Episode 01: Flushed Away to a Strange World

[lenainverse]

Episode 01: Flushed Away to a Strange World

If you need to watch the episode, check out this post (community locked) for information!

...and away we go!

Comments

[bodyline]

Günter von Kleist, you never cease to amaze me. *A* Have my chillems.

OKAY SO RIGHT EPISODE ONE. Introduced to the series? I was introduced by two different friends of mine at two different times. My one friend had heard about and asked me to look up THE SCENE from episode two and then a few months later (okay, more like a year later) my other friend just kinda... gave me the disks.

The first time I watched the first episode, I was doing my homework and not really paying attention so I was so ridiculously confused. XD Re-watching it again a few days later with friends didn't help much since we have a tendency to comment on random things. Still, it's a good episode. Honestly, though, the art very much turned me off at first, and if it weren't for the appearance of Wolfram at the end of the episode, I'm not sure I would have continued. 8|

BUT I DID AND REGRET NOTHING SO HEY. 8D

Okay, and um, what else can I say about this episode? Well, I honestly don't like the sub. I've never seen this episode with Japanese audio and I don't really plan too if I can avoid it. I find Murata's voice highly annoying and get frustrated at the Japanese pronunciation of German names. Regardless, I think the dub performance was decent (and it certainly gets better as the series progressed) but the one actor in the dub who stands out at getting his character pretty much down-pat from the start was Jack Lingo's take on Günter. Just. Just. Yes. DO WANT PLZ *A*

And now I'mma go work on my summary. I think I'll probably post episode 2 shortly after midnight so, uh, look for it.

[lenainverse]

Wow, I've never heard the dub before. I'm a definite sub snob so it never even occurs to me to try it out. Now I'm curious! Although you're right that once you get used to a certain voice it's hard to change. ^_^ I heard the dub version of "Shibuya Yuuri Harajuku Furi" is pretty lame though...is it really a play on "urine"? >_<

GAH, why is my capslock making me post before I'm ready?? I was going to say that it's a cools tory that you got into it like that, and YES IT'S A GOOD THING YOU STAYED WITH IT CAUSE YAY!!!

*looks forward to reading your post* ^_^

[bodyline]

I'm not a dub fan, but I'm not a sub fan, either. I take everything on a case-to-case basis because some dubs are good, some dubs are bad, and the same goes for subs. KKM is on of the few cases where I can't stand the Japanese cast at all (though I endure it for the OVAs and the third season, if only because there's no definite answer as to whether it'll be dubbed at all.) The dub version of Shibuya Yuuri Harajuku Furi is a play on urine, yes, but as lame as that is? I think it's perfectly understandable why they did that. Not many people are going to watch the series and offhandedly know the reference and get why it's amusing. I had to look up information on the pun to get it. Your casual anime watcher isn't likely to do that, and it's hard to translate such a blatant cultural reference in a way that will make sense to Western fans who aren't familiar with Japanese culture. So while it's annoying, and one of the aspects of the dub that I do ignore, I don't complain about it because they were perfectly right in doing it.

CAPSLOCK MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER WHAT WITH THE EXCITEMENT AND THE BIG LETTERS AND SUCH. 8D

My post is going to have sparkle text and big font. IS THAT ACCEPTABLE?

[neocloud9]

Well, even though the pun was a bit lame, ya gotta admit that translating puns from Japanese to English is a rather problematic task. Personally, I adore the English dub every bit as much as the Japanese. >w< Both seem to capture the spazzy, dramatic, adventurous attitude of the series so well. <3

[bodyline]

Exactly. The languages are too different, for one thing, and you have to take into consideration the fact that so many puns in the Japanese version of an anime is usually a cultural reference that'll only make sense to a Japanese audience or to someone well versed in the culture. Which not many people are. So, logically speaking, it makes sense to change the pun to something that will make sense to the audience you are catering towards. It's not meant to be disrespectful or anything, it's just trying to convey something to an audience that the material is not intended for.

And, really, is Harajuku Furi all that much better? The beautiful thing about KKM is that it's comedy is all pretty lame, and it's supposed to be that way, and that's what makes it enjoyable. It's not trying to be a brilliant piece of work, it's supposed to be silly, zany fun, with a somewhat darker, deeper overtone for those who care to search for it.

[neocloud9]

I still don't really get why the "Harajuku Furi" thing is funny. I understand what it means, but... *shrugs* Doesn't Yuuri use that as an alias in another episode later on?

[bodyline]

I don't get why it's funny either. >8|
I can at least get why the pun on urine would be amusing, it's being used by teenage boys, for God's sake. Of course it's going to be unintelligent and tasteless. Harajuku Furi isn't funny, it's ironic.

[lenainverse]

Not only is it acceptable, but maybe we should make it MANDATORY!!! MWAHAHA~!

*ahem* Okay, better now. XD

I get what you're saying about the jokes made for the dub, it definitely makes sense. It's also the reason I never watch dubs - I LIKE all the nerdy Japanese humor, but I'm weird like that. ^_^ But yes, they did the best they could with a difficult situation in terms of the jokes. How did they handle the fiance/flower bulb thing??

[bodyline]

Flower bulb?

[lenainverse]

Ack, that's episode 2! I broke my own spoiler rule, but it's a small thing anyway. :P Spoilers for Episode 2, then!!! --> In episode 2, when Cheri announces that the proposal is accepted Yuuri sees these onion looking things and mistakes her word for flower blub or onion or plant or something like that when she really means engagement or whatever. It's right there in the animation, so they must have addressed it, yes??

[bodyline]

OH THAT PART! Okay, um, in the dub he just says, "Are we talking about gardening?" So, uh, they more or less left it? And I was like, "wtf is this."

LOL I SHOULD PROBABLY GET AROUND TO WATCHING IT WITH SUBS OR DUBBED LIKE NOW. Since I just finished watching the RAW in a failed attempt to screencap it, so. XD

[lenainverse]

"Are we talking about gardening?"
...I'd say that's really FTL, but in KKM NOTHING surprises me. Maybe the audience looked at it like part of the crack?? But yeah, the word for "plant bulb" and "fiance" are definitely really close in Japanese. XD

Failed attempt? Oh noes! T_T

[neocloud9]

No no no. She says "love is in bloom"! Which totally makes sense in both contexts.

[lenainverse]

Does she? Oh, well then that makes perfect sense! In the sub she says "proposal accepted!" which makes sense with the rhyming joke. XD Clearly I have no idea what goes on in the dub...@_@

[bodyline]

If a dub is available, I'll usually watch it dubbed regardless of quality. It has a lot to do with my eyes; I have a very hard time reading subtitles. I can't do it for too long or my eyes start to burn like hellsfire. So I prefer to watch dubbed series dubbed unless a dub isn't available and so I get used to the voices and have a hard time adjusting to hearing it in the opposite language (oddly enough, I rarely have that problem adjusting from Japanese to English. Like, I saw Rozen Maiden, Death Note, and Code Geass in Japanese first but I'm fine with the dubs, too. I actually love the Rozen Maiden dub a lot!) It's only if a dub isn't available or is just THAT BAD that I'll watch it all subbed.

More recently what I've been doing, though, is that I've alternated each episode. Like with Haruhi Suzumiya, I watched the first episode subbed, second dubbed, third subbed, and so-on, so that I can give both version an equal chance. I grew up on dubs, and I really appreciate what they've done for me, so it really makes me sad when so many people just blow them off, but I guess it's unavoidable.