Gankutsuou episode 1
Feb. 28th, 2009 10:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
timepiececlockGankutsuou
#01
Just when I was starting to wish that dub script writers took a little more freedom with their translations so as to avoid having reasonable statements in Japanese sound ill-worded, dumbed-down, or childishly expressed in English (this happens in almost every dub) because our habits of verbally expressing sentiment are very different than the Japanese, the anime totally changed its tone and, suddenly, people were getting executed, two best friends were bickering in the street, and I was interested at last.
Characters:
I wonder how many anime series have Johnny Yong Bosch in the lead role? He'll always be Vash the Stampede to me, but his voice feels so overused any time I hear it in things these days. Especially if they always give him the same character type. He's a good actor, and I've never had a problem with his range of emotional tone, it's just that he uses his normal voice for each character so that if you played me a sample of his voice I wouldn't be able to tell you which character it was for. I have the same problem with VA Steven Blum (Spike Spiegel, etc.)
Albert is clearly the fool of the two (at least at this age), and learned two harsh lessons this episode. Hopefully he'll take away the right lessons from those experiences and come out a little wiser. I predict he'll endure a LOT and be much harder as a person before the show ends. I'd feel sorry for his loss of innocence if the show would give me a reason to mourn what's being lost. At the moment he's a self-involved little fuckwit and I want him to hurry and wise up so I have something to sympathize with in his arc.
His friend Franz, on the other hand, is likable and has a cooler head to keep from getting into these situations.
The city/planet of Luna is a character all on it's own: a mix of Paris and Rome with cruelty and flowing blood presented beside beautiful gowns and near-obscene displays of wealth.
Plot:
It's clear the Count is going to groom Albert and use him in his revenge. I haven't read the novel but I know the general gist of the story, so I assume this incarnation of the Count is out for revenge, though the context of his revenge is probably quite different than the books. After all, I've never seen an anime that was faithful adaptation of any book older than 1900.
Art
I find it difficult to look at. It will take acclimation before I like it...right now I feel that although the colors are vibrant, it's jarring to see the anime-colored heads on top of free-floating patterns. Their heads look "pasted on" in the worst sense, because they don't fit. I think the art would do better with more distinct lines to separate the art of the bodies from the scenery, so that the clothes don't blend into the background with the result being a couple of floating heads talking to each other one a swirly carpet background, which is what the show looks like to me so far.
I'll update again after I watch a few eps.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
donna_c_punk, you gave me this series years ago but it's taken until now for me to start watching it. I can see it has a lot of potential, and it's definitely not boring. Here's hoping it lives up to the hype everyone's given it.
#01
Just when I was starting to wish that dub script writers took a little more freedom with their translations so as to avoid having reasonable statements in Japanese sound ill-worded, dumbed-down, or childishly expressed in English (this happens in almost every dub) because our habits of verbally expressing sentiment are very different than the Japanese, the anime totally changed its tone and, suddenly, people were getting executed, two best friends were bickering in the street, and I was interested at last.
Characters:
I wonder how many anime series have Johnny Yong Bosch in the lead role? He'll always be Vash the Stampede to me, but his voice feels so overused any time I hear it in things these days. Especially if they always give him the same character type. He's a good actor, and I've never had a problem with his range of emotional tone, it's just that he uses his normal voice for each character so that if you played me a sample of his voice I wouldn't be able to tell you which character it was for. I have the same problem with VA Steven Blum (Spike Spiegel, etc.)
Albert is clearly the fool of the two (at least at this age), and learned two harsh lessons this episode. Hopefully he'll take away the right lessons from those experiences and come out a little wiser. I predict he'll endure a LOT and be much harder as a person before the show ends. I'd feel sorry for his loss of innocence if the show would give me a reason to mourn what's being lost. At the moment he's a self-involved little fuckwit and I want him to hurry and wise up so I have something to sympathize with in his arc.
His friend Franz, on the other hand, is likable and has a cooler head to keep from getting into these situations.
The city/planet of Luna is a character all on it's own: a mix of Paris and Rome with cruelty and flowing blood presented beside beautiful gowns and near-obscene displays of wealth.
Plot:
It's clear the Count is going to groom Albert and use him in his revenge. I haven't read the novel but I know the general gist of the story, so I assume this incarnation of the Count is out for revenge, though the context of his revenge is probably quite different than the books. After all, I've never seen an anime that was faithful adaptation of any book older than 1900.
Art
I find it difficult to look at. It will take acclimation before I like it...right now I feel that although the colors are vibrant, it's jarring to see the anime-colored heads on top of free-floating patterns. Their heads look "pasted on" in the worst sense, because they don't fit. I think the art would do better with more distinct lines to separate the art of the bodies from the scenery, so that the clothes don't blend into the background with the result being a couple of floating heads talking to each other one a swirly carpet background, which is what the show looks like to me so far.
I'll update again after I watch a few eps.
donna_c_punk, you gave me this series years ago but it's taken until now for me to start watching it. I can see it has a lot of potential, and it's definitely not boring. Here's hoping it lives up to the hype everyone's given it.
