Anime Expo's Preview of the Sailor Moon Redub: Opinions

SnowWolf

Adventurer
Convention attendees are beginning to post their thoughts on the Sailor Moon forums and I just thought I'd put them altogether here.
Just a remnder that ths is the cast for the new dub which will probably carry over into Crystal.

Voice director is Suzanne Goldish, producers are Jamie Simone and Rita Majkut.

-Stephanie Sheh as Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon
-Kate Higgins as Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury
-Cristina Vee as Rei Hino/Sailor Mars
-Amanda C. Miller as Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter
-Cherami Leigh as Minako Aino/Sailor Venus
-Robbie Daymond as Mamoru Chiba/Tuxedo Mask
-Michelle Ruff as Luna
-Johnny Yong Bosch as Artemis
-Danielle Nicole as Naru Osaka
-Ben Diskin as Gurio Umino
-Tara Platt as Ikuko Tsukino
-Keith Silverstein as Kenji Tsukino
-Nicolas Roye as Shingo Tsukino
-Cindy Robinson as Queen Beryl
-Todd Haberkorn as Jadeite
-Liam O'Brien as Nephrite
-Lucien Dodge as Zoicite
-Patrick Seitz as Kunzite

SoldierOfTheSun said:
Guys, I just had a super long day at anime expo but wanted to share a few scattered thoughts after seeing the first two episodes of this new dub at the viz panel.

Overall I thought it was a very good adaptation, if not always a direct translation. For instance in episode 2 when Umino flips up Haruna's skirt, instead of yelling "Now no one will marry me!" (a moment I have always found strangely hilarious) she yells, "I'll never live this down!"

Shingo's voice sounded WAY too mature for a 10 year old boy. At least to my ears. Not sure what inspired Viz to cast an older male instead of woman or young boy actor.

Tuxedo Mask/Mamoru sounds *perfect* although I felt a tinge of fan guilt with Toby Proctor sitting just a few rows away with the rest of the original dub cast in the same room. :blush:

Usagi herself was fine. No real complaints from what I thought to be a very competent if overly cutesy performance. Tracey Moore will always be my number one though! :love:

The rest of the cast all sounded spot on or at least very good. Luna took the most getting used to for me as she sounds nothing like either Jill Frappier from the 90's dub or our beloved original seiyuu Keiko Han.

I will reflect and share some more after I've had a bit of rest this evening!


Salem Saberhagen said:
I posted a wall of text about my amazing day with a couple pics. Those who want to see it can go here. http://sailormoonforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... 20#p735720

Those who want to get straight to the dub review, I'll copy it here.

Note: First they showed us 2 on accident, then found there was something wrong with episode 1 so they showed us 2 and Sailor Moon Crystal while someone ran to get the timestamped version of episode 1. The panel ran out of time after Morga's death but we got to see most of the episode.

As for episode 2, the opening is perfectly intact, even showing the unfinished early version from the first few episodes, which ADV never screened. (Likewise the prototype ending sequence) Both the episode preview and Usagi’s self-introduction were included. Here’s the weird thing: When they first started showing episode 2 (then caught themselves that it was episode 2) Usagi says “I’ll punish you!” When they tried to get 1 and failed, then showed 2 again, she said “You will be punished!” I think one of these may be a beta version but there’s no telling which. Also of note, the second episode was read as “punishment awaits!” They did not show the next episode preview at the end of 2, but I think they merely stopped it for panel time. No surprise that “Senshi” is dubbed as “Guardian.” The timestamped version of episode 1 did not have an opening sequence but there’s no reason to think it won’t be on the set.

Now let me just say… it’s good. Usagi is adorable and hilarious, and she can call her transformations and attacks with might. The first couple episodes don’t really show off Usagi’s dramatic side, so we have yet to hear that, but I have faith in Sheh. Some might think Todd Haberkorn was an odd choice for Jadeite, but those who have seen him in Sword Art Online will understand. He’s an excellent Jadeite. Queen Beryl is really good too. Subtle. Nothing like the delightfully crazy Naz Edwards. Ikuko, Motoki, Naru, and Haruna all sounded good without particularly standing out. (No, Naru did not have an accent.) Benjamin Diskin as Umino was interesting. I think he’ll be polarizing. He’s undeniably funny and really expressive, (especially during his evil scenes) but it’s definitely a comical take, and some of the fans who like to imagine Umino being handsome behind the glasses might not take to him. Then again, maybe he’ll calm it down for Umino’s emotional scenes. Michelle Ruff as Luna sounds pretty much the same as her other roles. It’ll take some getting used to because it’s so very different from every other Luna, but I think we’ll grow to love her. My favorite part was where she was yelling “Fight back!” Mamoru’s voice sounds a bit similar to some of the old takes but without the overblown surfer persona. I’ll need to hear more of him, it was hard to get a good taste through all the screaming fans, but I think he’ll be good.

Morga was good, Baum had a very pretty voice. They gave her a slight gypsy accent, which I thought worked but some may not like. Another user noted that Haruna cries “I’ll never live this down!” rather than “Now no one will marry me!” I miss the original line but, it was very very Japanese.

Now onto the quips. The scenes of crowd wallah sounded kind of lame (the scene where the Beryl asks the Dark Kingdom Youma whether they’ve succeeded in gathering energy and they answer “NOO!” was sort of narm…) It might be that they were not final versions though. The Youma’s death screams weren’t quite up to my standard, but they are small roles. Unfortunately, I share some of the other trepidations about Shingo. (Who I was cosplaying at the time. :p ) I’m not sure why they didn’t cast a woman in the role. I’m hoping he’ll surprise us in his focus episodes but I’m bracing myself.

On the whole, the acting was expressive, and the script is liberal while still being faithful. An example is when Morga said “am I supposed to be afraid of these ridiculous catchphrases?!” The performances are full of energy and I am really happy with what was shown. I’m really looking forward to the sets.

Bonus note: The marketer (I talked to her so much I’m sad I can’t remember her name) was very intent on saying the official terms, I caught her correcting herself to ‘Sailor Guardian’ from ‘Sailor Soldier.’ And at the end of my interview, and also when asking cosplayers to pose for photos, she asked us to say “In the name of the moon, I’ll punish you!” The episodes said “you will be punished” but this *might* suggest they’ll be changing it to “I’ll punish you.” Not confirmed, however.

Salem Saberhagen said:
I'm still conning so a full treatment will have to wait, but Stephanie Sheh as Sailor Moon is adorable. Nothing like an of the previous English voices (and nothing like her Orihime/Hinata voice either.) I'd compare her to Luci Christian as Duck.) the acting is expressive, none of that stiff anime dubbing stuff. One funny thing is that Baum was given a sort of Gypsy accent, but I thought it worked. Naru on the other hand speaks normally. :)

I can't wait to see it now.
 
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