#anyway fuck you aniplex

[raccoonium]

It's bitter bitch hour

[shuttershocky]

Have you seen people arguing on Twitter about FGO screwing over other type moon projects? If so what's your opinion?

I barely use Twitter, so all these people going "Have you seen x discourse on Twitter' on my inbox are the ones bringing that shit to me.

Anyway while it is unarguably true that FGO has put delays on other Type-Moon projects (Nasu has said this himself, the Tsukihime Remake's decade long delay was due to launching and then becoming preoccupied with FGO), I both don't want to be associated with the kind of people saying it (these are the "FGO brought SJWs into Type-Moon" people lmao), and also think this discourse is like 3 fucking years too late lmao.

We HAVE the Tsukihime Remake now. There's more to come. Nasu has already left the director's seat of FGO after LB6. We had an official release of Mahoyo and it was successful (no thanks to Aniplex's marketing). We're getting the Tsukihime Remake in English in an official release.

The wait is over. We're finally getting fed after 10 years. FGO's still going, but Nasu's ended his run on it with LB6, and he's focusing on his other projects again. We're seeing them actually commit to making official English releases of their visual novels now. You can finally tell people to read Mahoyo and they can actually read it this time. Everyone who ever said FGO made Nasu lose his edge and the Tsukihime Remake will be soulless was also completely wrong, it's so good.

If there's anything that's actually still valid to complain about being delayed, it's a Fate title, Fate/Extra Record. And even then, EVEN THEN, anyone with eyes could see they announced it in a pre-alpha state years from being ready, while the covid pandemic fucked every ongoing game development project around the world so of course they'd be 3 years in and still not have a release date. It's not even that delayed for a video game (yet), Metroid Prime 4 was announced in 2017 and all we have is a title logo.

[agnesmontague]

Okay I'll bite: what IS twst?

inhales.

you're really making me do this. the most humiliating thing ive ever asked my followers to check out. okay. you're forcing my hand, darling. you're really killing me here.

inhales again.

twisted wonderland is a japanese mobile game developed by disney and aniplex. yana toboso, of black butler fame, is in charge of the original plan, main script, and character design. similarly to descendants, the game is inspired by various disney villains from animated films, including alice in wonderland, the lion king, the little mermaid, aladdin, snow white, hercules, and sleeping beauty.

the characters... all look like this.

this is NOT a dating sim. that is, depending on who you ask, the game's only saving grace, or its greatest damnation. yes, they're all pretty anime boys. yes, that is the main draw.

the game is fully voiced in japanese only; it got an english release early this year. the translation is, uh, something to behold. that is to say, it's very good and very well localized, but genuinely blursed at parts, and it's a gift that keeps on fucking giving

story-wise: you, the MC (whose default name is Yuu, presumably for this exact pun), find yourself isekai'd into a prestigious school for the magically gifted. each student is classed into one of the seven dorms that are modeled after a famous disney villain. however, you do not get assigned to any of them, as you possess no magical ability at all. as you try to figure out how to get back home, you must navigate this strange and whimsical world where everyone is at least a little (but usually very much) a villain.

gameplay-wise: the game combines elements of turn-based battles and rhythm games, as well as collecting CG cards of characters to use in battles. yeah, that's right, it's a gacha game, but in my experience it's far less coercive than most others i've seen or played. i've made it through ch2 (+the prologue) so far without even turning any additional gachas after the first free one, and i'm told that if you do some strategic grinding it is in fact possible to get up to the most recent chapter without doing a single gacha pull? so, all in all, probably less money grabby than anything the walt disney company's put out in recent years lol.

uhhh anyway that's mostly all i have to say abt the game so far. the story is surprisingly fun and good for theorizing, which is why im still playing. please indulge in my brainworms with me. please. i laid out my soul for you. i beg.

[tanjir0se]

Ok I’m gonna actually be real for a minute. Now that I’ve unfortunately watched enough anime to consider myself an Anime Fan™ (welcome to cringe city population me) I think I can confidently say that Demon Slayer is on a completely different level.

1. The Animation. This kind of goes without saying. But literally even the early seasons felt alive, even mid range episodes look beautiful, and this most recent season has cemented KNY as being in a completely different league to anything else I’ve watched. BNHA, AOT, even Chainsaw Man and Trigun literally don’t even hold a candle to Demon Slayer when it comes to the animation. The fire and sparks and lightning GLOW from inside whatever screen you’re watching it, I don’t even know how they do it. Attack animations and fight choreography are so gorgeous and well timed and just so fucking beautiful to look at. I could go on forever.

2. The story. This is a controversial one because I have heard some say that the plot is nothing special for a shonen. Which I actually think is a good thing? The setup is simple, the mechanics are easy to understand and make sense, and I don’t have to wait through 19 episodes of lead up before something interesting happens. It’s just a straightforward story about a boy who loves his family. Also, Tanjiro’s power crawl is INSANE, every huge overpowered moment he has feels so earned.

Further in defense of the writing in KNY, the story feels so tight. Like we don’t really waste time with shit in KNY, everything feels focused and purposeful with the exception of maaaybe a few more comedic relief moments especially early on. But even those I don’t mind, they keep the tone light but consistent and develop the kids’ characters.

3. The MUSIC. Holy shit the music. It never stops!!! The way the character and action themes kind of blend into one another throughout the episodes, how hearing the melody of your favorite character start playing at certain moments can just rip your heart out. HOW YOU CAN PREDICT PLOT BEATS BY LISTENING VERY CLOSELY TO THE SOUNDTRACK. Literally unrivaled. LITERALLY unrivaled. It only stops when they purposefully drop it out to emphasize something. The musical beats and stings can build tension like nothing else, I will always be insane about the music in Demon Slayer.

4. In the same vein, the sound design I think is often overlooked. The swords clanging whenever they change position. The roar of Tanjiro’s sun breathing and the hiss of Hinokami escaping through his teeth. The clap of Thunder when Zenitsu breaks out thunder breathing. The way jewelry and chains jingle, the way his earrings clack against his collar, the way jaws snap shut or footsteps crunch in the snow, it’s all such excellent attention to detail that you don’t really notice until you Notice and then it’s always there.

Maybe Aniplex or Ufotable is putting something in their water or maybe I love my blorbos so much it’s making my brain smooth but it really feels like a passion project. It feels like the animators and writers and voice actors just deeply deeply give a shit about the art they’re making. Every single frame just oozes love and care for the source material and it comes through so beautifully. And this season is really taking all of everything I just said to the next level.

Anyway, watch Demon Slayer, love yourselves and turn off BHNA and AOT

[fur-movedd]

Why i personally think the Heartslabyul TVCM was the creepiest out of the current 5 dorm TVCMs of twst

C. All rights reserved to Disney, Aniplex, and Yana Toboso

Okay hlb is my favorite dorm so this may seem... a bit biased but i just wanted to talk about how this tvcm creeped me out more than the others did.

So let's start with what happens in the tvcm and of course the very obvious details will be pointed out later on. The tvcm starts with a very lovely and calming atmosphere with the 5 heartslabyul members, Riddle saying the perfect tea party lines ("the roses in the garden are red....") with nothing eerie going on.

Just as he opens his eyes to say the line, 「さあ、完璧なティーパーティー」 (Well then, let the perfect tea party begin), the other members turned to rose petals and disappeared, his expression quickly changing

After this part, we see the transition from Riddle -> Ace -> Deuce -> Trey -> Cater -> Riddle

Though, this just may be one of those, "oh the members get introduced" part of the cm, the background actually gets darker and darker for each students. See, It starts with Riddle having a bright background, then transitions to Ace having a bright red background with a bit of shadow on the top, and the shadow started to take over as it transitions to other characters (Say, Ace and Cater both had red, just different shades of red, but Cater's had more shadow going on in the background as it ends with Riddle, his background just completely dark with blue light coming out from the top as he falls)

The next part of this is just darkness where Riddle falls at the center while the other members start counting down in the background (just their numbers, Cater being 4 of diamonds, Trey -> 3 of clubs, Deuce -> 2 of spades and Ace being.. well, Ace of hearts)

(Not going to lie, if we take out the other members in the background, it's like Riddle is falling in a hole, just like what happened to Alice)

Now, the most f*cked up part in the cm is Riddle's transition to Riddle overblot

Now this... personally scared the crap out of me... I mean... I don't even have to explain myself anymore..... do I

Seriously..

Anyways.... that's just it from me today..... thank you for listening to me...........

Edit: okay so i forgot to point out the other stuffs because i got distracted with the details but, in the "well then, let the perfect tea party begin" part and the members vanishing in rose petals, just an interpretation, may show that the 'perfect' tea party = other members being gone

In the falling part, i pointed out it looked like alice falling down the hole. Except, if you take out the other members... it's not really a hole, it's just pure emptiness and darkness surrounding riddle with little light on the top.

Also i have nothing to say about the overblot transition anymore except it really did fuck me up

[nrcbulletin]

Places to Get Twst Merch

There are two main ways to get Twisted Wonderland merch when you live outside of Japan: through stores that ship overseas or through a proxy service.

Also I guess I should put this disclaimer even though I think it's obvious but I'm not sponsored.

Stores

Most of the places that create Twst merch don't ship overseas, and some that do, like Qpot or Premium Bandai, don't have the Twst merch as available to overseas customers. So you'll have to find another store that sells goods but will ship to you. Here's some of the ones I know about

Mandarake

pros: cheap goods (I got the penlight that was originally $35 for $15)

cons: stock is not consistent, expensive shipping (it's complicated)

Mandarake is a site that I use a lot. It's basically a second-hand store for anime goods. They have a LOT of cheap goods; you can get buttons for $1-$5 USD and their stock changes all the time. That being said, because their stock changes, if you want something, you should probably buy it then.

The other problem with Mandarake is shipping. While we are still under Covid's effects, shipping is more expensive. However, some items will end up costing more to ship generally than what they're priced at. For example, my Riddle nesoberi plush was priced at around $10 (comparable nesos of this size usually go for about $50). So I bought him solely because I thought it was a great deal, but the shipping ended up being $60 because of his size and expensive Covid shipping. So keep in mind shipping might get crazy.

GoodsRepublic

pros: variety of goods, free shipping for US

cons: prices vary wildly

After I got burned with my Riddle neso, I buy my nesos from GoodsRepublic only now. Their neso prices are fair compared to what I've seen Love Live ones for (I fucking see you con vendors selling Nozomi for $100 but Umi for $50). However, some goods have their prices really jacked up. The coin motif bag charms, the ones that came with the letters, were originally around $40 from Aniplex. They go for $230 on GoodsRepublic. Prices do tend to be higher here, but I think it's partially because shipping. But prices are higher on some items, so heads up on that.

AmiAmi

pros: delayed payment

cons: limited items

I like AmiAmi because you can place an order for an item and then pay once they get it. However, they don't have too many options for Twst merch. I've bought other anime goods from them before, but I haven't bought Twst stuff from them.

Aitaikuji

pros: can get Aniplex goods w/out doing a proxy

cons: mixed reviews

First off, I've never bought from them, so I can't attest to anything but what I've heard, and it's mixed. My friend Steph swears by them and has nothing but good things to say, but I've seen a lot of negative reviews about them across the internet. Iirc most of these concerned broken figures while on one hand, yeah that's awful, but on the other, most Twst merch is not figures so I would imagine most purchases would be safe, but ultimately I can't say for certain.

Proxies

A proxy service is a service that will buy Japanese goods for you and then send them to you. With a lot of stores not shipping overseas, if you want something for SURE, you'll have to use a proxy. I was incredibly lucky to get the magic penlight from Mandarake, but I've never seen other store-specific items available elsewhere or for a good price. I've used a proxy to buy the Qpot groovy candy necklaces and the class rings, among other goods.

The main proxies I can think of are White Rabbit Express, Tenso, and Buyee. I've only ever used White Rabbit and I like them! I can't personally speak for the other sites, but I'm under the impression Tenso is very, very popular.

Some websites will have have a proxy built into them. I don't remember what store it was, but they had a proxy built into their store so I was able to purchase those coffin ribbon bag charms directly from the store using their proxy. Qpot also has one built into their site, but the stock available for overseas shipping is super limited, which is why I had to buy the necklace via White Rabbit instead of Qpot's partner.

Anyways, I hope this little guide helps you guys get merch and gives you an idea of where to start looking!

[muffinrecord]

Scrolling through the old NA tag of yours(bc I am in immense pain of missing all of my old girls like Kirika and Kanae god FUCK YOU ANIPLEX) but anyways I just wanted to come by and ask if since you have Lapin would you ever do a quote video for her? Even if it wasn't translated I can't find one of her for the life of me ;;

I can do that, however you can also see her here :)

The site doesn’t seem to have updated since November, which is a shame (hopefully the creator is doing well), but it includes Lapin! You can see all of her movements and hear her voice too.

Let me know if this is sufficient, or if you need an actual video.

[mille-marteaux]

so i know its like days old at this point but fuck aniplex. i’m still angry at the magireco na shutdown for how fucking audacious and greedily it was handled.

they ran multiple seasonal limited banners in a row, along with multiple highly desired limited character banners, in a very short timeframe. within like, five or six weeks.

then they dropped the iroha/yachiyo duo unit that celebrates the ending of the first story arc, without the login story related to it, and also while finishing off the main story and ending with the arc two teaser anyway.

then after all of this, running content at a rate that would stagger any f2p player into dipping their toes into just buying gems while milking the most dedicated of whales dry..

they announce that the servers are closing in a month, and they will be taking purchases for two more weeks.

taking purchases for two more weeks instead of cutting them all immediately is a mind goblin that can trick people into thinking they can spend more to keep the servers afloat as well, so if people do that to try and cancel the shutdown or whatever, they’re just not going to have any money nor are they going to have a game to show for it.

they even specified you cannot transfer accounts to the japanese servers. you know, just in case.

just a little over a year, and it’s all gone. some people are going to JP but many are quitting.

utterly repulsive practices. and at the end of the day, it’s going to be written off as “that’s gacha” and ultimately ignored at large.

[medea10]

My Review of Kaguya-sama: Love is War

How did I get into this anime? It was about time to do it as this was one of the best animes to come from the winter 2019 anime line-up (after Dororo and The Promised Neverland). Now let’s hit…

Hold it Medea! Weren’t you supposed to review Darker Than Black for your Aniplex pick?

Ah, yes…THAT anime. I watched it. I finished it. It was a mind-fuck. I bailed on the review. And while I’m at it, I’m also not reviewing Psycho Pass 3, Violet Evergarden, or A Certain Scientific Accelerator. Onto Kaguya-sama!

Shuchiin Academy, once a school for students that are well-off financially. Nowadays, it’s still that, but even commoners can attend. And one such student is a boy by the name of Miyuki Shirogane, who in just his first year managed to obtain the top spot at the school with the position of Student Council President.  By his side is his vice president, Kaguya Shinomiya. This girl comes from extreme wealth and excels in many fields including art and music. The students here revere these two as being the best of the best. And also…they make a great couple!

Pump the brakes here, pal. These two are NOT a couple. As a matter of fact, both characters end up playing 3D chess in their brains to try and take the other person down with mind games if even the slightest topic involving love is brought up. Both Kaguya and Miyuki already have feelings for the other, they just won’t admit it. The first person to admit love will be considered the loser in this war. And both of these characters are stubborn to the point of…oh my god!

THESE TWO ARE TSUNDERES! I’ve seen animes where only one person is the tsundere in the couple. But what happens when they’re BOTH tsunderes? Well…it took over 20 episodes for Taiga on Toradora. It took over 4 seasons for Louise on Familiar of Zero. But those two animes had only ONE tsundere. This anime has TWO. We might be here for a while!

Well, let’s watch who wins and who loses in the game (or war) of love!

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Aniplex of America has a good grip on this anime as they have managed to license the second season before it has aired. Much to my dismay, this anime has not received an English dub. Aniplex of America has released the blu-ray last month ($100+ shipping and handling), but only with Japanese audio/English subtitles. Okay.

Now IF they decide to come back in a few years and dub this series, I have a few thoughts. And don’t say it’ll never happen. FUNimation and Sentai are guilty as fuck of releasing a series with no dub and two years later dropping a dub release just so they can grab extra dough.

I HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN NICHIJOU YOU GRIFTING CRAP-WEASELS!

Anyways, if they decide to do this, I want R. Bruce Elliott to voice the narrator. I don’t give a shit about the rest of the cast, I just want that for the narrator! That’s just my take on that matter. I know this would NEVER happen unless Elliott ends up in L.A. for a few sessions (as he’s mostly stationed in Texas). It’s just that he’s the best person to play a narrator in just about anything. Don’t believe me? Watch Space Dandy and Sgt. Frog and get back to me!

Oh! And just my luck, FUNimation plans on giving this series an English dub. Though it’ll be a while before we see anything due to COVID-19 mess! No rush, take your time. Rest up. Consider R. Bruce Elliot as the narrator. And we’ll see you after we get off quarantine!

The sub version consists of a lot of newer, yet familiar voices. As for Kaguya’s seiyuu (Aoi Koga), this is my first time hearing her voice and so far I’m impressed. I’m also impressed with an anime to have several tsunderes and no sign of Rie Kugimiya, the QUEEN of tsundere anime characters. That shows great dedication, but if she ends up in season two, I’m gonna scream. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

*Kaguya is played by Aoi Koga

*Miyuki is played by Makoto Furukawa (known for Saitama on One Punch Man, Hatsuharu on Fruits Basket 2019, and Banri on Golden Time)

*Chika is played by Konomi Kohara (known for Miu on Domestic Girlfriend, Fizel on SAO: Alicization, and Kai on Hitoribocchi)

*Yuu is played by Ryouta Suzuki (known for Ryouhei on Tsurune)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Chika. Chika. Chika. Chika. Chika. And did I mention Chika?

Best girl!

SPEAKING OF CHIKA: I found an infectious little song in the form of an ending theme! For one episode, we got an ending theme song featuring Chika.

Chikatto Chika Chikaa♡! I just love it! This should win an award or something!

*several months later*

Thank you Crunchyroll Awards!

Seriously, this ED as well as the OP theme are just so infectious that I constantly go back to replay these two songs whenever I take a break from replaying Black Clover themes (no joke, I love Black Clover themes). The first ending is fine. It’s just that Chika’s special ED was so addicting that I had to mention it once, twice, or more!

SHIPPING: It’s pretty obvious to see that Kaguya and Miyuki are mad for each other. But there are several obstacles in their way. For one thing this is sort of their first love, so approaching this subject is very new. Secondly, both of them are dead-set on the fact that love is a war full of wins and losses. Both Kaguya and Miyuki play these mind-games when something mundane happens like a personality quiz or a weekend activity. They try to trap the other person into saying something embarrassing or admitting to something. Even though it’s so crystal clear that they both are romantically interested in each other!

However, I’m pretty sure Kaguya has lost more battles than Miyuki due to the infamous sick day episode. Sick Kaguya is pretty ballsy getting Miyuki to lay in bed with her.

FUNNIEST MOMENT: You can blame this on the fact that I’m absolutely immature and have the mind of an 8 year old. But there was a moment in mid-season where Chika learns of a specific quirk about Kaguya. Because Kaguya was suppressed when it came to matters of phrases and naughty words, she still finds the word “wiener” utterly hilarious. And so during this whole segment, you’ve got Chika continuously saying the word “wiener”. Then, she goes the extra mile to have other members of the student council like Miyuki and Yuu to say the word. And Kaguya is trying to prevent them from saying it until we just get a barrage of “wieners” and hysterical laughter. I gotta admit that it was one of the funniest moments in this series.

ENDING: A few episodes before the finale, a monumentous moment occurred. Kaguya got sick.

Just go with it!

Whenever Kaguya gets sick, her mind goes into a complete stupor. Her mind is almost that of an infant or small child and once she’s better, she will not remember a single thing that happened. And Miyuki was the poor sap to check on her during that sick day! I’ll cut to the chase and say what went down.

She opens her bed covers and drags Miyuki into bed with her. Now before your mind jumps in the trash, they remained fully clothed…although they both did fall asleep. So, they slept together. Just no intercourse! This kinda lead to a major fight involving a cake, an apology, and a cute moment where Kaguya touches his lip!

Hey, a girl who’s been sexually suppressed her whole life, this is like first base here.

I feel that was a bit of a breaking point to bring up on a count of a lot of the mind games stopped temporarily. Probably because the last two episodes of the season involved summer break! By the looks of it, Chika was having a blast eating so much and Yuu is doing his usual gaming stuff. All the while, Kaguya and Miyuki didn’t really do much during their break. But they promised to all meet up one day to see the fireworks. Unfortunately, that serves to be a daunting task for Kaguya as she’s been heavily sheltered her entire life. Her family (especially her father) never let her do things normal kids take for granted including going out with friends or even walking to school.

In fact, Kaguya’s plans of meeting up with Chika and others to go shopping were cancelled due to Kaguya’s father calling her to the main house…for literally nothing. Add to that, the family saw it in THEIR best interest to not allow Kaguya to leave the house to see the fireworks with her friends. But Kaguya decided to defy those orders! She gets her servant Hayasaka to disguise as her if any other servants come in and escaped her house. Yuu, Chika, and Miyuki were all in an agreement to save Kaguya…just not on the same wavelength. Kaguya on her own ended up missing the firework show. But once Miyuki found her, he took her and they went on a small adventure to another prefecture to see another firework show. But it could be cutting it close due to traffic and the show was reaching its end. Thankfully, they made it! Kaguya was finally able to see the fireworks with her friends.

It’s just that Kaguya didn’t pay attention to the firework show…she stared at Miyuki the whole time!

In the final segment of episode 12, Kaguya and Miyuki kinda realized how dorky they were the night of the firework show. Kaguya let her guard down so many times that night and spent the entire firework show staring at Miyuki. Meanwhile, Miyuki thought he sounded stupid when he took Kaguya to the show. We get one final mind-game between these two until it ended with Miyuki almost saying something and Kaguya chases him down while the end credits play on in the background.

Will either one of them say how they truly feel about the other? Who will win? Who will lose?

…Guess we’ll find out in a few days when season two airs!

This was an entertaining anime! It’s like if Death Note were a rom-com instead of a thriller. Both Kaguya and Miyuki have a similar mind-set to Light Yagami when it comes to the game of love. They both have the hots for each other and both refuse to admit it first. But thanks to key moments including Kaguya’s sickness and the firework saga, there’s been definite progress with these two letting their guards down. But they’ve got a long way to go! I mean, these two are major tsunderes meaning they’re going to suppress their wants and desires with the opposite sex with these ridiculous mind-games. So…we might be here for a while before any one of them admits their feelings. But I say give it a watch! It’s not that long of a series and it’s still fairly new so it’s still open for more sequels and side-projects before losing its luster.

Currently, this anime is available for streaming on Hulu, Crunchyroll, and FUNimation.

And stay tuned for the second season exclusively available on FUNima…You guys are really pissing me off with your exclusivity!

Okay, I managed to finish this baby up quite quick. What’s the next Aniplex title I’m going to watch?

Picture it, Medea. Osmosis Jones but…

Cells at Work?

That’s great. I’m also not reviewing this one. I have my own reasons for not reviewing this. So let’s hit the randomizer button again because as of this date, I finished Cells at Work.

Lord El-Melloi…I’M NOT READING ALL THAT SHIT! Sum it up quickly!

It’s Fate, but with Waver Velvet.

Jesus “Tap Dancing” Christ, it’s another Fate series! I’m not reviewing anything Fate! It’s a cluster-fuck of a series! Don’t get me wrong, I love Fate/Zero and Unlimited Blade Works as much as the next dip-shit, but the franchise is a pile of cluster bombs and I can’t make heads or tails of any of this. Regardless, I finished that hot mess as well.

Okay you picky-ass bitch, how about the best animated anime of the 2010’s?

Demon Slayer!

Now that’s more like it! But I will still fight to the death that best animated goes to Violet Evergarden!

[thegospelofnagisa]

Go over to the game's subreddit, they have guides on how to play the game if you live outside of the US or Japan.

OMG FINALLY!

Thank you to everyone who helped, seriously. I hope the people at aniplex get a serious case of fart attacks, and that is as malevolent as I am willing to wish ill will upon them, because fuck whoever thought it would be a good idea to lock regions.

If there are complains later about the game not making the FGO money….remember this moment ok?

Anyway…time to Play!I’ll keep you informed on what happens to me.

[dewbond-blog]

The Summer of Love: The English Dub of High School DxD

We will be jumping into the second half of season one next week with a look at the “Raiser Arc” and all it brings to the table, but this week I wanted to steer the Summer of Love into a topic that many people don’t really discuss: The English Dub, and my overall thoughts and feelings on it. There is a good, a lot of good, and some slightly not so good. So join me after the cut as we jump into our next chapter of The Summer of Love, the dub! This is another long one, so be ready!

To discuss the English Dub of High School DxD, it is important to give some backstory about English dubbing of anime in general. If you grew up in my generation, (late 90s, early 2000s)  then you are very familiar with the 4kids of era; a time in which the american company 4kids entertainment pretty much had a stranglehold on the western anime market. Simply put, they called the shots and every anime that was actually on television had to go through the 4kids “Americanizing process.” Needless to say, this was a bad thing.

Cardcaptor Sakura had it’s entire yuri/yaoi subtext removed and whole episodes removed. Dragon Ball censored and omitted world building, Yu-Gi-Oh became a “so bad it’s good” mess of a dub. Vision of Escaflowne became a shadow of it’s former self. Monster Rancher went from a 50+ episodes series to only a handful, and of course what they did to One Piece. The list just goes on and on. The 4kids era of anime was not a good time for the youthful medium, and frankly the wounds inflicted by this era are still fresh in many minds of my generation.

Things have gotten far better since then, with companies like Funimation, Sentai Filmworks and Aniplex taking over the dubbing market and delivering quality dubs of anime that are true to form and (sometimes) even superior to their Japanese counterparts. Yet despite this massive improvement there are still many who refuse to even give an English dub a chance, whether it is loyalty to the “authentic’ Japanese version, or trauma for the scars of the 4kids era.

Now how is this connected to High School DxD? Well not really that much, but I think it is important for readers to understand why people are somewhat hesitant on English dubs, despite a whole new generation growing up with them. There are old wounds that have yet to heal, and in this era where censorship is a hot button issue, I wanted to explain why.

Anyway, let’s get into the dub itself, and let’s start by talking about the cast.

The Cast

The English cast of DxD is frankly very strong, though it has been a cast that has had a few replacements. Akeno has been voiced by two different actress, as has Asia, and the while voice changes are noticeable, they thankfully don’t differ too much to make much of a difference. What I can say is that Asia and Akeno are both voiced excellently, with Asia being played with that cute innocent perfection, and Akeno with a level of sultry seductiveness that, while not on par with her Japanese seiyuu, gets the job done well.

The biggest voice change though has to be Issei himself, who was voiced by both Scott Freeman and later Josh Grelle, and while the change over in season 3 is a rather noticeable change (unlike Akeno’s voice change in the same season), with many people being initially put off by the sudden shift in voices. I can both say that they play an excellent Issei and bring a-

Wait..what’s this?

Fuck…do I have to do this? Do I really have to bring it up? REALLY?

ALRIGHT FINE…FINE..I’LL FUCKING ADDRESS IT.

In 2015. Scott Freeman, the voice actor of Issei and several other Funimation dub roles, was arrested, convicted and imprisoned for the possession of Child Pornography. Funimation rightfully and subsequently cut all ties with him and his roles current and future were replaced with new actors, hence the sudden change to Josh Grelle in season 3 and later 4.

Anyway, Issei’s work in the English dub marks the first, but not the most significant change in the DxD anime. While the script plays him true to form, Issei’s performance in the dub is markedly more “american” compared to his Japanese counterpart. While it is 100% loyal to the authentic story, there is a lot more ‘sex jokes’ and ‘western references’ that peek out from time to time. I’ll get into this when I discuss the script, but I did find it worked quite well for the story, and both voice actors are able to ‘get serious’ when the time comes, especially in season 4 when Josh Grelle gives his best performance as a harem lead, and this guy has MANY to his name.

However the biggest and frankly best change has to be Jad Saxton as Koneko Toujou, who completely re-invents the character for the English dub. In the Japanese version, Koneko is the quiet little kouhai who seems to only have one single emotion, very much in the veins of the Rei-clones that had a stranglehold the industry for years. The English dub however turns this completely on it’s head. Koneko becomes a motor-mouthed little girl who, while still holding true to the character’s spirit, adds far more to the plot and group chemistry than her Japanese counterpart. I just find Jad Saxton’s Koneko to be a far more interesting character, acting as a sort of the reality foil for Issei for many season, and still willing to call him out on his perverseness even after falling in love with him. Frankly, the difference between the two voices is astonishing, just watch this comparison clip.

The rest of the cast do a find job. Jamie Marchi as Rias is an excellent casting choice, and while I prefer the Japanese voice, Marchi’s signature voice is able to play both sides of Rias’ personality well and she only gets better as the seasons roll on. Kiba, Gasper, Xenovia and Rossweise are all again done very well, but it is only really characters listed above who are the real stand outs.

The Script

Remember how I brought up 4kids at the start of this post. Well I did also bring that up, because the English script of High School DxD does feel very much like a bit of a holdover from that era of anime dubs. There is more than a hint of the adapters putting in their own lines and having some fun with the dialogue than compared to other shows. It was clear to me that the writers were having some real fun trying to adapt this show for an English dub, and while some may grumble by only  being a 90% authentic script, the show does give us some great memorable one-liners like:

“I’m gonna make you eat those words like a kid doing the tide-pod challenge!”

“Cunt-tuckey fried chicken over there is in love with you”

“Forgive dat ass, don’t spank it!”

“Her milk-shakes are all over my yard”

Those are just some of the examples of the fun bit of humor that is injected into the series via the English dub and yes, it is not for everyone and yes, it is going to turn some of the purists off. Yet the voice actors give it their all and when the time comes for the show to “get serious” like with the Akeno break down, Asia story-line, the Issei/Rias fight, and more, those actors absolutely step up to the table and deliver excellent performances. So I can forgive them for having just a bit more fun with a show that is, again, about busty big boobed girls fawning over a perverted idiot.

What I do NOT forgive though, is the “president gaffe,” which undermines a vital and important plot point.

See, there is a very clear reason that Issei calls Rias “president throughout most of the anime’s run.” It helps show the class and social difference between the two characters and how, despite Rias falling truly deeply in love with Issei, her social status and his role as a servant make him hesitant to step up. It is only when that issue comes to a head that does Issei finally start calling Rias by her full name, and it is a great moment to cap off four seasons of development.

The dub however ignored that completely for the first four seasons and admitted that they weren’t aware of just how important it is. While they do address it in the season 4 dub, making an offhand comment that “Issei has been calling her President a lot lately” it doesn’t really fix the problem and remains an annoying nitpick for me. Is it a deal breaker? No, but it is a pretty glaring problem when looking at the series as a whole.

Final Thoughts.

Overall, the English Dub of High School DxD is a great one, and I honestly love it to death. As i said in my primer, I would have watched the series dubbed to do this event, but I wanted to be faithful to the Japanese release. The dub is still my go-to way of watching DxD and I suggest anyone to give it a show after watching a bit of the OG Japanese version. It’s not perfect, but it’s made with love and affection and doesn’t stray too far from it’s routes, but when it does what 4kids never could do to anime. It adds something without taking anything away.

[fgodestinyawakenings]

JP:

MY BABY HERC-CHAN HAS BLESSED ME WITH HIS 2 SQS FROM BOND LEVEL UP! X3

THANK YOU MY BABY, HERC-CHAN!!!

Finally at her final ascension, I can start doing Medea’s strengthening quest to unlock her third skill!

And Tamamo Cat’s interlude too! Going to need to increase her bond level to unlock her other interlude for NP upgrade

NA:

My other tanker George is now ready again to take more hits for Shinjuku Singularity or before that, Edmond Dantes tower! Though most of the bosses are AOE NP OTL

You know you’ve overreact every single gold spark on limited banner... When instead of Gramps, Jeanne came home! :D

Catalyst: Natsume Yuujincho’s Movie Credit Scene and the Theme Song Remember by Uru

Though since she came from that single summon ticket... I’m going to lower my expectations on Edmond’s banner.... At least there’s really Lobo to look forward in SR ticket OTL

And I still went on thinking when seeing her ruler card... Was there any Ruler beside Jeanne in here? OTL This isn’t JP and mothman emperor is limited *facepalm*

Anyway, at least her NP upgrade is more than welcome to heal more + increase defense buff further....

SO WHEN THE FUCK IS HER INTERLUDE 2 ANIPLEX?!?!?!?

[chaorelance]

anyway I am reawake, for real, with super spoilers from the aniplex panel which absolutely did not take the bafflingly stupid approach of glossing over being 2 yrs behind by saying ‘we’re pretending JP doesn’t exist’

the fifth secret EoR singularity is the library of alexandria, where i have used my 4th most powerful noble phantasm [Just A Really Fucking Large Rabbit] to attempt to save it by parking it inside of the library

my attempt fails -and- you have to beat me up