The Passing of Goro Naya

Last night on March 10th, it was reported by Anime News Network that Goro Naya, the long time voice of Inspector Zenigata from Lupin III, passed away on March 5th from chronic respiratory failure at the age of 83.

Being a big fan of Lupin III, I'm very familiar with Naya's work as Zenigata. But the loss of Naya has hit me harder than you might expect from someone who has never met the legendary actor. Goro Naya's standout voice and performance was one of the main factors in originally getting me so deeply engulfed in the Japanese version of Lupin III. As a matter of fact, his voice is what got me started on watching Anime in Japanese consistently. Lupin III was the very first Anime that I began consistently watching in Japanese close to a decade ago. Before then I was one of those ignorant fans who thought, "If there's no Dub, then it's crap". But putting on Lupin and hearing the way Naya took a seemingly cliche voice for an angry cop and giving it so many layers and so much personality actually turned my views on Anime as a whole around. So many Dubs at that time featured mostly one-dimensional voices and performances. While that is typically no longer the case today, Naya's Zenigata still stands out to me as one of the most perfect and well-rounded performances in Anime history. The way that he could take Zenigata from super serious to hilarious and derpy at the drop of a hat while still making it seem 100% believable is simply unable to be matched..

Over the years I have gained such a deep respect for not only his work as Zenigata, but his numerous other works as well. I would even jokingly refer to him as my "Japanese Grandpa". The passing of Goro Naya is not only a great loss to the Lupin community, but to voice acting in general. Naya was a true talent and legend and will be greatly missed. I wish his family nothing but the best through this terrible time.

Rest in Peace Goro Naya.

The Tale of Two Scores

Classic Sonic the Hedgehog games...If they're known for one thing, it has to be the memorable music that went along with each game. I've been playing Sonic since 1993 and have always been an avid fan of the classic games from the Sega Genesis as well as other Sonic games from that same Era. I've really never stepped outside of "classic" Sonic aside from Generations in 2011. However, over the past two months I have become greatly engulfed in Sonic games again. I have not only purchased a number of Post-2000 games, but have also ventured onto Steam to play some of the older Sonic games that I never played.

Among these games was Sonic CD, a game put out during the time of the Genesis games that I love so much. But this game had one major difference from the other Sonic games that I played. The original North American release of the game featured an entirely different musical score from its original Japanese counterpart. Naturally, as someone who typically turns into a raging lunatic fan-boy over the mere thought of a musical score being changed or replaced, I was happy to find out that the version of Sonic CD that I would be purchasing on Steam would feature the option of choosing which musical score I wanted to play with. I of course chose the original Japanese and was on my merry way...

Then the game got underway. I don't think I've had such a horrific assault on my ears since the Dub score to the Trunks TV Special in DragonBall Z. Every aspect of nearly every track was just terrible. Aside from Stardust Speedway, the music didn't fit in at all with the stuff that I was used to from the main series games on the Genesis. Dr. Robotnik's Theme was probably the worst offender of all. Frankly, it sounded like something that you'd hear in a pornography. But none the less, I finished the game using the Japanese music. Upon completion, I decided to replay the game, but this time with the North American music. Now this is what I was hoping for! The North American score captured the same essence of the music from games like Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and Sonic and Knuckles that I love so much. It was fun when it needed to be, intense when it needed to be, and eerie when it needed to be. Ironically, while Dr. Robotnik's Theme was the worst track in the original score, it was probably the best in the North American one.

I guess the ultimate point of this blog entry isn't really a deep analysis, but rather a lesson to just keep an open mind in the nerd world. Don't let what you THINK should be better cloud your judgement as to what actually is better. Just because something is the original, doesn't always mean that it's better.

The North American Anime Market, Video Games, and Me

Wow! Has it really been almost four months since my last entry on this Blog? For quite a while I've been trying to figure out why I haven't had the drive to post any entries. Well, I've finally figured out why. Ever since I got a few Anime sets that I wanted on Christmas, there hasn't been anything on the market that I really want. Oh sure, I still have my staples in DragonBall and Lupin III, but as of recent I feel like the North American market has been losing me as a viewer. That's not to say that I'm losing interest in Anime, but rather that the North American companies are not releasing anything that I'm interested in.

I'm not so arrogant as to think that just because I don't have an interest in something, it shouldn't be released. But every time that I see a new release coming out from FUNimation or Sentai (The two biggest power houses in the domestic market), most of these series feature either a bunch of high school girls in short skirts or women in skimpy outfits. Well I'm not 16 years old anymore. I'm 23, married, and have no interest in that kind of stuff. While I understand that the target demographic for Anime these days tends to be the 13-18 age group, the fact is that there are a lot of fans like me that have grown up, but are still avid fans of Anime. The problem is that these companies don't focus enough on this and have strayed away from the action based series that I grew up on. There's a whole slew of series over in Japan that are targeted towards every genre and demographic that you can imagine, but even when FUNimation strays away from the heavy fan-service, the series that they put out wind up being the most generic of "cookie cutter" series imaginable. Fairy Tail? Hero Tales? Legend of the Legendary Heroes? Come on, these are not unique series or things that will be remembered years from now.

But then, at the same time, when an actual unique series does make its way over here, no one buys it. Series like Solty Rei, Mushishi, and Ghost Hunt go relatively unnoticed. Now the question becomes, is this because people truly aren't interested? Or is it due to lack of decent advertising for these seemingly less marketable series? Or maybe a combination of both? Are fans really willing to settle for series where the characters look exactly the same as twenty other series? Settle for series with the most cliche of plot lines? I can't speak for everyone, but I'm certainly not interested. That's why what I am interested in companies like Discotek that release a lot of classics. The stuff that they put out are the things that created the cliches, not mere imitations. Frankly, the only releases in the near future that I'm really psyched for are Lupin III: Green vs. Red in May and Captain Harlock in June/July. Both of those coming from Discotek.

This recent disconnection with the domestic Anime market has been pushing my focus towards Video Games. At first it began simply as me getting back into the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise and buying numerous of those games. But now it has gone further than that...I find myself taking an interest in the Nintendo 3DS, numerous games for the system, and the online gaming server "Steam". The reason for this is that Video Games are far more mainstream than Anime in North America, so there's something for everyone. I'm not what you'd call a mainstream gamer. I have no interest in games like Halo, Assassins Creed, or Call of Duty. But there's still games out there for me and plenty of them at that. I plan on getting a 3DS in the near future, so look forward to reviews on some upcoming games.

I'm honestly not sure of the domestic Anime market will shape up and become more balanced, but I can say this for sure...If Sentai doesn't want FUNimation to truly become the monopoly that they're claiming that they are, Sentai needs to pick up FUNimation's slack and acquire more unique and action based properties.

You Must Be This Tall to Defeat Tenshinhan?!

I'm normally not one to post an entire rant on my Blog based on the sole actions or comments of a single person. As a matter of fact, I think I've only done that once. But this time it's special. For as long as I've been a DragonBall fan, which has been over a decade, one of the most prominent versus debates has been Kuririn vs. Tenshinhan. At the end of the series, or maybe more specifically, during the Buu Saga, which of these two was the strongest? People who believed Kuririn would win based their logic on a statement made by Yamcha during the 25'th Budokai to Kuririn's daughter. Yamcha stated that Kuririn was the strongest man in the world and then trailed off to say "Among humans that is". Meanwhile, people who believed Tenshinhan would win, would disregard Yamcha's statement as simply trying to make Marron feel good. They claimed that since Tenshinhan was always stronger up until at the very least, his death versus Nappa, that Tenshinhan would keep this ranking over Kuririn due to his more intense training.

I personally have always been on the side of Kuririn. The power up that he got from the Grand Elder on Planet Namek put him far above Tenshinhan. While that may not be fair, that is indeed the case. Yamcha's statement about Kuririn being the "strongest in the world" was the only part of the statement towards Marron that meant to make her feel good. He wanted a sweet little girl to believe that her father was the strongest in the world. The part when he says "Among humans" was clearly not directed at Marron and something that he was saying to himself. Thus, the entire statement was not to make Marron feel good, and the ending portion of it ("Among Humans") was indeed the truth.

Now, on to the point of this entry. A few days ago, on November 11'th, Kanzenshuu posted their translation of an interview conducted with Masako Nozawa (The voice of Goku), Takao Koyama (The TV Series' organizer), and the one and only Akira Toriyama (The creator of DragonBall). This interview covered a slew of interesting things and contained numerous fun tidbits. But the thing that stood out the most to me was the following statement:

Toriyama: Kuririn was originally supposed to be just a minor role, so to have him become Goku’s best friend in the blink of an eye…

Koyama: Well, he is the strongest Earthling male.

Toriyama: You’re right, he is the strongest among the Earthlings. But in spite of that, he tends to end up in a bad way, so I thought, “once in a while, I have to let him be happy,” and had him get married. (laughs)

Well, there you have it. A direct statement from Toriyama himself stating that Kuririn is the strongest among the earthlings. Debate over, right? WRONG!

Upon bringing this new information up, someone actually responded to me, "That statement was suggested by Koyama" as well as "He (Toriyama) just didn’t care". ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! The insane amount of denial in the Tenshinhan faithful is staggering. I mean, we've got a direct quote from a character in the Manga as well the creator himself and yet people are still willing to refute all of this in favor of mere wishful (and baseless) thinking. As a matter of fact, Sean Gallagher, a mutual Twitter follower of mine posted this information himself on a random DragonBall Message Board and was met with not only blind resistance, but actual hostility towards him. I just don't understand the resistance towards Kuririn. Is it because he's short? Because he can be comical? Isn't the entire story of DragonBall filled with our heroes overcoming these types of seeming handicaps? Children saving the world and low-classes surpassing the elites. So why is Kuririn always an exception in fans eyes? It's downright annoying.

The only logical refute to this Toriyama quote that I've heard thus far was the fact that Toriyama said that Kuririn was the strongest "Earthling", while Daizenshuu #4 classifies Tenshinhan among the "Three-Eyed Clan". But this theory was quickly shot down by Herms (One of the Kanzenshuu administrators). Herms stated that while Daizenshuu 4 does classify Tenshinhan as a descendant of the Three-Eyed Clan, this mention of his heritage is brought up while he is being discussed within the "Earthling" section of the book. Thus making the Three-Eyed Clan a race within the Earthlings.

Anyway, I don't know why I'm still shocked by the actions of people on the internet these days. But none the less, I really wanted to post this rant. I hope that this entry is able to clear this topic up for everyone. Remember...Knowing is half the battle!

Road to 508: The Saiyan Invasion

After numerous hiatuses and even partially restarting this series of Blog Posts, I have finally made it to the Z-Era of my “Road to 508” reviews. Let’s be honest here, this is the big one, the one that people care about the most. DragonBall Z is by far the most widely popular of the 3 series and has the most beloved set of villains. I really don’t know too many people who prefer Commander Red to Vegeta or Freeza. But before I begin my thoughts, I should mention that I have watched close to half of DragonBall Z in Japanese in the past. Unlike DragonBall, which I had never watched in Japanese prior to my “Road to 508” viewing, I have actually watched up through Trunks’ initial appearance (So, through Episode 122). But that was back in 2007-2008 when the Season Sets were releasing. So it was before I gained a high level of respect for the Japanese Version. In addition, I also watched up to Episode 60 of DragonBall Kai in Japanese during its initial broadcast. I stopped watching the Fansubs once FUNimation licensed the series. One other note that I’d like to make before starting is that for these Blog Posts, I have decided to use the term “Saiyan” over “Saiya-jin”. Although FUNimation pronounces it incorrectly (It should be pronounced sigh-an), “Saiyan” is a 100% accurate translation of “Saiya-jin”. Considering I have no intention of saying “Nameksei-jin”, for consistency’s sake, I will be using “Saiyan”. Anyway, with that said, let’s continue onward with my thoughts on the Saiyan Saga.

The first note that I’d like to make is that from even just the very start of this Arc, I noticed that Nozawa’s Goku, Tanaka’s Kuririn, and Furukawa’s Piccolo all got deeper. This was especially so for Goku and Kuririn. In the case of Goku, it’s possible that Nozawa chose to deepen her Goku voice for the sole purpose of differentiating it from her Gohan. But in the case of Kuririn, I get the distinct feeling that Tanaka wanted to make sure that Kuririn sounded more like a man than a boy after this 5 year time skip. Furukawa’s deepening was much less distinct, but still greatly appreciated in my eyes. Although I’m still not 100% on board with Furukawa’s Piccolo and prefer Sabat’s interpretation, I found Piccolo’s voice to be much more enjoyable throughout this Arc.

The first new voice that I’d like to discuss is Masako Nozawa as Gohan. Her voice is so perfect for Gohan as it’s far more age appropriate than Stephanie Nadolny’s performance and sells the scared child aspect of Gohan better than Colleen Clinkenbeard. Not that Colleen doesn’t do a fantastic job as well, but I feel that she may have toughened her Gohan’s speaking tone too soon. Nozawa on the other hand does a good job holding the scared child feel for Gohan up until just the right point. When Gohan made the decision to turn around and go back to check on Goku, I noticed a distinct change in Nozawa's delivery. It made that moment feel almost like a coming of age moment that I never noticed when watching the Dub. But I think what I enjoyed most about Nozawa’s Gohan was watching Gohan grow as a character through the wilderness training.

Next up is Shigeru Chiba as Raditz and Shouzou Iizuka as Nappa. The reason that I’m lumping these two together is not because I view them as unimportant characters, but rather because I feel that their Japanese voices are not too different from what I’m used to in the Dub. Chiba’s Raditz is deeper than Justin Cook’s, but the personification that these two actors give off is very similar. Ironically, what Justin Cook’s voice sounds like for Raditz is actually similar to what Chiba does for the character in DragonBall Kai 20 years later. Iisuka’s Nappa is also very similar to Phil Parson’s voice and personification in the Dub. Both actors give off very gruff and reckless voices when fighting, but pull it back when speaking to Vegeta. 

Joji Yanami as Kaio was probably the voice that I was looking most forward to hearing due to you being able to take Yanami more seriously when Kaio is actually being serious. Sure, Sean Schemmel is great for laughs when Kaio is being silly, but Kaio really does have quite a number of serious speaking scenes that you just simply cannot appreciate for what they truly are with the over the top manner in which the Dub handles him.

Finally, Ryo Horikawa as Vegeta. Back in my younger days, when I was first introduced to Horikawa, I found the vast difference between him and Sabat to be downright jarring, almost as much so as the difference between Schemmel and Nozawa. But over the years of getting further acquainted with him via various Video Games and DragonBall Kai, I have come to appreciate his voice. I always thought that Vegeta’s arrogance was his most prominent trait over the fact that he holds himself in high standing given his rank as Saiyan Prince. As a result, I always found the approach that the Dub has taken to be the better one. But upon really taking in Horikawa's performance in these Episodes, I finally understand what a lot of Japanese Version fans have been saying. But I think it’s Horikawa himself that put it best in saying that he didn’t want to make Vegeta sound like "just another villain". Horikawa’s voice really helps to separate Vegeta from Nappa in both personality and status. But to be honest, I was kind of worried during the early battling. Vegeta’s yelling scenes were pretty lack luster and under delivered. It wasn’t until he started losing to Goku that the screams really became powerful and booming. I'm not sure if that was a strategic choice by Horikawa or if he simply grew into a better actor while playing Vegeta. Regardless, I am looking forward to hearing the strategic and cunning side of Vegeta on Planet Namek through Horikawa.

Well, that will do it for this entry. Before I move on to Planet Namek though, the next entry will cover my thoughts on DragonBall Z Movies 1-4. Look forward to it!