Guillotine

Well… Today I got a package from UPS containing my copy of CLANAAD DVD Complete Collection, and will share my thoughts.

First off is the packaging… Or lack of. The DVDs come in a standard stack pack case. For those that may not be familiar with this packaging it’s something that started appearing in ADV releases a few years back (my first experience with it was the Full Metal Panic - Heavy Metal Collection). It’s is basically a fat DVD case with all the discs stacked onto a single spindle. I guess getting the whole collection for $41 you shouldn’t expect much, but still… People… I (and I bet most others) would be willing to pay an extra $5-$10 for the older style thinpack box sets. Even Funimation has their cardboard fold out cases to cut the costs on box sets, and while cheesy they at least still look cool. I can see now why many who bought the original sub only release have opted to simply swap the discs out with the new one while keeping the old packaging. I just never liked the stack packs even back when they began using them for PC games. The discs are hard to get out, and sometimes I almost feel they will break.

Getting to the picture quality… It’s actually not too bad. Of course I am used to watching CLANAAD from 720p broadcast rips, so I expected there to be some loss in quality, but there really wasn’t much other than a few noticeable jaggies here and there. Maybe on a 1080p screen it would be more noticeable.

Also for those that saw the original US release and have been wondering… Yes the horrid yellow on black 80s style computer font is still there for the subtitles. Of course I’m more surprised that people expected that to be changed. US licensing companies typically use fonts like this for all subs, but now some fans are getting hooked on the cute fonts and fancy karaoke effects that fan subbers enjoy using so much that I guess it’s a shock to see the standard US release subs.

Finally… The whole reason I bought this particular release… The English dub. I don’t mind watching it subbed… Over and over and over… But I have always been curious as to how an English dub would be, so I refused to buy this show until one was added. I can say that I’m not disappointed… As with all dubs it takes a little watching to get used to it if you have already seen it subbed. They pretty much seem to be following the original dialog with only a few bits here and there that are completely different, and I am also glad to see that they stuck with the Japanese name etiquette (calling someone by first name only to those you are close to) as it was part of the original sub plot, and would have changed the story a bit if they had switched to first names from the start.

 Now I’ve only just started watching this, but there have been some things that I’m rather surprised by. First off… Luci Christian voicing Nagisa. While she is one of my favorite voice actors I am generally used to her playing loud or goofy roles. At first I couldn’t imagine her in the role of Nagisa. While it does take a bit of getting used to she does seem to pull off the role, but I keep expecting a loud outburst to come at anytime. For those that read the other story about the CLANAAD release a few months back you may remember that I suggested Robin Williams for the role of Akio… Now of course I knew that was beyond any reasonable expectation, but I honestly couldn’t imagine anyone else pulling that character off. That said Andrew Love does a respectable job in what I’ve seen so far. For those that may not be familiar with him he played the Alien Captain in the English dub of Pani Poni Dash among other roles (in shows that I have yet to watch unfortunately). Sunohara is played by Greg Ayers, and really what else is there to say… I haven’t seen a character played by him that I’ve ever complained about. Hilary Haag as Fuko is brilliant. She’s a voice actor that doesn’t seem to be as prevalent as she was a few years ago, and she has such a cool voice that I was elated to find out she was going to be Fuko.

All in all I am pretty pleased (other than the packaging) with this release, and hopefully they will have After Story dubbed this year as well.