Subject: Kenshin OAV - dub analysis
Date: 08/17/2000
Author: JLMondazzi

After carefully reviewing the first volume of ADVision's 'Samurai X" OAV series (episode #'s 1-2) I have come to the determination that the dub release is just TERRIBLE. On a scale of one to ten (one being worst, ten being best), I'd give this one a 4 or 5 at the most.
Below is a complete VHS run-down so anime fans can know what they're getting themselves into...

PRE-MOVIE TRAILERS-----------------------------
- A new release called "SIN the movie". This certainly looks interesting, and I'll definitely be checking that one out when it arrives. Perhaps A.D. Vision has a winner here.
- The "Spriggan" movie. Now, I adored this series (both manga and the animated movie). It has a very "Akira"-like feel, so seeing this advertised as soon-to-be-released is exciting, certainly.
- Three ads for A.D. Vision's older released titles "Ninja Resurrection: The Revenge of Jubei," "Blood Reign: Curse of the Undead Yoma," and "Kimera".
- An ad for A.D. Vision's DVDs releases, such as "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie, "Battle Angel," "Tekken" the movie, "Sakura Diaries" tv, "Monster Rancher" tv, "Ninja Resurrection: Revenge of Jubei" OAVs, "Slayers" movie, "Sakura Wars" OAVs, "Ruin Explorers" OAVs, "Legend of Crystania" OAVs/movie, "Neon Genesis Evangelion" tv, and "Queen Emeraldas" movie.
- Finally, a new version of their compilation ad (the 'DO IT NOW!' techno song). Series show: "Neon Genesis Evangelion" tv, "Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040" tv, "Lost Universe" tv, "Generator Grawl" tv, "Princess Nine" OAV, "Martian Successor Nadesico" tv/movie, "Sorcerer Hunters: Spell Wars" tv, "Sakura Diaries," "Sin the movie," "Samurai X" the OAVs, "City Hunter: Secret Service" movie, "Spriggan" movie, and "Gasaraki" tv.

THE REVIEW=============
Choice of Title:----------------------
First and foremost, "Samurai X" is a lousy title for this release. Himura Kenshin, whom the story is all about, isn't a samurai. He never was, he never will be. He's a ronin - a wandering, masterless sword fighter. Even inferring that Kenshin is a samurai is misleading and confusing, somewhat insulting to those who know better, and just plain wrong, period.
Further, since when does 'Samurai X" equate to "Rurouni Kenshin"? It's not a translation of this title - direct or otherwise. So why the change? This is an obvious ploy to reach out and snag the unknowledgable masses by using a 'hot word' that's considered 'hip' right now. Marketing for coolness doesn't justify changes of this caliber, folks.
Third, the "Rurouni Kenshin" part is no where to be seen on the outer box cover of the English dub. By not doing this, A.D. Vision has now made it difficult to know that this OAV is connected to the television series currently being released by Anime Works (under the title "Rurouni Kenshin: The Wandering Samurai").
Lastly, 'Samurai X' will be shelved in a separate alphabetical order (under 'S') instead of alongside the television series (filed under 'R'). That will make it increasingly harder for non-anime savvy people who are just getting into the medium to know that these series are connected - especially if they are on completely separate shelves in a store and the workers at the store know practically nothing about anime to be able to help them!
A.D. Vision has entirely thrown off the packaged deal marketing idea of this series as a result of the choice in titles. Extremely poor thought on their part here!

The English Script:--------------------------
The English rewrite is simply horrid, taking liberties unnecessarily at every other scene. Several of the most interesting English comments never appeared in the original Japanese version, or are altered considerably, twisting the original intent all around.
Care for a few examples?
- In the original Japanese version, Himura Kenshin refers to himself a 'tool to be used' by the revolutionaries. This implies a voluntary position, which he has placed himself into. In the English rewrite, Himura Kenshin refers to himself as a 'slave' of the revolutionaries, which implies he is under duress to perform killings. That simply is not an acceptable swap for the sake of the INTENT, and it forces me to look at the English-version of this series differently.
- When Tomoe Yukishirou sees Himura Kenshin kill for the first time, she states in the Japanese version: "You... really do... make it rain blood." In the English rewrite, she says: "You... you caused it... you caused the rain to bleed... you... you're bleeding... let me help you." First of all, Tomoe never offers to help Kenshin in the original version for a reason - because she's there to spy on him so she can get information to destroy him! Secondly, the two statements simply don't equate at all. The rewrite is completely out of character for Tomoe right from the beginning.
- Itzuka constantly refers to Tomoe as a 'tramp' or 'whore'. I simply don't ever remember anyone calling her this in the original version because her demeanor is so refined that she's not considered anything but a lady (with the implication that she may be lost or in trouble, or possibly had been sold into a position that was undesirable, but certainly wasn't of her choosing).
- Kenshin's English character makes him appear to be rude at times, with a nasty comment snapped out at an unfortunate victim (i.e. Itzuka says of Tomoe that Kenshin should get her out of Kyoto before the fighting starts, and Kenshin replies, 'Who cares? She can take care of herself.' That's wayyyy out of character there).
- It's Kenshin who comes up with the idea that there's a traitor in their midst. That didn't happen in the Japanese version.. it was Itzuka who did, which makes him appear innocent since he voiced the opinion first (which is very important to his character development, since he is the traitor).
Second problem, It's as if every inch of space has to be taken up with dialog, whether we can actually see the characters' mouths moving or not. Sometimes silence is more poignant, and a pause once in a while would have been nice, especially in the beginning of episode 1. There is such a thing as overdramatizing the moment.
Third problem - BAD rewrite of names. For example, Tomoe's name is said with a silent 'e' on the end (pronounced 'Tomo' in the English dub). Since everyone who interacts with Tomoe says it exactly this same way, that indicated that it's rewritten like 'Tomo' in the script, or preferred by the director to be said this way (in other words, the voice actors appear not to be to blame on this issue). Bad pronunciation is one of my biggest peeves, personally, so the lack of care taken here by the script writer and by the director of the dub leaves a black mark on the whole rewrite from the get-go for me.
The only good thing I can say about the English script rewrite is that it gives us a little better insight into the background names and clearly details the events of the Meiji revolution for those who may not be familiar with Japanese history.
A major piece of advice for A.D. Vision staff, however: find a new script writer - preferably one who's actually watched the original Japanese version from beginning to end.

The English Actors:---------------------------
Monster Island Studio has delivered some interesting (and in some cases, good) stuff in the past for anime dub fans, but unfortunately, this dub certainly wasn't either of those adjectives. What was it then? Probably the term that is closest is 'barely tolerable'.
The problems:
- Himura Kenshin's voice actor (J. Shannon Weaver) does a fine job of portraying a teenage boy, and I'm sure that he'd be great in that role for any other series, but for portraying the role he's cast in here, there's simply too much emotion - too much 'excitement' for an assassin character who's 'lost his soul', so to speak. He sounds too angry at times towards Tomoe as well, almost antagonizing. The Himura Kenshin we're supposed to know simply has no opinion about Tomoe one way or the other in the beginning. He treats her as if she's simply there - not necessarily a bother, but not anyone of importance either. The reason for this is simple to understand: he's emotionally detached himself from the world so he can keep on killing.
- Tomoe Yukishiro's voice actress (Rebecca Davis) gives the proper amount of deadpan emotion to the character, but she occasionally sounds stilted in her speech and her voice is rather young for the role. This may be the problem of matching lip flap and direction, so I'm not sure I can blamed it on her entirely. She was just miscast in this role, I believe.
- Kasumi's voice actress (Christa Kimlicko Jones) just doesn't sound like she's done much acting before. I couldn't believe her in the role. It sounded as if she were reading from a script with no feeling behind it.
- Okita's voice actor is the same as Kenshin's (J. Shannon Weaver), and it's obvious if you listen carefully. They should have picked someone else for Kenshin and let Weaver do Okita only.
- Kiyosato's voice actor (Ray Clayton) was too hysterical when he faced off against Kenshin. Again, very little acting going on here, and more reading of the script it seemed.
- Itzuka's voice actor (Lowell Batholomee) sounded, at times, as if he were simply reading through the lines. Maybe he was having a few off days, however, as this strange event occurs only occasionally throughout the series.
- Many of the background soldiers or captains of guards were just plain bad. No effort was made for some these backgrounders to even sound marginally believable - whether they spoke, grunted or screamed.

The good points:
- Saitou Hajime's voice actor (Ken Webster) was perfect - dark, deep, sinister voice. Nice work here.
- Hiko Seijyuro's voice actor (Joe York) was well cast, and acted well, but he suffered from too many words crammed into a small space. Not his fault, I realize - that's the direction & script's fault. Yet, the lack of poetic pause didn't really impact a good performance on his part.
- Katsura's voice actor (Corey M. Gagne) did a fine, solid performance, especially when speaking to his consort (who's English voice actress - Lara Toner - did a good job on her own).
- Jubei Shigekura's voice actor (Smokey Delange) was perfect for the role of the old man.
- Katagi's voice actor (Douglas Taylor) & Takasugi's voice actor (Jason B. Phelps) both did a fine job. Believable, yet still not the best I've ever heard. With what they had to work with, however, it was acceptable.
- The female hotel owner (Soudou) was the best choice of the entire cast. She carried just enough sarcasm and wit in tone, combined with an aged wisdom. Very believable. Unfortunately, she's a side character that most people don't pay attention to, so this was almost a wasted effort.

Overall, I'm relieved that Media Blasters/Anime Works went with their own choice in studios for the English dub of the television animation of this series (they chose Bang Zoom! Entertainment, who did an absolutely fantastic job for them). A.D. Vision would have done themselves a favor had they gone along with Anime Works' decision in this case, if for nothing more than conformity's sake.

Music:----------
Exactly the same as the original Japanese version - no changes.
This was probably the only thing about this release that saved it from complete ruin, as the music is wonderfully done.

Packaging:---------------
Picture the image on the front cover: a beautiful, young 'Manslayer' Kenshin appears in the forefront, slightly shadowed. He is beguiling, dangerous, like a big cat stalking its prey, his eyes narrowed, taking in everything in a glance. In his hand, a loosely held katana, its blade sharp and ready. Behind him walk soldiers, swords also drawn, ready for the inevitable, grim battle that awaits. A crimson, sanguine moon silhouettes the group, furthering images of violence and blood sure to come... You pan down further and the ugly "Samurai X" logo (complete with silhouetted mini-Kenshin, sword drawn, jumping down) forces itself upon you in all its blatant inappropriateness, ruining the dramatic effect above. Yuck!
If that isn't bad enough, the font used all over the box is disjointed, like its from some broken typewriter out of a "Resident Evil" game. Where this type of font worked for the release of Pioneer's cyber-futuristic "Serial Experiments Lain", it falls flat with the more tragic, sentimental "Samurai X". A better choice might have been a more fluid, romantic script instead.
Overall, the outer casing looks like it's targeting hip-hopping, 'in your face' 19 year-old boys. I get images of thick-soled shoes, baggy pants, backwards baseball caps and souped-up Mitsubishi's with large black fins and heavy bass speakers whenever I glance at the box. This series is DARK, INTRICATE and ROMANTIC A.D. Vision reps! It's not supposed to be 'hyper' nor 'energetic'. Marketing this one for gangster bad boys wasn't the way to go here, as it destroys the sophistication that is "Rurouni Kenshin".
One phrase here about the entire presentation taken together: Who designed this packaging anyway? Try again!

In Conclusion:---------------------In all honesty, I can't recommend this dub (and I'm usually a very vocal English dub proponent). This one rubbed me in all the wrong ways. The intent and feel of the story was nearly ruined by a rewrite that took license with the script beyond extreme often enough to annoy, most of the cast wasn't believable nor even enjoyable to listen to, and the box is just gross and misleading.
I will wait for the DVD myself. The packaging isn't any better, but at least I can have the option of it subtitled, and 'unslaughtered'.