Some stuff, but mostly Naruto dub ranting

There is a method to my madness. The following things inevitably make me disaterously depressed:
a) The months September, March and July
b) Saturday
c) Talking about my problems ect.

Considering that it is a Saturday in September and I just spent a good few hours actually talking about something serious last night, my mood today is not something I would call fit for human consumption.

HOWEVER, I've spent the entire day holed up on my computer downloading videoqgame MIDIS. Say what you will, but I love MIDIS and at one time in my life, they were more or less all I listened to. Adam just came into my room and gave me the most WITHERING look for listening to such low quality musicqfiles. *sobz*

OF ADVENT CHILDREN:
Beautiful. Although the plot probably could have been written/paced better I found myself not caring because the entire thing was so jaw droppingly GORGEOUS and it tickled my obsessive FFVII fangirl in exactly the right way. Despite everything, I would have to say that Reno and Rude totally made the movie for me with their awesomeness. XD

I loved the way that everytime Red tried to talk, Cait Sith would slam his muzzle closed and say something instead. That was suitably adorable. And I also loved the way that Aerith's personality actually existed in the movie, unlike in Kingdom Hearts where they randomly decided to make her the proverbial "etheral chick". *eyeroll* And is it just me, or did Red have the most ADORABLE voice in the entire Universe? XD *insert Nanaki fangirling*



RUFUS, WTF. I mean, I always had my suspicions, but he should have been more, y'know, scarred up and ugly and stuff considering he totally got a FACE FULL OF THE PLANET'S ANGER. I was disappointed when his bandages came off since he was sitting there the entire movie being all like: "I MUST HIDE MY UGLY WOUNDS! GAAAAAH!" *eye roll* Well, as they say: No one's ever seen him bleed or cry... by they have seen him hide his face undeneath a towel for several years? o__O

And how the hell is Tseng alive? WTF.

But, yeah, I like Shinra and thus am pleased. Maybe?

OF THE NARUTO DUB:
MUCH better than I anticipated. Although they, and I am at a loss for an adjective here since I would like to tell you that they slaughtered the opening and ending, however Adam noted that the word 'massacre' might be more appropiate in this situation, the voice acting wasn't half bad and they DID keep the actual soundtrack of the show. They were sporadic with their blood-editing. Apparently, people are allowed to have blood soak through their clothing, but it is in no way, manner or form allowed to pour forth from various orifaces. o__O


Now, I must make a confession: I am not terribly fond of the Naruto anime. I love the MANGA to pieces and the series as a whole stands as my favorite typical shounen series of all time, however I find that there are SIGNIFICANT difference between the characterization in the manga and in the anime, despite the anime being relatively accurate event wise. Thus, I find it difficult to enjoy the anime at the best of times. MOREOVER, I find myself disliking many of the Japanese voices. I mean, yes, I am fond of Kakashi, Shikamaru, Temari (ROMI PAKU, duh guys!), Team Gai, Itachi and Kisame and I've grown used to Naruto's voice, however the pure, unadultatrated HATRED I feel for Sasuke's completely unsuitable voice more or less ruins the show for me.

Now, I must make another confession. I am a dub fan. I LIKE DUBS. If the dub is good, I will often prefer it over the original Japanese version. I have NO IDEA WHY, mind you. I saw Slayers, Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop all first in their original Japanese format, however for some strange reason I find the dubs of each show FAR easier to enjoy and relate to (I have no idea what this says about my stance on Megumi Hayashibara considering her three most famous roles- Lina, Rei and Faye- were in these series XD).

There are shows, though, where the idea of dubbing them over makes me froth at the mouth. Fullmetal Alchemist comes to mind instantly since the original Japanese voices were so perfect I occasionally forget that the show isn't in a language I understand when I'm watching it. The dub isn't bad per say, it just cannot hold a candle to the original. .hack//SIGN is another one of those shows where I feel that the dub simply cannot ever compare and it should simply stop trying. ALTHOUGH I will concede that I enjoy the .hack// GAMES english track faaaar more than the Japanese track because between MONA MARSHALL, BRIANNE SIDDAL and CRISPIN FREEMAN all being in my party at the EXACT SAME TIME I was in dub actor heaven.



WHAT DOES THIS ALL HAVE TO DO WITH NARUTO? Well, although the problems I have with characterization and plot nuances will remain, the Naruto dub has a fair chance at finally winning me over since I don't have all that much of an attatchment to the original voice acting. So far, we've only seen Sarutobi, Iruka, Mizuki (FUCKING MIZUKI. JUST. GAH.)* and, of course, the title character of the series: NARUTO!

Iruka's voice doesn't suit him the way I would have imagined, but he acts it decently aside from a few awkward moments. Sarutobi is good, but unnervs me slightly because he sounds FAR too much like the Golden Dragon elder from Slayers:TRY (and that guy was, like, totally a dickface). Mizuki is, as far as Dawn and her magical VA skills could figure, acted by the same person who acted Yamato in the Digimon dub. Anyone who knows me knows that I have an INTENSE love for Micheal Reiz and feel that he is probably one of those talented VA's in the first season of Digimon (aside from, like, Mona Marshall XD). However, that his voice was wasted on MIZUKI makes me so... angry I don't know how to properally elaborate. BECAUSE MICHEAL REIZ WOULD REALLY REALLY MAKE A GOOD SASUKE, DON'T YOU THINK? T_____T So, uh, needless to say Mizuki was acted BEAUTIFULLY (FOR THE ONE EPISODE HE WAS IN AND SHUT UP, DON'T EVEN TALK ABOUT HIS FILLER ARC LATER IN THE SERIES. I AM A BITCHY MANGA PURIST AND THUS DO NOT CONSIDER ANIME FILLER CANON).

Naruto's voice actress is EXCELLENT. I was in awe. I mean, hell it was only the first episode! She is going to be FANTASTIC by, hell, the time the Zabuza/Haku arc is over. I'm excited to watch more of the dub just to see how she pulls off certain scenes. BUT, you know what would ruin the show completely? If Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi had crappy voices (although that seems inexplicable in Kakashi's case, since he apparently has the same dub actor as Spike Spiegal and, as I mentioned before, the Cowboy Bebop dub is win). As long as Team Seven all have good voices, the show will, y'know, work.

But I'm terribly afraid that all those side characters I adore may not fair as well. I mean, there's a lot of chances to give people dumb voices. Like, I can see them giving Shikamaru a dumb voice. Or, like, Chouji. Or KANKURO. T____T (And Kisame undoubtably will get a dumb voice because he's blue and no one likes him. Except me. And, y'know, Itachi. Probably. If Itachi even likes people. Or sharks. Um, yeah).

If Neji has a dumb voice, I might cry.

OKAY. I'M GOING TO STOP RANTING ABOUT THIS NOW.



IRUKA IS RAIDEN! WTF? I have not seen Quinton Flynn voice act in anything EVER except, like, y'know, Sons of Liberty. I feel as if I should have something more to say on the subject, by omgwhy is RAIDEN in Naruto!? >__________> And does this mean that Christopher Fritz can come and play Kabuto because, and I have no idea why I feel this way, Otacon's voice on Kabuto would be the jawsome thing in the entire Universe. *ded*

Also, in the Japanese version of Naruto Gaara's voice actor was Akira Ishida, who many people know as the voice behind the enigmatic Mazoku General/Priest/Go-For boy XELLOS! in Slayers. In the English version of Naruto, Gaara is primed to be acted by Eric Stuart. Many people have come to know Eric Stuart as the voice of Brock on Pokemon and Kaiba on Yu Gi Oh, but before either of these shows were brought to North America, Eric dear had a far superior role- that of GOURRY GABRIEV in the Slayers dub!

Both of these prospects depress me since the idea of Gaara associated with either character just tends to unnerv me, however I will admit that he has far more in common with Xellos considering Xellos is a being of pure evil who thrives on the pain and misery of other and Gaara went through a period in his life when he too thrived on the pain, misery and blood of others.

But I still think that he would be a much more effective character were he to sound younger than the majority of the cast. o__O



*for those of you curious about what brought on this random, vulgar outburst I must explain something about the Naruto Fighting Game which Dawn, Tim and I spent much of the summer playing addictively. This game places itself quite thoroughly in the timeline of the following arcs: Chuunin Exam - Akatsuki introduction. HOWEVER, FOR SOME REASON THAT ANYONE HAS YET TO DISCERN, MIZUKI IS IN THIS GAME. He is in this game and KABUTO is not. He is in this game and SHIZUNE is not. HE IS IN THIS GAME BUT KISAME IS NOT, AND THAT IS A HORRID SIN IN ITSELF BECAUSE KISAME IS, LIKE, THE COOLEST THING EVER TO BE COOL. Aside from this, Mizuki also refuses to be hugged by Gai. Those who refuse the purity and passion of Gai's hugs deserve ire.