Forum - View topicREVIEW: Sgt. Frog DVD Season 2 Part 2
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neocloud9
 Posts: 1178 Location: Atlanta, GA |
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This show has been such a fun ride. I really hope Funimation continues releasing it, I just love the characters! And even though the dub focuses more on comedy than the Japanese version did, I feel like special kudos need to go to Leah Clark as Fuyuki in that last episode. Break my little heart, why don't you?
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Wrathful
 Posts: 372 |
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This show fascinates me. I would want to watch it but I never found it anywhere.
Oh and one thing that disappoints me with Funimation is that they have rather a barebone extras when they could've record something like voice acting performance. So even if I find a DVD, whether I would buy it or not depends on the price. |
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Otaking09
 Posts: 637 |
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Awesome review. But a C+ for story? I know you're trying to stress that the novelty is forever absent, but... couldn't you have used a B like you did in your last Sgt. Frog Review?
It could give non-fans/viewers a bad impression. And yes, it's because of this show (and Druaga), that I was able to fully appreciate Todd as a VA. Altogether, if Funimation wanted to pick an ongoing series that wasn't necessarily a cash-cow franchise, this would be the one that'd pull through! Another great work of Junichi Sato, Sunrise, and Funi! And Carl! |
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belvadeer
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I really want to try and enjoy this series. I have to start sometime soon with the first DVD.
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dawgstar
 Posts: 34 |
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Most of it's up at Funimation's streaming video site. Dubbed or subbed.
From what I understand, extras on a DVD are dependent on how much money they have for the series. So if you want extras, buy the DVDs. It's a little Mobius strip. |
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The Human Spider
Posts: 334 |
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Nice to see SGT. FROG get a good review, though I disagree with the "wrecking ball..." comment--despite the rewrite I think the dub is, in its own way, very faithful to the Japanese version in that the characters and story in English, still resemble their Japanese counterparts(as opposed to the SHIN CHAN rewrite that works against the Japanese version.) In fact the English versions of the characters seem more "amplified", e.g. Keroro seems to be more of a lazy otaku loser, Giroro seems to be more of a soft-hearted tough guy, Kululu seems to be more of a sadistic jerk, etc... Only the narrator seems significantly different(I like how he gets more to do in the dub.)
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everydaygamer
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love this show. really hope funi continues to dub it.
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CCSYueh
 Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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I was pretty disappointed FUNIMATION, of all companies, totally slid on a DBZ scouter joke (Kururu comments the opposing team members are over 30,000 while in English it's some dumb joke about seeing underwear).
This review's wording seems a bit more harsh than the letter ratings would suggest. Yes, Funi has released the 51 eps as 2 "sets/Seasons", but it's very obvious from the final ep on this box this is the climax of Season One in Japan. You want character development in one season? I always thought the first season of a situation comedy IS just establishing the routines. I really don't recall Mork "growing" all that much in the first season. Not that comedy "grows" all that much either. Part of the routine is these characters continue to do things we can laugh at. Urkel's "Did I do that?" would be real thin if it were your neighbor saying it for 5 yrs, wouldn't it? All Kerero Gunso had to do was pull in enough ratings to secure another season. Selling merchandise is also a plus. This isn't drama where we would give up eventually if the hero didn't learn from his/her mistakes & become a better person. The comparison would be Bobobo (last season roughly concurrent to this first season) & other comedies. Gintama started the year after this season ended. Yes, there are tons of pop-culture refs just like Simpsons, Family Guy, & the like here. Hell, I grew up on the Flintstones & that had its share of cultural refs. Our satirical cartoons are every bit American culture windows, aren't they? Part of the fun is catching those refs (This time out-Evangelion, DBZ, Soccer, I say Magical Girl Kururuko was a ref to the VA's roles. Hotohori was mistaken for a chick by Miaka. The Olivie/Angelique voice that I've heard on drama cds is pretty feminine & he's also Ranka/Ouran Host vs the fact Tama & Keroro are voiced by gals & could have been given the role just as easily. Oh, there were boobie missiles in this set which we've seen quite a few times in other shows) As for extras, I've always found it interesting that MB, which is usually not really what I'd call a front-runner (nowadays that is Funi, but used to include ADV) always has done pretty well giving us extras without charging any more. I remember an ADV panel where they said they have to pay for Japanese content dvd extras so it never seemed to make sense that MB manages to get them so often. I do get the distinct feeling Funi doesn't really think all that much about the Japanese side of these things, but if they can get Japanese cast/staff interviews or other Japanese extras thrown into the package & would only have to translate them, why not go for it & give it to those of us who do like to watch them? |
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4427 |
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Doesn't that kind of answer your own question? If it felt like a B range story in the earlier set and the reviewer feels it has now grown stale can it really still get a B?
Would it be better not to tell them what the reviewer really feels about the show? I'd say it's more than fair to let people who haven't seen the show know what the reviewer honestly thinks considering that's who these reviews are primarily for. |
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EricJ
 Posts: 876 |
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The voice actors (with the comparative exception of Haberkorn and R. Bruce Elliott's obnoxious-beyond-the-call-of-duty spin on the Narrator) are doing their yeoman best recreating their original characters. But what started out as just Funi putting on the red dress and smelling the Shin-chan CN money is getting more negative and more self-contemptuous of having to be stuck with the series: Anyone remember back when 90's Cartoon Network was counting the minutes trying to get out of being stuck with Hanna-Barbera reruns, and embarked on a crabby, mean-spirited and obsessively bile-filled near-propaganda campaign to ridicule/demonize/school-bully the studio for giving us Scrappy-Doo, Aquaman, and Jabberjaw? That's the EXACT tone we've been getting from some of Funi's recent "anarchic" ad-libs into the second season: - Jokes about Gundam refs (like Keroro caught up in his Char cosplay when Tamama's pal shows up, or mistaking Fuyuki's bed-warmer for a Dendrobium) are rewritten into jokes about "Obscure anime refs that no one in the audience will get". - Parodied anime-drama cliche's like the inspiring "watercolor moment" now have to get fourth-walled into non-fan ridicules ("Now available on this collector plate...") - Long deadpan passages of anime-drama parodies (like the squad recruiting zoo animals) will get attention-deficit jokes about "Well, THAT was long and boring, wasn't it?" - Almost every...EVERY...Narrator ad-lib silence-fill--like lonely Keroro chatting with the Narrator in Ep. 31--has now fallen into the rut of endless fourth-wall shtick about the Narrator Hating His Job. (In the original ep. 31 sub, Keroro tries to start a conversation about Gundam models, and the Narrator replies he's "a little too old for that, sorry...How about baseball?".) ...One gets the distinct, erm, impression that Funi is less enamored with their post-ADV contract for the series as they were a year or two ago. 
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Otaking09
Posts: 637 |
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But he said in "this" review, that it was consistent. Therefore, there's no need to downgrade anything!
Well said. I just find it weird for Carl to give a grade that slightly contradicts his statement: "consistancy is good". That's all. |
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Greed1914
Posts: 4427 |
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He does mention that the consistency actually makes it feel repetitious, which is fine if you're reallly into the show but not so much otherwise. Specifically, early on the review mentions that that the same humor is there, but it just doesn't catch people off guard like it did before. |
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everydaygamer
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people have been talking alot about how some these narration jokes are funi's way of saying how much they hate the show but i can't help but feel people are reading too much into it. i mean most of the narrators jokes are comments that i myself were thinking at that moment and to hear him go ahead and point that out always makes me laugh. i never watched the original japanese but funi's plan with it has always seemed to just fill up the silence it had in many episodes to keep it more interesting and it works most of the time. but like i said never watched the original so its hard for me to say. |
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merr
Posts: 468 |
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Right, because the dub is totally written by Funimation executives who use it as a medium to channel their unbridled rage at having to release this show. Oh wait, that's not it. All the writers are hired on contract, and their work has nothing to do with the Funi execs' personal feelings on Sgt. Frog. Unless you truly believe that the higher ups are coming down to the writers and saying, "You must be as vitriolic and mean as possible so that everyone will realize how much our company hates this show", I'd say your reading too much into this. Also, considering that the VAs have mentioned doing work on episodes past 51, I'll bet Funimation doesn't hate the show quite as much as you think they do. |
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neocloud9
Posts: 1178 Location: Atlanta, GA |
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Oh God, seriously? THAT IS AWESOME NEWS. 
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