>> Dubbed Gravitation
Yes, recently, as of summer 2002, the news is that Gravitation is being licensed. There are mixed reactions to this, as many have complained from experiences with previous dubbed anime such as CardCaptors, Sailor Moon and what not. But Gravitation liscensed means many more fans are going to be exposed to the awesome anime Gravitation. There are two sides to every story, I'll state my opinions on the future dub below.
Nowadays, the term "dubbed" can mean one of two things in the anime world. #1) Dubbed means edited, butchered anime with horrible voice acting and terribly obvious edits in graphics, a pathetic attempt by editors to try and cover something up. Note that this usually ends up on TV. #2) Dubbed means unedited and uncut, but with American voice actors on a tape or DVD, usually never shown on TV. Either definition is correct, but neither is as good as the original. The first definition of dub has been getting worse and worse these days. Sailor Moon was actually tolerable, but only for people who are either not hard core fans or are very optimistic/positive. Card Captors was...unspeakably terrible, Nervana's got to be the worst dubbing company ever. Dubbed Escaflowne, you don't even want to go there. The second definition of dub has been getting better, contrary to popular belief. Sure, Rurouni Kenshin, Utena, and Evangelion were rather painful to listen to, but the recent ones such as Fake have had better voices than before. There have also been some shounen-ai series released in the U.S., although I haven't had the opportunity to see it. So all in all, the unedited dub has been going up in quality.
So what do I think the dubbed Gravitation will be like? Will Shuichi be turned into a girl? Before you panic and send in a dozen angry mail to the dubbing companies, I
d like to say that I highly doubt Gravi will ever be shown on TV, mainly because of the entire genre being shounen-ai. Homosexuality is still an extremely sensitive and therefore off-limits subject for America to face. Therefore, the edited dub will probably never have to happen, which is good considering they'll probably end up making Shuichi into a girl or something equally awful. o.O With that said, lets talk the unedited dub. This option is now becoming a reality, and some fans may be turning purple with the thought that Shu-chan most likely won't have his cute and genki voice, and Yuki's voice won't be nearly as menacing, or Ryu-chan will now be a 3 year old stuck in a 30 year old body *with* a voice of a strangled cat. But there's still hope...somewhat. Since the unedited dub have been getting better, we can at least hope for the best. However, look forward to great quality images and animation, that's one thing that the dub companies do right. We'll now have clear and large images as well as extras on DVD for our enjoyment. But until the dubs come out, we'll just have to see. I'm personally very glad that of all the dubbing companies, RightStuf is licensing Gravi. RightStuf is one of the better companies compared to Pioneer or VIZ. Therefore, I don't believe the unedited dub of Gravitation will be too bad.
Bigger question now, will the Gravi songs be dubbed as well? I've had goosebumps while listening to the dubbed Sailor Moon theme and the CardCaptors...jingle. The girl who sings the Rurouni Kenshin opening really needs to adjust her voice as well. As for the Gravitation songs, they play a huge part in my Gravitation addiction. Our best bet is that the opening and ending songs will probably stay the same, but as for The Rage Beat, Blind Game Again, or *cringe* Sleepless Beauty, I don't know what to expect. Most likely, they will be changed because Ryuichi sings the slow version of Sleepless Beauty around episode 2, during Shu-chan's first concert, and there's no way you can cover up his mouth while he's walking up to the stage and make it look natural. In addition, the Rage Beat is not only sung by Shuichi more than a couple of times in the anime, it's also played in the background often as well. Word has it that the OAVs are also being licensed, which means we'll probably be hearing Spicy Marmalade and In the Moonlight in bad English. >< But never fear, licensing means there will be a subtitled, japanese option on the DVD, if we ever need to ease the horror of watching K speak English...with occasional outbursts in...English.
X-ClearGravitation was created by Maki Murakami. All edited graphics and content © by
Trinity, usage of any edited graphics and/or content on this site without permission from the owner or a copyright note is illegal and will be fined. DtD is part of
AinoyumeNET and the
Shounen-ai orG.
