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REVIEW: Free! Eternal Summer + OVA BD+DVD


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macattack



Joined: 07 May 2011
Posts: 256
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 10:01 am Reply with quote
Forumgoers complaining Rebecca didn't take Tatum's scripts (who infamously veered wildly from the original) to task in 3, 2, 1...
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limabeanicecream



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 1:00 pm Reply with quote
macattack wrote:
Forumgoers complaining Rebecca didn't take Tatum's scripts (who infamously veered wildly from the original) to task in 3, 2, 1...


Her review was weak in general, but the fact that you mentioned that first (even disguised as snark towards people with legitimate complaints) tells all.

I understand the reviewers on this sight may have personal relationships or incentives to keep positive relations with the Funimation cast and crew but this was a huge misstep on Rebecca's part.

It's a false advertisement of the dub. The constant "dude, bro, man" and even the weird pet names like "ai ai" are drastically different from the original.

They brutalize the tone of the show to the point where Crunchyroll made sure to reiterate time and time again on their social media that Season 1 was Crunchyroll's dub.

This review was very phoned in, frankly, I'm kind of getting that vibe from most of the ANN posts in recent months. Like people see deadlines approaching and write a brief summary based off a cursory glance at 3 minute clips of the episodes.

I feel bad for fans of the Crunchyroll dub who will buy this and join the thousands of fans who were disgusted (or highly amused in the laughing at you not with you way) by Tatum's fanfic.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
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Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 1:15 pm Reply with quote
Rebecca's going to post a clarification on the dub a little later today in this thread for those curious, and we'll include a clarification in the review as well.
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limabeanicecream



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 1:36 pm Reply with quote
Zac wrote:
Rebecca's going to post a clarification on the dub a little later today in this thread for those curious, and we'll include a clarification in the review as well.


Appreciate this.
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Raebo101



Joined: 17 Mar 2010
Posts: 792
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 3:40 pm Reply with quote
macattack wrote:
Forumgoers complaining Rebecca didn't take Tatum's scripts (who infamously veered wildly from the original) to task in 3, 2, 1...


I take it fans of the show were looking forward to an ANN reviewer ripping Tatum's dub script a new one?

limabeanicecream wrote:
Her review was weak in general, but the fact that you mentioned that first (even disguised as snark towards people with legitimate complaints) tells all.

I understand the reviewers on this sight may have personal relationships or incentives to keep positive relations with the Funimation cast and crew but this was a huge misstep on Rebecca's part.


Well, that answers that question... Rolling Eyes
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2599
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 4:34 pm Reply with quote
Here I am, ready to explain myself.

First of all, I have no relationship whatsoever with Funimation, Tatum, or anyone else. They don't even directly send me review copies. Everything I write is based solely on my own thoughts; whether or not you like that is entirely up to you.

I did not have a problem with the English dub. Yes, I am attached to the original Japanese voices, but that's more because those are the voices I associate with the characters from the first season. I felt that the Funi dub kept the characters recognizable as who they are and in their relationships to each other, which tends to be my major criteria in switching from sub to dub when the acting is capable in both. Translation is, as I have said before, more an art than a science, and sometimes rewriting is necessary in order to make something transfer. (I say this from actual experience translating.) Did I love the "man" and "bro" stuff? Eh, not especially, but it is consistent with how I have heard my students talking among themselves. Is Tatum prone to purple prose? Hell yes, and I did mention that Rei suffered a bit for it.

Ultimately my take away from watching both dub and sub for the exact same scenes was that the characters remained themselves but had been localized enough to appeal to a broader audience than strictly fans of the show. I absolutely appreciate that there are fans who dislike the dub and who will never like it, but there are others who cannot read subtitles for a variety of reasons, and I didn't feel that they would not get the meaning and nuance of the show with the English language track.

So again - I am not trying to appease or appeal to some nebulous Entity. I debated how to handle this review for several days before ultimately posting it in anticipation of this reaction.
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DuchessBianca



Joined: 24 Apr 2015
Posts: 562
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 4:39 pm Reply with quote
As someone who watched BOTH the crunchyroll dub and funimations S2 dub I truly couldn't care less about a few "Dude" or "Bro's" being throw around and felt not real difference at all between either dub. Both seasons had fantastic dubs and I enjoyed both far, FAR more then I ever would have had it been sub only. If it upset others then far from me to tell someone else what they should like/dislike but like I said before funimations dub felt in the exact same spirit to crunchyrolls dub and I'm just glad to have such a fantastic dub cast for both seasons Anime smile

Got the For the Future Premium Edition and its amazing, that artbook is truly beautiful, more PE's like that Funi!
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TrailOfDead



Joined: 09 Aug 2012
Posts: 198
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 4:42 pm Reply with quote
Princess_Irene wrote:
So again - I am not trying to appease or appeal to some nebulous Entity.


your job as a reviewer is to validate the opinions of your readers, just as the writer's job is to write the script that the viewers think they would write themselves if they knew how to translate Japanese. why do you not understand this
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midnighteve



Joined: 04 Jun 2008
Posts: 114
Location: Chula Vista
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 4:43 pm Reply with quote
Personally, I pre-ordered and bought this season expressly *because* Tatum write the script. I loved his work on Stein's Gate and I've specifically held off on watching the movie till I get it dubbed. Free is silly, goofy fun for me, so it makes sense to be that the dub is more free-form (haha) than literal.

My bestie and I watched the first season and were amused enough by its premise, but not enough to buy the discotec release. When I heard the Funi dub, however, I was ecstatic. It just flows more naturally for me. And I don't know if it's a bilingual thing or something, but I'm more sensitive to speech patterns/ticks and tones, so some of the Japanese VAs just drive me nuts *cough*Kouki Miyata*cough* Anyway, wanted to put my opinion out there since everyone seems to be waiting for the inevitable backlash here :/
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2599
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 4:53 pm Reply with quote
TrailOfDead wrote:

your job as a reviewer is to validate the opinions of your reader


My job is to present a critique of the show in all of its facets. Whether or not readers find validation or refutation of their opinions is up to them.
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Raebo101



Joined: 17 Mar 2010
Posts: 792
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 4:57 pm Reply with quote
TrailOfDead wrote:
your job as a reviewer is to validate the opinions of your readers, just as the writer's job is to write the script that the viewers think they would write themselves if they knew how to translate Japanese. why do you not understand this


I THINK this person is being sarcastic, but I'm not sure. Confused
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 5:00 pm Reply with quote
^ You're probably right. (I hope so, anyway!) Smile
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MsDreadedFate



Joined: 01 Sep 2014
Posts: 4
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 5:01 pm Reply with quote
Good review but I don't agree with that dub rating.
LOL B+ hmmm, I am curious to see Rebecca's more in depth view on it.

Anyway my opinions


DUB 2nd Season:
I thought the casting of VAs and their 'character voice' were sooo predictable. I could look past it because what bothered me more, was the script. The 2nd season script was BAD.
Some tried to tell me it was bad translation....um no, it's bad script and direction - there's a difference. Tatum really ruined my hype for rewatching Free! in English.

The 2nd season was horrendously hilarious, Americanized and cringey.

I don't care if Rin is meant to be pronounce as Reen it was cringey af, also the constant: dude, bro and 'backstroke for days' phrases changed a few personalities imo. Makoto didn't sound like that sweet boy as he became a jock and I found Haru quite sarcastic rather than his indifferent monotone personality in the original.

DUB 1st Season:
After all the complaints it received. Crunchyroll took charge and boy was the script and direction an improvement or what! They used the same voice actors but everything else was more watchable. Thank you CR, thank you.


Last edited by MsDreadedFate on Fri Mar 11, 2016 5:17 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Errinundra
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Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 6516
Location: Melbourne, Oz
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 5:09 pm Reply with quote
I'm curious about something. The Australian actors used in the Australian episode in the Japanese dub have been replaced by American voice actors in the American dub. Apart from wondering why you wouild bother, how are they at doing Australian accents?

Last edited by Errinundra on Fri Mar 11, 2016 5:14 pm; edited 1 time in total
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MsDreadedFate



Joined: 01 Sep 2014
Posts: 4
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 5:13 pm Reply with quote
Here's my short random...review? Sorry if you dont care for it

Storyline: 8/10
Free! Eternal Summer was an improvement from the first season imo. First of all, the 2nd season toned down the fanservice and focused more on actual plot! Although I did get sucked into S1 becasue of the fanservice (there was a lot of fangirling) it did go overboard to the point where I found myself cringing alot.

I loved that KyoAni focused more character development, careers and pressure in high school but I was disappointed with the lack of actual swimming tournaments. It would have been nice to see a bit more races and other interactions with other rival schools. Also Nationals just started and all of the sudden it ended and they came 6th place and didn't bat an eye. I'm ok with it but idk it felt like they made such a big deal about Nationals so I was really bummed when KyoAni did the whole 'spirit animal thing' again. Like why!
Well I can't really blame KyoAni as this is only a 13 episode season. So they couldn't focus on much.

Most Shocking moment:
spoiler[Haru stopping in the middle of the race]. I was genuinely surprised by that. Also angry Haru was soo refreshing!

Best New Character:
Sousuke - nuff said.

Sousuke and Rin's friendship was more natural and realistic to actual teen boys then Haru and Makotos feminine ways lol.
Also when Sousuke shares his story (which I think is very relatable to many) and then Rin breaks down crying. KILL ME NOW.
I dont know which storyline made me cry more: Sousuke's, Nagisa's controlling parent, Rei breaking down with the thought of his friends leaving GOSH!
Man I really felt for Sousuke. Remember that montage sequence showing everyone starting their future careers and then KyoAni just gives us a shot of Sousuke staring at the sunset Sad

Why I love Sports Anime

Somehow sport animes inspire me soo much! Seriously Haikyuu!! and Free! made me feel all kinds of emotions especially that NAKAMA BOND!!! Friendship and teamwork is forever guys!

In fact these are the only two sports animes I have ever invested time into.

My grades:

Overall (dub) : C-
Overall (sub) : A
Story : B+
Animation : A
Art : A
Music : B

[Edit]: added spoiler tags. Errinundra.
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