Personal Log: TJ Dragonblade

Ack. I composed most of this a couple-few months back when the album came out and I had it on repeat, but never quite got around to finishing and posting it. It's ended up less a proper review and more a rambling of my impressions.

( Album Review - A Thousand Suns )

...Yeah, it's about two months overdue. Not that anyone was actually waiting for my opinion. ^_^;

( Album Review: Nightwish - Dark Passion Play )

Oh, dear lord, my *ears*!

I can only imagine that this must be how Saiyuki sub fans felt when they first heard the ADV dub. They have my complete and utter sympathy.

I took a listen to Geneon's version of Reload last night. I have many, many thoughts to offer. And unfortunately, most of them aren't pleasant.

Dude. *Jeff* was cringing, after only two minutes. Mr. Anti-Subtitles himself. He actually *begged* me to switch the vocal track before the first episode even finished. For which...well, I suppose I should be grateful for that much. ^_^

The new voices...gahh. I've adjusted to two sets already; and I've no inclination to adjust to a third. Especially when they sound so *off* to begin with. I think Goku got the worst of it, poor monkey. And Hakkai. Just not *soft* enough. They did get the sense of overly-polite-ness in the dialogue; but what the hell's up with that pretentious little pseudo-British curl behind random words, huh? And...when he says Gojyo...(shudders) He pronounces it with a hard 'j'. It's almost as bad as everyone saying 'Ten-poo' back in the Gaiden eps. And then of course there's the fact that when Gojyo says 'Hakkai' it sounds like 'Hawkeye'. His voice just doesn't fit, either. Nowhere near rich enough, and I didn't get that sense of swaggering cocksure complacency that Gojyo really really *must* have.

And Sanzo...ghehh. Lex Lang sounds closer to Toshihiko Seki than David Matranga did, certainly. But that's about all he's got going for him. Purists, please don't kill me; but I've always felt that David Matranga's pissy Wolverine-esque rasp was a very good match for Sanzo's character. Different from the original, certainly; but still good. (cowers and ducks in fear of rotten fruit being thrown) Perhaps I only say that because I heard that version first; but nevertheless. When I was adjusting from Dub to Sub, it was Sanzo's voice that took the longest to appreciate. And now...

Lex Lang...he was a mediocre Shun Aurora, an overly-villainous Kane-whatever-the-hell-his-name-was-in-Nightwalker, a horrible Sagara Sanosuke, and now he's a bad *bland* Genjyo Sanzo. And I'm sure he's done more that I've either missed or failed to mention. He's kinda in the same category as Scott McNeil. Widely known VAs who do lots of popular work all over the place but just don't sound *right* in almost any of their leading roles. And now they've both had a hand in bringing ToshiSeki characters down to the realms of mediocrity. Yay.

Thankfully, I missed out on whatever's been done to Kou and crew and Nii, since we switched before ep 2. Maybe I'll take a listen at some other time. Maybe I won't.

Maybe the dub will improve over time, as the ADV one did. But I'm not in any hurry to stick around and find out. It irks me, truly, that a company picking up a sequel series would not make any discernible effort to effect any sort of continuity with the first leg of the story. They could have at least *tried* to get the same VAs. Or at least to match vocal quality and sense of character better. And there were little things in the translation that just felt *different*. Feh.

I'm just a little annoyed with Geneon at the moment.

And full of sympathy, as I said at the outset, for how the long-time fans must have felt when the ADV dub came along.

Okay! Demon Diary 6 is due out in another couple of weeks. And in the meantime, I have discovered that volume 7 will be the final volume (cries) and it's due out May 11. For those interested:

Link to TokyoPop/DD7

I have been devouring manga left and right lately. Sad that FAKE and Demon Diary are nearly over, but have loved the ride. Also watched FAKE DVD again last night, and discovered that Ted is a redhead, not blond as I'd assumed! Somehow now I like him even more...^_^

What else do I read...Pet Shop of Horrors. I can't for the life of me find volumes 2 and 3. Probably have to go to Suncoast and special order them so I can get on with the series. Because I rather like it. I understand there's a DVD, too, that I'm gonna hafta go find...

Gravitation...(shrugs) I'll probably see it through to the end, but...it could be so much better.

Dragon Hunters...it's alright, but not riveting. Have dropped it after vol 3 for the sake of cutting back the expense of my habit. Same with Chronicles of the Cursed Sword, after vol 2; and Samurai Deeper Kyo after vol 1. Probably keep reading them if I had money to burn, though.

Bastard...someday I'll get around to picking up volume 5. And finishing the DVD. There are just other series that I'm much more hooked on at the moment.

King of Hell. It's up to volume 4, and I'd recommend it. It's fun, and mostly light-hearted...there are aspects of it (particularly the art style, esp. the way feet are drawn) that remind me of DBZ...it's good, though. Majeh is a master swordsman who died. In the otherworld, other dead sword masters picked a fight with him & he defeated them all. Impressed/made uneasy by such strength, the King of Hell put a sealing symbol on him that put him back into the form of a young boy and made him an envoy for newly-dead spirits. He's followed around by a ninja named Samhuk (Sam for short) who'd rather have almost any other job. Along the way, he gets his physical body back, which then also reverts to teenage form (much to his dismay). He's basically been assigned the task of retrieving escaped evil spirits; currently he's doing so by entering a massive martial arts tournament because these evil spirits are likely to have possessed the dead bodies of martial artists or somesuch...Link to TokyoPop

Found Rurouni Kenshin. I'm hooked. Up through volume 3 already; I understand it's better in manga form than anime and I'm looking forward to much more of it. Kenshin is...it's hard to pin down exactly why I like him so, but I do. So much so that I've gone looking for Sano-Kenshin fics without turning much up so far...will have to search further, I guess.

Les Bijoux. This one is just starting out, and so far I'd suggest it, just based on volume 1. Fantasy-gothic, sort of. Gorgeous, gorgeous artwork; bishies to spare left and right. With eyes lips and hair to be envied by women everywhere. These boys are just plain *beautiful*. The principal character is named Lapis. He has a heart condition that turns him female from time to time, and then his/her name is Lazuli. (Everyone is named for jewels; the end notes tell us that's what les bijoux means--jewels). His world is divided into mines, ruled by Habits. They are cruel upper-class folk, caring little for their commoner subjects (called Spars) except as workers in the mines etc. etc. Lapis seems to be set up as the one destined to overthrow them. The Habit named Diamond is shaping up to be the principle antagonist; interestingly enough he's in love with Lazuli and has sworn to kill Lapis. Clearly doesn't know they're the same person. ^_^ Leading Lapis to the discovery of his destiny are a Habit named Carnelian (seems to be something of a renegade as far as Habits are concerned), who's shaping up to be a nice possibility for yaoi should the manga drift in that direction (even if it doesn't, there's always fandom!) and Panther, a shapeshifter who turns into--what else, a Panther. Long dark straight hair down to his ankles. He apparently is sworn to serve Lapis, refers to him/her as master. Also a potential yaoi possibility. Or maybe I just say that because they're all so damned *pretty*. Link to TokyoPop

Funny how most of the series that hook me or interest me seem to be the Korean ones...Demon Diary, Les Bijoux, King of Hell...all manhwa rather than manga. So were/are Dragon Hunters & Chronicles of the Cursed Sword. Heh.