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REVIEW: Gankutsuou DVD 2

I guess I am the only one that finds the visuals more distracting than "awe-inspiring". Granted, there are other reasons why I don't really care for the series too much (I find it incredibly over-dramatic to the point of absurdity), but most of the reviews I have seen have gone ape over the "incredible" visuals.

The Japanese dub is clearly the better-acted of the two, but beyond the Count it suffers some from casting which sounds too distinctly Japanese for the roles of European aristocrats. Though not glaringly obvious, the effect is akin to hearing American actors voice over the roles of Chinese characters in competent dubs of Hong Kong martial arts movies. Arguments about how listening to the Japanese dub still allows a viewer to hear the series “as it was originally intended” don’t hold water here since this isn’t a Japanese story to begin with.

That's why it's called an adaptation. Just like how U.S. companies translate Japanese content into English, the producers of Gankutsuou translated a French work into Japanese.

while still retaining much of the essence of 18th century France

That's a bit of an unfair statement to make. People adapting content from other cultures should be given the benefit of the doubt, regardless of whether or not you're fluent in speaking/understanding or just reading subtitles translated from a said language.

Not to mention that aside from being an adaptation, Gankutsuou has quite a lot of Japanese-ness in it, deliberately or not. In quite a few aspects it's a lot like classic shoujo manga, what with Albert's "akogare" for an older, more adult and classy person, who, unbeknownst to Albert, has a troubled background and personality, the characters' melodramatic reactions to things, etc, etc. (Funny thing is, to me, Gankutsuou "feels" a lot like classic yuri manga.) It may be an adaptation of a French novel, but it's very much rooted in Japanese traditions.

Also, a correction:
Quote:
while still retaining much of the essence of 18th century France

19th century, actually.

Tony K. wrote:

19th century, actually.

And here I always thought that story was set in the late 18th century. That was the one detail I didn't double-check.

Try that argument on purists concerning English dubs of anime. It's basically the same situation, which is why I didn't feel it was an unfair statement.

I should probably also mention that the apparent Japanese devotion towards always making their productions sound distinctly Japanese even if set in a different culture has long been a pet peeve of mine. (Hellsing, for instance; it's set almost entirely in Great Britain but sounds purely Japanese in the Japanese audio tracks, which is why I won't watch that series subbed. At least the English dub made an effort. Same for Yugo the Negotiator's Pakistani arc.)

I think that's more of a coincidence than anything, though. Any Japanese cultural influence worked into this production so far is very, very subtle.

I should probably also mention that the apparent Japanese devotion towards always making their productions sound distinctly Japanese even if set in a different culture has long been a pet peeve of mine.

I guess I am the only one that finds the visuals more distracting than "awe-inspiring". Granted, there are other reasons why I don't really care for the series too much (I find it incredibly over-dramatic to the point of absurdity), but most of the reviews I have seen have gone ape over the "incredible" visuals.