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REVIEW: Hunter x Hunter DVD Set 4


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bleachj0j



Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Posts: 923
PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 11:34 am Reply with quote
I quite enjoyed this series and hope the ova's get licensed. Gon, killua, Kurpica, Lerio were well liked from the begining. This set was great. The villians were evil and didn't hesitate to kill and they weren't completly one-sided.

I really never thought the dub was dub was bad. It gets better over time. Hisoka still is the best in the dub.
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Fireline



Joined: 28 Jul 2003
Posts: 29
PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 11:48 am Reply with quote
Man, the "+" section could use an editor. I like seeing so much insight into HxH, but that's a ridiculous wall of text.
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Fronzel



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1906
PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 12:10 pm Reply with quote
A shame things crash terribly after this arc is over.

Fireline wrote:
Man, the "+" section could use an editor. I like seeing so much insight into HxH, but that's a ridiculous wall of text.

That's actually the review's main text repeated.
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John Casey



Joined: 31 May 2009
Posts: 1853
Location: In My Angry Center
PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 12:10 pm Reply with quote
Fronzel wrote:
A shame things crash terribly after this arc is over.

Fireline wrote:
Man, the "+" section could use an editor. I like seeing so much insight into HxH, but that's a ridiculous wall of text.

That's actually the review's main text repeated.

Error?
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Uppa



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 31
PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:38 pm Reply with quote
I so wanted this set to get an 'A', but I can't fault the review at all, and completely concur with its direction.
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Reibooi



Joined: 03 Mar 2008
Posts: 394
PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 8:56 pm Reply with quote
I am really starting to wonder what's up with how things are rated on ANN when it comes to dubs.

If the dub is really bad it should be lower then a B- To me anything B- and up is good and then it gets better as it gets closer to A+

I have even seen reviews for things that had incredible dubs but were otherwise pretty weak and the dub was bashed along with the rest of the show. Strait Jacket is a good example of that. I will admit the OVA was weak however it had a great dub yet it was bashed along with the rest of the show.

I think the reviewers are to an extent letting how they feel about other aspects influence what they rate others. In this case it seems the reviewer likes the show so they hesitate to give the dub a lower score. And in Strait Jackets it was the opposite. They hate the show and hence didn't want to give any aspect of it any praise.
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Mad_Scientist
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Joined: 08 Apr 2008
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:14 pm Reply with quote
Reibooi wrote:
I am really starting to wonder what's up with how things are rated on ANN when it comes to dubs.

If the dub is really bad it should be lower then a B- To me anything B- and up is good and then it gets better as it gets closer to A+

I have even seen reviews for things that had incredible dubs but were otherwise pretty weak and the dub was bashed along with the rest of the show. Strait Jacket is a good example of that. I will admit the OVA was weak however it had a great dub yet it was bashed along with the rest of the show.

I think the reviewers are to an extent letting how they feel about other aspects influence what they rate others. In this case it seems the reviewer likes the show so they hesitate to give the dub a lower score. And in Strait Jackets it was the opposite. They hate the show and hence didn't want to give any aspect of it any praise.


I don't think you understand the way ANN's reviews work.

From the review:

Overall (dub) : B-
Overall (sub) : B+

I bolded the important parts. That B- score is not just the score for the dub, it's the score for the overall impression the show gives while watching it dubbed. Thus, you are correct that the reviewer is letting aspects of the show other than the dub influence that rating: he's supposed to. Hence the "overall" part.

Regarding Straight Jacket, it's clear the reviewer did not share your opinion of the dub, and thought it was a bad dub of a mediocre show. Hence why the "Overall (dub)" waiting was so low for it.
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504NOSON2
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Joined: 28 Jul 2008
Posts: 647
Location: Body:Santa Barbara, CA ~ Heart:New Orleans, LA
PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 12:06 am Reply with quote
I'm actually JUST about to watch episode 47. What a coincidence. I'm confident I'll enjoy the remainder of this shonen classic up untill the finale.
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Reibooi



Joined: 03 Mar 2008
Posts: 394
PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 12:41 pm Reply with quote
Mad_Scientist wrote:
Reibooi wrote:
I am really starting to wonder what's up with how things are rated on ANN when it comes to dubs.

If the dub is really bad it should be lower then a B- To me anything B- and up is good and then it gets better as it gets closer to A+

I have even seen reviews for things that had incredible dubs but were otherwise pretty weak and the dub was bashed along with the rest of the show. Strait Jacket is a good example of that. I will admit the OVA was weak however it had a great dub yet it was bashed along with the rest of the show.

I think the reviewers are to an extent letting how they feel about other aspects influence what they rate others. In this case it seems the reviewer likes the show so they hesitate to give the dub a lower score. And in Strait Jackets it was the opposite. They hate the show and hence didn't want to give any aspect of it any praise.


I don't think you understand the way ANN's reviews work.

From the review:

Overall (dub) : B-
Overall (sub) : B+

I bolded the important parts. That B- score is not just the score for the dub, it's the score for the overall impression the show gives while watching it dubbed. Thus, you are correct that the reviewer is letting aspects of the show other than the dub influence that rating: he's supposed to. Hence the "overall" part.

Regarding Straight Jacket, it's clear the reviewer did not share your opinion of the dub, and thought it was a bad dub of a mediocre show. Hence why the "Overall (dub)" waiting was so low for it.


Well thank you for clearing that up. It does make a bit more sense however I still think the whole thing is broken in a way. If the Dub and Sub section is about Overall then I don't see the point of having scores for things so specific as Story and things like that if the dub and sub section is a overall score. Again it just doesn't make much sense to me that the review has very few kind things to say about the dub and then gives it a B- which is only SLIGHTLY lower then what was given to the sub which is supposed to be MUCH better.

Personally I always thought the "Overall" Part of what was scored on dub and sub was everything relating to it. I.E Acting, Casting, Accuracy, Translation and so on. It would obviously be more difficult to rate each of those by themselves so I thought that's why it was put as "Overall"

It makes sense how you explain the way the system works but if it does indeed work that way I think it's in a way broken.
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Kid Ryan



Joined: 16 Mar 2008
Posts: 506
Location: Sacramento, California
PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 7:41 pm Reply with quote
I'll be watching this soon, but maybe I should wait first until Viz dubs the OVAs?!
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bleachj0j



Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Posts: 923
PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 11:53 pm Reply with quote
babynaruto1 wrote:
I'll be watching this soon, but maybe I should wait first until Viz dubs the OVAs?!


No because there is no gurrantee that they will dub it.
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russ869



Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 422
PostPosted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 1:26 am Reply with quote
My thoughts on the dub haven't changed. Hisoka and Killua have excellent voices, but Kurapica's is not nearly as good as his Japanese voice. The voices for some of the Phantom Troupe members were also pretty bad, but general through-away characters like random mafia goons were generally well-acted, and the script is very well written.


bleachj0j wrote:
babynaruto1 wrote:
I'll be watching this soon, but maybe I should wait first until Viz dubs the OVAs?!


No because there is no gurrantee that they will dub it.

That is correct. Although the TV series ending is sort of an unresolved cliffhanger without the first 8 episode OVA.
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mrsticky005



Joined: 06 Nov 2008
Posts: 113
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 7:47 pm Reply with quote
In my own opinion I don't think there's anything wrong with the dub
that wasn't a problem in the original Japanese sub. In fact I think the
sub has MORE problems. The dub is superior to the sub.

Naruto and Death Note are two anime that I think have a better
dub than Hunter x Hunter does. But they also have a much better
sub version. Hunter x Hunter is probably one of the worst subbed
voice acting I've heard (though granted I don't watch much anime.)

While the English dub of Hunter x Hunter is uninspiring.

The Japanese sub is just plain annoying.

I like how Gon in the English dub actually sounds closer to his age
than sounded like a 4 year old. Killua was even worse. I don't even
know how to describe the awfulness that was Killua in the sub.
Anyone who thinks that sounded like a kid needs their ears checked. English dub of Killua may not be the best work and it's
not too difficult to know that Killua is NOT voiced by a 12 year
old boy but at least it's easier pretending that he was.

The three voices that I disliked the most in either version are

1. Kurapica
2. Machi
3. Feitan

Kurapica I got used to. But he was still bad in either version.
It's simple why. It's because they are picking a woman to voice
a 17 year old male. I'm not against female voice actors voicing
males but they should be doing 7 year old males. Kurapica does
NOT sound like a 17 year old male in either version. He sounds
like a bored female actresses with zero emotion trying to act
more excited than she really is. In both versions.

Machi had a good voice but was a bad actress.

Feitan was just down right horrible. The guy needs a creepy voice.

Of course the "good" voices in the sub like Hisoka are vastly superior in the dub.

Illumi though I think is the most vastly improved. He went from
ear-cringing to brilliant. The dub may be worth a C+ but it
gets that + because of guys like Illumi and Hisoka who
added their own flavor to spice it up.
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MetatronM



Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 281
PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 1:55 am Reply with quote
If you think Gon sounds like a 4 year old kid in the Japanese version, then you've clearly never actually heard what a 4 year old Japanese kid sounds like. On the other hand, Gon in the dub sounds like a middle aged woman. Not even a middle aged woman trying and failing to sound like a teen/pre-teen boy like, say, Naruto's dub VA. Just a middle aged woman, period.

Also, Kurapica is supposed to be intentionally androgynous and is treated as such...pretty much everywhere. He's extremely feminine to the point that the topic of whether or not he's actually male is something that seems to come up pretty much any time anybody ever mentions the series. I'm...not really sure how you could have seen so much of the series and not known this.


Simply put, HXH is an objectively awful dub. It's a bottom of the barrel, bare minimum production based out of Edmonton (because Edmonton is certainly known for its deep vocal talent pool) done as absolutely cheaply as humanly possible. It's a good step or two above Odex Singapore dubs for sure, and it still beats a lot of New York dubs from the 90s, but I'm pretty sure even Viz would acknowledge that it's not what anybody in their right mind would call a "good" dub.
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population_tire



Joined: 31 May 2007
Posts: 572
PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 1:21 pm Reply with quote
I agree the reviews are sometimes flawed. What would be wrong with users posting their own reviews as well? - that way we get more than one person's opinion on something.
Odds are it wont happen but there's nothing stopping you from replying to a talkback page with your own review.
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