New
Oct 8, 2010 12:35 PM
#1
| Contrary to what extremists say, not all dubs are uniformly bad. There are dubs that are superbly acted and still remain as fresh and fascinating as they were the first time around. There are also dubs which, although not perfect, are still entertaining. And then there are dubs which are flawed in places but still have merit... as well as dubs that may have seemed passable at one time, but ultimately lose their appeal and are hard to even listen to again without cringing. Streamline Pictures' dub of Vampire Hunter D, a 1985 B-grade OVA based on a novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi and featuring character designs by Final Fantasy's Yoshitaka Amano, is a dub that falls into this last category. Released around 1992, at a time when dubs were, at best, of poor quality, it does sort of stand out as being "not so bad". Of course, this is typically what most newcomers to Anime who stumble upon this dub without hearing a wide variety of them would think. However, after listening to many modern dubs or even some older ones that happen to hold up well, then Vampire Hunter D seems quite outdated. And by that I don't mean that it is simply bad, but both technically and emotionally, it feels like a chore to listen to after being spoiled by so many other better ones. The actors who participate in this dub are good voice actors. Honestly, they really are. Yet sometimes circumstances beyond their control, poor vocal direction or rushed takes, can cause them to turn out performances that are nowhere near the caliber of superior work. And this is exactly what Vampire Hunter D is: a case of fine actors all sounding off their mark and/or not as effective as they should be. D (Michael McConnohie) -- The title character of this post-apocalyptic western-themed slasher is a very tall, mysterious, and often stoic man clad in a long cloak and a tall hat. (SPOILER ALERT: It turns out that he's actually a half-human/half-vampire, the son of Count Dracula!) He is devoted to rid the world of all vampires and protect the innocent. Since D is not a very emotional and often stiff character, it's probably easier to lay off on McConnohie's portrayal. He does have a fairly deep voice and his often monotonous delivery isn't too detrimental. On the flip side, however, his performance often veers into "newscaster reading from cue cards" territory, particularly the scene where he's comforting Dan from crying; other times it feels like one of those cheesy old-fashioned record albums of Batman (from Power Records) in which the title character speaks in a similarly robotic tone (hence my phrase "superhero syndrome"). McConnohie comes across as rather stilted, too, although that is more of a problem of both lackluster direction and the rather choppy animation. In all fairness, he does manage to put more emotion toward the end for moments such as D's "death" scene and at the beginning of the final confrontation with Magnus Lee (particularly his energized "Back to the abyss... OF OBLIVION!"), but even with that, his overall performance as D is only so-so. LEFT HAND (Kirk Thornton) -- D's only companion is his left hand--that is to say, there is some sort of face engraved on his hand who often chides his master, but also proves to be quite an independent and powerful character in its own right. It can inhale mist-like creatures, and gobble them up, and, when D is (temporarily) murdered by Ray Ginsay, after being cut off, it crawls back to its host and even whacks D's body to awaken him! That leads to a major problem: what kind of voice would you give an unusual character such as this? Thornton's approach is to give him a rather nasally, high-pitched, prissy tone. On one level this approach can be seen as valid, as it does provide for a somewhat "creature"-like character, but his delivery is another matter. It is literally all over the place, ranging from irritating to condescending ("You're not in LOVE with her, are you?"). He's also saddled with a vocal amplifier that not only sounds artificial, but unfortunately also emphasizes how hokey the effect of this dub is. There are a couple of places where Thornton does manage to evoke a few laughs (his urging of D to stir "Wake up!"), but many of his other lines fall flat or evoke laughter for the wrong reasons. Sad to say, it's a pretty underwhelming performance from an actor who has turned in more entertaining work in other dubs. DORIS LANG (Barbara Goodson) -- We first meet Doris at the beginning of the movie, when she is stalking lizardly mutants in her garden. Here, she is brave but also vulnerable. Soon after, however, she is reduced to screaming and helplessness when Count Magnus Lee confronts her. When we see her again, there are two puncture marks on her neck, and unfortunately this is where her personality starts to veer all over the place. Sometimes she is tough and vicious (in moments such as when she lashes with her whip, or even fends off Grecco's advances), other times she's hopelessly smitten (with the title character), at one point defiant (when she's brought to Magnus Lee's room), and then, ultimately, more whiney, whimpy moments. Given all this, Doris does not come across as a very consistent character, and so that does create problems for any attempt to portray her character. In all fairness, however, Goodson does make an effort, although her performance, like the character, is a mixed bag. When she is in her "strong" mode in moments such as telling Grecco off or even speaking normally, Goodson is decent. However, the scene where she initially strikes D with the whip (to test his skills) does come across as stilted as not as forceful as it should. She also overacts during most of her "crying" and "screaming" scenes--granted such moments are very demanding to pull off to begin with, but either because of poor direction or the confused nature of her character, they don't feel strong enough. She also utters "Oh my god!" one too many times, which sometimes recalls Kate Capshaw's character in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. (It doesn't help either that her dialogue sometimes consists of lines such as "I'll bite off my tongue and bleed to death!") All of this makes for a very uneven and sometimes stiff result, but even so, Goodson does try, and for that I have to give her points. DAN LANG (Lara Cody) -- Very seldom are there roles which totally grate on me to the point that it takes me out of a dub, but this is one exception. One of the more useless characters in the film, Doris' younger brother is approximately five years old. And that is part of the problem with Cody's performance. She doesn't even sound like a young boy, but instead falls into the obvious "little boy sounding like a woman" trap. It's made all the more so by the feminine tone in Dan's voice. (For a much more convincing example of a woman trying to sound like a boy, try Brianne Siddall's Kenichi in Metropolis.) His dialogue ranges from surprisingly intelligent for his age talk to sniveling. One particularly cringeworthy delivery is in the scene where Dan is trapped on a rock: "Oh pleeeeeeease help meeeeeee!" What makes it even worse is that Cody doesn't put enough emotion into that moment, rendering it both ineffective and lifeless. Even when she's not stuck with moments like that, her "normal" scenes sound very off, both in terms of vocal tone and in delivery. Lara has had other fine roles, but Dan ranks as one of the lowest points in her career (Sheeta and Kei from the older dubs of Laputa and Akira, respectively, also qualifying). COUNT MAGNUS LEE (Jeff Winkless) -- As dreadfully dull as his turn of Muska in JAL's Laputa was, Winkless' voicing of the goofy-looking villain fares no better. Oh sure, he has an evil chuckle and a deep voice, but his performance is handicapped by many other elements. To make him sound like a vampire, the sound engineers try to amplify his voice through some kind of "vocal effects". Unfortunately, it's not particularly convincing, and only comes across as artificial instead of frightening. The other major problem is that his dialogue is either corny or just laughable, particularly an added-in monologue at the beginning of the film that begins with the stereotypical "Permit me to introduce myself!" This only succeeds in providing unintentional humor. Furthermore, the delivery of his lines is not effective enough; most of it is obviously stilted, like he's concentrating on the mouth movements, and whatever traces of emotion he tries to put out sound either forced or nowhere nearly strong enough. It's just too cartoonish. That he's saddled with a phony-sounding Transylvanian accent also drives the final nail in the coffin. (This could have been an effective if the accent were executed more fluently, but as it is here, it only provides more laughs, and that is a real detriment.) RAY GINSAY (Kerrigan Mahan) -- If the Count comes across as a rather laughable villain, Ray Ginsay is a much more effective one. He is driven by a desire to become a nobleman, willing to go to any extreme to acquire his wishes, even if it means kidnapping. Of course, his efforts are hampered by both D's intervention and his master's own disdain. As such, he may not really be considered a total baddie, especially since toward the end he saves Dan from falling to his death (a surprise move considering he had kidnapped the latter earlier on) and even tries (unsuccessfully) to kill the Count. Kerrigan Mahan provides the character with a considerably nasally yet slimy sounding tone which does convey the character's treacherous nature and "mutant" origins. But his overall performance, while otherwise fairly decent, suffers from a lot of very stilted delivery--much of this problem is attributed to the similarly stilted lipflaps, but the sometimes choppily written script also contributes to the problem. In his defense, he does cackle wickedly and handles his killing of D (and subsequent amputation) effectively (he also gets the best line: "An eye for an eye, and a hand for a hand"). However, other moments such as a rather laughably delivered and hokey-sounding "Now you die" (during his first fight with D) and the abruptly harsh tone in which he says "Stop! Release them immediately!" when his face is still cool and casual while closing his eyes work against such effective moments. It's a mediocre performance, at best. LAMIKA (Edie Mirman) -- If there is any performance in this dub that emerges anywhere near close to "effective" (aside from Goodson), it's Mirman--of course, that's mainly because that her character, Lamika, is the most interesting character in the whole movie. As Count Lee's only daughter, she is jealous of her father's infatuation with Doris and even attempts murder on the latter at one point... but Lamika is not a purely "evil" character. Her main concern is the purity of her bloodline: she detests the idea of having a "country girl" mating with her noble father, fearing (correctly) that it will disgrace her household. At first she is merely acting to save her own father from his own desires, but when she is both spared by D and later learns that her own mother is not of noble birth, Lamika feels betrayed and quickly declares that the House of Lee must fall. Mirman gives the character an appropriately sultry sounding tone and for the most part, she handles Lamika's nature fairly well, from her initially smug first appearance to her jealousy and finally her resolved resign of defeat. This could make her the best voice in the whole dub; alas, there are two problems that cause Mirman to fall short of that mark. The first and most obvious problem is the Transylvanian accent. Sometimes it seems effective, but at other times it does verge into cheesy territory. Secondly, there are places where her dialogue sounds stilted and/or not as strongly delivered as it should (for instance, her chiding of Ray Ginsay is surprisingly weak and a scream of "Kill me! Kill me now!" sounds both forced and stilted--of course that latter problem is attributed to the animation.) Which is unfortunate, because Mirman's Lamika, otherwise, is probably the only thing that comes anywhere near close to being a saving grace. DR. FEHRING (Steve Kramer) -- This character, who serves as the medical man of Doris's village, is a kindly man who sympathizes with Doris's plight and tries to offer support, only to become corrupted into a demonic monster by Count Lee. The quavering tone that Kramer uses for the character is fine. However, a lot of his dialogue comes across as very choppy and stilted, and as such, he doesn't get to emote as much as he would like. Even in the scene where he's cautioning Doris about her affections for D, there is something about his delivery that feels very pedantic. The worst moment of his performance is when he becomes a vampire; like Count Lee, his voice is given an electronic amplifying device which, again, comes across as very artificial, and his dialogue is acted laughably, particularly the guffawing and his opening line "Yes, that's who I used to be until yesterday". Thankfully, this only lasts for a few minutes, because once he is stabbed, he returns to his "normal" tone where he begs for Doris' forgiveness before finally falling to his death. In short, Kramer is OK during Fehring's normal moments but not great, but his "evil" transformation scene could have been much better executed. GRECCO (Steve Bulen) -- The final major character to the story is the spoiled, arrogant elder's son from Doris's village. He is sort of like Gaston from Disney's Beauty and the Beast: he wants Doris for himself and uses bullying to get his way (first, from informing everyone in the village about Doris's contamination, and later on, threatens to kill Lamika while blinding Doris with a blaring candle). At one point, he is also flanked by two girls. Ultimately, however, his role is rather small, and he gets bumped off even before the story is over. Bulen's vocal tone for the character is mostly passable and he handles his "villainous" moments fairly well (particularly when he screams about Doris' condition). Simultaneously, however, he is also handicapped with lots of stilted dialogue (including one very rushed "You want to play rough, huh?") and also speaks with a rather phony and laughable Transylvanian accent. Again, it's an average performance, at best. The rest of the cast consists of minor characters portrayed by Joyce Kurtz (as the three hydra-sirens who D encounters when he storms Lee's castle for the first time) and Tom Wyner (as the mayor of the village, again with a Transylvanian accent). Both are passable at best, but not particularly memorable. Performances aside, there are other issues with Vampire Hunter D's dub. One of them is the script adaptation, as applied by Wyner and Macek. It is a very liberal translation with quite a lot of alterations from the subtitled script and a fair share of added-in dialogue. I often don't have a problem with this approach for dubs like Disney's Kiki's Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky or Funimation's Fullmetal Alchemist -- mainly because all three somehow manage to still maintain the essence of the original and are executed with skill and professionalism. With D, however, the liberal/added-in approach suffers not just in the fact the extra dialogue is either cliche or corny, but that the dialogue doesn't flow very smoothly. As mentioned earlier, much of the script is choppy and stilted, with lines that are either forced or laughably delivered. Of course, considering the nature of the source material, it would be difficult to imagine how it could be improved, but one listen to modern dubs and this, well, it only shows how far dubbing has come since the early '90s. The other major problem with Vampire Hunter D is on a technical level. The dialogue itself has a very hollow, flat quality which almost gives the impression that the dub was recorded in a sound studio with poor acoustics. Or perhaps with outdated audio equipment. Either way, it results for a sound mix that is lacking in dynamic range and clarity--remixing it to Dolby Digital 5.1 as the DVD release does only succeeds in highlighting these technical faults. Considering that the dub was made in 1992, part of this is understandable, but that is also is very unevenly synched to the mouth movements further excacerbates its overall dated quality. All in all, Vampire Hunter D has not aged very well; perhaps it may have been marginally better than many other dubs made during its era, but due to the laughable accents, stiff performances and dialogue and poor sound quality, it comes across very amateurish, especially when a good majority of today's dubs have set much higher standards. I can just imagine this dub being highlighted on Mystery Science Theatre 3000. 2001's Vampire Hunter D--Bloodlust, helmed by Jack Fletcher, is a much better effort and more easy to listen to. |
Jul 1, 2015 2:22 PM
#2
| Well, happily the re-release will come with a brand-new dub, so you'll have to give us your opinion on it when it comes out. :) |
Aug 3, 2015 10:20 PM
#3
AnnaSartin said: Well, happily the re-release will come with a brand-new dub, so you'll have to give us your opinion on it when it comes out. :) I've just had a chance to listen to the new dub and I gotta say, it's a HUGE improvement. I'll do a write up of it right now. |
Aug 3, 2015 10:26 PM
#4
| Love the old dub, changing the dub would be like changing the actors to a movie you love. You will probably like the new version of Akiras dub too. |
Aug 3, 2015 11:58 PM
#5
MeteorBear said: Love the old dub, changing the dub would be like changing the actors to a movie you love. You will probably like the new version of Akiras dub too. The older dub of AKIRA was terrible. It really needed to be redubbed. It was guilty of making a complex story totally incoherent and laughable. I don't care if there are fans of the older dub or not; I could not stand it. At all. Likewise, VHD's older dub just hasn't aged very well. The Sentai version, as far as I'm concerned, knocks it out of the park. |
Aug 4, 2015 12:11 AM
#6
| Although VHD is not supposed to hit streets until this August, I had the fortune of receiving my copy from Sentai on the early side thanks to RightStuf. A lot of viewers are very familiar with Streamline's cheesy, campy dub from 1992 -- and some even hold a nostalgic attachment to it to this day. Having said that, critics and many fans of the time still staked it with scathing reviews. I at one time appreciated this older dub, but over the years I have grown less and less fond of it. I'm not sure what it was that turned me off from it over the years, but then I figured it out: it sounds dreadfully stiff and stilted. The sound quality was quite bad, too, although that may be on the fault of the equipment used at the time, so I wouldn't dock the dub against it. So does Sentai's newest version fare any better? Or as the case may be, "breath new life" into an undead corpse? Well, I do have a few (minor) issues with this redub, but while some parts may have jarred on me a bit (not out of nostalgic attachment, but because of being overly used to the dub), I gotta say, "yes indeed" for the most part. Helmed by longtime ADV director and scriptwriter Matt Greenfield, this newer version aims to be a much more straightforward retelling, stripping the cheese away. Since the Streamline version was guilty of adding in extra lines (including a campy "permit me to introduce myself" that didn't exist in the opening of the movie when Count Lee unfurls his cloak to an unprotected Doris) and occasionally stretching music tracks from the OST into other scenes, to the point where it came across as out of place with the visuals, it's only appropriate that Greenfield's version dials all that back. Now the opening scene plays very close in spirit to the original Japanese version; there's even a voiceover reciting the text that opens the first scene (done by David Wald, no less). More importantly, Count Lee doesn't talk at all in the opening scene. This newer version restores a lot of nuance and subtlety that the original Streamline release unfortunately missed out on. Aside from the aforementioned opening scene, there's also a brief bit when Lee is talking with the mist in the room when he learns about his daughter and righthand man's disappearance. This was unfortunately missed in the Streamline version, making Lee's talking during that scene more like a bizarre monologue than anything else. The dialogue adaptation is also a lot more smoother-sounding and thankfully less choppy; it's also less on-the-nose, eliminating a lot of the moments from the original that may have struck many viewers as "dumbed down." Thankfully, it also loses the corniness that I found so cringeworthy. The sound mix is also really amazing. The voices sound much cleaner and the music and sound effects come across as crisp and clean, unlike the muddy results of the older version. As you might remember, the original dub also decided to have the characters speak with phony Transylvanian accents. This was another issue I had with the older dub; doing so made the tenor of the story feel more like one of those cheap Power Records adaptations of superheroes from the '80s. Oddly, the new dub decides to take a different approach. This time, both Count Lee and Lamika… sorry, L'armica… both speak with somewhat subdued upper-class accents, which I found appropriate considering the nature of both characters. The only jarring element is that the citizens of Doris' town as well as Dan all speak with Southern accents. I'm honestly not sure how much I approve of this decision, then again it might be my being overly familiar with the older dub that may have affected me. Then I remembered that this is supposed to be something of a "Western" vampire, and considering that most of these characters are farmers and that some elements of the town seem to resemble an old Western setting, it made sense. Oddly, Doris, D, and Dr. Fehring… er, Ferringo, don't use Southern accents. It just felt strange to me because I'm all for ethnicity when it comes to stories in multi-cultured environments. The performances? That's what I'm tackling next. D - John Gremillion -- I'll be honest. I prefer Andrew Philpot as D from Bloodlust. Always have, always will. He far and away is superior to Michael McConnohie, who sounded both miscast and very, very corny, like Batman from one of the aforementioned Power Records. So when I first heard John's version it came across as a bit odd to me; his voice, at least to me, didn't strike me as the same cold, reserved feel that Andy did. It sounded slightly… lighter. But after listening to the rest of the dub, I quickly got used to his voice, and especially thought it excelled when he delivers understated threats like, "I would prefer not to kill you." That aside, his acting is really solid. He does a solid job of making D reserved and conflicted without overacting his action scenes, and again surpasses McConnohie. I haven't heard much of this voice actor, but despite my initial reservations, he gradually won me over. It helps that he has better written dialogue to support him. As mentioned, much of D's lines sometimes veered into cheesy territory in the older dub, particularly when he's comforting Dan or often overacted like when McConnohie says "Back to the abyss… of OBLIVION!" Luckily, John somehow manages to steer around this trap. Greenfield, too, deserves credit for making his dialogue during such moments less corny and more believable. LEFT HAND - Andy McAvin -- I prefer Michael McShane as Left Hand as well. His turn in Bloodlust was funnier and much less nasally than McConnohie; although I see what they were going for by having the character voiced by the same actor as D, it still was very distracting. However, I quickly got used to Andy's turn. He sounds appropriately sarcastic and thankfully not whiny. He even gets one of the best lines in the show: "I swear, this guy is such a hand-ful!" It cracked me up; very funny and fitting. Only thing I'm not quite sure about is the electronic voice alteration to make him sound "creature-like"; I would have preferred it if the vocal effects weren't used, but that's nitpicking. DORIS LANG - Luci Christian -- I was never really a fan of Barbara Goodson's version from the original, she tried too much at times, others she sounded stiff. When I first heard Luci I was less certain because she didn't sound what I had in mind. However, like John, my skepticism quickly disappeared after watching the dub in its entirety. She sounds much more age-appropriate (she's supposed to be 17; Goodson sounded older than that), and her delivery is a lot stronger by far. She brings a lot of unbridled energy to the scenes where Doris is supposed to be aggressive, but she also excels during her more tender, frightful moments. Luckily, too, her dialogue never crosses into Kate Capshaw territory unlike the original. She makes Doris much more sympathetic, natural and more believable than Goodson ever did. That is to say, she's not so all over the place and more consistent. I'm glad I gave Luci a chance; I ended up liking her better than I expected. COUNT MAGNUS LEE - David Wald -- Perfect. Absolutely perfect. MUCH better than Jeff Winkless by far. Winkless sounded much too stiff in his delivery and the phony vocal effects didn't help. Wald, thankfully, is free from any such deficiencies. The subdued upper-class accent he uses for the character is also very appropriate. He has a very smooth, regal quality to his voice that I really like, and channels a bit of Keith David at times. More importantly, his acting oozes with pure evil, every line delivered with dripping menace and charisma. This performance is so good that he really steals the show. I had never heard much of Wald's voice acting before, but after his terrific turn as the Count, I'm officially a fan of his. Kudos! DAN LANG - Shannon Emerick -- I have repeatedly mentioned that Lara Cody's turn as Dan was the worst link in the older dub, sounding distractingly feminine, and worse, flatly acted. Sadly, even in this newer dub, Dan is the weakest of the cast, too. Although in Miss Emerick's fairness, she does do a considerably better job at bringing toughness to Dan's character without making him sound too cheesy. I'm not a fan of the Southern accent, however, and I still find the voice distracting -- it's just not quite convincing enough to be a young boy. Luckily, Dan only has a few scenes. As for how her performance compares to Lara, she does bring a lot more life to the character and Dan's worst bit in the older dub "Oh pleeeeeease help meeeeeee" is luckily much less cringeworthy. So for that I give Emerick points, and she's not as lame in her delivery. I'm just a bit disappointed that Sentai didn't consider going with a boy's voice. But I'll let it pass. REI GINSEI -- Andy McAvin -- McAvin does double duty as the Count's slimy manservant. His voice is more scratchy and raspy sounding than Kerrigan Mahan's more slimy tone, but on the other hand, his acting sounds far more believable and thankfully less hokey. For instance, Mahan's "now you die" as he moves to cut off D's head was one of the lines I most objected to in the older dub; it sounded too corny and unbelievable. McAvin, thankfully, is presented with less laughable dialogue, which helps his performance by far. He sounds like he's having a blast during the scenes where he exudes bitterness. Oddly, he's a bit more restrained in the scene where D cuts off his hand. Whereas Mahan did go all out to the point where he screams "Damn you! I hope you burn in Hell!" This time, he shouts "Damn it! Do you have to be so condescending?!" Which is more closer to the translation, but oddly less aggressive. Oh well, quibble aside, I quite liked everything else about his Rei. L'ARMICA -- Brittany Karbowski -- I actually liked Edie Mirman's sultry sounding voice for the Count's daughter. She came close to being the most intriguing voice of the older dub, but the Transylvania accent still felt forced and she did sound a bit too mature. Karbowski's take on the character is quite interesting. She uses an upper-class accent like her father, which is thankfully less laughable, and her voice is of a considerably higher pitch. She sounds more like a teenager, that is to say, a bit more in her 16-17 range; in a way, it's more fitting for the character's age. There's also a snide quality to her delivery I quite liked. Brittany also puts a lot more emotion into the part, making L'armica more of a conflicted character instead of a contemptuous villain. Very well done all around. GRECO -- Jay Hickman -- The only thing I found a bit jarring at first was the Southern accent. However, Hickman makes up for that by giving Greco a lot more character. His voice fits the character seamlessly and accent aside, I quite liked his acting. He sounds amusingly pompous and even offers occasionally funny bits, like "I'll leave you with Fangey here" or "That kid just called me a stinkin' liar!". It's a considerably different approach than I would have expected, but nonetheless, very fitting and I got used to him in no time. Steve Bulen sounded a bit too wispy as this character and often sounded stilted and/or lacking. There's something about Hickman's take that I find more enjoyable. I can't pinpoint what it is, but again, as someone who hasn't watched many Sentai dubs recently, I am quite taken with Hickman's Greco. He has a bit more of a slight comical edge to him that Bulen doesn't provide. FERRINGO -- John Swasey -- Steve Kramer sounded OK as this character during his normal scenes, but too stilted at times. When he became a vampire he sounded quite laughable. Swasey, by contrast, excels as both. The tone of his voice isn't that much different from his Gendo Ikari from the Evangelion redubs, but he suits this character's appearance well and his acting is also warm and down-to-earth. Even better, his vampire conversion scene is much more reserved and thankfully less stilted. Raspy, as well, which gives it a creepy quality. It's all the more convincing for it. Only thing I wished could have been done differently is after he is stabbed he still has his vampire voice when he shouts "Doris, please!" I liked that they had Kramer revert to his "natural" voice for that moment. Otherwise I have no major qualms. MAYOR ROHMAN -- David Wald -- I'm still not fond of the Southern accent, but otherwise I quite liked Wald as this character. He brings a lot more authoritativeness to this character and sounds very natural. Tom Wyner's turn was mediocre and not really as good as it could have been. It didn't help, either, that he was saddled with stacatto-sounding dialogue. MEDUSA -- Tiffany Grant -- Asuka Langley Sohryu as the vicious Snake Women who attack D in the catacombs? Why not? Grant should play more villainous roles. Not the least bit recognizable, she intones her lines as this -- er, tri-headed… thingy, whatever it is -- with a delicious evil that really shows that I've underestimated her as a voice actress. Miles better than Joyce Kurtz by far. (Although I did kinda miss the cackling bit from the Streamline dub, but that's minor.) Her final death scream sounds much more realistic and less lame by far. MESSENGER -- Mark Laskowski -- Kirk Thornton and Laskowski have one thing in common: both of their roles in this minor part are "electronically" amplified to make them sound lower. Thornton wasn't quite up to his game as this character -- too monotone and often stiff. Laskowski sounds a lot more natural, while having a deep, husky voice to match. In short, Sentai's new dub, while not perfect, is still a very commendable improvement over the original dub by far. It does a better job of bringing Vampire Hunter D closer to its roots as a serious film with only the occasional bit of humor. As mentioned, the original Streamline dub, despite being a favorite of many, was not all that well-received by the community, least of all by Carl Mecak detractors. Only time will tell how audiences and reviewers will respond to this newer effort, but as far as I'm concerned, it is the better of the two dubs by far (even if it has a few drawbacks, they're at least not as grating to me as in the older one). I should also mention that this version is the first to retain the original translation of "Dhampir" as opposed to "dampiel" in the original dub. (Of course the only drawback is that it'll be jarring to new viewers who may watch Bloodlust after this and wonder why the term is coined as "dunpeal" in the newer one. Guess some history lessons will be needed to educate those people.) On the whole I'm quite pleased with the new dub, and the picture quality of this 1985 OVA has never looked better. It looks a lot more brighter and cleaner than my Urban Vision DVD ever did. Scenes that were too muddy and over saturated look much more natural by comparison. I'm not too happy about Magnus' death scene still replaced with the flash cuts from the Streamline print, though; I had figured that this newer version would include the uncensored footage, but I guess that would've been too much for viewers? Ah, well, we'll never know. Sentai's dub of Vampire Hunter D stakes up a very solid **** out of ***** from me. Nothing better than dusting off a classic and giving it "fresh new blood", is there? |
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