>> Visitors' Response
Below are some visitors' response to some of the issues addressed in the Essays and Articles section. I would like to stress that these are opinions, so I don't want to see flames and such. If you'd like to respond to one of the responses, send it in the feedback form. Otherwise, enjoy. :)
#1) By: Keruri
Regarding: Gravitation DVD 1: Fateful First Encounter
Submitted:July 3rd, 2004
Gravitation Volume 1: Fateful First Encounter
-Introduction-
With some animé that is based off of a manga, the transition of the storyline from the black-and-white pages to the color TV screen can be either extremely well-done, average, or not in any way possible the way fans envision it to be. This is something that most Japanese animation studios must keep in mind, and take great care in making sure the fans will be happy with the result of their version of the story. Supposing that American animé distributing studios are trying to do their job right, the same concept should follow for companies here. When bringing out an animé to fans in the U.S, distributors like Right Stuf need to keep in mind the people who love the show as well as others new to the series. Depending on the series, this can prove to be either a great challenge or an easy piece of work. In my opinion, (though I cannot totally say this is true for everything), the American release of Gravitation was quite well done. Considering this is my first buy from Right Stuf, how their other titles were done is unknown to me—but from watching this DVD, I’m certainly willing to check out more titles done by them.
Quality: 5/5
Before I had gotten into Gravitation, I had read the TokyoPop translated version of the series in manga form. From there, I went searching the web like crazy to find out if there was an animé version out and about. Though there were no plans or rumors dealing with the series being licensed any studio here, I had certainly found enough screenshots of the animé. Even then, I could tell the animation quality was very well-crafted. From the subtle environments where the surrounding people weren’t just paper figures next to the lead stars of the show to the glowing stage lights when Bad Luck and Nittle Grasper were onstage, the animation showed that there was a lot of hard work put into every aspect of each episode. Now that I’m finally seeing how everything and everyone moves, it really is quite a sight to behold. From some of the other series I had watched so far on DVD, (like Fruits Basket, Rurouni Kenshin, or Yami No Matsuei), the animation still held its own, too. And don’t get me wrong; there was nothing wrong with the way those series’ animation looked like. Gravitation just has a completely different style from the other three I’ve mentioned altogether. The menu was very nice and easy to go through, too—the beginning of Sleepless Beauty played in the background, a promo image of Shuichi dressed in a concert outfit beside an indifferent Eiri, and all that was required to get to the different parts of the menu was a press of the left or right arrow buttons. And the best part of all? Right Stuf kept the default language of the DVD Japanese with English subtitles, with clean, untouched opening and ending sequences! But there will be more on that in the audio section of this review. The subtitles were quite well-timed, playing perfectly with the characters’ speech or singing. When, ‘Anti-Nostalgic,’ played in the background as a BGM during the third episode, the lyrics appeared onscreen in time with Kotani Kinya’s singing, while never once mixing with the speech of the characters when they spoke. (The song lyrics were in a completely different color, thankfully, and were in an italic font.) As to how accurate these subtitles are…I cannot say. My Japanese isn’t fluent or anything of the sort, so I can’t tell for sure. If anyone knows how accurate the translations were, please let me know!
Voices: 4-4.5/5
I really would have given this part of the review a five out of five, if only the English voices of Shuichi and Eiri hadn’t somehow bothered me. Something was slightly off about them…it really was a good attempt for their voice actors, (I really have to give them the benefit of doubt that it may have been their first time voicing over an animé), but…I just couldn’t get to like it as much as I probably should have. And they said Ryuichi’s name in a really strange way in the English version. ‘Ree-yoo-EE-chee?’ I mean, there was a LOT of emphasis on the ‘ichi,’ part of his name. Somehow, I had thought that part of that section of his name would have been more subtly said…a more subtle, ‘ichi,’ maybe. Maybe that’s just me. Maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about. Either that or I got spoiled by the sub version. Nevertheless, I don’t need to go on and on about how wonderful the Japanese seiyuu was…and I must sound so fan girlish saying this, but I can’t help it, so I’ll say it now…SHUICHI IS SO FREAKING CUTE. And that’s just putting it lightly. Seki-san gave our little bubblegum pop star a lot of charm with his voice in the mix! Of course, I had only heard his voice in the roles of Sagara Sousuke from Full Metal Panic! and Sohma Kyou from Fruba, two rougher roles, which is probably why I was so shocked to hear him as Shuichi. La Li Ho!) And I don’t know why, (this is probably getting off topic a bit, too), but does anyone else think that Tohma’s voice actors, both Orikasa Ai, (Japanese voice actor), and Bob Rogers, (English voice actor), have a voice that’s somewhat reminiscent to Kenshin? Just wondering. I’m also very happy that I recognized some of the more popular Japanese seiyuu in this show. You know, ones like Shinichiro Miki, (who played Aizawa tachi of ASK in this show, while his other role I know of was the sympathetic Tsuzuki Asato of YaminoMatsu), Kazuhiko Inoue, (Yuki Eiri’s seiyuu here, while he was also the calm and composed, Mibu Oriya, who is, similarly, from YaminoMatsu,), and even Yamaguchi Kappei, (commonly known by the Japanese voice of the main leads of InuYasha and Ranma 1/2, though they are less genki and don’t have the same charm as Sakuma Ryuichi, which he is here). Yes, star power Gravitation definitely has, and though I’m not as well-versed in seiyuu as others may be, I definitely recognized those characters’ voices firsthand. Oh, and since Right Stuf made the default language of the DVD Japanese, that earned this part of the review an extra .5 points. Because that’s always a good thing in my book.
Extras: 5/5
Did you know that I’m very smitten with the extras of this DVD release? Of course you did, you could tell by the score I gave this category. ^__^ That’s just my recommendation, though; but I think that the opinion of someone who has been seriously collection animé for about 2-3 years now should amount to something. I especially liked the little extra they packed with the DVD, actually: a cute little card that’s fashioned in the manner of a VIP backstage pass, with a chain to attach to the two holes on the top of the card. That way, you can make it a necklace to wear…not that I’d plan on wearing something like that out. ^__^; But it really is a nice little extra, if not anything else. The other good thing I liked about the DVD release was the art box, (which was bought for the extra ten dollars or so it required), which was very nice indeed. On one side, we have all three members of Bad Luck dressed up very nicely; on the opposite side, we have Nittle Grasper, with a well-dressed Ryuichi leading. On the back end of the box are Shuichi and Eiri, with their backs facing a window leading into Tokyo’s night-lit streets, while the top sports a spiffy image of everyone’s favorite bunny, Kumagorou! ^_^ Best of all, the bottom lists all the extras that all the DVDs have and will have, with a SD Shuichi clinging to the, ‘GRAVITATION,’ title text. So cute! Oh, and speaking of DVD extras, this first DVD sports the U.S Gravitation Debut Trailer, and even Linear Notes which explain certain things that pertain only to the Japanese culture that need to be explained, (I learned of a Japanese folk tale inspired by one of the first scenes of the first episodes, where Shuichi makes a joke about stopping along the way to the park to help a turtle being bullied by two kids. You’ll understand the joke if you watch the actual scene—right now, it all probably makes no sense.), as well as a little Art Gallery with production sketches of different characters, ‘Bad Luck,’ profiles which give you some personal information on Shuichi, Hiroshi, and Suguru. Very interesting, not to mention very well crafted. ^_^ I liked the extras, but not nearly as much as the actual episodes, obviously.
The Conclusion: 14-14.5/15
As someone who had waited nearly a month to get this in the mail, (and I was VERY anxious to get this, believe me—I must’ve ran my mother ragged…^__^;), this really was worth the long wait. For a fairly new series to the animé world with a unique storyline, some zany characters that somehow worm their way into our hearts, and being one of the more ‘well-known,’ shonen-ai series to hit stateside, I hope that people will at least try Gravitation out, even if boy’s love isn’t your forte. This really is the kind of show you might just like, even when you may not think so.
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