Those of you who follow Full Metal Alchemist will know very well what happened yesterday. For those of you who don't or are just out of the loop for some reason, the first episode of the second TV series of FMA was aired yesterday in Japan. By time I got up in the morning, it had already been fansubbed, which was rather impressive and very promising, as it showed the series still has a solid backing.

Back in the day when the first series was a phenomenon, I was part of an extremely active RPG. I managed to get in when it was still relatively new and have been a faithful Hughes since. Over the course of about two years, I had a wonderful time RPing, even as the hype began to decline. It really hit rock bottom when the site's admin sent me a message one day: she had lost interest and rather than let the site die, she handed the reigns to me.

Well, in the bust of the FMA economy, there wasn't much I could do with it. I maintained it, fixed the chat when it died for whatever reason, cleaned up the spam posts and found some good anti-spamware coding, all that fun stuff. When I found out there was a second series in production sometime in late 2008, I went into full revamp mode. I closed registration, figured out who was still there and who wasn't, realized that I'd lost my character sheets to failed hosting, reworked a lot of the programmed information to incorporate the new series and reopened the site yesterday morning, with a slightly OOC party thread to kick it off.

What does this matter to any of you?

Well, obviously if you're interested, I want you to click the following link and join the rest of us crazed fans in exploring and enjoying the FMA universe to its fullest extent. If not, I'm asking if you can't distribute the following link in hopes of attracting new blood. At the very least, come check us out. We're friendly and always willing to talk (chat's linked in the news fader).

Hagane no Renkinjutsushi RPG, vintage August 2006.

Thanks a bunch, y'all.

Cheers,
~AriSky

So. It came. VIZ's release of the first 15 episodes of Hunter x Hunter is in my hot little hands and though I promised someone I'd watch it with them, I couldn't resist checking out the voices, as we well know me of doing (and of course by we I mean those who remember my rants on Death Note when that was being released. What I wouldn't give for the Death Note cast to be in this production).

If you're not a fan of my picking on voice actors, never fear. I don't have too much on the voice actors and actresses themselves, just VIZ for failing at producing and directing.

I open the box, enjoying the freshly-printed smell coming off of it and am slightly surprised by images I haven't seen before. Nothing breath-taking, but attractive packaging no less (minus the X cut out on the front, so impractical). The three discs feature Gon, Leorio and Killua; the background a dark green with each discs' episode titles behind the discs. Aesthetically pleasing, yes, and very easy to find the episode you're looking for. And hence, Gon goes into my laptop and I start holding my breath.

Yes, I actually did, numerous times, thank you very much.

The first time I let myself breathe was with the familiar lyrics of Ohayou, as it was not transferred to English as so many of these themes are these days. "Kimi to kata o kunde kimi to te o tsunaide koibito dattari tomodachi de itai kara..." But that was about where the similarities ended. Gon gets attacked by the Foxbear and already one can hear that Elinor Holt is trying too hard to sound like a generic trouble-making boy, which, Hunter fans will know, doesn't suit Gon's personality at all. Kaitou (or Kite, as they're going to insist on calling him) sounds pretty close to his original, but he's got something of a surfer dude accent, which kills everything. Mito's alright, though she also sounds a bit forced, and mum (mother, mom, whatever. Mito's mother) probably sounded the best out of the entire episode.

I poked through episode two just to listen to Leorio in his arm wrestling attempt and when he saved Gon. As the only voice actor with experience on this cast, I'd have to say that he's doing pretty good, even if it does sound like Jonathan Love's taken on a Spike Speigel complex with Leorio's suit. I don't have anything against him, but I miss the crazy edge to the character that seems to be lacking with this interpretation. Then it was on to the third episode where the Captain wants to know why the three of them want to become Hunters. I was sitting here all scrunched up and tense, waiting for him to speak, and he got one word out (I think it was "I'm") and my split-second analysis was that "this isn't as horrible as it could be..." and then the second word arrived (Kurapika, spelled right!) and the world died. I could deal with Gon being pronounced "gone" (rhymes with "cone"), but ku-RApiKA? Somehow they managed to blend the last three syllables into one with main emphasis on the RA, which just killed me. It was like they were trying to rhyme it with "tilapia," the fish. It was terrible.

I watched the credits for each episode, which were all alike save the cast, but even that didn't go far. I managed to get the actress for Mito, but that was it. No other characters but Gon, Leorio and Kurapika. VIZ seems content only giving credit to the main actors--and not bothering with the Japanese actors AT ALL, which pisses me off because I STILL DON'T KNOW WHO VOICES TOMPA. And it bothers me.

I read ANN.com's review for the release and quite frankly, they say everything I don't want to because I love the series too much. I was extremely disappointed with the voice acting. The voices don't fit the characters' personality. At times it got difficult to watch because the emotion in the voice was generic, didn't fit the images of emotion the characters were feeling. I was also rather disappointed with the quality of the video track itself. I realize the series is 10 years old, trust me, I know that better than just about anyone, but there were so many flaws it wasn't even humorous. Mostly lines at the top or bottom of the screen where the VHS might have been damaged, but flaws in the center of the track as well. I know there's technology to clean that with these days, and after adding all this together, it's quite clear VIZ is simply producing the series for the small profit they'll get from the devoted fans and the impressionable n00b.

The video quality is poor, damaged and the same dulled colors (I know that can be slightly altered as well), the voice acting is mediocre (leaving much to be desired in connection to the characters) and the price is outrageous ($50 for 15 episodes). VIZ is just trying to run itself into the ground there.

I almost don't want to get the rest of the series.

But I am dedicated to Yoshihiro Togashi, and I know that some of my money will eventually make it back to him. I haven't followed the manga for this long for nothing.

Just makes me sad that it's come to crappy dubs just for dollars.

Cheers~
AriSky

I'm just wondering if anyone else sees the horrible state I'm in. The first Hunter x Hunter DVD boxset came out in early Decemeber, yes? Yes. Since then, Christmas has come and gone. Since then, my birthday has come and gone. I have money and giftcards galore. I can understand that no one actually got it for me as it was over-priced ($40 for 15 episodes? please, VIZ, you'll self-destruct), but WHY ISN'T IT IN MY POSESSION YET? It's been out for over a month and I do not own it yet.

Before I returned to Oregon for Winter semester, I checked a handful of sites to go about ordering it and discovered that perhaps it wasn't anyone's fault but VIZ's. No one had it in stock. Either VIZ underestimated how many people wanted it and didn't send out enough, or VIZ just plain didn't send it out. Whatever the reason, I don't have it and am not happy.

I'll get over it soon enough, I suppose, but I wanted to get it when it first came out.

My holidays whizzed by. It didn't seem I was home for a full month at all, but I enjoyed what I could. My mother has indeed discovered she can't control everything I do (though she has taken to using MY credit card to pay for plane tickets, which wasn't agreed upon at all). The stress I get from her hasn't been diminished beyond knowing I have some form of freedom, as opposed to none.

I started LARPing while back home. Well, shadowed for two games while I created a character and then played once before having to leave. I'm still rather new and getting accustomed to the game and its mechanics, but it's fun, and it's something for me to do rather than sit around and waste my life away online.

I'm taking the US in Foreign Affairs for Winter semester and it's actually rather interesting. I think I like the course set-up and really hope Pacific doesn't plan on getting rid of Winter semester simply because of "inclimate weather."

Cheers,
~AriSky