Category Archives: Anime & Manga

Death Note Dub – Episode 2

“I am Justice!”

It’s official; I think my favorite dub voice is Sayu (Kelly Metzger). And Watari (French Tickner) wasn’t too bad either. And to be honest, I really liked Lind. L. Taylor’s (John Murphy1 ) performance, too.
However, it’s sort of sad when your favorite voices are for bit parts that barely have speaking roles, so without further ado: everyone else.

Souichirou Yagami: His voice was decent enough, maybe a little dull but it wasn’t horrible. I’ll give him more time before I really make a judgement call.

Touta Matsuda: If anyone competed for my favorite character in the series, it would be Matsuda. Ryo Naitou did an amazing job as the average, youthful Task Member. He had little inflections in his voice that were wonderful. However, I’m not a fan of Vincent Tong as Matsuda for the moment – he’s not playful, or dumb enough. Matsuda’s always had a light, child-like personality. Than again, he hasn’t had a real chance to show off yet. We’ll give Vincent another chance in the next few episodes.

L: Believe it or not, I was never that attached to L’s original voice actor, Kappei Yamaguchi. It wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t exactly crazy about it either. So, I’m happy to announce that I enjoyed Alessandro Juliani’s version of L very much. It has age to it, without being too old – which works really well because it reminds me L is in his mid-twenties. I hope that it continues to be so pleasant in future episodes. And for the record – L’s computer synthetic voice was a shock. It was so high pitched and well, effeminate sounding that I almost laughed. Maybe they’re foreshadowing L’s little crush2. :D

And to recap some old friends:

Light: You’ve disappointed me Brad Swaile. Your crazy laugh is too airy/rasp – it’s barely there. At first you were tolerable, but now the more I listen to you the less I like it. *sighs*

Ryuk: …a tad bit better.

See y’all for Episode 3!

  1. John Murphy will also be playing the English role for ‘Mogi’ later.
  2. L has a crush on Light. He does. No one will convince me otherwise.

Death Note Dub – Episode 1

Well, watched the Dub of Death Note’s episode one today at adult swim here. I’ve been pretty anxious about the dub since I first heard it was airing, if only because the Japanese cast of Death Note was top notch.

But I digress, let’s talk about the cast! Episode one is basically Ryuk and Light so this’ll be a light entry.

Light: His Japanese actor, Mamoru Miyano, is amazing in his own right despite not having a long list of roles. His vocal range is superb and his voice is easy on the ears. For the English version they chose Brad Swaile. Having only heard Swaile play the part of more, ‘whiney,’ characters, I was worried that Light’s voice would be made more annoying than anything. Regardless, he surprised me with a decent performance and I look forward to his crazy laughs. If Quatre from Gundam Wing was anything to go by – at least Light’s laughter will be up to par.

Ryuk: Shidou Nakamura was the perfect Ryuk. He had a gruff voice, a great ‘hyuk’ of a laugh, and it carried a playful tone that did the shinigami1 justice. However, as nice as Brian Drummond is at playing the part of characters such as Vegeta from DBZ and Zechs Marquis from Gundam, I was disappointed in his performance as Ryuk. It was too smooth, too serious, and rather dull. I can only hope that it gets better as the series progresses. – Though, I will give him one line: “Juicy?” That was pretty good.

In conclusion, Light was decent and Ryuk was disappointing. I can only hope the rest of the cast makes up for it. Most of them are actors I’ve never heard before, so they have hope to be good.

  1. God of Death, Grim Reaper

Ryuk & Light

Okay, So I’ve been on a major Death Note high lately. I blame reading the Pilot for the series and falling in love with Ryuk all over again. That Shinigami is awesome – and kinda adorable in a freakish sort of way.

I guess this is my – if you’re not reading/watching Death Note right now, than you should be.

The image in the post is possibly one of my favorite scans from the entire Death Note manga; like I said – I love Ryuk, and I like him and Light together even more. XD They’re so much fun together.

Anyway, off to continue my Death Note high and probably reread some of it. Ironically, my next layout is going to be strawberry pink in honor of L. XD I’m such a dork. Hurrah!

Hirano Aya Kick

To think that the women who sings “Misa’s Song” from Death Note is the same as “Lost my Music” & “God Knows…” from the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya are the same person is amazing – you can hear it; but the vocal qualities are just so different.

But, since I’m on a DN kick, we’ll stick with “Misa no Uta” or “Misa’s Song.”1

“Misa no Uta”:

First of all – I love the breathy, almost airy tone that she has while it’s being sung. It gives that slightly morbid, eerie tone while still sticking with a slightly upbeat, almost child-like song. I’m almost reminded of a fair or a carnival, a merry-go-round if you will; It creates a lovely picture.

Speaking, the scene in the Death Note Anime that this came from was striking as well. It was beautifully animated and had a very nice feel to it – so check out episode 25 if you want to see an anime extra (as in not in the manga) done very well.

But, if Misa’s not your thing – definitely check out Hirano Aya’s “God Knows…” and “Lost My Music” – they’re more upbeat and rockish; very catchy. ^_^

“Futari ni God Bless…”2 – “God Knows…”

“Ki o tsukete. Kami-sama wa miteru…”3 – “Misa no Uta”

  1. Here’s a good link to see the lyrics, hiragana and a translation: Words of Song: Misa’s Song
  2. English: “God Bless the two of us.”
  3. English: “Pay Attention/Be Careful. God is watching.

s-cry-ed

Currently re-watching the Testosterone Fest, sorry S-CRY-ED, at the moment. I was reminded of the sheer awesomeness that is Straight Cougar and felt I should share:

Straight Cougar Rules.

Kazuma and Ryuho aren’t too bad either, but they’re mostly fun when they’re trying to kill each other.

Maybe one day I’ll get used to the English Cast. Lex Lang as Kimishima and Steven J. Blum as Kazuma only half work for me and Jason Spisak is better as Kiyomaro in Zatch Bell. Either way, cast isn’t horrible – I just like the original cast better for this particular show.  Thankfully though, Crispin Freeman is amazing no matter what he does – and that includes Straight Cougar. :P

Either way, check it out if you’ve got some time. :D Yay S-CRY-ED! Ha ha ha. So much testosterone…yay fighting anime with sci-fi plots.