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Forum - View topicREVIEW: CLAMP Double Feature: Tsubasa Chronicles and xxxHOLiC Blu-ray
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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You....you.... DOUBLE FILLER. |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3495 Location: Back stateside |
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Yeah, I know Del Rey keeps making this claim, but as I work my way through a massive multi-part review of xxxHOLiC, I can tell you that starting by at least volume 12, maybe even earlier, if you don't know what's going on in Tsubasa, nothing will make sense. Even if you do, there's a lot of blatant stupidity with Watanuki's back story that hurts my brain every time I think about it. That said, these two (as well as the first two seasons of the anime) are basically separate beasts. I've not seen the Tsubasa movie (nor so I want to), but I did catch the xxxHOLiC movie in fansubs several years back. I remember being impressed by the art, but it is filler. Then again, unlike Tsubasa, xxxHOLiC features a lot of stand alone cases, so that isn't as mean a criticism. Maybe I should rent it to watch it again and see if I agree with your other complaints. |
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Reibooi
 Posts: 394 |
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Personally I think Todd Haberkorn's Watanuki is the best. Alot of people complain about him being annoying but that's just the character. He is meant to be loud and annoying but at the same time be able to tone it and down and have good emotional scenes which Todd does very well(which isn't evident in the movie but you do see it in the series)
I had read to about volume 5-6 before ever seeing the xxxHolic anime and Todd's voice is almost exactly what I heard in my head while reading the manga and I have heard alot of others say the same. I guess it's really a love or it hate it kinda thing. |
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Kalessin
 Posts: 931 |
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Interesting. I actually thought that the XXXHolic half was by far the stronger of the two - at least in part due to the fact that it actually had some length to it. In fact, to tell what it was telling, it probably doesn't need any additional length, so it would have made a fairly short movie on its own. As a couple of episodes, it would have done fine.
Tsubasa, on the other hand, is practically ruined by the lack of screen time. It looks great and the basic idea might be good, but it's so ridiculously short that it was arguably not worth the time to have it there. It did need a full-length film to actually tell a proper story, and it gets the shorter half. So, maybe they would have done better swapping places for time, but I think that XXXHolic turned out quite well as it is. The issue really is that Tsubasa is too short. They should have just broken down and either made two, totally separate movies or make the whole thing more along the lines of 2 - 2 1/2 hours long (like films should be, but anime films rarely are) and give the additional time to Tsubasa. In general, the good Tsubasa stories have always been somewhat longer anyway. As Carl pretty much said, Tsubasa's portion is the equivalent of one episode of filler (none of which were worth much in the show) except that they made it look really good. As is, it's fairly enjoyable - but primarily for XXXHolic in my opinion. Tsubasa, as great as it looks, is fairly throw-away. However, the fact that I thought that the XXXHolic portion was far better than the Tsubasa portion while Carl thought the opposite probably indicates that which half you prefer depends quite a bit on what you like. Given that I already own the DVDs, I don't know how quick I'll be to pick up the BDs, but I'll get around to it eventually. Being both a Tsubasa and XXXHolic fan though, I think that it's definitely worth it.
That double filler line was definitely a good one. 
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ArsenicSteel
 Posts: 2370 |
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Where in xxxHolic has Haberkorn done toned down? I have the first season DVD. Fukuyama's rendition of Watanuki does not change voice pitch when doing tantrums, which is completely less annoying then the loud shrieking change Haberkorn does. Watanuki comes of as mostly annoying in the dub but in the sub/manga his character less annoying and more somber but with tantrum tendencies. |
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Reibooi
Posts: 394 |
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The episodes in the series in which he needs to be emotional or quiet he does so with ease. The episode where he meets the real fortune teller and she tells him about his parents. He tones down things down a bit and sounds like you would expect someone to sound in a situation like that. The same thing goes for the episode with the little girl under the hydrangeas. He tones things down and sounds much more emotional and not annoying at all. he does it flawlessly. There are many other parts to but I think you get the point. If you listen to those parts and don't hear how well he does you are simple hearing what you want to so you don't have to admit the dub was well done. To a certain extent he is supposed to be a somewhat annoying character(I mean that in a good way he is one of my favorite in manga and anime) how he sounds is irrelevant to this. A good example of this how he flip flops whenever he is around Himawari. Regardless of how he would be played during these scenes it would be seen as annoying. It's supposed to be. It's part of his character but again that is not a bad thing. To me and this is just my opinion. Doing a tantrum without changing pitch and whatnot makes no sense. To me that would sound like someone just reading off a sheet of paper as opposed to acting. When a person throws a tantrum they are gonna have changes in tone, Pitch and volume that's the nature of a tantrum(trust me I have to deal with it on a daily basis because of my Bi polar sister her pitch and all that changes when she is flipping out as opposed to normal day to day speech). |
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ArsenicSteel
Posts: 2370 |
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Tantrums can change pitch, volume, and tone. It is possible to also throw a tantrum by altering all three to varying degrees. The tantrums in original version were more like tirades of a person that retains their emotional state of mind while the tantrums of Haberkorn are more like emotional breakdowns. Basically the original tantrums are not as irritating as the shrieking Haberkorn does in the dub. The tantrums and Haberkorns overall performance creates a slightly different characterization of Watanuki that is present in the manga and anime.
It is funny that you mention the real fortune teller scene; the dub has a few more sounds to interrupt the silence that was present in the original. I bought the DVD and saw the dub first, then watched the sub, and eventually read some of the manga. Haberkorn was my first time hearing Watanuki and had a negative effect on my appreciation for the series until I listened to the original voice track. |
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littlegreenwolf
 Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Exactly, I had no complaints over his Watanuki when I finally heard him in the dub. He's pretty much how I imagined, and I like him better than the Japanese actor. Funny how Carlos can't stand either now apparently. Then again Watanuki is far from my favorite character in XXXholic... well, no I lie... I love seeing Yuuko tease him and him then throwing a fit. The manga makes these fits of Watanuki seem very overboard, and it's the main reason I think I like Haberkorn. I never pictured Watanuki as reserved as he appears to me in the Japanese track, but this could come down to how different these reactions/fits/tantrums sound culture to culture. I find the overdone English more entertaining, and thinking on it now in a similar case, I love hearing Spike Spencer lose his crap as Shinji. I usually dislike him for the most part, but when he's loosing it I love him as much as Megumi Ogata. Shinji IS a whiny little @%@^ who needs to be punched by Asuka. Watanuki IS a whiny little @#%@# who needs to be riled by Yuuko for her own amusement.
I still have yet to see all of the anime, but out of the dub, this was my favorite ep to date, and it's mostly because Haberkorn did such a perfect job. |
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ArsenicSteel
Posts: 2370 |
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The word perfect seems to have changed its meaning.
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Youkai Warrior
 Posts: 505 Location: Sarayashiki |
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I never got into anime films based on TV series for these very reasons. they're basically fan fictions that were good enough to be animated. The Ranma 1/2 movies were not at all like the TV series, the Naruto movies weren't that great, the Inu Yasha movies, and several anime series-based movies. I wasn't too surprised that the Tsubasa/xxxHolic double-feature didn't get a high grade. CLAMP or not, it didn't save it from being a brilliant masterpiece.
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halo
Posts: 356 |
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This is NOT high-def! This is 480p upscaled and does not look much better, if any, than the DVD. Furthermore, they left out the 5.1 Japanese track.
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s.alsa-man1991
Posts: 137 |
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Having caught the tsubaholi train quite late, there's one thing I can say about it: why the heck did they produce these movies instead of making film versions of Tokyo Revelations or Shunraiki/Shunmuki? Those are key parts of both manga, and fans would've loved to go see them at the theatre, besides paying for the discs. Since the Tsubasa anime was aimed at a younger audience than the mangaka had intended, marking a change in tone with a Tokyo Revelations film would've been just perfect.
Sometimes, I just don't get production companies. I would've watched the Tokyo arc 5 times at the theatre, had I been given the chance. |
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