K-On! (season 1) licensed by Bandai Entertainment

[Goggen]

Originally Posted by Ryonea

besides, the name of the club might be "Light Music Club" but remember Sawako's band? Death Devil's genre is metal XD

It is my understanding that "Light Music" in this context means any type of music that isn't classical or traditional folk music. So basically, anything goes - pop, rock, hip hop... whatever.

[Frizo]

Originally Posted by Goggen

It's getting a dub, we've known that for while a while now...

^ Those were my stages when I read that XD
Anyways, now I have to introduce this to all my non-otaku friends (Pretty much all of them :P ) and eh, they'll watch it. Bringing in more success for a possible season 3. But hey, if not, it was a good series.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Ryonea

While I feel the same way as you, it seems that the rock genre for HTT is official (the magazine scans and even Ritsu said it herself in HTT II Album's introduction track).

I remember seeing a music thread here in AnimeSuki talking about the difference in western and Japanese music. One of the popular opinion there is that the Japanese music tend to mix everything together while the western music tend to stay true to a certain genre.

besides, the name of the club might be "Light Music Club" but remember Sawako's band? Death Devil's genre is metal XD

One could consider HTT music as 'light rock' though as the music progresses in their career each ED gets a bit edgier and harder (much like the Beatles evolved in their career.

As for the name "Light Music" ... that's the standard name for the non-classical or non-jazz music club in japanese schools, any sort of music can be explored.

[Afternoon Tea]

Originally Posted by Milu

I have faith in Steph as Yui.

I think they picked awesome VA so far!

[Otaku Guy]

Regardless of who is gonna voice act, you cant beat the originals.
Subs > Dubs

[Afternoon Tea]

Originally Posted by Otaku Guy

Regardless of who is gonna voice act, you cant beat the originals.
Subs > Dubs

I completely agree, its so true,

that apples to alot of anime's unless its cowboy bebop

[Otaku Guy]

Originally Posted by CaptnAwesomee

I completely agree, its so true,

that apples to alot of anime's unless its cowboy bebop

Yeah ikr!
The way I look at it is this ;
It doesnt matter if the english dub is gonna be really bad and it doesnt matter if its gonna be really good. If it is really bad well thats too bad, most dubs are ( With the exception of a few. ) And if its really good, idc. It will never beat the voice actors that made me love the show today.

[Frizo]

Originally Posted by Otaku Guy

Yeah ikr!
The way I look at it is this ;
It doesnt matter if the english dub is gonna be really bad and it doesnt matter if its gonna be really good. If it is really bad well thats too bad, most dubs are ( With the exception of a few. ) And if its really good, idc. It will never beat the voice actors that made me love the show today.

Regardless of that, I am going to watch it, and force it upon several of my friends, as they are all anti-sub for some reason, they hate reading? Idk. I will make them watch this though!

[darkchibi07]

First volume cover for DVD/BD:

http://www.mania.com/aodvb/showthread.php?t=105546

[Goggen]

Originally Posted by darkchibi07

First volume cover for DVD/BD:

http://www.mania.com/aodvb/showthread.php?t=105546

Yay! Now give us a release date already, Bandai...

In any case, I really hope this ends up being a good seller. Wanna see that second season released, after all...

[GMT]

Originally Posted by Goggen

Yay! Now give us a release date already, Bandai...

In any case, I really hope this ends up being a good seller. Wanna see that second season released, after all...

From the dub thread, the first volume comes out on 26 April. As for it being a good seller . . . ahahaha . . . I think I'll let the official trailer speak for itself.

It's Miller Cap'n Morgan Southern Comfort Everclear grain alcohol time!

[Goggen]

Originally Posted by GMT

From the dub thread, the first volume comes out on 26 April. As for it being a good seller . . . ahahaha . . . I think I'll let the official trailer speak for itself.

I dunno, this is pretty much my impression of, oh, every anime dub I ever saw. It's bad, but it seems to me that people who prefer dubs to the original audio are generally... shall we say, less than concerned with quality. Or rather, they're so used to crap dubs that they are incapable of recognizing it as such. We'll see, I guess...

[CrowKenobi]

To play devil's advocate: in the original audio, can you tell the difference between good and bad? I've been at this for the better part of seven years, and I've not yet developed the ability to tell the difference between good and bad Japanese dialogue...

But then again, nobody makes anyone just listen to one language track on a bilingual release...

[Kagayaki]

Maybe we can't tell. Who knows. But we definitely can tell in English, and there are a lot of bad dubs out there. I mean, all of the really great english voice actors do things like Disney/Pixar movies. So if we had the choice between so-so English voices, or Japanese voice that seem good, I think most fans will choose the second.

Either Japanese anime voice actors are generally better than their English counterparts, or we just can't tell the difference beween so-so Japanese voice acting and good Japanese voice acting. So either English dub VA's are worse, or they're being held to a higher standard. But both possibilities have the same effect on the viewer, so it doesn't really matter which one it is.

Also, dubs are done by the licensee rather than the original staff. The odds of the direction for the dub's VA's being better than the direction the Japanese VA's got are pretty much nil.

[Otaku Guy]

When I hear Yui speak in the english dub all I can think is Mikuru Asahina for obvious reasons lol

[CrowKenobi]

Originally Posted by Kagayaki

Maybe we can't tell. Who knows. But we definitely can tell in English, and there are a lot of bad dubs out there. I mean, all of the really great english voice actors do things like Disney/Pixar movies. So if we had the choice between so-so English voices, or Japanese voice that seem good, I think most fans will choose the second.

Either Japanese anime voice actors are generally better than their English counterparts, or we just can't tell the difference beween so-so Japanese voice acting and good Japanese voice acting. So either English dub VA's are worse, or they're being held to a higher standard. But both possibilities have the same effect on the viewer, so it doesn't really matter which one it is.

Good points!

Anyway, we can't judge whether the dub is good or bad based off of a minute-and-a-half trailer...

Also, dubs are done by the licensee rather than the original staff. The odds of the direction for the dub's VA's being better than the direction the Japanese VA's got are pretty much nil.

Is that really relevant here?

[Lord of Fire]

I've never cared much for dubs, regardless of how well they're done. The original audio with subs is the sole reason why I'll be getting this, simply because that's how I've grown to love this show.

[klowny]

Doesn't matter if the dub suck's (it's not that bad)i'm still planning to get it regardless

[GMT]

Originally Posted by CrowKenobi

To play devil's advocate: in the original audio, can you tell the difference between good and bad? I've been at this for the better part of seven years, and I've not yet developed the ability to tell the difference between good and bad Japanese dialogue...

But then again, nobody makes anyone just listen to one language track on a bilingual release...

I would argue that it is. The Japanese voice actresses seemed to go out of their way to make the K-On! voices unique. Yui's voice isn't the same as Aki Toyosaki's regular speaking, or singing, voice. And she manages to pull off the ADHD levels of inattentiveness and hyperactivity that the character seems to call for. Satomi Satou pulls off Ritsu's "genki," "sarcastic," "so surprised, I've let the big softy inside me show," and "why'd you fracture my skull, Mio, WHYYYYYY?" moods perfectly. Mio's voice actress, Yoko Hikasa, seems to sound mostly the same from role to role . . . but her deeper voice and delivery are well suited to more mature-looking (but not really that mature) Mio. And major props must be given to Asami Sanada; for her portrayal of Sawako.

Kotobuki Minako's portrayal of Mugi, though . . . well, there isn't a lot to work with, when it comes to Mugi. I can almost imagine the VA thinking "You know, I just can't get that worked up about yakisoba." Ayana Taketatsu's portrayal of Ensign Ricky Asuza is decent. The rest, pretty average, though the imitation Ui's VA does of Yui's VA is creepy in how good it is.

Of the American dubbers; they at least succeeded in casting someone who sounds like Hikasa. The fact that Cristina Vee sortof looks like Mio (if you've had a few drinks first) helps a bit with the (grudging) acceptance. That, incidentally, is about the nicest thing I've ever said about Vee. Stephanie Sheh's Yui voice kinda-sorta sounds like Toyosaki Aki's Yui voice . . . but Stephanie Sheh's Yui voice is such that it feels a bit like Yui as played by Mikuru Asahina. And her delivery in the trailer seems . . . well, lacking in ADHD. Cassandra Morris's Ritsu . . . well, my brain breaks. Wendee Lee or Kari Wahlgren, I think, would've made a much better Ritsu.

Though, to be fair, anime trailers universally suck; and American K-ON! may have simply fallen victim to this. Also, in the interest of fairness, K-ON!! had much better voice acting than much of K-ON! It seemed to take the Japanese VAs a bit to properly settle into their characters (such as they were in the first season.) The snippets of dialogue from the trailer all come from the first couple of episodes; so we might expect the dub to get better as the season goes along and they had the chance to get settled into the characters.

[Lord of Fire]

Originally Posted by GMT

I would argue that it is. The Japanese voice actresses seemed to go out of their way to make the K-On! voices unique. Yui's voice isn't the same as Aki Toyosaki's regular speaking, or singing, voice. And she manages to pull off the ADHD levels of inattentiveness and hyperactivity that the character seems to call for. Satomi Satou pulls off Ritsu's "genki," "sarcastic," "so surprised, I've let the big softy inside me show," and "why'd you fracture my skull, Mio, WHYYYYYY?" moods perfectly. Mio's voice actress, Yoko Hikasa, seems to sound mostly the same from role to role . . . but her deeper voice and delivery are well suited to more mature-looking (but not really that mature) Mio. And major props must be given to Asami Sanada; for her portrayal of Sawako.

Kotobuki Minako's portrayal of Mugi, though . . . well, there isn't a lot to work with, when it comes to Mugi. I can almost imagine the VA thinking "You know, I just can't get that worked up about yakisoba." Ayana Taketatsu's portrayal of Ensign Ricky Asuza is decent. The rest, pretty average, though the imitation Ui's VA does of Yui's VA is creepy in how good it is.

Of the American dubbers; they at least succeeded in casting someone who sounds like Hikasa. The fact that Cristina Vee sortof looks like Mio (if you've had a few drinks first) helps a bit with the (grudging) acceptance. That, incidentally, is about the nicest thing I've ever said about Vee. Stephanie Sheh's Yui voice kinda-sorta sounds like Toyosaki Aki's Yui voice . . . but Stephanie Sheh's Yui voice is such that it feels a bit like Yui as played by Mikuru Asahina. And her delivery in the trailer seems . . . well, lacking in ADHD. Cassandra Morris's Ritsu . . . well, my brain breaks. Wendee Lee or Kari Wahlgren, I think, would've made a much better Ritsu.

Though, to be fair, anime trailers universally suck; and American K-ON! may have simply fallen victim to this. Also, in the interest of fairness, K-ON!! had much better voice acting than much of K-ON! It seemed to take the Japanese VAs a bit to properly settle into their characters (such as they were in the first season.) The snippets of dialogue from the trailer all come from the first couple of episodes; so we might expect the dub to get better as the season goes along and they had the chance to get settled into the characters.

This is a given with any form of animation from my experience. The longer a particular VA plays a certain role, the better (s)he gets. It takes time to really pull off your character right and if the show runs on long enough, they'll get enough time to polish their voices. And yes, this counts for dubs, too, though this doesn't necessarily make a bad dub better over time. All depends on how much the VA are willing to get into their roles.