#i checked the english dubbed version to check if it's also funny
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no offense to Laios but I think I understand how the mermaids felt XD
#dungeon meshi#dunmeshi#delicious in dungeon#laios touden#chilchuck tims#video#KUDOS TO LAIOS' SEIYUU IN THIS SCENE XD#i checked the english dubbed version to check if it's also funny#as it turns out they also used the japanese version for laios' singing
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i think it's funny that most people ive seen liveblog the atla netflix show are like
english speakers: this fucking SUCKS ASS you're better off WATCHING THE OG SHOW!!!!!!! FUCK!!! [lengthy posts about every detail they got wrong]
spanish speakers: ive cried twenty times and im halfway through. i walked out of the room after finishing like a new man. it's not perfect, yes, but fuck, man.......... ..... ... omg cabbage man!!!! :D
#it's so funny to me. what the hell happens in that remake i still havent watched it#also spanish speakers have been surprisingly polite wrt spoilers i havent seen A SINGLE outright spoiler from them yet#and the english speakers just slap those bitches on the top of their post no context no warning then go on wiht their rants#not vaguing anyone here btw these are all from stuff ive seen on twitter and facebook i havent checked on tumblr#tortilla rambles#wonder if any details with the acting (like scenes where dialogues might sound off) arent like. Prevalent in the spanish version because of#the dub. would be fun if such a 'small' detail as the voices could be what sells or fails this show#also like i HAVE seen the spanish speakers complain about some of the changes. im not saying they think it's a masterpiece. but they're#taking it with far more grace than some people ive seen on twitter
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Digimon Frontier - Episode 3
For this episode I decided to check out the English dub for Frontier. I really enjoyed it! My problem is that the Digimon dubs are more fun and nostalgic to watch, but I'm always really conscious of missing out on lore and emotional beats. Maybe I'll finish the sub and then watch the dub someday when I wanna revisit this.
Notes:
The American OP is hype as heck! I like the tribal vibe with the drums. I think I like the Japanese digivolution music a little better though.
I liked most of the English VAs but Takuya sounds like a 30 year old lol. For some reason, Izumi's Italian outbursts were a lot funnier in English, "Mamma mia!"
I coulda sworn Takuya said he was in the 4th grade in the last episode but now he's in the 5th? In the dub he's in the 6th, so let's just say he's somewhere in the upper elementary range.
I really loved Tomoki's digivolution sequence. I like how his hand movements are a little more childish/cheerful than Takuya or Koji's Also, in the dub I love how he said "EXECUTE" lol. I know they meant like "executing a program" but I was just thinking of the murder version of "execute" hehe.
So I guess Bokomon and Neemon have a boke/tsukkomi dynamic going on. I think they overdid Bokomon's bullying a bit tho
Lol @ the DigiCode fixing one (1) single bridge in this episode whereas in the first episode they fixed like an entire village. I guess some digimon get you better results than others? (Also they said that the bridge "protected them from bad digimon," how does that work?)
So they've established a bunch of times now that there are supposed to be 10 warriors. Betting the cast will expand with some minor characters later.
I just noticed this, but Takuya has a little symbol on his shirt and hat but I'm not sure if it's supposed to be a reference to something or it's just a cool graphic.
Speaking of graphics, I finally noticed that the symbols for the spirits are literally just kanji. Like Agnimon's is the kanji for fire, Wolfmon is light, Chackmon is ice...
Uhhh...why is the dub name for Chackmon (Kumamon) way more Japanese sounding? I guess they couldn't have used Kumamon in the sub cuz...
Chackmon is a weird name and even after reading the etymology on the wiki I don't really get it.
These kids are kinda savage. First Bokomon is pleading with them to save his world and they just look annoyed and then when Agnimon is battling all the Candlemon they're just like "wow, he's really trying to fight a fire type? What a dumbass" (paraphrasing) and they walk off (to be fair, Takuya told them to hide, but still!) It was really funny when Bokomon was telling the Candlemon that the kids were there to save the Digital World and Takuya was like "not really" lol.
I'm glad that they were at least given the chance to go home because otherwise it feels a little bit like they're being blackmailed into being heroes (save our world or you'll never see your home again)
I'm sure someone has meme'd on Agnimon being covered in white drippy wax before...I'll refrain.
I feel like we already have too much lore here. First it was Cherubimon was messing up the world and now it's actually Lucemon that was the OG world messer-upper? Now I dunno who the big bad is!
If there are 10 warriors...I wonder what the elements are gonna be. Well I guess Pokemon has managed to come up with a zillion "elements." Is someone gonna end up with "heart?" hahaha
Didn't expect Wizardmon to show up as a baddie-of-the-week. Feels weird.
I kinda like that Koji is taking his sweet time to join the party. We don't need his drama in the friend group.
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What are your thoughts over the Japanese dub of the transformer prime series? Or any tf series!
I kinda love the second opening song of the primverse
OH! This is gonna be a long post! Let me talk a lot PLSSS!! 🥺👉👈
I love the original TFP dub but I also dig the Japanese version! I often enjoy comparing the differences between them!
A lot of popular voice actors in Japan participate in the show. Some of them even did voices in the “BEAST WARS” series, which had a big fanbase in my country.
The biggest difference between the original and the Japanese version is that the latter makes a few adjustments to the characters to make them more distinctive and child-friendly. They even added some comical lines that weren’t in the original to make it more mild and relatable for children. Because the original had some pretty serious moments. So in the Japanese version, Starscream and Airachnid turned out to be the funniest characters…
Similarly, “BEAST WARS” also underwent some comical changes for similar reasons. And because of that, the show was a hit with Japanese kids back in the day. So in TFP, I'd say they also gave a nod to fans who grew up watching it.
But as you can imagine, these changes have divided opinions among fans in Japan. Tbh, I understand how both of them feel about it because I love the original vibes! That being said, the Japanese dub has a lot of adorable moments that don’t exist in the original version! Let me pick up MY BOY BREAKDOWN as an example!!!!
He has a funny childish demeanor and talks more than in the original dub. His favorite phrase is “壊すの大好き!(I love breaking things!)”
In “Deus Ex Machina,” the episode of his first appearance, he says, “あーーーごめーーーーん！！(AAAHHH I’M SOOOORYYYYYY!!!)” to Knock Out when he accidentally hits his partner's face with his hammer!
In the next episode, “Speed Metal,” when Starscream scratches Knock Out’s paint as a punishment, Breakdown breaks the fourth wall and speaks to kids in front of the TV, saying “みんなぁ！ いじめはダメだぞぉ！(HEY YOU GUYS!! BULLYING IS WRONG!!)” AWW IT'S SO ADORABLE!! HES 100% A NICE GUY lmao
And surprisingly, he even sings a song sometimes... If you don't believe me, please check out “T.M.I” and “Operation Bumblebee part 2” 🥺
And Our Knock Out is even more of a narcissist than in the original. He always praises himself for how beautiful he is. He usually uses polite Japanese when talking to others, but sometimes he talks to Breakdown casually! I love how the difference in his behavior signifies that Breakdown is special to him as a friend! ( ꈍᴗꈍ) <3
In addition, the voices of Optimus and Megatron both sound younger than in the original! On the other hand, Bulkhead sounds older than in the English version. That's interesting! Oh, and did you know? Wheeljack speaks just like a samurai! This change is probably due to his two-sword style.
I especially love Japanese Ratchet. The voice actor is Nobuo Tobita, who has played many TF characters until now. His voice is really soft and gentle! Besides, he also voiced Scourge in Rise of the Beasts! Wow, he has a wide range of acting! I’m a long-time fan of his!
Oh, speaking of ROTB, let me mention Japanese Mirage’s voice actor, Shingo Fujimori! He’s a famous comedian, and his comedy style is acting like a player and a party person (or someone like that… it’s difficult to explain). He shouts things like “YOOO! GIRL, YOU’RE SO PURDYYY!” So he really fits the character of Mirage!
Oh! And you listened to “TRANSFORMERZ” by M-flo? I like the song too! The original opening theme of TFP is magnificent, so you all might be surprised at the gap between them, but such an anime style is not bad, right? It's interesting how we find different styles in different countries!Unfortunately, the show was only broadcast in Japan up to seasons 2. I wish I could have seen the entire series dubbed in Japanese...😭
I really talked for quite a while, sorry! Thank you for the question, and for taking the time to read!
#thank you for the ask!#my thoughts#the japanese dub vs the original dub#anyway I love both!#long post#maccadam#transformers prime#rise of the beasts#japanese voice actors#transformers
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TWO German dub episodes in one day!
And I did other stuff today too, huh. Look at me being proactive on a Sunday.
After Twilight does a recap of the previous episodes, he finishes with a bit of encouragement to himself.
"Chin up. It's too early to give up."
He says "Kopf hoch" which literally translates to "Head high". It's interesting to learn new phrases through this. Yor repeats that later to him when she tells him Anya thinks of him as a great father.
"Meanwhile, I've already gotten used to this family life."
The English subtitles (and the translation of the manga) say "we" here. But there's something about him focusing on how he is getting used to this life, if you consider that he's never done anything like that before for a mission.
"Please don't forget to apologize to Damian, okay? Promise me."
Again, that "promise me" was added by the dub.
ASHDGFGS I'm not sure because the subtitles said something different, but I'm pretty sure the girl on the right called Anya "That mafia girl" XD
While Damian was thinking how Anya punched him and how dare she, there was some interesting acting in his lines. He was like "She did this to me, this... (derogatory), this... (furiously derogatory), this... (affectionate)"
I just checked the original version, and it's pretty much the same, only a little more subtle. In the dub the last one was full-on besotted.
Also, Damian thinks to himself something along the lines of "I am number two in succession in the Desmonds" or something, and later on Anya refers to him as "Number two". I wonder if that's what her nickname for him will be in later episodes. It's a little funny, albeit a little sad considering how much it hurts Damian to know he's never put first by his family.
When they have their reading lesson and Anya sees that her book has the different ending to the story that Loid put in to encourage her to apologize (also love the lengths he went to because he didn't know that Anya knew how important that apology was to the mission and how committed she was to giving it), she said "Somehow, Anya's book is broken." And yes, that means she called it kaputt XD
We have OUR FIRST "SCHEIẞE!"
He says it at his outburst to Anya, right before he says that he'll never accept her apology.
It came much earlier than I expected, and I hadn't expected Damian of all people to be the first to say it. I mean, he gets angry and bold, but he is still a kid.
(For those of you who don't know, "Scheiße" means "Shit" and it's the equivalent of that swear word in German)
Loid's German VA does a good job giving him overdramatic reactions. His reaction to Damian rejecting Anya's apology was always a funny moment to me, and the dub delivered in the despair in his voice XD
Yor: Have you asked Anya what she wants?
Loid: Not directly...
Mah dude whatchu talking about you haven't asked her shit
(This is not a dig either at the character or the dub, I just found it funny lol. He still has to keep up the pretense that he's Anya's biological father, after all)
Loid's ending line in this episode was "What would it feel like, if this one was my real family?" and it just hit me so much differently, you know? Because you just want them to stay together, you want this family to be a real one. You don't want Loid/Twilight to find just any family, you want him with them. And him referring to the Forgers in particular in that moment just hit harder. I love it.
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Heyya!
There are some things I want to write (specifically: another Field Museum field trip (featuring stuff I got to see on member’s night) and CG headcanons for Father from the show “Raised By Wolves” - he’s such a freaking good dad!) but I’m probably not gonna get those written until at least June. (I work in a school and I’ve got some end-of-year burnout keeping me from writing.)
But I’ve been feeling smallish, so I thought maybe I’d rave about some of my favorite childhood movies (in no particular order). :)
A Troll in Central Park I swear, every single time we went to Blockbuster, I wanted to rent this movie. I just adored it, and I really still do. It just makes me really happy.
Lady and the Tramp This is one of my favorite Disney movies. It’s so pretty, and I love the characters.
Cats (1998) Is it a “kids movie”? No. Did I understand the plot? Barely. But by gosh, I’d put on a leotard and paint whiskers on my face, and I would dance around the living room like I’d been raised to play one of the characters. 😸
The Rescuers Down Under I actually wasn’t allowed to watch this for most of my childhood because my mom felt like the bad guy was “too evil” - she tried to be careful about the things me and my siblings watched when we were really young. (Although, kinda funny, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” was never restricted. 🤣) But I was able to watch it a few times, and I really liked it.
The Prince of Egypt The MUSIC! My gosh, even when I was too young to really appreciate the visuals, I knew the music was great.
The Muppet Christmas Carol We still watch this movie every Christmas. One year my dad was on the phone with my grandparents while we were watching, and he couldn’t stop laughing at “Jacob and Robert Marley”.
Pollyanna I don’t really know WHY I loved this movie so much - it’s so dialog-heavy and I had (and still kind of have) a pretty short attention span. Still, basically every time I was at my grandparents house I wanted to watch their copy of it.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks I guess some people say this movie was a “Mary Poppins” knockoff? Honestly, as much as I do enjoy “Mary Poppins”, I personally like this more. Maybe ‘cause I like witches.
Kiki’s Delivery Service (1997 English Dub) The characters! The story! The music! AAAAHHH! This is still one of my all-time favorite movies, and it bums me out so much that the 97’ version is so hard to find. (I may or may not have found it online and saved it to my computer so I’ll always have it. XD) I still have the VHS copy I got for Christmas when I was really little.
Homeward Bound & Homeward Bound 2: Lost in San Francisco Everytime I hear the theme music I feel giddy. I like the first one a little more, but they’re both such nice, feel-good movies.
The Lion King 2 - Simba’s Pride … I like this movie more than the first one. 😱😂 The original “Lion King” is great, but I just alway liked this one more. The colors, the songs, the characters (good gosh, Zira is one of my favorite villains ever, don’t even get me started). It’s just really good!
Oliver and Company As a kid this was probably one of my top five Disney movies. It’s not quite so high on the list now, but I still really love it.
Hap Palmer’s Baby Songs This is technically a series and not a “movie”, but this is my list so I’m gonna count it. 😆 They’re mostly original songs, they’re super catchy, and the accompanying videos are a lot of fun. Most of the songs are on Hap Palmer’s YouTube channel; I highly recommend checking it out. (Also: I did not grow up watching “Turn on the Music”, but it’s also really good.)
The Ruby Princess Runs Away This movie is available on YouTube, but please tell me if you ever saw it as a kid - none of my friends had and I couldn’t believe it. This was one of my favorite movies and I watched it so much I can still recite segments of it; a few years ago my sister picked a random scene, played a few seconds, and I gave her the next lines of dialogue. That’s how wild I was about it. 🤣 It’s honestly not a great movie, pretty average and without much of a budget, but I still love it.
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Bonjor mes amis! Ça va?
LadyAnthropology once again travels across the pond, this time to FRANCE!
Once again, I am studying abroad, this time in France. I have always loved the French language and culture. The country is beautiful, the language elegant, the food exquisite - or so I hear. I have spent the last year learning the French language and have the wonderful opportunity to spend over a month in France, learning and seeing all I can.
We start our trip in Paris, then we travel to Normandy, and then to La Rochelle. I have heard great things about this program and everything that is planned so it's safe to say I'm excited.
France is one of the first countries to pioneered fencing as a sport and have an interesting history with patriotism and nationalism. Their culture is thought to be as elegant and classy as their language. I have two recent exposures to anything related to France. One is the children's TV show Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir, sometimes just called "Miraculous Ladybug". This show is set in Paris and follows the adventures of two teenagers as they transform into superheroes and fight supervillains while trying to balance their social and school life. It's originally broadcasted in France, so the language is originally French (which makes the NYC Special funny because the English dub of course has them all speaking English when the script clearly is supposed to show the language barrier between French and English speakers). The show first aired in 2015 and season 5 recently premiered in October of 2022. Another exposure that a lot of people probably had but don't realize is the recent live action re-make of The Little Mermaid. While the original 1989 animated version was set in/around Denmark (most popularly believed), this 2023 re-make was set in the Caribbean, the Caribbean was first colonized by Spain and quickly followed by France. This upcoming Fall, specifically in October/November, I will have the absolute pleasure of being involved in the musical Once on This Island, which is set in the French Antilles. It's called out in the musical that it's set in the 19th century, 4 generations after the Napoleon Era. I highly recommend checking it out, it's fun, beautiful, and entertaining.
There are other media like An American in Paris, Moulin Rouge!, Anastasia, and more.
If you're new, I have a previous blog titled: "A London Adventure!", chronicling my time in London, UK, last summer. That blog was a combination of a class requirement and myself wanting a way to look back on my travels. A blog is not required this time, so the posts will look a bit different as I don't have certain things, I need to put in them. I highly recommend checking it out, if you haven't already.
Here, I'm going to talk about my travels, places and things I have seen, food I've tried, and more. I will also briefly talk about what I learned in class that day (French is difficult to learn, it's a fast language and I have trouble with hearing).
I am going to do my absolute best to learn as much as I can. I've decided that when I apply to graduate programs, I will apply for both Theatre and for Cultural Anthropology. If I get accepted into a Cultural Anthropology program, I want to focus my attention on the Polynesian Islands and the Caribbean. The French colonized some of these regions and as such French is a language spoken on some of these islands in addition to their native language. My goal is to help create a bridge between the different cultures and people of the world and learning French is just one of the first steps towards that goal.
#studyabroad#travel#france#paris#normandy#larochelle#food#fun#student#french#language#culture#anthropology
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fausto reviews things: triple threat!
Today I’ve got not one, not two, but three movie reviews for y’all! They’re all movies i stopped watching before the ten minute mark because they fucking suck. they are listed in the order i watched them, but it’s also in descending order of enjoyability.
First up we have Lifeforce the 1985 sci fi version of “don’t go in there!”. Everyone makes terrible decisions the like of which boggles the mind. First off, when we get our ship close to Haley’s comet, the radio goes out. now if you were in this situation would you:
A) fuck off and leave well enough alone
B) back up your space ship until the radio comes back on to tell ground base what’s going on or
C) keep going as if nothing is wrong
and if you picked C, i’m judging you severely. and of course that’s just what the movie does. and there’s this sort of… british masculinity? that is the driving force behind all of this. like the reason they keep going really is just so they get to be the first people to do the thing, but instead of the giddy american masculinity that comes with being the first to do something there’s this reserved britishness to everything and i just hate it so much. it reeks of colonialism and i’d have to rewatch the ten minutes of movie to more accurately explain why it’s just so unbearably british, but i’m not going to do that because it’s unpleasant. And then part of the crew goes into the giant phalic space ship that’s jamming their radio and it jams the crew to ship radio but by god we’re going to keep going! and after ignoring several more signs of danger they end up with three crystalized/suspended animation naked humans (the girl is the most beautiful thing the captain’s ever seen) and a desiccated alien space bat on board and go back to earth, but when the ship gets back to earth they still can’t communicate with the ground crew so earth blasts off another space ship, docks with the other one, and they find out everyone is dead! dun dun dun! except the three naked crystal people are fine and still in there.
at this point i turned it off but apparently those three crystal people are vampires, hence the alien space bats in the penis ship from the comet.
and unlike most of my reviews, let’s focus on the positives for a change: the special effects are so freaking 80s the fact that the script and premise is terrible i didn’t really care. but the one two punch of bad writting plus it being british pushed this movie over the edge out of cult classic fun into just plain boring. this is the kind of movie i’d only attempt a rewatch if it was dubbed into another language, preferable one i don’t speak.
And coming in at number two we have Steamboy, the 2004 steampunk childhood movie directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, the guy who directed Akira. I don’t know how to describe this movie other than it’s like watching Laputa dubbed into british english. i could tell where this movie was going and i knew i wasn’t going to enjoy it from the vaguely studio ghibli esque vibes but mostly from the britishness of it. and it’s not the kind of britishness you can ignore if you watch it in the original japanese so no second chance for this movie.
And crashing in at number three we have Jumanji: the next level. as this is the *checks notes* fourth jumanji movie but i haven’t seen 2 and 3 i figured i’d be missing something. what was missing was a writer. i can’t believe someone would have enough money to hire Danny Devito, Danny Glover, Jack Black, the Rock, Kevin Hart, and Karen Gillan but not have enough in the budget for a writer.
actually i take all that back, there must have been a writer because i don’t believe for a second that Danny Devito and Danny Glover could have a casual conversation sitting at a table and have it be boring if they were ab libbing it. someone was purposefully making them be not funny.
Then we have the four college aged characters: a rich blonde girl with a heart of gold, a black guy who plays sports, the girl friend who may or may not have broken up with the main character, and the main character with depression. and mr depression decides to do the “i’m going to disappear and wait for my friends to come find me because that will prove they love me” thing but into the jumanji game. so basically he’s forcing his friends to risk their lives to save him. that is such a dick move. i mean the non risk your life version is a dick move but holy mother of god, forcing your friends to risk their lives to save yours for a little serotonin? like what the fuck? i hate the main character so much it’s unreal. i want to hunt down the guy who wrote this character and punch him in the face. *checks notes* Jake Kasdan, Jeff Pinkner, and Scott Rosenberg. I want to punch all three of them in the face, no scratch that, i want to line them up and do a dramatic slap that gets all three of them three stooges style then come back and get them again with a back hand.
#fausto reviews things#there will be no more thelma and louises#no more mulholland drives#all movies suck.
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Why u should watch tokyo mew mew: the extremely abridged version (because I could talk for a Long Long time about why it’s my favorite series ever and why I think everyone who is interested in magical girl stuff should check it out. this post is already very long tho)
some things I couldnt fit on the slides or forgot to add:
-the series really lends itself to making ocs/self inserts which is fun!! both the mews and aliens designs have common elements in common that makes it easy to make your own character just by taking a food + animal + color!
-All the characters have variations of their name’s spellings across various translations, so you’ll hear a lot of versions of their names ( Zakuro sometimes being Zacro, Kisshu being Quiche or Kish, Bu-Ling/Pudding and her last name being Fong or Huang, Mint/Minto, Tart/Taruto, Pai/Pie, etc...)
-there IS a dub. by 4kids. called mew mew power. it’s...uh, interesting. It only got dubbed up to ep 26/52, and they made some bizarre name changes and even changed the episode order and censored some things that def didn’t need censoring (zakuro’s weapon being a cross was Scandalous) It’s kinda infamous for being bad, but it’s honestly funny and I’m attached to it since I grew up watching it first... I’d recommend checking it out after watching the subs, or just watching a compilation vid of it because it’s genuinely really funny
-I haven’t actually READ tmm: Ole! yet beyond like, 1-2 chapters, so I can’t really vouch for if its as a good as the og series! I just wanted to mention it exists :)
Annnd some links!!
-watch tmm on youtube (there are several channels with the full series if this one goes down!)
-the og anime’s OST, including some great character songs!
-watch mew mew power / a compilation
- the ps game playthru english translation
- Smewthie’s youtube channel go listen to the new anime’s music and watch their super cute music videos!
- Read tmm ole! and Read Tmm Re-Turn! @hikayagami scans them, @ribbonstrawberrysurprise translates and @berrychanx cleans and edits them. I’d totally recommend all of their blogs for tmm content too, like news, translations and meta posts ^^
-the manga including a la mode can be bought still!! I’d recommend trying bookstores near you or ebay for cheaper editions. (you can also read it online!! but sites usually get taken down or moved around so I won’t link them here) tokyo black cat girl was included in a la mode I think :)
if you end up watching it bc of me or this post please tell me what you think!! I would love to hear what people who are new to the series think 🥺💕
#tokyo mew mew#mew mew power#anime rec#magical girls#magical girl anime#if anyone has stuff to add#please do!!#i realize 12 am isnt the ideal time to post this#but ill rb it in the morning too#impatient...
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MALMAISON MEDIA SALON SOIRÉE 6: HUSSAR BALLAD (1962)
1. The Introduction
Greetings, dear Neighbors. Welcome back to Malmaison Media Salon, where we review Napoleonic era - related media, have a good time and even joke every so often!
So, Soviet media. I suppose it was only a matter of time before it would pop up on my Napoleonic radar, as I have already talked about Flames of Paris (a ballet originally created in the USSR) in one of the Jacobin Fiction Convention reviews and also because the Russian Empire did play an important role in the time period.
Of course, when it comes to the history of the Russian Empire, the Russian Campaign of 1812 pops up the most before, during and after the Soviet era.
When it comes to this particular campaign, War and Peace (and its numerous adaptations) comes to mind very often, but today I would like to review something different. Hussar Ballad!
This movie was quite popular when it came out in 1962 and it was actually one of my favorite Soviet movies when I was a kid, so it’s safe to say I’m very nostalgic. I’ll still try to be objective though.
Anyway, before we proceed, I should warn you that I was unable to find any dubs for the movie but a version with English subtitles is available on YouTube so most people who don’t speak Russian will, hopefully, be able to enjoy it regardless.
Alright, let’s go!
2. The Summary
Alexandra (or Shurochka) Azarova is the only niece of Major Azarov. A tomboy who is good at fighting and horse riding, she joins the Russian army during the Patriotic War (that’s how that campaign is called in Russia) while disguised as a boy.
Oh, and there are also elements of a romcom involved.
Let’s see how the results have turned out now, shall we?
3. The Story
Okay, so I actually feel really bored when I see romantic subplots in media and don’t care about them much, but here it’s actually funny. Let me explain.
(Spoilers ahead!)
Shurochka is betrothed to one Poruchik Rzhevsky, who has never seen her before and imagines her as a stereotypical ingénue.
Thing is, that couldn’t be further from the truth, but Shurochka does play this role in order to prank her betrothed. However, she also serves with him side by side in the army (disguised, of course) so the revelation of how he got tricked comes off as pretty funny in the end, when she drops the charade.
The heroine’s banter with the poruchik is also quite hilarious and makes their subplot entertaining to watch. That being said, I much preferred other aspects of the plot, like the battle scenes, but that’s just me.
I also like the fact that at first Kutuzov wanted to kick the heroine out of the army upon finding out that she is not a man, and only changed his mind when a Russian general (who was saved by her) recognizes his rescuer.
Army was no place for a woman (not in combat roles at least) at the time, so it does make sense that the main character would only be allowed to stay in her disguise if she really proved her worth as a soldier.
Another detail I liked is that one of the major characters (Vincento) is Spanish, so there’s a historically accurate acknowledgment that the Grande Armée didn’t consist just of Frenchmen. There were plenty of people from other parts of the empire (the Russian army didn’t have only Russians in it either by the way ), so I’m glad that the creators included a non-French character.
There are filler scenes to balance out the action, but they’re usually the ones where the songs and comedy spice things up, plus those scenes also show how the characters bond, so I’m glad they’re included in the story.
All in all, I don’t have that many major complaints. For some the “woman disguised as a man” trope might be boring, but I think it works here, especially since the main character has a prototype who was a real cavalryman, Alexander Alexandrov (assigned female at birth and known as Nadezhda Durova before his service).
A friend of mine, @tairin , made a post about Alexandrov, so check it out if you haven’t already!
Okay, moving on. Let’s take a look at the characters.
4. The Characters
Shurochka is awesome! Witty, brave, with a mischievous side and also noble in character. For example, she gives her coat to an imprisoned enemy to warm him up and acknowledges that he is a good fighter, so she can definitely respect her enemies and show them kindness.
She isn’t devoid of a softer side though, and it shows when she sings a lullaby to one of her dolls before departing to join the army.
Poruchik Rzhevsky is a bit less interesting in my opinion, but still has his moments. Fun cultural tidbit: Actually there are plenty of jokes about him in Russia, so in a sense he is an iconic character, even if it’s mostly for comedic reasons.
The male character I like the most, however, is Vincento. Although they’re on opposite sides, he respects Shurochka (it’s mutual) and even fights with her at one point, so they do develop something of a camaraderie. It helps that he has a noble character as well.
Louise Jermon, a French singer and actress, is pretty cool as well. I like her singing and how she doesn’t want duels to happen because of her (at one point she thinks that two characters are about to duel because they’re competing for her affection).
Kutuzov is pretty cool here. He is a reasonable commander and keeps the heroine’s secret after allowing her to stay when it becomes clear that she is a capable soldier.
There are almost no historical figures in the movie. Naps and Murat are mentioned a few times but don’t show up personally, so it doesn’t really count, but I’d argue that it’s a good thing.
The focus is on original characters, after all, not historical figures, so the former should be in the spotlight.
5. The Setting
The backgrounds are fucking gorgeous! Apparently the movie was shot near Moscow, which is where I’m from, so that’s nice.
The costumes seem to be pretty accurate and colorful, so maybe it’s a good thing Murat’s fashion choices stay offscreen along with The Dandy Gascon himself.
6. The Music
The music is pretty iconic and catchy (when it comes to songs). It’s a musical movie, after all! 😉
7. The Acting
Larisa Golubkina (Shurochka) is my favorite here, but I’d say almost every actor is wonderful and knocks it out of the park.
8. The Subtitles
Okay, just a heads up. Like most things Soviet, the movie is in Russian. I already said that there’s a version with English subtitles and they’re good for the most part, but some things understandably get lost in translation (for example, all the lines in the movie are spoken in rhymes, while the subtitles are not rhymed).
But I personally know that translation is fucking hard so I’m glad that the subtitles are even a thing, because it’s miles better than nothing.
9. The Conclusion
Definitely recommend this movie as a classic. More lighthearted than most war movies and Romcoms definitely aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but feel free to check it out if you are interested.
With that, let us conclude our little soirée. As always, stay tuned for updates and stay safe!
Love,
- Citizen Green Pixel
#history#malmaison media salon#napoleonic art#napoleonic movies#napoleonic media#hussar ballad#russian campaign 1812#movie review#soviet movie#russian history#kutuzov#marshal murat#napoleon bonaparte#napoleonic era#review
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A few notes about the Japanese dub of The Legend of Vox Machina
My interests and skills happen to overlap a little here, so rather than continue to spam my poor D&D group's Discord with even more rambling about the Japanese dub, I thought I'd drop it here on Tumblr for those who might be interested.
So yeah, LOVM is available dubbed in like 9 languages or something???? The CR cast mentioned on Twitter they thought the Japanese dub was really good and honestly I do too. I gotta be honest, I actually think the writing is snappier than the original English version in some spots haha. I'm gonna drop my more opinionated impressions that I gave to some friends in a separate post but here I'd just like to share a few facts and translations.
The main cast members for the Japanese dub are (names in Western order):
Grog - Hayato Kaneko
Keyleth - Misaki Ikeda
Percy - Masanori Shimizu
Pike - Yuumi Yabuuchi
Scanlan - Chiharu Sawashiro
Vax - Fumitake Ishiguro
Vex - Ahiru Oohira
(Wasn't able to find a Twitter for Yabuuchi-san, if anybody else does let me know)
Some side cast members I was able to find:
Allura and others - Suzuka Kimura
Kima, Cassandra, and others - Haruka Murata
Fun trivia: I didn't know any of these particular performers before hearing them in the LOVM dub, and I haven't deeply researched any of them, but while checking to see who had Twitters I noticed that Vax's actor Ishiguro-san identifies as X-gender and questioning (X-gender is a gender identity often seen in Japan which is roughly equivalent to nonbinary or genderqueer).
A few cast members have tweeted to announce that they were part of the dub, and the following are some quick and dirty translations of their tweets, in no particular order.
Ahiru Oohira:
https://twitter.com/awesome_ahiru/status/1487229399766548481
[Appearance Info]
Now streaming on #AmazonPrimeVideo💘
"The Legend of Vox Machina". I'm playing Vex.🦋🏹
She's a cool girl in blue!
Let me say it again, I'm playing a really cool girl!
This slightly low-brow team is funny and cool as they fight on.🍻
Fumitake Ishiguro:
https://twitter.com/1496_incidents/status/1487253080865652737
[#TheLegendofVoxMachina Season 1]
I played the role of Vax in the dub 🧝♂️🗡
This maverick group of mercenaries run amok for the sake of money, booze, their own purposes, and sometimes a little bit for justice.🤸♂️
I hope you'll watch!👼
#VoxMachina🪓
Hayato Kaneko:
https://twitter.com/GORI_Kaneko711/status/1487358939922518019
I'm appearing as the role of Grog in The Legend of Vox Machina!
Grog is kind of a hooligan who's a little goofy, but he's also the life of the party who makes things feel a little cozier just by being around.
I hope you'll check out the show!
#VoxMachina🪓
Misaki Ikeda:
https://twitter.com/ikedamisaki2525/status/1487388551088119810
📢I'm dubbing the voice of Keyleth in "#TheLegendofVoxMachina", now streaming on Amazon Prime Video!
She's a real mess, but also very tough and cool.
Check it out!
#TheLegendofVoxMachina🪓
#VoxMachina🪓
Masanori Shimizu:
https://twitter.com/haiyumasa/status/1487392175067639810
As of yesterday,
it's now streaming on Amazon Prime Video!
"The Legend of Vox Machina"
I'm dubbing the role of Percy (Taliesin Jaffe). I hope you'll enjoy this (very R-rated and provocative!) adventure that unfolds with a group full of interesting quirks!
#VoxMachina🪓
#TheLegendofVoxMachina🪓
Suzuka Kimura:
https://twitter.com/seirinka/status/1487395278689042434
[Appearance Info]
Amazon Original
"The Legend of Vox Machina"
I'm playing the role of council member Allura as well as some other characters.
This action-adventure show follows Vox Machina, who are one rowdy adventuring party!
At the beginning I imagine you'll think, "Good grief, are these guys for real...?" but the more you watch the more you'll fall in love with them!🤗
#VoxMachina🪓
Haruka Murata:
https://twitter.com/jb7_ms/status/1487382001057669121
[Appearance Info]
Amazon Original
"The Legend of Vox Machina"
I'm dubbing the roles of Kima, Cassandra, and others.
This show follows the big adventures of Vox Machina, a group who's a little rude and crude but when push comes to shove they get the job done! I hope you'll watch this party full of interesting quirks springing into action with a spectactular showing!
#VoxMachina
Masanori Shimizu, after Liam and some Critters tweeted at him (he also RTed Taliesin's tweet praising the dub):
https://twitter.com/haiyumasa/status/1487583032836243459
The main cast members from the original version noticed our Japanese dub cast and are all excited about us👏 I'm so happy. I hope all of you will take this opportunity to check out our version as well!
-
That's all the relevant tweets I've found so far, but if I stumble across any more, I'll add translations in here too.
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For the ask meme! Your top 5 of the funniest moments in Bleach! I hope you don't mind me asking :D Also, if you want to talk about any other top and it hasn't been asked, feel free to add it! ♥♥♥
Ask me for my Top 5/Top 10 of anything!
Thank you for bringing me some laughs with this list! Unfortunately couldn't get gifs for all of these because they didn't turn up in the search/the scene hasn't been adapted yet.
5. Ikkaku's lucky dance
The first time I saw this, I couldn't stop laughing, and every time I've gone back and rewatched this scene since usually gets a chuckle out of me. It comes right the heck out of nowhere and I love seeing all the reactions from the characters (Ichigo and Ganju are just dumbfounded into silence, and Yumichika is just like 'this again?? Oh God...'
4. Ichigo at Kukaku's
The animation and voice acting (both original and English dub) really helps with this one. From the moment Ganji and Ichigo recognised each other and screamed, I was laughing. The fight they have, then Kukaku blowing up the house, and Ichigo and Ganji agreeing about how they view Kukaku, it all hilarious. Wheh it turns out later that they're cousins, this scene got even better to rewatch.
3. Ichigo ships Renruki throws Rukia
It's a classic moment, and one that always makes me smile. I don't know what I find funnier: that Ichigo thought it was a good idea ot throw Rukia, or Rukia's scream as she's flying down to Renji, or Renji catching Rukia and both are sent spinning away, or their reaction after it's all happened. It's all great and makes for one of the most memorable (and funny) moments in the whole series.
2. Of chickens and eyebrows
Ah, what could have been. From Bazz B pausing the battle just to check if Renji was insulting his mohawk to Renji's little praise of chickens ("What? Don't like chickens? They get up early, lay eggs. They're awesome.") to the glorious moment when Bazz B reveals he actually thought Renji's eyebrows were 'cool razor-sharp' and Renji just basking in that moment while Rukia [after having enough of Renji being sad no likes his eyebrows] just watches on before it all come crashing down and the battle has to continue, it's all comedy gold for me. I refer to this moment and this duo as 'chicken eyebrows', for that reason and I can't help but wonder in some weird alternate universe if these two had gotten along what kind of dorky, dumb nonsense they could have gotten up to. Regardless, I can't wait to see this animated!
1. Recruiting Hitsugaya to be part of the Kendo team
This moment is just...surreal (heck, the whole episode is, have you seen the faces the characters make throughout?), but it never fails to make me laugh! Just looking at the gif version has me grinning and trying to suppress a laugh.
Where do you start with this scene? At worst it's complete crack and at best it's taking certain traits within Toshiro and cranking them up to 11 for comedic effect. We've got Ikkaku trying to bribe Toshiro (who is already in the Kendo gear) with candy and snacks while on his hands and knees. When this doesn't work, he instead tries bribe him with toys - one of which is a gun... What's even more bizzare to me though is Toshiro, without question it seems, just got into the gear after Ikkaku told him it was urgent. Can you imagine Ikkaku rushing in and telling a captain that he needs to get dressed into this gear right now. It's mentioned the gear belongs to a grade schooler, which makes Toshiro think up this crayoned masterpiece:
Why is there a chicken and chicks in the background? Why the heck is there an airplane? Why is he imagining Ikkaku blushing and smiling like that? Just...who came up with this?! Someone or some people had to sit down and draw this. No, they not only had to draw it, they or someone else then had to colour it, fix any errors, and then put it together for animation...On a side note, can someone tell me what it says on his school bag?
After all of this though, you get the actual masterpiece of Toshiro's reaction. How is it so hilarious and threatening at the same time? How is not a meme within the BLEACH community at this point? It might be absolute crack, but I just can't help but laugh at the sheer absurdity and weirdness of the whole thing!
Thanks for sending this in! :D
#bleach#ichigo kurosaki#ganju shiba#kukaku shiba#ikkaku madarame#toshiro hitsugaya#renruki#renji abarai#rukia kuchiki#bazz b#asks#ask meme#iz-star
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Fave eps of the 63 astroboy anime?
Okay, so I'm only at episode 55 out of i think 109 in the english dub, but I can tell you my faves so far!
this got real long real fast, so I'm putting it under a readmore :3c
-episode 11, 'Strange Voyage' I've talked a lil' bit about this one before, but I'll elaborate. I think this episode is tastefully dark, but has some really great sweeter moments as well. Like when Louie(?) agrees to watch Marble, and then... proceeds to do so. He's never mean to her, and while he's not kind, he's willing to talk with her. Also Astro decides that keeping the little girl away from the notorious criminal is unnecessary, and decides that she and the criminal should play chess instead. As for darker moments, the ending and this particular line come to mind
and then Marble, who is like 5, claims that there must be a heaven for robots, because Astro deserves to go to heaven. Also they try to kill a man by shoving him out the airlock. But yeah, if you're looking to decide whether or not this show is worth it, check out this episode
-episode 7, 'Zero, the Invisible Robot' So this is the Denkou episode, and for some reason they made him a gorgeous man that I'm in love with. But he's named Zero here. I don't know what else to say that hasn't been said, other than I maybe teared up a lil'. Don't judge me. I'm a sucker for 'I just want to be good/do a good job' type characters (which is why I'm also a fan of bobo and abra cadabra) and I think it's really funny that they were like 'we have to make him BEAUTIFUL' and he's only visible for like 5 seconds total.
-episode 53, 'Dogma Palace' This episode is absolutely dumb as dogshit and I'm completely obsessed with it. It seems like it's gonna be cool and dark and in the last like 7 minutes you find out that everything's all fucked cuz the king was like 'o ye i used 2 keep bees! My favourite bee was this fucked-up evil one from outer space that liked to mind control people!' and he did not see how this could have ever gone wrong. May I recite to you the greatest lines of dialogue in tv history?
*while panning over freed child slaves* "You can be a king who believes in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness!" "Yes. I'll start a new country, a country without slaves, or monsters, or super-bees!"
also the king is named 'El Doopy' and his elite task force are the Super Troupers
-episodes 44 and 45, 'The Heart of Cleopatra' It's another 'I want to be Good but I am forced to be Bad episode, with the added bonus of being Cleopatra-themed. Also it was bizarre but heartwarming to see Muslims and Islam being treated (somewhat) respectfully in a cartoon from 1963. Like they were literally just praying. It might not have been *tactful* bc this show has never heard of tact in its life, but I don't think it was *offensive* and it certainly wasn't mean-spirited
-Episode 10, 'The Spirit Machine'
-Episode 52, 'The Snow Lion' I had been looking forward to this episode after hearing that the 80's version was batshit, and I was NOT disappointed. The main villain is this little space wizard man with a flying lion made of snow, except the snow is alive and eats energy, and also apparently the wizard called in the girl scouts to help him invade earth. Sadly, the girl scouts were never seen.
like right in the middle there's this fucking somber as hell scene where Elefun hold's Astro's lifeless body, and he says 'I'll put you in the robot hall of fame if it's the last thing I do.' and so we get a 30 second long sequence of Elefun somberly walking down the halls of the robot hall of fame with Astro in his arms, until he reaches a pedestal. He then sets Astro up, and goes 'at least we can face the end together' and kneels down and rests himself on the pedestal, and fucking. just sits and waits to die.
And then some stuff happens and we get back to astro fighting a flying space lion made of snow.
~
Thank you for the ask! This was really fun~ I know I tend to ramble a lot lol, but I hope this gave you some insight into what sort of stuff I like!
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Binge-Watching: Pokemon Banned Episodes
It’s time to watch about Pokemon’s banned episodes! These are episodes that, for whatever reason, were either pulled from circulation soon after being dubbed or were never dubbed in the first place. There are seven in total across the show’s initial run, and I’ve already watched one of them- The Ice Cave- which was never dubbed because it featured Prominent Blackface Jynx. Now it’s time to check out the other six and find out why Big Brother doesn’t want you to see them!
This post will be a little looser and less structured than my usual posts. I’ll just briefly touch on each episode in turn and talk about why it was banned, as well as my own impressions. Cool? Cool. Let’s-a go!
Beauty and the Beach: A beach episode? What could possibly go wrong? Well, everything, basically. You’ve got lots of banning shots of girls in bikinis, an old man leering at Misty’s boobs (and no, trying to localize it as “you remind me of my granddaughter doesn’t make it any less creepy), and James wearing inflatable breasts that made me physically retch. Also, Misty’s forced to parade her bikini-clad body in front of a drooling audience for money. Yeah, it’s the G-rated version of that and there’s no real fanservice, per se, but still, yikes. Turns out, OG Japanese Pokemon is way hornier than the dub would lead you to believe. There’s even that one line in the OG theme song about looking for Pokemon under a girl’s skirt. And it’s super fucking uncomfortable on every level. Thank god that American standards for kid’s content are more prudish so the localization team scrubbed all this stuff out.
-It’s interesting that despite dubbing this episode, they didn’t translate any of the signs into English. I wonder why?
-”You’ll always be my baby.” We really need more Deliah Ketchum content.
The Legend of Dratini: The gang stops Team Rocket from stealing a rare Dratini! This episode was never dubbed because the guest character is a park ranger who points an actual gun at Ash on multiple occasions, and guns in American kid’s cartoons is still very no-no. Thought honestly, it’s kind of funny how intense the ranger is about the whole thing. They’re just a bunch of kids, dude, no need to go full Lone Ranger on them. Also: yet more uncomfortable horny with Jessie trying to seduce said ranger, despite him being an old man. Gross.
-”Please do something about that talking through singing thing.” pfft
-So Dratini’s Japanese name, Miniryu, is literally just “mini dragon.” Nice.
-Ash Fucking Dies(tm)
-Oh, that’s where Ash gets his giant horde of Tauros. I was wondering.
-Okay but why is this ED just Meowth singing an acoustic guitar song
AI Soldier Porygon: Ah, the infamous episode that gave seizures to tons of kids watching and made Japan tighten its broadcast standards so you couldn’t show rapidly flashing lights anymore. Truly, Pokemon was a groundbreaking show. And yes, there are a lot of flashing lights in this episode, and despite not being epileptic myself, it puts a lot of strain on your eyes. I can totally see how it messed people up.
Other than that, this episode is mostly fun as a late-90s throwback to the era when people were just starting to get into computers but didn’t entirely know how they worked. Ash imagines a computer virus as an actual virus, the internet world the gangs visits gives me heavy flashbacks to Scooby-Doo Lost in Cyberspace, of all things, and somehow an antivirus program escapes to the real world and blows up like an actual bomb. It’s pretty ridiculous, but hey, that’s Pokemon for you.
-Hold on, this guy’s name is Professor Akihabara? As in, the nerdy professor is named after Tokyo’s otaku mecca? Good lord, this show.
-And now I realize that Porygon’s name is a Japanization of “polygon,” because of course it is.
Holiday Hi-Jynx: In case you couldn’t tell from the title, this is another episode done in by Blackface Jynx. It’s a pretty silly holiday special about Jessie restoring her faith in Santa Claus after trying to kidnap him. Also, Santa exists in the Pokemon world, his sleigh is pulled by a Rapidash instead of reindeer, and his elves are all Jynxes. Don’t ask me to explain that, because I don’t think I can.
-So, apparently Jynx has telepathy hair. Huh.
-Ash jumping headfirst into reckless situations will never stop being funny.
-”I think it’s time to Psywave goodbye now.” Santa’s a fucking savage, lol.
Stage Fight: Another Jynx casualty! She only shows up for like three seconds in a group shot and never actually talks, but I guess even that was too much. Which is a shame, because this is a pretty fun episode. The concept of a radio play pantomimed by Pokemon as human actors do their voices behind a curtain is exactly the kind of bonkers worldbuilding I come to this franchise for, and there’s even a sweet emotional arc about a trainer overcoming her fear of her Raichu so she can patch up their relationship and make it trust her again.
-”It’s kinda hard to match the lip flaps, isn’t it?” Ahahaha, dub humor.
The Mandarin Island Miss Match: MAN, am I bummed this episode got banned. It’s such a great development episode for Ash, forcing him to cool his arrogance and realize how much he owes the Pokemon and people around him for helping him win. It takes more than outer strength to be a great trainer; it takes respecting your Pokemon and appreciating them for all they do. After all, they’re the ones actually fighting and winning the badges that Ash is so proud of. Seeing that realization would’ve made his character development even more satisfying on a grand scale. Also, Prima is the fucking best and she absolutely triggered Misty’s lesbian awakening through the sheer power of her boobage. Which may be part of why the episode was banned, honestly; Prima’s got some stacked funbags, and that might’ve been a little too much for American censors. Plus, you know, it’s got Jynx in it too. Once again, a potentially great Pokemon episode is wiped from memory because of blackface. Gotta love hate it.
-”Sometimes, his brain goes out to lunch.” pfft
-”Now you really look like ash.” Damn, Misty’s on fire today. As is Ash, I suppose.
-”She’s using perverse psychology on me!” “You know, you sound smarter with your mouth shut.” I’M FUCKING LOSING IT
-”Is it available on CD?” “Tape only! 18.95.” sdfkhsdf Prima’s great
Best of Team Rocket
-”We work with Jessie, so we know all about brutal!”
-”We’re so good, we destroy things without even trying!”
-”Don’t worry, I prepared this parachute!” *splat* akjdhskdfhs nice
-”We conduct misdeeds in a fair and open manner.”
-Team Rocket Dinner Theater sounds like the best fucking idea.
-”Can’t we be friends, even thought we’re stealing from you?”
-”And a wet Meowth is an unpleasant Meowth!”
-”Losing is so important, it’s what we based our whole career on!”
And with that, I really have finished Pokemon’s initial run. Just one more movie to go, and then it’s time to move on to LoGH!
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Count-Down: Number 26
Welcome to Count-Down! All throughout the month of October, I’m counting down my Top 31 favorite portrayals and reimaginings of the King of the Vampires, Count Dracula!
I have only one thing to say about this Count: “ZOINKS!”
Number 26 is…Hamilton Camp.
Scooby-Doo and Dracula have quite a history together. Over the course of the franchise, there have not only been numerous vampires featured, many of them quite obviously inspired by the Count, but Dracula himself has popped up on several occasions throughout the course of many different interpretations of the characters and universe. Out of all the different versions of Dracula featured in Scooby-Doo – none of which seem to have any continuity with each other – my personal favorite is the one from the movie “Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf.”
“Reluctant Werewolf” was one of several Halloween TV specials made for Scooby-Doo that eschewed actual mystery-solving in favor of a more direct approach of Scooby, Shaggy, and a few assorted side characters encountering actual monsters and ghouls in comedic situations. Later versions of the Scooby series would mix and match these elements quite well, with the characters both capturing false ghouls and battling actual demons pretty much simultaneously. However you prefer the franchise, the Halloween TV movies have a special place in my heart, because I watched them every year for the better part of two decades. There were three such specials: Reluctant Werewolf, Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School, and Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers.
Of the three, Reluctant Werewolf is the only one I remember a lot about, and it was always my favorite. It's also the only one I've bothered to check out again in my (fledgling and so-called) adult years. I think this is mostly because the movie is basically “Scooby-Doo’s Wacky Races.” I really love Wacky Races, and seeing that kind of format brought to the creepy-goofy tone of Scooby was a lot of fun. The fact it involved so many different classic monsters was also a really nice touch; even at a young age, knowing next to nothing about them, I still had a budding love of the famous monster characters, and over the years that interest would only grow.
In Reluctant Werewolf, Hamilton Camp (who some may know as the voice of Professor Moriarty from the English dub of Sherlock Hound, among many other roles) played the Count in, fittingly, a rather “campy” way. This is, as you would expect, another “Funny Dracula,” and one of the first I ever got to encounter. In the movie, Dracula is put in charge of a big racing event that features all the great monsters, but he has a problem: the Wolfman has dropped out of the race, and – apparently – the race can’t go on unless a new werewolf takes his place. So, with help from his Igor-like minions – a couple of cretins collectively called The Hunch Bunch – Dracula transforms Shaggy, of all people, into a werewolf, and forces him to enter the race. The Count’s deal is simple: if Shaggy wins the race, the vampire will give him back his humanity. If Shaggy loses, however, he will become a werewolf forever.
Naturally, of course, Dracula has no intention of letting Shaggy turn back to normal – he’s kind of a douchebag, that way – so he basically becomes the Dick Dastardly of the story. He and the Hunch Bunch repeatedly try to sabotage Shaggy and Scooby during the race, and the results frequently involve the Count getting the bad end of a slapstick cliché. I have to admit, as cartoonish and ridiculous as this Dracula is, I’ve always really liked him: while a lot of the humor with him is obviously pretty corny, he actually has a few one-liners that still really work, mostly in regards to his ditzy bride, Vanna Pira, who acts as the host for the race. Vanna Pira’s naïve, flighty, far more human personality is so at odds with Dracula’s…well…EVERYTHING that it’s kind of hard not to enjoy the insanity of the contrast, and his frustration with both her dimwittedness and the Hunch Bunch’s bungling leads to some really great moments. This is by no means a Dracula you can take seriously, but he IS a lot of fun, and I still think he holds up strongest when stacked against the many, MANY other versions Scooby-Doo has churned out.
Tomorrow, the countdown continues!
Hint: He’s faced two slayers for the price of one.
#count-down#dracula#count dracula#top 31 draculas#halloween advent calendar#october special#scooby-doo and the reluctant werewolf#scooby-doo#hamilton camp#number 26
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Robot Carnival Review
When I first started my blu-ray collecting kick, Discotek was hyping up their release of Memories, an anthology movie organized by Akira’s Katsuhiro Otomo. While doing research on it, I saw it was recommended in the company of Robot Carnival, another anthology movie Otomo was involved with, with more animators and thus individual shorts, and a unifying theme of “robots”. As a robot enjoyer, I figured I couldn’t go wrong with this, and I was right! This was a joy from start to finish, where even the weakest segment still had plenty to offer. If this sounds like it might be up your alley, it’s available to stream for free on RetroCrush and YouTube!
Additional note before I get into talking about each short individually: with the exception of Cloud, the music for every short was composed by Joe Hisaishi, who has way more range as a composer than I would’ve ever expected, considering I knew him exclusively as the Studio Ghibli composer. Additional additional note: I watched the anthology in the original Japanese order, the version on RetroCrush and YouTube uses an alternate order from the international release.
Opening/Ending (Katsuhiro Otomo, creator of Akira and Atsuko Fukushima, key animator on dozens of anime projects, including Akira) - A mobile fortress (literally the above Robot Carnival logo) traverses a post-apocalyptic wasteland, bringing death and destruction wherever it goes. The Opening sets the bar for what you should expect going forward in terms of production values, and the Ending is a nice send off for the whole thing, but I don’t really have much else to say about these shorts.
Franken’s Gears (Koji Morimoto, Director of Memories: Magnetic Rose) - A mad scientist attempts to bring their robot to life, succeeds horribly. I think of all the shorts in this movie, this one has the most impressive mechanical animation. The whole thing takes places in the scientist’s lab, and the emphasis really is on all of the ways the environment is struggling to bring the robot to life, to the point that once it does so, it begins to crumble and break apart. But the animation on the scientist himself is also really charming; the way he moves almost makes him look gooey, which is apt because my sister pointed out he was probably designed after a snail, what with the big orb on his back.
Deprive (Hidetoshi Omori, Animation Director for Char’s Counterattack) - A super android has to mamoru his imouto from an invading alien robot army. One of my favorite shorts in the anthology, this was an entire action movie expertly condensed down into not even ten minutes, complete with an awesome soundtrack. I’d actually go so far as to call this one perfect for what it is, but it’s not much more than that.
Presence (Yasuyomi Umetsu, Character Designer and Chief Animation Director of Megazone 23 Part II) - A man builds an android for companionship, and he gets more than he bargained for. Longest piece in the compilation by a mile, and the first one with voice acting. Despite enjoying some of the other shorts more, I think I would call Presence the “centerpiece” of this anthology, as it’s definitely the most story-rich. It even has some prescient worldbuilding: the people of this setting do not see robots as sentient beings, which is shown right at the start when a bunch of kids knock the head off of an android and play with it while absolutely no one in the crowded plaza reacts. This sets the tone for the main character’s interactions with his creation, and provide additional context for the things he does besides the obvious explanations.
This was also the first short where I noticed something off about the animation, where it seemed to animate too well in for certain movements. As it turns out I was right; the liner notes explain that the director was using this project to experiment, and he would animate different movements on different frame counts. It’s not terrible, but it is a little distracting to see how smoothly something like a simple head turn will animate while more complex motions look more standard. Also, unrelated but fun coincidence: the liner notes also explain a reference in the script to a story called Daddy Long Legs, about an orphan girl who receives funding from a wealthy philanthropist she never meets, which explains a reference that went over my head Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
Star Light Angel (Hiroyuki Kitazume, Character Designer and Animation Director for Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ and Char’s Counterattack) - What could have been the most effective piece of robosexual propaganda ever made: a girl and her friend are at Tokyo Disneyland ROBOT WANDERLAND and are having a wonderful time, until she discovers that her boyfriend is cheating on her, at which point she retreat into the park and winds up on a virtual reality ride. Meanwhile, a robot performer attempts to find her and return the locket she dropped while she ran past him. This is tied for my favorite, alongside Deprive, because I’m a big sucker for romance and the main song for the short is so perfect for the content. I was also delighted to find the explanation for this short was that Kitazume, who’s work up to this point was all mecha anime like Aura Battler Dunbine and Zeta Gundam, really wanted to try to flex with character expressions, and it came through brilliantly as the range and level of facial expressions was the first thing I really took notice of in this. Funny enough, though, Kitazume also apparently said he considers this and Deprive to be the weakest pieces of the anthology, and I suppose he’s right in that they have the least meat on their bones and are also probably the least technically impressive, but still: my two favorites!
Cloud (Mao Lamdo, a prolific animator on many projects, but probably best known for this) - A robotic boy wanders past a series of ever-changing clouds. Cloud is definitely a stand-out short for a number of reasons, from the way its animated to the incredibly tangential connection to the “robot” theme, and to be perfectly honest I got a lot more out of it after I read the liner notes. The short was adapted from a self-published book Mao Lamdo had written years prior that had nothing to do with robots, and his interpretation of the short and the change to making the main character a robot was that it represented his frustration with the trend in the anime industry at the time trending towards a being obsessed with the mechanical world, while he still preferred to draw and animate nature. As I mentioned at the top, this is also the only short to not have music composed by Joe Hisaishi, instead the piece used is by Isaku Fujita, and as far as I can tell, this is his only credit. Still, it’s a good credit to have; Lamdo said the song evoked the idea of having a conversation with God and asking the big questions, which I can completely see.
Strange Tales of Meiji Machine Culture: “The Westerner’s Invasion” (Hiroyuki Kitakubo, Director of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure OVA and Golden Boy) A terrible steampunk mech invades a Japanese town, and is warded off by a team of youths piloting their own terrible steampunk mech. I watched this one with the English dub first and then again in Japanese because it’s been a fuckin’ minute since I heard a dub this racist, complete with changing r’s to l’s and vice versa, only to be cracked across the skull by what I am certain was a Japanese man doing his very best to phonetically read English in the Japanese version. In spite of that, though, this is easily the funniest short for all the right reasons, and it kinda clicked once I found out that the director was also responsible for Golden Boy; it’s that exact kind of humor, complete with a protagonist who could very well be Kintaro Ue’s ancestor.
Chicken Man and Red Neck, a.k.a. Nightmare (Takeshi Nakamura, director of Catnapped! The Movie) - A robotic magician wreaks havoc on a city by transforming everything in sight into robotic monsters, and a vagrant gets caught up in the chaos. I initially wrote down “this one has the energy of a Don Bluth movie, particularly In the Dark of the Night from Anastasia”, although the liner notes say he actually was inspired by Night on Bald Mountain, which is definitely a more flattering inspiration and more accurate, to boot. I think of all the shorts in this anthology, this one gets the prizes for “best overall animation” and “best use of robots”, and it also has the most intense PS1 RPG sounding music, which once again speaks to Joe Hisaishi’s talent as a composer for doing that a full decade before the PS1 even existed. Also, fun trivia, the director turned down an offer from Hayao Miyazaki to be animation director on Castle in the Sky to make this, which… was maybe not the best career move, but still this was a terrific short and I’m glad to have it.
Again, the movie is easily accessible for free streaming, and I’d heartily recommend you check it out if you haven’t already. But if you’re into collecting physical media, the blu-ray is crammed full of tons of goodies, including the liner notes I’ve referenced, art galleries for each segment, and a lot of other production materials. Discotek also announced they’re doing a 4k UHD release of this soon, which won’t include all the extras due to the way UHD discs work, but I gotta be honest, this would be worth double dipping for if the resolution bump is noticeable enough.
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