Animax’s Blog

[PHOTO CREDITS: Kyou Kara Maou Halloween © Tomo TAKABAYASHI, KADOKAWA SHOTEN/NHK, SOGOVISION]

It
was bound to happen. Non-stop work, non-stop interviews – all focusing
on one topic, which is cancer – has wreaked its toll on my health. It’s
bad enough to be totally exhausted and sick to boot, but to end up
totally brain dead is worse. Probably the only thing making up for all
this is that, through some miracle of the Internet, I’ve met my
favorite novelist Diana Gabaldon and we’ve been exchanging short emails
for the past three days. Nothing beats talking to a fellow writer, and
a real darned good one at that.

Anyway,
aside from a half hour of surfing daily (hard to stay sitting up for
too long), my only distraction while lying in bed is watching horror
movies. Yes, I’m a masochist that way. I just love horror flicks too
much. But…horror movies are health hazards in their own right. I must
admit doing a marathon of original Grudge films – all four of
them – eventually led to my developing urinary tract infection because
I couldn’t go to the bathroom at night for fear of bumping into Kayako,
the creepy crawling lady.

Well,
watching all those horror movies made me think back on the frightening,
shocking moments that I’ve seen in anime, so I thought I’d come up with
a list of them. Mind you! My list is likely to be different than yours.
But since I prefer to do something productive with my time than
complain about being bored, I thought I’d share this little list with
everyone.

THE OBATAKU’S LIST OF "HORROR-IFIC" MOMENTS IN ANIME

Akira = "Tetsuo becomes the giant blob monster"

While the classic anime film Akira qualifies
more as a sci-fi/cyberpunk flick than a horror movie, I could never
forget the climactic scene when the berserking Tetsuo transformed into
that disgusting giant blob monster and started squishing and crushing
everything in site, including his girlfriend. Sadly, however, despite
how much I do love the story, it was that scene that is still
preventing me from getting the DVD. So hard to eat and/or to keep food
down after watching it.

Monster

Despite being 74 episodes long, Monster never
gives one a break from the suspense, even in the supposed to be
"lighter" moments. Sadly, it is this "on edge" atmosphere that also
makes this horror thriller drag to some fans. Nevertheless, it is one
of the best horror anime around. The story is about brilliant surgeon
Dr. Kenzo Tenma who was forced to make a choice between saving a
politician to further his career and a boy who was shot in the head.
Naturally, Dr. Tenma saved the boy. However, this turned out to be a
very bad choice, since the boy Johan is a serial killer, genetically
engineered by Neo Nazis to become the next Hitler. If there is anything
that creeps me out about Monster is the fact that villain Johan
does not look like a villain. With that handsome face and angelic
smile, he is one of the most memorable "monsters" ever to grace anime.

Pet Shop of Horrors = "Ep 1: Daughter"

I unwittingly chanced upon Pet Shop of Horrors while
I was suffering from a night of insomnia. Ironically, it was Episode 1
that caused me to have nightmares. The story is about a grieving
couple, who buy a rare rabbit from mysterious pet shop owner Count D.
The rabbit in question does not look like a rabbit; it looks like their
deceased daughter. Similar to the film Gremlins, the couple had
to fulfill certain rules in the care of their new pet, which they
expectedly break one by one. The climax, which showed Det. Leon Orcot
and a very disappointed D going to the couple’s mansion to retrieve the
rabbit, remains forever etched inside my head – all those creepy
babies, which transform into carnivorous bunnies. I never looked at
rabbits the same way ever again.

GTO = "Onizuka and the Haunted Siu Mai" and "Spooky Fuyutsuki"

You
were probably not expecting this one. However, Onizuka’s bloodcurdling
narration of the "Haunted Siu Mai" to his students was truly
unforgettable. If you don’t remember the story, it’s about a man who
bought a box of siu mai one night and ended up walking down a street
that was supposedly haunted. As he walked on, he sensed that someone
was following him, but there was no one behind him. He finds himself
opening his box to discover that one siu mai had disappeared. The
suspense rises to a fever pitch as the siu mai vanish one by one
UNTIL…. Needless to say, I had the same reaction as Onizuka’s students.
Then, there’s Fuyutsuki’s mishap with the sun bed in her feeble
attempts to look sexy for Onizuka. I could never forget how creepy and
pasty she looked with that thick white make up on her face to hide her
sunburn. She is the perfect example of that phrase "death warmed over".
Her students and Onizuka ended up running away from her, shrieking that
she looks like The Ring’s resident ghost Sadako, but truth be told, she was scarier than Sadako. On a side note, GTO apparently had a lot of side references to The Ring because it seems Fuyutsuki’s seiyuu Fumiko Orikasa also played Sadako’s scary psychic mommy in the horror flick.

Speed Grapher

There is no shortage of creepy villains on Speed Grapher,
like the Diamond Lady and the Prime Minister. But if there is anyone
that causes my blood to curdle, it’s definitely the evil dentist. I
must admit seeing that demented dentist has made me hesitant about
going for dental check-ups. Just the idea of all those drills is making
me shudder all over. Urgggh!!

Jigoku Shoujo = Ep. 23: "The Light of A Ward"

I’ve never been quite fond of dolls even as a child. All those Child’s Play movies
with the malevolent Chuckie made me hate them even more. So you could
only imagine my trepidation when I saw that doll-like blonde girl whom
Hajime and Tsugumi encountered in the fog-shrouded hospital in the
"Light of  Ward" episode of Jigoku Shoujo.
Admittedly, Ai Enma is herself doll-like, but the blonde took
creepiness to the highest level. Somehow, it did not surprise me that
the girl was indeed a doll, pining for her former owner. But, I did not
feel sorry for her. In fact, I was downright happy and relieved when
she crumbled into ashes in Tsugumi’s arms. That’s one evil doll less in
the world.

Hellsing

Same as Speed Grapher, there are a lot of "horror-ific" villains in Hellsing. Of
course, you’ve got flesh-eating ghouls. I must admit that the Valentine
brothers and Incognito made my hairs stand on end. But when it comes to
creepiness, nothing beats good old Alucard hands down, especially when
he transforms into that many-eyed dog demon persona of his. Definitely
though, what stuck into my mind as the most frightening scene in Hellsing was
Alucard’s climactic battle with Incognito when he finally assumes his
true persona as the evil Vlad The Impaler. Poor Incognito never had a
chance. Tsk, tsk, tsk!

Death Note

While Death Note qualifies
more as a suspense thriller than a horror anime, it is certainly not
devoid of shocking moments. But if there is one scene that practically
scared me out of my pajamas, it’s in the very last episode of the anime
during the confrontation between Light Yagami and Near. Near was giving
an explanation on how he had deduced that Light was indeed Kira, and
that the only confirmation they needed was the arrival of Light’s
accomplice Mikami. The dialogue, the background music, close ups of the
nervous faces of the detectives and Near’s comrades helped heighten the
suspense, until that point when Near says that crucial line "He’s
here". Then, a smooth zoom in to the door that had opened a crack to
reveal Mikami’s peeking eye. This scene remains fixed inside my head
that I could not stand to see a door open for fear of seeing Mikami’s
eye peeking at me.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! Stay tuned to the blog next week when your questions about manga/anime art will (hopefully!) be answered.

Black Jack Says Be Artistic! By ClaudiaKat

I
just finished two straight overnights at the magazine. Since I sorely
lack sleep (working close to 48 hours can do that to you), I wouldn’t
call myself exactly coherent. Let’s see if I can stay awake AND sane
enough up to the end of this blog.

Okay,
we now come to the "why" of the previous blog that some people
seem…ahem, rather rudely…clueless about. Those fanarts are just
a REPRESENTATION of what an artist can achieve with so many graphic
tools available to him or her. As you have seen, the drawing of arts
and fanarts are not just limited to the traditional methods of creating
arts, meaning using pencil, pen and paper.

So…How
can one get into the manga/anime business? I’ve compiled the replies
from a few of the artists who have contributed to the previous blog.
Since they are also professionals at what they do, let them give you
the benefit of their experience in this little guide.

Learn how to draw manga style

Since
most of you probably want to learn how to draw manga style as a hobby
and not make a career out of it, Mirida artists ClaudiaKat and
ConflictX have these advice…

1.
Practice drawing manga style by copying any manga or anime images that
you have on hand. No, they DO NOT mean slapping tracing or onion skin
paper on top of the picture and tracing the image exactly. Copy the
image with your free hand. Don’t worry about making mistakes.
Practicing this way is a good exercise for you to check facial and body
proportions.

2.
Study human anatomy. You will notice that girls and women are curvier
compared to men, whose body forms are defined by muscles. Observe also
the range of motions that the human body is capable of.

3.
Concentrate on weaknesses. Many artists will tell you that aside from
getting body proportions right, it is very difficult to draw the hands
and feet. If you have difficulty in drawing a particular body part,
focus on that weakness by continuously drawing it until you get it
right.

4.
Do not limit yourself to a particular age group. The current crop of
artists seem able to draw teenaged girls and boys, but have difficulty
in drawing children (no, children are different from chibis or SDs),
adult and elderly characters. If you want to be a well-rounded artist,
learn to draw characters starting from childhood to old age.

5. Don’t just draw human characters. Learn how to draw animals, settings, mecha or robots.

6.
Study every instructional that you can get your hands on. Doing a
Google search will bring you to websites that offer tutorials.
Practically, every fanart hobbyist I know have cited How To Draw Manga.com as
one of the best sites that would give you the most basic tutorials on
how to draw manga. Just click on "Tutorials" and you will have a
step-by-step guide on how to draw the face (with particular emphasis on
the trademark eyes), body, and limbs. They also offer a series of books
"How To Draw Manga", which you can buy at your local comic bookstore or
order from their site. This series is a top seller not just among
hobbyists, but professional artists as well. These books teach
everything from simple human anatomy, range of motion, dynamic action
poses, to backgrounds and settings, animals and alien creatures, and
even mecha. There were even two bestselling books in the series that
focused on how to draw hentai and yaoi. Another good place for
tutorials is Manga Academy.  Looking for basic tutorials from pros? Try DeviantArt.com. Do a search for "Tutorials" and it will take you to member pages that host such simple instructionals.

7.
While it is often said by established artists to develop your own style
of art, it is NOT something that you do consciously. ClaudiaKat says to
just draw and draw and draw. You will notice that as time passes, your
arts will evolve into a style that is distinctly yours.

8.
Finally, once you have developed your own style and are confident in
your skills, build up the skill of developing original characters.
Experiment with hairstyles and fashions.

IN PART TWO: How to make a career out of drawing manga/anime

Black Jack Says Be Artistic! By ClaudiaKat

Many artists
dream of that big break in the manga and, hopefully, the anime
business. But it’s not as easy as it seems. Most artists will never see
that dream getting fulfilled. But there are ways of earning that big
break. All it takes is a lot of hard work, determination and patience.

To those of you
who want to make a career in manga (or western comic books) and anime,
here are some tips from the professionals…

Build Up Your Knowledge

1. Get an
education. Yes, I could hear the groans from some of you. If you are
really dead serious about making a profession in manga and anime, you
should enroll in art college. Inquire with your local schools about the
art courses they offer. Some of the top universities here in the
Philippines actually offer intensive four-year courses on drawing comic
books and manga, and animation.

2. Never lose
that drive to learn. Inquire about the availability of short courses
(lectures and training that are being offered for 2 weeks to 2 months
tops) and art workshops.

3. Explore the
latest in computer graphics programs. Most artists recommend that you
learn computer graphic design in order to be able to improve your arts.
The most basic and probably THE favorite graphics software of
professionals is Adobe Photoshop. For those who want to try their hand
at creating CG-images akin to Final Fantasy, you can start with
Poser and then move on to more advanced CG software. Again, you may
inquire with your local computer colleges if they offer courses on
graphics design.

4. Learn how to
write. If you want to draw manga, sorry to say, you also need to know
how to write a story. You could enroll in comics writing workshops.
Sadly, however, most artists I know can’t write. If you are one of
these, you can collaborate with a fictionist.

Gain Experience

1. To be able to
establish a career in manga or anime, most pros advise that you get a
job that is related to this profession. Advertising, which is a highly
visual industry, is a good place to start.

2. Build up that
resume. Needless to say, you will discover that many companies hire
artists on a contractual basis. While it could be a tedious thing to
apply for one job after another, it will help you not only in gaining
experience and improving your skills, building up your resume will
eventually help you get that REAL job you’re striving for.

3. Don’t just
apply for the same art job over and over again. You don’t gain
experience that way. Try for a variety of occupations. Most of the
artists I know started out drawing and designing ads for print. They
then moved on to doing ads for television. One of the most hardworking
people I know is my friend ClaudiaKat. She started out doing print ads,
but is presently working as an animator for one of the top networks in
the Philippines.

Getting Recognition

Let’s face it.
Ask any artist and they would tell you that a career in art is NOT
really a profitable one. It could even be quite expensive because of
all the art materials that you need to buy. But, with determination,
patience and persistence, there are ways of making a profit out of it
AND getting recognition that would help you get published…

1. For those who
want to build up some measure of confidence, you can start by posting
your arts in your personal blogs or Photobucket accounts. You can then
share them in Livejournal communities. In the case of fanarts,
Livejournal has many anime communities wherein you can share them with
your fellow fans.

2. Once you’ve
gained some guts AND IF you can handle criticisms, post your arts in
art sites like Deviantart.com. Despite complaints from certain
established artists who have since left the site, DA is still the best
place to get advice from your fellow artists on how to improve your
craft.

3. With time, you
are likely to establish a fan base on these art sites. You can begin
offering art commissions. Prices of arts and fanarts can range from US
to for a simple black and white sketch to to 0 or more for full color
arts, depending upon the detail of the art.

4. Explore
publishing options. Chances are there are small publishers in your
countries looking for artists for their comic books and mangas. For
those who dream big, do a Google search for comic book publishers in
search of artists. It doesn’t have to be those big time comic book
publications. In the U.S., there are now small publishing houses that
accept submissions from overseas. Since I am more familiar with the
yaoi/Boy’s Love market, two good examples are Yaoi Press and Iris
Print. Whether it be a publisher in your country or abroad, submit and
submit and submit.

5. If all those
rejection notices from publishers are weighing you down, try
self-publishing. Many artists have found that self-publishing, using
desktop software or getting the services of a printing company, is the
best way of getting their works out to the public, without being
hassled by the demands of editors and publishers.

6. Join every
convention and art contest. Competing against fellow artists helps
build confidence, hones your skills, and allows you to explore genres
and markets that are of interest to your readers.

PROTECT YOUR ARTS!

I can’t end this
blog without mentioning this important advice. The Web being what it
is, practically everything is considered public domain. Yes, I know
that many of you have been complaining about why you couldn’t share
stuff on the Animax website. The fact of the matter is leeching is
already a form of theft, especially since you are taking copyrighted
images from Gallery sites that are intended for PRIVATE ENJOYMENT and
share them with people on the Animax website and other sites. However,
any artist will tell you that it’s highway robbery if you STEAL a
fanart and post it to other places without their permission. Even
worse, if you claim the stolen fanart to be your own. The artists
featured in the previous blog have had their works "stolen" by people
in the past from Deviantart, which prompted their transfer to a strict
adult gallery site.

I strictly advise
ALL ARTISTS to PLEASE sign your works and put the date when you have
completed them. It need not even be a signature. It could even be your
personal stamp or an insignia, which you incorporate in your arts. Make
sure that your signature is placed in a portion of your art that would
be difficult to remove by editing software. All ORIGINAL artists should
be willing to dish out the added expense of having your works legally
copyrighted. Inquire with the Intellectual Property Offices in your
respective countries on the fees and how you could protect your work. IF YOU LOVE YOUR WORK, GO THE EXTRA MILE TO PROTECT THEM.

This concludes the blog for this week.
Now, if there are a few of you who can’t draw but can write and are
interested to see if writing fiction for manga and anime is your thing,
I think I can do a blog on the topic. For these three days, however,
let me get some sleep. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..

[ALL
THE IMAGES IN THIS BLOG ARE MADE, OWNED AND COPYRIGHTED BY THEIR
RESPECTIVE ARTISTS AS INDICATED. PERMISSION HAS BEEN OBTAINED TO
SHOWCASE THEIR ARTS IN THIS SITE.]

On my birthday
last October 5, I was asked by a close friend what would be the BEST
birthday present that I received in my life? Looking
through the "Favorites" section of my yaoi gallery site, the best
PRESENTS that I got were fanarts. As a frustrated writer of fiction,
I’ve had readers and friends over the years who have gifted me with
really beautiful fanarts. And they are no ordinary people. They are all
professional artists who excel in their respective fields. Right now, I
may not be a published fiction writer, but I feel a sense of
fulfillment if you have such talented artists gift you with their art,
because you have inspired them with your stories or for the very simple
reason that they would like to cheer you up. TO YOU, DEAR FRIENDS, EVEN
THOSE NOT MENTIONED HERE, I GIVE YOU MY HEARTFELT THANKS!!

Since many of you
love to post fanarts in this site, then let me share with you the works
of artists whose arts have given life to my stories and light to my
mundane, frustrating life as a writer. YOU WON’T FIND ANY FEMALE ARTS HERE. I’m a lady, so naturally, I would love to see arts of handsome men. He he he. In
case you’re curious how they made these arts, most first did it the
traditional way (pencil, pen and paper) before doing the coloring and
finishing touches on Photoshop. Click on the titles of the works to see
the larger versions of each fanart.

Let’s start with
a simple sketch. Here in the Philippines, one artist whose talent is
being wasted in a career in law is my good friend from Cebu, Fujimusume.
She decided to offer her sketching talent to ten select people who
replied to her Journal. I was one of them and I asked her to make me a
sketch of the Count of Monte Cristo hugging Giroro. Behold the cute
results!

The Count Hugs Giroro by Fujimusume

The four ladies of Filipino manga circle MIRIDA
have been publishing their creations independently. Right now, they are
readying some manga for Komikon 2007 in my country. Two of them, ConflictX and ClaudiaKat, who designed my devilish alter ego, have given me fanarts for my Samurai 7 story and Gankutsuou/Sandman crossover fic respectively. Kat also gave me this really cute picture of the Gankutsuou characters as babies. I JUST LOVE CHIBIS AND BABIES!

The Weak And The Wounded By ConflictX

The Dollmaker By ClaudiaKat           Gankutsuou Babies By ClaudiaKat

You’ve probably
heard of an Oekaki board. Found in many art sites, it’s an online board
that allows you to sketch and color images. However, except for crude
sketches, any artist could attest to the fact that oekaki boards are
very difficult to draw images on since you use a mouse to draw the
lines. My good friend Dragonwrangler is more noted as
an excellent fanfic writer, having given up drawing for quite some
time, but when she attempted to use an oekaki board for a sketch of
Shimada Kanbei from Samurai 7, the results were pretty amazing.

Shimada Kanbei by Dragonwrangler

Italian artist Tuxedo81 has
long delighted members of my ("adults only") Black Jack Fantasy Club
with her wonderful fanarts of Black Jack and Dr. Kiriko. Although her
arts are very simple, they are still marvelously drawn. She even
publishes independently yaoi Black Jack douijinshi (Would that I had
the money to buy them! Sob sniff). Plus, the two doctors never looked
so handsome as when she draws them. Since obviously I can’t post her
more…adult…works in this blog, here is a cute pic of Black Jack
with a kitten and a page from her hilarious 4-page doujinshi about what
happens when Dr. Kiriko is gifted with a…he he…Black Jack Gremlin.

Black Jack, Kitten and Dr. Kiriko By Tuxedo81       Black Jack Gremlin By Tuxedo81

I must confess that my huge love for chibis is the reason why I became acquainted with the works of Mathia.
Adorable chibis aside, however, what I found most striking about her
arts is how realistic the characters appear on her drawing page. Her Harry Potter
movie fanarts at first glance seem like B&W photos…until you get
a closer a look and see that they are actually arts. Then, there’s her Trinity Blood
arts. Just check out the detail of her Dietrich art. Of course, I love
her chibis most of all, and she gave me this most adorable Christmas
pic of Chibi Solomon giving Chibi Hagi a chubby cheeky. KAWAII!!!

Trinity Blood’s Dietrich By Mathia          Chibi Solomon and Chibi Hagi By Mathia

If it were not for Jneli,
I would never have heard of the computer program, Poser. Poser allows
you to make CG characters using body templates. Although considered a
basic CG program, Jneli has made truly astounding images with it. One
of them was a steamy pic she made for my long alternative universe Samurai 7 fic; the other was for the cover of a yaoi anthology released in the U.S. Here are Jneli’s wonderful interpretations of the Saiyuki characters.

The Sanzo Party By Jneli                                  Kougaiji By Jneli

Among fanartists, Italian Laura Zel Carboni (or Zel,
as she is simply known) is a legend. Professionally, Zel is one of the
artists for the WINX Club and Rush Yaoi Anthology comics. When work
allows her a rare break, she is a fantastic artist of Samurai 7, Gankutsuou, and Black Jack fanarts. She has gifted me with lovely illustrations for my stories, and we have also collaborated on a steamy Samurai 7 yaoi
mini-doujinshi. Hopefully, we could work on our original project when
both our hectic schedules allow it. The first image is that of Shimada
Kanbei from my Samurai 7 fic. Next, you’ll see a sample page from a Black Jack doujinshi she was developing before work caught up with her.

Shimada Kanbei By Zel        Black Jack Doujinshi By Zel

NEXT WEEK: Tips on how to become a manga/comic book artist!

[PHOTO CREDITS: Colourcloud Palace © Sai Yukino,Kadokawashoten/NHK,Sogovision]

[THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED BY THIS WRITER DOES NOT REFLECT THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS OF ANIMAX AND ITS AFFILIATES.]

I’m supposed to
post a different blog today, but I’m seriously derailed by so much
work. I can’t believe I’m still doing deadlines, even on a weekend. Let
me first start this replacement blog off with a warning. I DO NOT want
this review to be used as an excuse to go off on a rabble-rousing spree
for subtitles. You could do it in the Forums, but I won’t tolerate it
here, especially those of you who are deliberately rude to those fans
who appreciate the dubs. If any of you elitists even make the attempt,
mark my words, I’ll send my evil alter ego to your homes to kick or,
worse, bite you! (Growl!)

I’m writing this
particular blog on a dare from a friend of mine to see if I could be
able to come up with a constructive review of the Animax dubbed version
of Colourcloud Palace (a.ka. Saiunkoku Monogatari). This
would probably serve as an example on how to do a good critique,
complete with suggestions. Yes, people! You can do a constructive
review without having to say "IT SUCKS!", "sucks" being definitely the
most abused word in a juvenile’s vocabulary.

* * * * * * * * * *

I must admit to having high expectations with the Animax dubbed version of Colourcloud Palace.
Having watched it not once but twice, I knew this is one title that the
dubbers could really sink their teeth into because it has practically
everything — drama, romance, comedy, suspense. You name it, this anime
has it!

Okay, I watched
it, and it seems we have a bunch of new voice actors joining the core
group, which is a good thing especially since anime with multiple
characters need more cast members…maybe just to avoid that ever
frequent "all the characters sound the same" complaint. Besides, I
don’t want Russell to strain his voice any further. (HI, RUSSELL!)

However, there
are certain noticeable flaws which have made this dub not up to par
with the other anime that the Animax dubbers had done in the past.

Let us start it
off with the script, and in particular, the NAMES of the characters. I
would probably accept changing the spunky heroine’s family name to
Hom/Hong (?), if only just to avoid the confusion when another
character Kou Kijin is introduced in a later episode (Just to explain.
You see, the heroine’s REAL family name "Kou" is written in the kanji
for "red", since the prominent families in the Colourcloud Kingdom are
named after the colors of the Celestial deities. Kijin’s "Kou" is
written in the kanji for "yellow".). BUT…changing Shuurei’s name to
"Shirley" is to me, sorry to say, unforgivable. If we’re planning to
make any name changes, please change them with names that suit the
setting. Believe me! I doubt if you would find a "Shirley" in Ancient
China.

There seems to be
a very noticeable problem with the way the syllable "Shu" ("shoo") is
pronounced, because all the characters with "shu" in their names are
pronounced differently. For example, Lan Shuuei ("shoo-ey") has become
Lan Shiei ("shee-ei"). In one part, I heard Shi Seiran’s name clearly pronounced as Shi Sairan ("sai-ran"). I have excused name pronunciations in the earlier dub of Saiyuki because
I could understand how difficult it is to pronounce "Dokugakuji".
(Although my hairs still bristle whenever I hear "Dokougaiji". Urggh!).
Personally, I don’t think the names Shuurei or Shuuei are such tongue
twisters. For this sticky problem of pronouncing names, I do hope the
director would at least give the voice actors time to learn how to
speak these names properly.

Now, let us go to
the dubs. I must admit that I have, inside my head, chosen the Animax
voice actors who would portray the characters in Colourcloud Palace.
I was expecting Russell to play Lan Shuuei (and, I hope, sexy villain
Sa Sakujun). I’ve always imagined him playing the "mischievous playboy"
that Shuuei is. So I was really surprised by just how effectively sweet
and kind he was as Shi Seiran. The gentleman who did Shuuei is a new
voice — good, but he could put a little more teasing and mischievous
tones in his repartees with Li Kouyuu. The voice actor who did Kouyuu
was able to capture the character’s formality, but he needs to sound
more menacing, aggressive in the scenes where Shuuei is teasing him.
Shi Ryuuki’s voice actor needs to put a little more sweetness into this
voice. After all, Ryuuki, despite being the Emperor, is still quite
immature and is only putting up the pretense of maturity in front of
his subjects.

Which brings us
to the voice actress of heroine Kou Shuurei. Admittedly, the two ladies
whom I truly wanted to portray Shuurei are the voice talents for Yamada
(Honey & Clover Season 2) or Tazusa (Ginban Kaleidoscope).
I believe that either of them would have done the character perfectly.
I have to confess that I have a problem with the lilting manner that
Shuurei’s lines were spoken. When I say "lilt", the tone of her voice
has this tendency to go up and down, up and down (like a series of
crescendos and decrescendos), which makes the delivery choppy and the
lines hard to listen to and understand. One noticeable flaw is that in
the scenes where Shuurei became excitable, her voice rose to such a
high pitch that she sounded like…well…Pinoko from Black Jack.
While a lilting voice may be appropriate to exuberant, flirty young
girls, one should take into consideration that Shuurei is an EDUCATED
young lady, and most educated ladies I’ve seen, with the exception of
regional dialect inflections, DO NOT allow their voices to lilt. The
one scene where her delivery was perfect was in Episode 2 where Shuurei
was talking to Ryuuki in their dilapidated estate. The flow of speech
was very natural without any inflections at all. My recommendation to
the voice director is to have this particular talent avoid any
exaggerated lilts and inflections in the delivery of Shuurei’s lines.
Not only would it be more effective, her lines would be a lot easier to
understand.

These are my initial impressions of the Animax dubbed version of Colourcloud Palace,
and I hope I have not offended anyone in the dubbing staff with my
comments. I am simply making these observations and recommendations in
the hopes that we would see an improvement in later episodes. We have a
lot of new budding talent on board. I am hoping to see them gain
experience and grow as dubbers not just in Colourcloud Palace, but in other Animax anime.

[IN THE NEXT BLOG: The Obataku Talks About Her Favorite Fan Artists!]