Forum - View topicREVIEW: Kita e ~Diamond Dust Drops~ DVD 1
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Dejiko
 Posts: 276 Location: Holland (between Great Britain and Germany) |
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While 'Diamond Dust Drops' may sound nonsensical (not marketable) to some, it actually refers to 'Diamond dust', a certain mist-like meteorological phenomenon. See this Wikipedia entry for more info. I haven't seen the anime series yet, but in the game, the (implied / made up?) cultural significance of a person or a couple observing diamond dust was touched upon several times. Did they ommit it from the anime or was in translated so bad that you didn't pick it up? |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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And it's not uncommon to make fun out of it by linking it with Cygnus Hyouga of Saint Seiya. 
Mmm, I don't know about the R1 release, but it was picked up in R3 and fansubs. At least ADV managed to keep the acronym (Project DDD). |
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Good review, Zac -- I know how difficult it is to give an objective review of something otherwise successful that just isn't really to one's own taste. You've managed to keep a fine balance here.
I don't think it's as bad as all that -- certainly, the character design is slightly different, but not enough to characterise them as "odd".
I agree, the OP is somewhat strange, and seems to be at odds with the overall tenor of the individual stories -- but it makes a great deal more sense, once you've seen the series finale. That applies to the original title, "Diamond Dust Drops", too. - abunai |
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biliano
Posts: 956 Location: Cleveland, OH |
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Good review, Zac, although I thought that the music should have been given a much better grade, but if you took points off for the opening song, I understand. That song is too peppy for a show of this nature, but it's pretty catchy. The closing song was definitely more apropriate.
As for the dub itself, both Jessica Boone (Atsuko) and Kira Vincent-Davis (Karin) were outstanding in their roles, and they portrayed their characters with tremendous sincerity and emotion. Jessica showed tremendous chemistry with both Chris Ayers and Jay Hickman. Of course, I knew that both Jessica and Jay had tremendous chemistry beforehand - the Princess Tutu dub is proof of that. But her work alongside Chris was just as passionate and touching as her work with Jay. It's both very refeshing and reassuring that ADV is finally giving Jessica more of these mature/dramatic roles because this is where she truly shines as an actress. Playing cutesy, mascot-type characters like Chiyo-chan and Shirayuki is fine (and she did such a wonderful job voicing those charming characters), but her true power, her true potential is fully realized when she plays passionate, emotional, and heart-touching characters such as Atsuko and Sayuri (of The Place Promised in our Early Days). Kira Vincent-Davis has already established in my mind that she is the most versitile actress in the industry, and her performance as Karin just adds to the claim. I absolutely loved Karin, and I thought that KVD was masterful portraying her wide range of emotions. I always liked Colleen Clickenbeard (going back to her Kiddy Grade days when she played Eclair), and both she and Mike McFarlene (the two who I hold completely responsible for creating arguably one of the best, if not the best dub ever with the Fullmetal Alchemist dub) complement KVD's performance very well. I don't want to forget about him, but I thought Chris Patton was pretty good as Karin's brother. He sounded like Yumeria's Tomokazu, only with more of a backbone. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed both stories, and can't wait to see how the other stories are portrayed. This is one of the finest dubs that ADV produced in a while IMHO. Moreover, this dub just adds more proof as to why Jessica and KVD are two of the best, if not the best VAs in the industry, and why they will always be my favorite actresses now and forever. Bravo to both! 
Here's what I heard (as best as I can remember): 1. Atsuko's story: spoiler["It is said that when a couple sees diamond dust, they will be in love forever." - spoken by Kenji Kurata.] 2. Karin's story: spoiler["It is said that when you see diamond dust in the clear sky, your dreams will come true." - spoken by Dr. Amakasu.] |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6867 Location: Kazune City |
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When searching for fansubs of this series, I was a bit surprised to find that ADV had licensed it (and thus, that it was nowhere to be found on a certain torrent site; I'm sure you know what I mean). I wound up DLing it anyway, but the DVDs have been on my "to buy" list ever since the first was announced. I actually haven't watched a full episode of those evil fansubs, and I'm planning on making this a "save HD space by buying the DVDs" series, especially after hearing how good the dub is.
Series like "Diamond Daydreams" (or whatever) form one of the special little corners of my collection. I do like these "anthology" series that are episodic and drift from character to character, as they make for a quiet, relaxed experience that's different from the anime norm. Another example of a non-offensive dating-game-based anime is "Sentimental Journey," released sub-only by Media-Blasters. Sure, it might have its cheesy melodramatic moments, but like Kita he, it won't be offensive to people who hate game-based series like Shuffle, Sister Princess, or KgNE. Again, I'm surprised that ADV picked this up--it's nice to see them go beyond wacky comedies (Azumanga Daioh, Excel Saga, Chromartie High), fanservice fests (Goddanar, Gravion, Maburaho, Plastic Little), and giant robots (Eva, RahXephon, Dai Guard, Nadesico, Zone of the Enders...come to think of it, a pretty big percentage of their catalogue) and license something completely different. They score points and $$$ from me for this. *goes to pre-order DDD Vol. 1* |
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Grico
 Posts: 201 Location: Fort Wayne, IN |
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Yes Sentimental Journey was a good anime, If you like it you should check out the sorta sequel done by Sunrise the next year, Seraphim Call which is better and also released sub only by Anime Works.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18188 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I am also in full agreement with Zac on his review of this title. It's nice to see a josei title get picked up for a change. Definitely not the typical anime romance stories that normally make their way to the States.
And the "diamond dust" thing has been popping up in the story so far. |
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biliano
Posts: 956 Location: Cleveland, OH |
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Along with the concept of diamond dust and the warmth of the two stories, another aspect I loved about Kita e. is the Hokkaido background. The extras contained in the first volume (I assume that Zac used the screener disc in his review, correct?) were very informative, and I liked how they used the various Hokkaido landmarks on the episode bumpers. To me, the disc served a double purpose - a pretty good anime series and a tour guide to Hokkaido. Hopefully I will be able to visit this picturesque Japanese island someday in my lifetime.
No argument here. It's always refreshing to watch an anime that doesn't rely heavily on fan service, giant robots, or angsty teen-agers once in a while.
I'm pretty sure it'll pop up in the other four stories as well. |
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Dejiko
Posts: 276 Location: Holland (between Great Britain and Germany) |
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Lol, I missed that one
I think there's some confusion regarding the term 'josei'. It refers to manga written for and (mainly) made by young women who have outgrown the decidedly fluffier shojo manga. In contrast, DDD is based on a bishoujo game conceived by the man behind Sakura Taisen. It's far removed from anything 'josei', apart from the ephasis on characters and emotions. DDD might just be the wake up call for those who still think that all bishoujo games (and their anime adaptations) are just lame fanservice fests without any other merits. Of course, there are many of those, but the titles that DO have believable characters and subtle, touching stories (Kanon, Air etc.) are still not that well known. Though the better of these are very expensive to license, I can only hope publishers will pick up more of them in the future, so that this widely spread misconception can be challenged at last. |
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kusanagi-sama
 Posts: 1723 Location: Wichita Falls, TX |
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Something that would be nice to have licensed, but probably would be expensive to license would be:
Air Kanon Kimi ga Nozomu Eien |
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Zalis116
Moderator
Posts: 6867 Location: Kazune City |
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^ I have that one too, but decided not to mention it since my post was already long enough Seraphim Call is good too, and is definitely one of the stranger anime series I've watched...sure, you expect something like Evangelion, Texhnolyze, or FLCL to be strange, but Seraphim Call presents some stories that are normal, and then some that are from beyond left field. Another nice, cheap buy 
After watching the first 3 episodes, I can say that DD is delivering on what I expected from it, and the dub is quite nice as well...I watched all of ep 3 dubbed, and noted a few changes: A bit of "tricking out" of the nurses' dialogue, making things more slangy and risqué (Ghost Stories influence? Perish the thought; let's not go there) Elimination of "sensei," "big brother" terms, reduction in the number of typical "character says another character's name and nothing else" lines. Interestingly enough, the previews throw out the original material entirely--the Japanese has the voice actresses for the girls spouting off a bunch of random stuff, but the English has some actual next episode preview material that ADV must have thrown together. I'm sure opinions could go both ways on this. (One problem comes up when they mention Karin's condition in the preview in episode 2 in English, but the dub for episode 3 doesn't mention the condition's name at all; this is a problem because I switched over the language. Good thing I watch dubs with subtitles )
All in all, a very fine dub--like I said in my other post, DD isn't a very ADV-like series, but that doesn't mean that they're slacking off. I like this kind of format, and having 2 eps per girl instead of 1 ep allows for a little more depth in character and story. And imo, the character designs are a bit different from what we normally see, but one can certainly find more outlandish designs in other dating-sim based animes out thair, if you know what I mean And on the fanservice front, the scenes with spoiler[Atsuko wearing just the man shirt] in episode 2 were actually better than a typical Girls Bravo boobs-baring jigglefest. New marketing slogan: "Diamond Daydreams: For all the pervs out there who like your eye candy subtle" 
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