The dubbing of Kanon

[nuaythebest]

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/stre...pisode1-500kbs

Full Episode 1 dub from ADV

[darkchibi07]

Jessica Boone gave Nayuki's voice a bit more mature approach than going forth an all-cutesy, squeal fest. If you ask me it's actually pretty refreshing since I don't need to hear the English VAs' "imitate" the female Japanese VA high-pitched voice.

[SamKajam]

Dub - "He's my cousin"

As in "Of course I'm not on a date with him, he's my COUSIN" kinda tone.
While I agree on the whole hands-off the blood relations, I'm guessing the Japanese are ok? with it?

I wonder how ADV's gonna handle Nayuki's affection for him?
Prob gonna replace the "I used to like this boy..." to something random like "SHOOP DA WHOOP!"

Luckily KyoAni downplayed Nayuki's part... so ADV wouldn't have to change too much.

[FireChick]

Yay! I watched most of the first episode on ANN this morning! But I got interrupted by a phone call saying my grandma's flight is being delayed 99 minutes. But what the heck! I shall give my opinion on their voices!

Yuuichi - I've heard Chris Patton in only a few anime so far (such as Haruka from Tactics) so I can't really say. But I think it's pretty good. I'll watch more so I can get a better opinion.

Nayuki - I'm happy that Jessica Boone got her part and I think her voice is fine to me (sorry for those who hate it). It would've been better if she sounded like Misaki from Angelic Layer but I don't mind. Some teenagers in the US don't really have squeaky cute voices so I guess it's expected for characters like Nayuki. Hehe.

Ayu - I like her voice alot. Sure it's not childish and cute like Horie Yui's but since I'm so used to dubs I'm gonna approve this one. I kinda like her voice (sorry for those who hate it).

Akiko - perfect match! I think her voice is the best. Perfectly motherly and kind.

Kaori - good! Good! I never heard Caitlin Glass in any dubs so this is the first time I heard her. I think it's pretty nice to me. Considering how much people want her to do Renge in Ouran, I'm pretty much thinking the same thing!

Jun - great! A little higher than his japanese voice but it's okay. I'll accept it.

Sayuri - Pretty good even though she didn't have many lines. But it's okay. She sounds a little older and she refers to herself as Sayuri but it's okay. She does speak in 3rd person after all.

Mai - I did hear a bit of it but I need to watch more episodes. But I think her voice will be good.

[VRMN]

Okay, with a full episode under my belt now thanks to ANN, I'll revise some of my earlier comments.

The opening scene with Yuuichi and Nayuki was masterfully done. I was shaky on Jessica Boone's voice because of the preview for what I think were obvious reasons, but the best-case scenario of that being an anomaly seems to be the case. So far, so good, and I can't state enough how much I'm enjoying Chris Patton's Yuuichi.

Moving on, a side note that I appreciate that ADV put in the subtitles and overlays in this preview. This seems pretty much like it's the product that we'll be getting around the first, down to the default subs track (the overlays and song lyrics).

The A part of the episode, again, I find little to no faults in the presentation or delivery. Jessica Boone did a service to Nayuki's character by making her sound more mature than her Japanese counterpart. This is a good thing, as while I of course like the original voices, through one episode I'm starting to prefer Boone's Nayuki to Kouda-san's.

– Akiko's voice is similarly well-placed. It doesn't sound quite like Akiko in the original, but Joanne Bonasso has the role of confident, wise mother down just fine. Another A to match those of Nayuki and Yuuichi. As for the other more minor (in this episode at least) characters:

– Sayuri sounds a bit awkward because of her continued address in the third person despite the language barrier. Not quite sure how I feel about that yet; I'll have to see it in the continued show to draw a judgement, but in my mind it's mostly a good thing that they're keeping to that aspect of what is, for all intents and purposes, a minor aspect to a minor story. (though in part this annoys me because of what I complained about earlier in the promo regarding promises)

– Mai sounds fine through one line, the quiet senior who likes animals. Nothing more to see here, and I'll cover the nearly nonexistent Shiori in the same breath: fine through "uh huh."

– The Kaori and Jun combo was well-played here as well. Nitpicking the script, I don't know if I like 'servant' in Yuuichi's assessment of their relationship, but it fits well enough. As for the rest, it's just fine. Nayuki's denial of being on a date did come off as a bit more forceful than it did originally, but I don't think that should be taken as a sign of them trying to eliminate that plotline. After all, the original script had her denying it for the same reason.

As for the B Part, you can read most of my feelings on this in my previous post if you're so inclined, but since I posted that my feelings about Brittany Karbowski's Ayu have softened a bit (I still prefer Yui Horie's work, but it's much closer now than it was). The script flaws present stand out less against the entire episode, though they're still there, and similarly, Boone's flub of that first line doesn't sting as much against the quality of the work elsewhere in the episode.

Yuuichi's memory sequence was a tad awkward though, I have to admit. The kids sounded a bit too young to my ear, but they're close enough to the 10 they're supposed to be that I can't really complain beyond what I felt to be general awkwardness. Still, as before, kudos to ADV for trying to match the ages of the actual characters as well as the sound of the original voices.

If the rest of the dub is as overall well-done as this, it has a good shot at being as good as AIR TV's dub was.

[Takuto19]

Ah, can't see it since im in Scotland

Already pre-ordered volume 1 from amazon.com since it's not being released in uk, so gotta wait about until mid-late january til it arrives.

[Chau]

tried to watch it, but wouldn't let me

can somebody please explain to me why Canada is not considered part of North America?! -_-

[chrno_the_sinner]

Originally Posted by Chau

tried to watch it, but wouldn't let me

can somebody please explain to me why Canada is not considered part of North America?! -_-

I live in Canada, and I got it just fine.

Surprisingly solid dub. ADV's aren't always that great, but this really was.

Also, Akiko's line.... "Watch out for cars..." *shudder*

This put the DVD to the top of my to-buy list.

[Sirth]

Christ, it's getting rave reviews across the board, dub and all. You people are making me want to order, like, right now. Sadly, I want to wait in case I might try to grab something else with it, since I asked for a couple of things for Christmas.

But still, nice to know the dub is truly blowing people away in quality. It's making me savor my future copies even more.

EDIT: OK, got a chance to see the streamed episode.

Maybe some minor issues with pronunciation.

But overall... Yes. Buying this and watching it dubbed. This was waaay too awesomely done.
Nayuki was the most questionable, but by the Gods, she's got it. Especially love her take of the fox scene. The added "cute" voice was priceless. Though from the preview, "Fighto, dayo?" is probably getting changed to "Hang in there, OK?" I can't say anything against it. It really is an odd line to translate and animate in English. I think it still gets off the meaning.
Sayuri is questionable. I don't really think the mature voice fits. But eh, we'll see later.
Somehow I think Shiori is going to fit, despite the line.
Think it blew me away more than Air's. It should be good competition for anyone that also does a good dub (Code Geass and Lucky Star are my first guesses. Don't quote me if I turn out wrong, though I doubt I will.).

[Vexx]

The dub-hater's review: the dub work on Kanon 2006 volume 1 didn't suck

It's hard to stand up against the original work but I will say the VAs did a fair job of transporting the characters into english without too much damage. Probably my main pain will be in the dialog they're given to speak - but so far nothing terribly obnoxious.

Biggest problem for me is largely that the actors (particularly the VA for Yuuichi) sounds exactly like he's reading the lines in a booth -- no sense of "being there" in the scene. Next biggest problem is Akiko ... ouch - very artificial reading and I can't say I'm even fond of the casting choice.

Upside is everyone else seems to fit into their roles fairly well, adding an "american edge" to the character while still leaving me feeling like its the same character. I really like the interpretation of Nayuki (more confident yet fragile) and the Kaori/Jun team are well-played. Ayu was a bit rough at the start (the wonderfully timed comedy sequence in the coffee shop hiding from the taiyaki man did not carry well into english) but yeah, settles in after a bit. Not enough data to say much about the others yet.

Ah well... this may be one I can tolerate watching the dub for the sake of others.

Not enough data to say much about the others yet.

Originally Posted by midevilshadow

While I agree on the whole hands-off the blood relations, I'm guessing the Japanese are ok? with it?

I wonder how ADV's gonna handle Nayuki's affection for him?
Prob gonna replace the "I used to like this boy..." to something random like "SHOOP DA WHOOP!"

Ya know, I think its been explained on almost every thread on this website multiple times.... first-cousin relations are legal in most of the world, including over half the United States. Second cousin relationships are legal pretty much *everywhere*. There's barely any statistical difference in genetic issues between cousin-cousin offspring and random-mate offspring. The whole 'cousin' taboo derives from the Industrial Age when folks moved to the city where the "in crowd" decided that marrying a cousin showed you were "country hick". (and of course, marrying a cousin was just about impossible to avoid in most villages in the world where most people are related to everyone else --- see Hobbits where Tolkien expressed that wonderfully in his story).

I wish more people would do a bit of research on where their taboos actually come from -- in many cases, they're completely without merit.

[Ultima_Rasengan05]

The Preview of episode 1 of Kanon being streamed on AnimeNewsNetwork has caught my eye for sometime when it first was posted up, but never had the guts to take a peek because of the horrible dubbing that might happen...but when I finally watched it because I was a fan of Kanon, the just watched it already...and man was I wrong about the dub!
The dub was pretty good, although I don't really know all the names in the dub by ADV, they sure did a pretty good job overall in the first episode. Although I had to get used to Nayuki's voice, but after the first scene, I got over it and she matched the part of Nayuki.
Ayu's voice was pretty well done, though we didn't get to hear much of her say "Uguu~", but she still did a good job doing the voice over for her.
Everyone else, especially Yuuichi matched the parts. Next to the Haruhi dub, this is the second dub that was done well this year. And I'm definitely getting the DVD when it comes out next year (hahahah next week, I mean). Since the DVD is coming out on New Year's Day, will the stores be open? Because I'm guessing that since its a holiday, all stores are going to be closed...well if thats the case, then I'll just buy it the next day.

[FireChick]

Yay! The first episode of Kanon is on demand on The Anime Network! I tried watching it but my mom had the vaccum on so I had to stop. I'll watch it again sometime today.

[nuaythebest]

I already finished volume 1 and I am quite sure that Kanon dub is going to better than Air dub.

Also Makoto's voice(Her first appearance is on the end of episode 2 which isn't include in the preview) is really well done.

[Leo_Otaku]

I think that the girls minus Ayu sound like preppy high school sirls.

Nayuki: Like lets go shopping cow-ri

Kaori: Like totally! Meet me by my locker

0_0 sounds like how my high school was. Japanese high schools get shoe lockers...not real lockers....

Back to reality >.> I don't think Nayuki is a mature character that much. Her voice makes her way to much so. She is suppost to be sort of fluffy sounding. Her child voice was a much better match same for Ayu's. Ayu's is okay but she sounds better when talking seriously. The Japanese voices were just so unique.....Yuuichi was the best voice....

[MidoriHiME]

I think I'll have to be the first negative review here.

I'll be straightforward and say the only voice I liked was Yuuichi's. It sounded a bit young, but he still carried across Yuuichi's personality, and the voice fit his image. Nayuki's voice was too deep/mature and it didn't really make me think of Nayuki at all...it as like she got a character makeover. Same with Kaori - yeah, um, Kaori's not preppy. She always came across to me as somewhat bitchy/bossy but cool and collected, not some generic preppy high school girl. Jun was OK, but with each progressing line he sounded younger. At one point, he sounded 12..yeah, no. Ayu's personality came through OK and the acting was pretty good (though I don't remember Ayu being quite that...LOUD), but the voice was definitely not cute enough for Ayu...it didn't fit her image, and she said uguu very strangely. Akiko sounded much, much too old for her image. The mature voice for Sayuri really isn't working for me either(although I liked how they kept the 3rd-person self-referencing in) - in fact, I HATED it, and Mai sounded too old.


I really did try to give the dub a chance, but it failed spectacularly in my book. Shame, too...I do think it could have been a good dub.

[CrowKenobi]

I've already commented about the dub of episode 1, so courtesy of the free DVD included with the January issue of Newtype USA, I sampled the sub and (imho) it passes.

Aside from one quibble (translating Akiko-san as "Mrs. Akiko") this sub is what you'd expect a professional translation would look like (unlike others I could mention).

Looking forward to how they handle the "getting Ayu not to say boku" situation later. (and how the dub will handle this, too)

[nuaythebest]

I think I'll have to be the first negative review here.

Actually , I think most people here think the same way as you about the dub. It's just that they don't mind mature voice. Kyle Jones take a risk choice by using mature voice instead of forcing voice actress to make a childish voice which suck for most of the time. I really hate when English VA try to emulate the Japanese childish/cutesy voice. I don't mind if they use mature voice as long as it doesn't sound force to me. If you want something that equal to Japanese seiyuu's childish voice in English , you will be disappointed.

[Sirth]

As long as it doesn't turn into another discussion about how all dubs suck, this is a prime example despite a good portion saying it's not, and anyone that likes it is a retard or illiterate, I'll be fine. Got enough of that from the Code Geass thread. Took a page or two just to get someone to think we, who were giving out several full length, grammatically correct and relatively free of spelling error posts, were not retards.

I'm saying this because I have a feeling it'll happen.

[MidoriHiME]

Originally Posted by nuaythebest

Actually , I think most people here think the same way as you about the dub. It's just that they don't mind mature voice. Kyle Jones take a risk choice by using mature voice instead of forcing voice actress to make a childish voice which suck for most of the time. I really hate when English VA try to emulate the Japanese childish/cutesy voice. I don't mind if they use mature voice as long as it doesn't sound force to me. If you want something that equal to Japanese seiyuu's childish voice in English , you will be disappointed.

See, I wouldn't MIND that he picked some more mature voices if they had been voices that still carried the personalities of the characters and if the voices had fit their images. Imo, a good dub needs to have these. And, imo, the dub fails to do either. I'll be honest and say that there a few dubs I enjoy, and this isn't one of them.

[MonkeyDude]

Originally Posted by MidoriHiME

See, I wouldn't MIND that he picked some more mature voices if they had been voices that still carried the personalities of the characters and if the voices had fit their images. Imo, a good dub needs to have these. And, imo, the dub fails to do either. I'll be honest and say that there a few dubs I enjoy, and this isn't one of them.

I have to agree with MidoriHime here....I was actually quite optimistic at the positive reviews the dub was getting. After hearing it out for myself...wow I was literally quite disgusted by it. Nayuki's voice...that whole voice just throws off her entire character for me. I'll admit that I am an elitist when it comes to dubbing, but that was just a joke. There are some really well done dubs out there, this isn't one of them...sad to say.