×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
INTEREST: Funimation Announces Rideback's English Dub Cast


Goto page 1, 2  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Brass2TheMax



Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 65
PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:13 pm Reply with quote
This show was okay, nothing to write home about though. I kind of hope they'll start picking up some more deserving series soon.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Ranma824



Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 456
PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:14 pm Reply with quote
That's nice.

Any change on the BD front? Last I heard this was only getting a DVD release.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:23 pm Reply with quote
My reaction hearing this news:

"They're going to do Rideback? What?"

It was decent enough, but definitely mediocre. I'm surprised anyone would want to waste money on it in this economy.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8458
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:46 pm Reply with quote
It looks like Funimation's giving starring roles to folks who don't normally get them in this dub. I like that.

More Brian Massey can't be bad, anyway.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website AIM Address My Anime My Manga
vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:08 pm Reply with quote
The series sort of... fizzled at the end, which was unfortunate, since it had high production values to begin with, and a pretty good story and neat mech designs. My understanding is the manga it's based on is ongoing, which might account for the weak ending.

Didn't know it was high-profile enough to merit the expense of a dub, but I guess Funimation is sticking to the "we dub everything" model.

(fixed spelling)


Last edited by vashfanatic on Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
sepherest





PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:10 pm Reply with quote
I didn't even know they licensed Rideback. Looking back to the article where it says it got picked up it's easy to see why - the majority of the titles aside it are pretty "meh."
Back to top
Captain Crotchspike



Joined: 23 Mar 2005
Posts: 355
Location: Phoenix, AZ
PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:18 pm Reply with quote
It's a good show, and I think it works given its length. I actually thought the ending was sort of brave - a more bombastic route may have been more universally satisfying, but I felt what happened made sense. It was something of a pleasant surprise, in a way.

This was one of the few recent licenses that sprang to mind when some friends were asking me if there were any decent new anime out there to buy these days. :B
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address
Kalessin



Joined: 15 Aug 2007
Posts: 931
PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:05 pm Reply with quote
Rideback was fantastic, and I'm definitely looking forward to being able to pick it up. I just hope that they release in on Blu-ray. I don't think that they've yet said whether they intend to release it on Blu-ray or not, so here's to hoping.

I do agree that the ending of the series could have used some work, but it was great nonetheless. The rest of it was certainly fantastic. It would be nice if the manga were licensed though. I believe that it was 10 volumes, and there's no way that the anime covers that much material, so it pretty much has to be quite different, even if the basic story is the same. But I don't think that it's even been fully scanlated, so as far as I know, the only way to read it all right now is to learn to read Japanese and import it. Oh well. Unfortunately, there's plenty of great stuff that never makes it over here. At least the anime was licensed. I can't wait to get my hands on it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:14 pm Reply with quote
Captain Crotchspike wrote:
It's a good show, and I think it works given its length. I actually thought the ending was sort of brave - a more bombastic route may have been more universally satisfying, but I felt what happened made sense. It was something of a pleasant surprise, in a way.

I mostly just wanted a further expanded look into the 20-minutes-into-the-future setting that was going on around her. The series ties up the heroine's personal story, but the political intrigue could have been epic.

That said, if they'd given it twice as many episodes, it might have gotten bogged down with padding in the middle, as series are wont to do.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:23 pm Reply with quote
vashfanatic wrote:
That said, if they'd given it twice as many episodes, it might have gotten bogged down with padding in the middle, as series are wont to do.


If given the choice, would I prefer the confusing mess we did get, or a longer show potentially bogged down with padding? Hmm, I would choose the longer show. There's risk of course, but at least the various elements in the show would have gotten way more time to be fleshed out properly. Plus, more Tamayo would not have gone amiss; she was awesome.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18138
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:53 pm Reply with quote
Boy, I somehow missed hearing that Funi even had this one. I'm a little surprised it got picked up, too; I didn't think it was an especially popular - or especially good - series, although it did have some neat moments early on and in the middle.

If something like this got picked up, though, then I have to think that the chances of someone picking up the still-unlicensed Valkyria Chronicles have probably improved. (And unlike RB, it even has a released-in-the-U.S. game tie-in, too.)

And those who complain about the "same-ol', same-ol'" on casting shouldn't have anything to complain about here. (Although the cast does overlap heavily with Corpse Princess.) Stephanie Young is the only VA on the cast list with a substantial resume in prominent roles, and she's not even what most people would consider an A-List name as English VAs go.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
CareyGrant



Joined: 18 Nov 2009
Posts: 453
PostPosted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 12:48 am Reply with quote
Wow, I'm... surprised. I'd never have figured Rideback, but I applaud Funi from trying something other than moe or fanservice.

I'm also pleased to see them use some other VA's besides the Usual Suspects (Rhymes with Hodd Taberkorn). Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Luci Christian... heh, I forgot what I was going to say. Anyway. Good news on the cast, oh, and I just adore Stephanie Young; there's never too much of her ;3 *swoon* Perhaps Stephanie and Luci are the reason I like One Piece so much?

I hope this bodes well for some other titles from recent history that *might* get licensed.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Ingraman



Joined: 07 Feb 2005
Posts: 1077
PostPosted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 1:03 am Reply with quote
dtm42 wrote:
It was decent enough, but definitely mediocre. I'm surprised anyone would want to waste money on it in this economy.


Decent, but mediocre? Interesting combination of adjectives... ^_^ I found it to be more interesting than a few other shows that Funimation has recently licensed.

I noticed that a lot of the people who didn't seem to like Rideback mostly didn't like it because it left the racing behind and went into the politics of the country/world. For people to watch the opening animation, and not expect that was surprising.

The series told Rin's story about as well as it could have within the few episodes that they had to work with. The politics wasn't perfect, and the whole backstory about how the oganization (GGP?) managed to take over the world was rather silly, but I loved the mecha designs and the OP theme and liked the character designs and seeing a brief bit of Rin's life. The story was fairly simple, but handled well enough.

I'll probably buy it if gets a BD release. DVD-only? I'm not too certain. It's a HD show, so how much would I want it in SD?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Eric10301



Joined: 10 May 2008
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 2:59 am Reply with quote
Ouch talk about a mistake on Funi's part. This show was a failure and I can't imagine sales being that good when its released.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 4:05 am Reply with quote
Ingraman wrote:
Decent, but mediocre? Interesting combination of adjectives... Anime smile


Hmm. What I meant by that was that it was perfectly watchable as long as one really didn't expect too much, but the show itself has numerous faults and plenty of flaws.

The characters were never truly developed to my liking, the direction was a shambles, the writing was weak, the pacing was poor, various subplots were left unresolved, the dialogue was hokey, and the music was repetitive, noticeably so. The ridebacks were plausible from a racing or acrobatic perspective, but they were absolutely not believable as military machines.

So yeah, the show was decent enough to watch, but there's no way it deserves anything more than a middling grade.

What it did do right was the setting and backgrounds; the university completely captured the look of a real-world campus, and the race day felt like an actual motorsport track. And additionally, the character designs for Rin and Tamayo were very appealing. That's about it.


Last edited by dtm42 on Mon Sep 06, 2010 3:37 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group