Forum - View topicGunslinger Girl DVD - Subs and Dubs - Your opinion!
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Juno Reactor
Posts: 15 |
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Hi,
I recently finished watching all 13 episodes of Gunslinger Girl on a website, fansubbed by Triad, and they were fantastic. Now I'm interesting in purchasing them on DVD, beginning with the first volume. I read the review at this site, but discussion on that subject appears to have ended a year ago. So I thought I'd raise some questions here... One, how are the subtitles on the DVD? Do they tell the story effectively? Are they well-written? Is the pacing good? Do you enjoy the experience in subtitles? Please especially comment on the subtitles for the Japanese voice track. Two, how is the English dub? I hear the English script was rewritten a bit. Is the overall experience still good though? It doesn't lose too much meaning in translation, does it? How is the "seven dwarfs" bit handled in Triela's episode (episode four)? I hear they couldn't mention the dwarfs by name. Also, if you were to watch the series first dubbed, would you still have a pretty complete understanding of the story, compared to the Japanese voice track? On another note, I'd just like to comment briefly on the series. I loved it! Now, I'm a very sensitive person and a pacifist by nature who usually doens't like violence... But this show is so stylish and well-done, with such a strong, compelling narrative, and such poignant, powerful themes, that I was spellbound from start to finish. I really can't recommend this series enough! As soon as I receive enough encouragement, I'm going to take the plunge and buy those DVDs! I really hope they continue the anime at some point. I didn't mind the ending like some, who found it inconclusive; on the contrary, I thought it was reassuring, since the main characters, handlers included, were all still alive, well, and at that point even happy. With that in mind, they could still continue, perhaps following the rest of the story detailed in the manga (which I hear continues beyond what was covered in the anime). Well, thanks in advance for any and all answers! - JR Last edited by Juno Reactor on Tue Apr 25, 2006 6:20 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Alex K.
Posts: 247 |
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It's good that you're buying the DVDs and all, but you broke a big rule by linking to fansubs. Someone needs to contact whoever's in charge of that site and tell them that they've got a load of illegal anime downloads on there. Not like they'll listen, though.
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Juno Reactor
Posts: 15 |
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Well, I think it may still technically be legal, being an accredited and sufficiently altered fansub. But I could be wrong. As for the link, I'm sorry, I didn't know about that detail. I've gone back and changed it.
At any rate, does anyone have any impressions of the DVD's sub and dub (with comments on both tracks)? And while we're at it, what do you think of the look of the DVD? Do the images come through well? I can't really buy it until I get some feedback to feel like I'd be making an educated decision. - JR |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7991 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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The dub is another fantastic performance by the folks at Funimation which have really turned arround since their early days. As for the sub I rarely watch it because the dub is so great, but it's a professionally done DVD by a well known company it should be just fine.
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RDespair
 Posts: 244 Location: California |
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A friend of mine owns the series. The dub is excellent. I've never seen the sub, because when the dub is that good why even bother? I'm sure it's good too though.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18353 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Copied from my review of Volume 2:
On more specific points, the "Seven Dwarves" reference is dropped completely and a bit of extra dialogue is added in places. None of the fundamental meaning is changed, however. Despite the looseness of the English script it still serves up the same characterizations, story, and essential details. |
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Juno Reactor
Posts: 15 |
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Wow, that's a very impressive assessment you made there. Very insightful. So would you describe the overall effect of the dub as being very tight and coherent on its own merits?
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pumirya
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I own the entire dvd set.I think you will love it as much on dvd as you did online.In my opinion the voice acting is nicely done,and even if english version changed a bit,still a awesome must own collection.
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18353 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Yes, it does get the point across, just not in the same way that the original Japanese dub did. And yes, it's a solid dub evaluated solely on its own merits.
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YoMaNaTiOn
 Posts: 63 |
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I usually find myself prefering the Japanese dub and Gunslinger Girl is no exception. Japanese dub + Eng sub ftw!
Generally I think in most anime japanese just are the ORIGINAL performance and the language they're made for so it's better.[kinda-off-topic] I can point some exceptions though, like Berserk in which I prefered the english dub. Maybe because english language suits that medieval background better, dunno.[kinda-off-topic] That's just my opinion though, you can see it as you like. For gunslinger girl now, I think the english dub is fine, but I still prefer the japanese. |
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Juno Reactor
Posts: 15 |
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What about the video quality on the English DVD? I like what I saw online, but it was small on my computer, so it wasn't a good indication of the DVD. However, I read the following review at IGN, and this dismayed me:
QUOTE by IGN: "For a program that routinely has little animation but mouthflaps for several minutes at a time, you'd expect a stellar transfer. But for some reason, the image in each episode looks washed out and there is persistent noise in some of the darker scenes. Detail is not crisp and characters tend to bleed into their backgrounds. Outlines are blurry or broken, and there is a frequent, peculiar halo effect that pulls all whites out several pixels. It doesn't appear to be a problem with edge enhancement, because we're sure not getting anymore detail out of the image, but it only contributes to the soft image. Other colors are pretty solid and although muted, there doesn't appear to be much problem with artifacting so the image that does come through holds pretty well onscreen. Some of these problems may have more to do with the source material than the transfer, as the series at large is low-contrast and a bit murky looking, but there are enough problems here to warrant a warning. Gunslinger Girl is presented in an anamorphic 16:9 transfer." -- End QUOTE I think this man, who gave the overall DVD a 5/10, might've been predisposed to hate it from the beginning. He simply didn't like the farfetched premise, or the way the story was told (I, on the other hand, loved both those aspects). At any rate, I'd really appreciate you telling me whether the video quality of the DVD is good. Are the colors sharp, crisp, and clear? Does everything look smooth and consistent? At the official site for the English series, the trailer looks a little funny at times, namely with the darkness, but I think it's because of the fade-in/fade-out effects they use to transition between scenes in the trailer... Please share your impressions, - JR |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6895 Location: Kazune City |
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If by chance you're concerned because it's a Funimation-produced DVD, don't be--the dub acting is very good, and the script doesn't lose much in the adaptation. I watched about one third of the series dubbed, and I liked both tracks equally--I can't decide if one is better than the other. The subtitles are in the typical Funimation Size(tm), but they include most of the Japanese name suffixes and compared to some other Funimation releases, are pretty much free of errors. (See Fruits Basket episode 15, ~10:45, line "their's is a serious case"--if I see the nonword "their's" in a fansub, I DL from a different group
 ) Video-wise, I thought it looked good* for a 5/4/4 episode count collection, and the reviews at ANN and AoD seem to agree with that. If you're into collector's boxes, the GG box is very sturdy with pretty artwork.
*Although some people I've talked to in shadier areas of the fandom have said that the GG discs are "crappy," I don't think we need their opinions 
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the Rancorous
 Posts: 2248 Location: Hunting the Dragon in Gransys |
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I thought the DVD/video quality was top notch. However, my discs tend to automatically put the subs on with each episode. It's strange, I'll turn them off (but they sould already have been off to begin with, right?) and then when the next episode starts, they're back on! Does anyone else have this problem? But, pressing a button on the remote a few times won't lessen my opinion at all.
And what irritated me was that I bought all three discs, and THEN I found out that there was an art box, just no store in my town was selling it with vol. 1. Oh well, its only a 3 discs set, and I guess I should have figured that it would have a box, 
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Alex K.
Posts: 247 |
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Uh, there are box sets that have up to 10 discs. |
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Juno Reactor
Posts: 15 |
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So wait, what's the difference between the "Starter Set" and the three separate volumes? Does the "Starter Set" have all three volumes included in it (thus all 13 episodes)? That would be rather convenient to just snatch them all up in one fell swoop.
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