The General Discussion of Haruhi Suzumiya

[relentlessflame]

This is purely an opinion, but I think it's most likely they'd just leave all the Japanese songs undubbed for Haruhi, especially for the concert. It's just too much work to write English lyrics that both line up to the voice flaps and match the song precisely. It's one thing to do image songs or OP/ED where the precision of the melody isn't that crucial (since it's in the background), but just imagining the amount of work involved to dub those concerts accurately is insane. Ultimately, despite its popularity around here, I don't think the show will sell well enough in North America to warrant that much work. But as I said, that's just one opinion. I have to admit that, while I do tend to watch the English dubs on R1 DVDs and don't have nearly as much problem with them as some around here do, I've rarely heard songs dubbed well in anime.

[Siegel Clyne]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

But Hiyano Aya does speak like a prepubescent girl and a big, mature woman!

And Lacus Clyne's English voice actor, Chantal Strand, cannot do a big, mature woman's speaking voice - let alone do a big, mature woman's singing voice.

UPDATE (2006-08-31)

Re: Hirano Aya's Awesome Performance as Suzumiya Haruhi

In anime, English dub voice actors generally have a difficult time matching their Japanese counterparts in the singing department.

In years past, on the Anime On DVD Community Forums, I flat out stated beforehand and correctly predicted that:

1. In Chobits, the English dub voice actress for Chii (it turned out to be Michelle Ruff) will not be capable of singing the songs - "Raison d'etre," "Ningyo Hime," "Let Me Be With You -Chii Version-," "I hear you everywhere," etc. - which Tanaka Rie, Chii's original Japanese voice actress, sings on the Chobits animation series.

For a while afterwards, a number of English dub fans tried to get Michelle Ruff to sing songs sung by her Japanese counterpart, Tanaka Rie, such as "Raison d'etre," "Ningyo Hime," "Let Me Be With You -Chii Version-," and "DUAL" by MITSUKI from the DUAL anime.

They failed. Utterly.

Why embarrass yourself trying to sing when you know you cannot sing?

2. In Gundam SEED, the English dub voice actress for Lacus Clyne, Chantal Strand, will not be capable of singing the Lacus Clyne songs ("Shizukana Yoru ni" {"In the Quiet Night"}, "Mizu no Akashi" {"Token of Water"}) which Tanaka Rie, Lacus Clyne's original Japanese voice actress, sings in the Gundam SEED animation series.

Since the English dubbed Lacus Clyne songs in Gundam SEED came out over two years ago, Chantal Strand has never shown up in public to sing live and prove that she is the real singer of the Lacus Clyne songs in English.

Reason: Fake singing a la Milli Vanilli. Jillian Michaels and whoever else - NOT Chantal Strand - actually sing the English dubbed songs for Lacus Clyne on Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED DESTINY.

Let me add:

3. In Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya), the English dub voice actress for Suzumiya Haruhi will either a) not be capable of singing the Suzumiya Haruhi songs as well as Hirano Aya, Suzumiya Haruhi's original Japanese voice actress, or b) not be capable of singing the Suzumiya Haruhi songs at all.

UPDATE 2 (2006-10-04)

Last week I received Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY Vol. 4 Region 1 DVD from Bandai Entertainment and heard in episode 17 the horrible, anemic, off-key English dubbed song by The Ocean Group of "Quiet Night C.E. 73," Meer Campbell's uptempo version of the Lacus Clyne song "Shizukana Yoru ni" ("In the Quiet Night"). The person who sings the English dub version of the Lacus Clyne song "Fields of Hope" struggles and strains to sing "Quiet Night C.E. 73" on key, without success.

The awful English dubbed singing voice for Meer Campbell sounds worse when there is no bubbly, bouncy, busty Meer Campbell in view to distract from its horridness.

UPDATE 3 (2007-10-12)

One or two viewers commenting on this YouTube video claim that Canadian voice actress Chantal Strand, who does the English dub speaking voice for Lacus Clyne and Meer Campbell, sings the English dub version of the Meer Campbell song "Quiet Night CE 73" in Gundam Seed Destiny.

THEY CITE NO SOURCE FOR THE CLAIM.

There is NOT EVEN ONE official source - Bandai Entertainment, Inc. (North American distributor), The Ocean Group (English dubbing studio), etc. - that I can find which supports the claim.

I have been buying the North American Region 1 DVDs of Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny, released by Bandai Entertainment and dubbed in English by The Ocean Group. They do NOT state who sings the English dub version of the Meer Campbell song, "Quiet Night C.E.73." They do NOT state who sings the English dub versions of the Lacus Clyne songs, "Shizukana Yoru ni" ("In the Quiet Night"), "Mizu no Akashi" ("Token of Water"), and "Fields of Hope."

I have asked Bandai and Ocean, publicly, on the Internet, "Who does the English dub singing voices for Lacus Clyne and Meer Campbell in Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny?"

I have yet to receive an answer.

I will ask them once again here. But I do not expect an answer.

Why is this such a hard question to answer?

What do they have to hide?

Wikipedia articles on Lacus Clyne, Meer Campbell, and Canadian voice actress Jillian Michaels say that Jillian Michaels provides the English dubbed singing voices for Lacus Clyne and Meer Campbell in Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny.

Unless official sources state otherwise, or Chantal Strand shows up in public and sings these songs live, it must be concluded that the UNOFFICIAL claim by one or two people on YouTube that Chantal Strand sings, in English, as Meer Campbell and Lacus Clyne on Gundam Seed Destiny is FAKE.

Opinions, speculations, and wishful thinking are not facts.

UPDATE 4 (2010-04-08)

Watching the English dub track and rewatching the original Japanese track of Strike Witches, the Japanese voice acting has more depth of feeling and emotion in it than the English voice acting - something I often have problems with while listening to dubs.

Apart from the vastly superior singing performance of the replacement insert song "Negai no Tomoshibi" in Japanese by her Japanese voice actress Rie Tanaka as Minna Dietlinde Wilcke over that by the uncredited singer for Minna in English, for example, earlier today I watched Episode 8 of Strike Witches in English, then rewatched the episode in Japanese. I had forgotten how emotionally distressed Minna really is in the episode until I heard it again in Japanese.

Japanese GONZO Fan Confirms Minna's Insert Song Replacement on Region 1 DVDs

Japanese anime otaku and self-confessed GONZO fan Teramiya writes that the insert song "Lili Marleen" sung by Minna Dietlinde Wilcke (Rie Tanaka) in Episode 8 has been replaced by "Negai no Tomoshibi" (『願いの灯』; "Light of Hope") on the North American Region 1 DVD release by FUNimation of the Strike Witches: Complete First Season due to licensing issues.

"Negai no Tomoshibi," sung by Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke (Tanaka Rie), is the 41st and final track on the Strike Witches: Anata to Dekiru Koto game album CD, just recently released by Columbia Music Entertainment on March 24, 2010 in Japan.

Some English dub fans assume that Minna Dietlinde Wilcke's English voice actress, Anastasia Muñoz, does her own singing as Minna in the English dub version of "Negai no Tomoshibi" in Episode 8 of Strike Witches - even though FUNimation does not credit anyone in the ending credits and has not stated who sings it anywhere else.

But as we have seen before in similarly uncredited singing roles like Chantal Strand singing in English as Lacus Clyne and Meer Campbell in Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny and Laura Bailey (former FUNimation English voice actress for Marlene Angel) singing in English the opening and ending theme songs on Blue Angel, these assumptions by a number of viewers turned out to be 100 PERCENT WRONG.

The likelihood that someone else other than Anastasia Muñoz sings the English version of "Negai no Tomoshibi" seems high.

It would help if she comes out like Laura Bailey did and says who actually sings the song in English.

And if she does indeed sing it, hopefully Ms. Muñoz will sing live at events, conventions, and so on the way Japanese voice actresses (seiyuu) commonly do inside and outside Japan (e.g., Rie Tanaka sang live at the New York Anime Festival 2008).

[ShiMonTenRou]

Interesting fact: I just realized why there's a baseball chapter in both the novel and anime. I mean, why all the sudden just start playing baseball? Well, as it turn out the novel author Tanikawa Nagaru spent his college years in Nishinomiya City, a tiny city in the heart of Kansai region, right between Osaka and Kobe. Aside from the very city in which the whole Haruhi story took place, it is also to ordinary Japanese the Baseball city of Japan. In fact, millions of people visit Nishinomiya City every year to watch baseball. It's a dream of every baseball playing kid in Japan to one day ending up in Nishinomiya.

You see, there's this stadium in Nishinomiya City called Koshien Statium. It's built in 1924 for one thing only: The annual Spring and Summer High School Baseball Turnament. High School baseball is HUGE in Japan; and it's every high school baseball player's dream to play in Koshien, and every high schooler's dream to oneday being in the Cheering section (Oendan) of their school when it reaches Koshien. Over 4,000 schools play this single elimination turnament to be called #1 in Japan, and tens of thousands of fans will visit Nishinomiya City every summer to cheer for one of the 49 schools who won their regional turnament to get to Koshien. Koshien is heart of Japanese baseball world, and it's right in the middle of land of Haruhi. Also, the most beloved team in Japan pro-baseball, the Hanshin Tigers, plays at Koshien. They're also known as the Cubs of Japan for being a well-loved loser. You can laugh at a Kansai person for their accent, but you better not make fun of the Hanshin Tigers.

So I guess you can't write a story about a goddess born in Nishinomiya without her playing at least 1 game of baseball. It's perfectly logical to the author and Japanese Haruhi fans, but the baseball reference in Haruhi is probably lost to Western fans who's never heard of Koshien or cheered for teams like KomaToma HS of Hokkaido (trying to 3-peat this year) or AIT Meiden HS (Ichiro's alma mater). After becoming a Japanese HS baseball fan by following Koshien this year on the internet, I just realized how significant this little city is to the lives of all Japanese. Just some interesting factiods for fellow Haruhi Fans.

Here's the wikipedia article on Koshien , and if you know a bit of Japanese, you can follow this year's Koshien on these sites . You can even watch every game live, as I plan to do tomorrow to watch the exciting second final game between last year's champ KomaToma HS and Tokyo's WasedaJitsu HS.

[ShiMonTenRou]

I just realized that the baseball stadium in Haruhi's flashback in episode 13 is of course Koshien Stadium. I just spend last 15 days watching game from the stadium and it's exactly like it. So what trigger little Haruhi to use her power to change the world was a trip to watch Japanese High School Baseball Turnament at Koshien stadium. It looks like a semi-final or finals game she's watching as the stadium is full, making her thinking very little of herself.

So since there's a theory that the story happened in 2009, then when she's 6th grade we're talking either 2005 or 2006. So chances are like other locals from Nishinomiya City she goes to watch the big games; then I would say that the game she went was probably the Championship game. If the year of this scene was 2006, then there's a good chance that she was taken to watch either the semi-final game between Chiben Wakayama and KomaToma, or Championship game between KomaToma and WasedaJitsu. Both games are jam-packed when I watched it; other games are not as packed as the stadium fans are mostly boosters. There's really no local team in Nishinomiya sinec it's so close to Osaka, so if her dad's following the local team then may have taken Haruhi to attend the 11:2 pounding sufferd by the Osaka Champ Osaka Toin by the hands of the hated East Tokyo champ WasedaJitsu. Unlikely but possible.

So heck, I can probably say I watched the very game Haruhi watched when she's a little girl. Boy I feel a little geek pride here.

[Siegel Clyne]

Originally Posted by katakami

Wow! Someone else interested in Seiyuu! ^_^

In the past few years, I used to regularly post about Japanese voice actors on other forums, including news on seiyuu casts for anime, games, drama CDs, etc.

Perhaps the biggest seiyuu news I presented on English forums was that 1) in November 2004, I posted that the veteran Doraemon cast would be replaced by a new cast, and 2) in early 2005, I reported the names of the new seiyuu for the five main characters in Doraemon, using a scan of Korokoro Comic magazine as my source.

I am now a regular contributor to the Anime News Network Encyclopedia, having just started in the middle of this year. Most of my contributions concern Japanese seiyuu and now number over one hundred.

Among other things, I have contributed information to the Anime News Network Encyclopedia database on Japanese voice actors Tanaka Rie, Inoue Kikuko, Sakamoto Maaya, Noto Mamiko, Nakahara Mai, Kawasumi Ayako, Chiba Saeko, Toyoguchi Megumi, Nogawa Sakura, Koshimizu Ai, Mizuhashi Kaori, Sawashiro Miyuki, Shindou Naomi, Kaneda Tomoko, Watanabe Akeno, Takahashi Mikako, Nazuka Kaori, Shiraishi Ryouko, Kobayashi Sanae, Kozakura Etsuko, Ikezawa Haruna, Fukuen Misato, Ishida Akira, Morita Masakazu, Morikawa Toshiyuki, Miki Shin'ichirou, Fukuyama Jun, Mugihito, Horiuchi Ken'yuu, Tani Atsuki, Inoue Norihiro, Tanonaka Isamu, etc.

EDIT: Around an hour ago, I contributed to the Anime News Network Encyclopedia the names of the Japanese voice actors for the three main characters in the Lelouch anime: Fukuyama Jun as Lelouch, Sakurai Takahiro as Kururugi Suzaku, and Yukana as C.C. They were announced earlier today at the 2006 TBS Anime Festa, Sunday, August 20, 2006.

[PlatinumX]

tried to figure out what paper haruhi is writing on.

adjusted constrast and brightness, flipped it over.

heres what i found, not sure posted before

Spoiler:

From





Making it clearer.





the one in red is a Stephanus pagination reference for the paragraph above. It says, "Plato, (the title of the work), (the index no. for the work quoted)"

did a google for Frege and Godel found out it was some sort of book

From Frege to Godel: A Source Book in Mathematical Logic, 1879-1931

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being_and_Time

Seems like this type of book will only be read by Yuki. A german author.
Maybe Haruhi used her book to scan the paper. lol

[C.A.]

lol! Nice find, good job!

But its not Haruhi, its Yuki who wrote that. So yes, From Frege to Godel: A Source Book in Mathematical Logic, is the book she's reading while writing this.

[Kinny Riddle]

Originally Posted by C.A.

lol! Nice find, good job!

But its not Haruhi, its Yuki who wrote that. So yes, From Frege to Godel: A Source Book in Mathematical Logic, is the book she's reading while writing this.

What're you talking about? The novel clearly stated that it was Haruhi who wrote down the summer vacation itinerary on a piece of paper she tore from a notebook herself.

Besides the episode guide being updated by Yuki, the rest of the site is "maintained" by Kyon. So Kyon must've simply scanned and uploaded the paper himself under Haruhi's orders, not knowing about the secrets that piece of paper contained.

[Shirobane]

Originally Posted by PlatinumX

tried to figure out what paper haruhi is writing on.

adjusted constrast and brightness, flipped it over.

heres what i found, not sure posted before

Spoiler:

From





Making it clearer.





the one in red is a Stephanus pagination reference for the paragraph above. It says, "Plato, (the title of the work), (the index no. for the work quoted)"

did a google for Frege and Godel found out it was some sort of book

From Frege to Godel: A Source Book in Mathematical Logic, 1879-1931

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being_and_Time

Seems like this type of book will only be read by Yuki. A german author.
Maybe Haruhi used her book to scan the paper. lol

hmm, I can't seem to make out the name of the Plato's work even when I've exploded so I did a google search "plato + 549." It turns out the most frequent entry that came up was a page from the work "The Republic"

"Quite so. And the Timarchic man will be self-willed. He'll be harsh to his slaves because he hasn't learnt a proper sense of superiority. He'll crave power, not through intelligent discussion, but by showing might."
from: http://www.btinternet.com/~glynhughe...shed/plato.htm


Taken out of context, it seems to describe Haruhi.

[cryx]

Yuki never writes anything, so who could have been scribbling on the previous piece of note that was on top of the one Haruhi used, & that have left imprints that were shown on Haruhi's paper?

& could anyone figure out what those scribblings were? They were pretty illegible given the current resolution of the image file, so it would take some knowledge & speculation.

[panzerfan]

I read a passage of that mechanical logic book by accident before I think... and this is a great find!
This notebook puzzles me however. Who's notebook is it and how would a book cover leave behind such an imprint on the paper? Having script imprint I can understand but...
Anyway, I tried to sharpen the image but it didn't help. I can't make out anymore than what's discussed already.

[C.A.]

Originally Posted by Kinny Riddle

What're you talking about? The novel clearly stated that it was Haruhi who wrote down the summer vacation itinerary on a piece of paper she tore from a notebook herself.

Sorry about that then, lol I guess its one of those days where my brain isn't functioning . I'll use my remaining days to reread the novels again. I'll shall make a smarter answer then:

Originally Posted by panzerfan

This notebook puzzles me however. Who's notebook is it and how would a book cover leave behind such an imprint on the paper? Having script imprint I can understand but...

Actually PlatinumX already explained why the book is there:

Originally Posted by PlatinumX

Seems like this type of book will only be read by Yuki. A german author.
Maybe Haruhi used her book to scan the paper. lol

Meaning somebody(probably Haruhi or Kyon) used Yuki's book to hold the paper in place on the scanner, the scanner scanned both the note and the book together.

[jasonhanjk]

Originally Posted by cryx

Yuki never writes anything, so who could have been scribbling on the previous piece of note that was on top of the one Haruhi used, & that have left imprints that were shown on Haruhi's paper?

& could anyone figure out what those scribblings were? They were pretty illegible given the current resolution of the image file, so it would take some knowledge & speculation.

Hi, first post. Just came from HWZ.

I just remembered Yuki did write somthing, she wrote to Kyon to meet her in the park.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by jasonhanjk

Hi, first post. Just came from HWZ.

I just remembered Yuki did write somthing, she wrote to Kyon to meet her in the park.

He's right you know.

[Kinny Riddle]

http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost...&postcount=258

Get your arses moving all you self-proclaimed Haruhi-ists. If you sit back and even think "Haruhi's so popular anyway, she'll win by miles even if I didn't vote", then you'll have fallen for the trap of the cynical anti-Haruhi-ists, who can and will topple SuzuHaru girls, as they have done with Tsuruya-san and Ryoko. (I'm cynical meself as well, but more of a "Kyon-like cynical", in that I don't actually dislike Haruhi. )

Of course this time, Haruhi's group isn't that tough, so as long as you follow the instructions in the first page of that thread and hope your IP isn't blacklisted by the paranoid organizers, no offence if this sounds boastful, Haruhi should be able to win comfortably, if not a landslide.

So yes, this is a call to arms to all self-proclaimed Haruhi-ists. Voting starts in an hour from this post being posted. Every (eligible) vote counts.

[IchiKyo]

She must win! Let's support her!
(let's hope a milles Voting like 1000 )

[Kaioshin Sama]

Wow you've got an agenda going there Kinny. I don't really care much who wins the Saimoe contest, its not like the character can collect a prize or the voters will collect a prize so what's the point of winning really. If your a fan of the character that means you can rub it in your friends face who's character didn't win, but that just means you had a bigger voting block than your friend. Good luck to those who take it seriously though and don't want Haruhi to lose.

Also please don't tell me this is going to turn into vote-countervote with the Haruhiists and Anti's screwing with the voting system. It's my personal belief that people should vote for who they believe in, to sight an example, if you were one of those people who supported Ralph Nader but you were afraid you're vote was going to let George Bush win, I would have still voted for Nader because that was my candidate. So Haruhiist's even if you love the series, vote for the character you think is most Moe regardless of what series there from, and to the Anti's especially, don't you have anything better to do then screw with the vote, we don't need those who enjoy this contest to have it tainted by a petty war.

Finally I don't know how to make this sound like I'm not being a jackass but, if the voters have the time to vote in this contest, then for the love of god please vote in your countries next political election.

[Vexx]

If you've got time to post on this forum and vote in Saimoe, you've damn sure got time to study the situation and vote in the next damned election.... oh and stop getting your news from televised corporate suckup "not really news" stations.

I'd say "Haruhi for President" but I think I'm sticking with my traditional candidate, Cthulhu .... why vote for the Lesser Evil?

[Kikaifan]

Because they killed Cthulu with a BOAT. You couldn't kill Ryoko with a boat. Besides, Ryoko promises action on the economy.

[Kinny Riddle]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama

Wow you've got an agenda going there Kinny. I don't really care much who wins the Saimoe contest, its not like the character can collect a prize or the voters will collect a prize so what's the point of winning really. If your a fan of the character that means you can rub it in your friends face who's character didn't win, but that just means you had a bigger voting block than your friend. Good luck to those who take it seriously though and don't want Haruhi to lose.

Also please don't tell me this is going to turn into vote-countervote with the Haruhiists and Anti's screwing with the voting system. It's my personal belief that people should vote for who they believe in, to sight an example, if you were one of those people who supported Ralph Nader but you were afraid you're vote was going to let George Bush win, I would have still voted for Nader because that was my candidate. So Haruhiist's even if you love the series, vote for the character you think is most Moe regardless of what series there from, and to the Anti's especially, don't you have anything better to do then screw with the vote, we don't need those who enjoy this contest to have it tainted by a petty war.

Finally I don't know how to make this sound like I'm not being a jackass but, if the voters have the time to vote in this contest, then for the love of god please vote in your countries next political election.

Agenda? What agenda? You're reading too much into my motives. I'm not as politically sinister as you speculate.

Of course I know this is a silly tournament and that the characters and fans have no prizes to win anyway, but that's not stopping me from having fun and trying to kill time. So try not to take this too seriously please.

And if you're talking about voting in my country, for your bloody information, I tried, but the bloody government here is making all sorts of excuses to deny full democracy. Anyway, let's leave the politics aside. I apologize for my rather direct behaviour, but I feel I have to address this. I consider my self more politically aware than most other apathetic otakus out there, thank you very much. I just choose not to comment about it here.