of have a liking for Japanese culture anyway, but for those of you who prefer dubs, I'm sure you'll end up liking this series a lot even if I still prefer it subbed. 
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
benbboy
Posts: 66 |
|
|||||||||
|
Hold on...im confused....i thought the release date was 1/11/05....where are you guys buying it from?
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
darkhunter
Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
|
|||||||||
|
A quote from Animerica about dubs
The thing is Tony, you're trying to compare the japanese actor to the american but you're missing a few things: 1) you don't know japanese 2) dubbing company are not trying to imitate thier japanese actor like you want them to. 3) I have a feeling that you're one of those person that think all japanese voice actor are always much better than the english, as mention above. So if you don't understand japanees but you think all japanese voice actor are better than english and you're comparing the english voice actor with the japanese, than no dub will ever be right for you. The dub is fine. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11296 Location: Frisco, TX |
|
|||||||||
So? Like I said, I just find the whole culture fascinating. Even if I don't speak the langauge, I can still like it because it's different. Surely, there must be something out there you find interesting because it's different, even if you don't fully know everything about it, right?
I know that, but there are a few dubs that I still like anyway even if someone else doesn't like them. No one's perfect and that's fine. If I like it, I like it, if not, then I don't. It's simple. English dubs are just trying to adapt the original voices the best way they can so English speaking audiences can watch the show (I hope). I don't expect all of them to sound how I'd like them to. In fact, I NEVER expect a dub to EVER be perfect, but I still give them a chance, regardless. I compare the English voices to the Japanese ones because I feel it helps if they sound somewhat similar. You can't just change them from sounding like a 15 year old in Japanese to a 30 year old in English. The best example I can think of is Arima in Kare Kano. Give his two voices a listen and I'm sure you'll notice the gigantic change in the sound of his voice. On top of that, it's not always about the actual sound (pitch/tone/inflection or whatever) of their voices. I have three guidelines when listening to dubs (in no particular order): 1) The sound of the voice. I know it won't be perfect, but the dub actors should at least try to sound close to the original. I know it's difficult for them to do this since they probably don't have as much time to study everything and go at the pace they'd like to. But even if they don't sound close, if they have a voice I feel creates the same kind of personality, I'll take it. The best example I can think of is Gene Starwind from Outlaw Star. His voice is kind of high and tinty in Japanese, but Robert Wicks still added that laid back attitude and cockiness that Shigeru Shibuya had, even if they don't sound a bit alike. 2) Acting. Like I said about the sounds of the voices, if they can't pull of the voice, but still manage to create the right personalities, that's OK too. However, I've heard instances where their voices were great, but with terrible acting. If an actor sounds like a character, that's good, but if they can't sound emotional and not make the scene as effective as it should be, then what's the point? You might've just lost something important because the actor might not've said his lines well enough. I felt Chibodee Crocket's English voice in G Gundam was good, but I didn't think he sounded prideful enough, which is a big part of his overall character. All he needed to do was sound a little angrier, but his and a few other of the voices on that show were pretty good, I feel they just needed to work on the acting part. 3) Pronunciations. It's not really as big a deal as the first two, but when they say Japanese names or words, I'd like to hear at least a few of them said correctly. A lot of dubs do this pretty well, but when they say everything wrong, I tend to stray off the overall performance a little more. I know the voice actors probably don't know how to say Japanese vowel sounds or that they don't have time to care, but the various directors should at least tell them in advance how to pronounce things. It's not something I really complain about in general.
No, otherwise, I wouldn't listen to shows dubbed at all and just label each and everyone of them as crap before they ever come out like Sword of Whedon (no offence, SoW  ).
What do you want from me, a list of dubs I like? Jeez, just because I prefer subs most of the time doesn't mean I don't like dubs either. I'll say it again like everyone else has in the whole sub vs. dub debate: IT'S A MATTER OF PERSONAL PREFERENCE. I've heard dozens of people bash dubs that I think are excellent, but I don't go out of my way to post quotes from magazines and shove them in those people's faces just to make them look bad. It's a troublesome tactic in that if it doesn't work, it makes you seem petty. Not to mention it's a complete waste of time since other people's opinions shouldn't matter to you anyway, unless your own personality is just that easy to influence. Chill out dude, it's no big deal.
(*sighs*) 
Akira (the newer dub) Berserk Cowboy Bebop (TV series & movie) Dragon Ball Z (Ocean dubs) Fatal Fury Fullmetal Alchemist FLCL Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Haibane Renmei Hellsing Jin-Roh Last EXILE Mobile Suit Gundam 08th MS Team Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Ninja Scroll (movie) Ranma 1/2 (TV series) Trigun Vampire Hunter D (the original) Vision of Escaflowne Wolf's Rain X (TV) I've watched all these titles in English and I like them. Yes, I know there are some people that probably don't like them, but read what I typed in all caps above this.
Like I said, if you're not as picky as I am, then you'll probably like it anyway. It's not bad at all from a general perspective when compared to a lot of other dubs, but that doesn't eliminate my own PERSONAL preference for what I like. Last edited by Tony K. on Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:57 pm; edited 2 times in total |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
elniro
 Posts: 98 |
|
|||||||||
|
This is definitely on my wish list, yea the images on the artbox aren't too good
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
wanderer
 Posts: 77 |
|
|||||||||
1/11/05 is the official street date but depending on where you buy or order from its possible to get it sooner. For example, in my online experience, amazon.com ships items out on or after the official release date, never before. But digitaleyes ships out whenever they get the item in stock which can sometimes be up to a week before its officially released. Thanks for the pictures darkhunter, the bandana looks very nice! I like that they used a unique pack- in for this release. I agree that the box looks a bit plain (but I like the color) and doesn't really go with the abstractness of the DVD cover. But, to be fair, I should wait until I actually get mine and watch it before I comment further .
Anyway, I preordered Samurai Champloo+ box 2 months ago because I love samurai anime (only reason). A few weeks ago I finally saw the trailer on one of my DVDs and that was enough to get me really interested. It looks really attractive visually and the character designs look unique and interesting as well. I realize you can't judge anything by a trailer but I'm willing to try and enjoy the show on its own merits when I get it. Originally when I first saw mention of this show in Newtype USA, I was beyond not interested. But as I read more about it, the idea of hip hop and samurai started sounding really cool. But, I've read from other fans that the music isn't really hip hop (or at least what Americans consider hip hop) and definitely not rap, but more like techno. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11296 Location: Frisco, TX |
|
|||||||||
Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. If I'm not mistaken, darkhunter ordered it from Deep Discount DVD, and they have a (good) tendency to send preorders out a week before the street release. My friend did the same thing and used Priority shipping, which is also what darkhunter probably did. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
SuperOnizuka
 Posts: 421 Location: When I look At the World- New Jersey |
|
|||||||||
|
Looks like I will be picking it up during the week. As well as Full Metal Alchemist when it comes out. But thank god they are being released on different days.
Poor bank account.... 
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
slickwataris
 Posts: 1334 Location: Carol Stream, Illinois |
|
|||||||||
|
Yeah, I'm getting it for my birthday next month. I got it at Best Buy, it came with a free cd and it was 10 bucks cheaper than the box.
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Gecko Zero
 Posts: 18 |
|
|||||||||
Indeed. It's a lot better than what I was afraid of. I agree with Tony K. that Fuu's voice (I think it may be Kari Wahlgren?) is the best of the lot. Absolutely no problem with it. I had some difficulties with Kirk Thornton's Jin, particularly during the first episode. By the fourth, however, those misgivings had settled down, as had his characterization. He's putting a bit more emotion into Jin's speaking than you hear in the Japanese, but not so much that all my senses start flashing "WRONG!". He's not Ginpei Sato, by any means (who just is the perfect voice for the character), but he's doing a decent job. And Mugen. Ah.... Well, obviously, no one was going to even come close to his real voice in English; there just isn't anyone. But, Lucas surprised me here--he's trying to make the character not sound like Spike (which would have been a grave mistake), and add a certain degree of roughness. It does work after you get used to it. Overall, I give the dub for these first 4 something between an 8 and an 8.5 out of 10. And the basic translation seems to be just as good. ....and to people who were commenting about the actual box, but hadn't seen it in person--it's not nearly as plain as it looks in photos. There's a good deal of colorless printing and design work on it using matte and gloss finishes, and most of the black printing is done with various embossing techniques. So it's actually a lot cooler looking than it appears online, or in shrinkwrap. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
darkhunter
Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
|
|||||||||
Nope, have it pre-order on Deep discount, than cancle it because I knew it's going to take forever. Instead I brought it from animeten. I pick up the item since we were in the same city and got it the day they got it. Cost 2 dollar more and gas money but it's worth getting it early. The soundtrack I got from DDD.
Well the music is not mainstream hip hop. It's mostly instrumental beats that you would typical hear on a DJ Sampling cd. Some song are really laid back while others like sneak champers is really upbeat (almost techno like).. I think it fits well with the action scene. Samurai Champloo OST Katana If you're viewing this, make sure to use a good flatscreen TV (wega) with 16:9 Enhance ratio to take advantage of the anamorphic video quality. Oh yea 5.1 sound system helps your enjoyment too. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group