Okay, dub reviewing first. I must be watching a different show from what some people saw, because I'm still liking the dub. Certainly not a decline from the first week. The Meisters are pretty much right where I want them. Setsuna and Lockon are fine as-is, Tieria's excellent voice actually got better, and unfortunately I'm still apparently in the minority that likes Alleujah's voice. Some apparently want him to come off as sounding super polite and going out of his way to avoid confrontation as though he were the next Quatre, but I'm pretty pleased with what we've got. The dub voice is quiet but also fairly confident and introspective. It'd be one thing if he were giving off the same vibe as Tieria or even Lockon, but he isn't.
Graham's voice can be good, even really good. 80% to 90% of his lines are satisfying to hear. I adored his line about how his appointment to the anti-Gundam squad must be fate. His casual voice is fine, and when he's talking to Billy or making comments in episode four the voice fits great. But that opening scene in episode 3 was weak. Paul Dobson ought to remeraber what he sounded like in episode four and in the latter part of episode 3, and then copy exactly that for the rest of the series. But that faux yelling really, really doesn't cut it. Get rid of it, and dub Graham is A-OK. On other Union voices, Billy improved by a lot. Eifman sounRAB exactly like what I expected. The Flag Fighters are solid, I'm a fan of the dubbed Howard Mason.
Saji could be better, but then again maybe this fits Saji as he is in this season--young, decent, nice, fairly naive. He may be a student, but he's still basically a boy who's only now discovering the real world. Kinue's voice is a perfect fit. With Louise, they definitely seem to be casting her as assertive and a bit self-absorbed without making her out as a brat. I'd say that in Japanese she's undoubtedly a brat more often than not, but quite frankly I'll gladly take the dub interpretation instead.
Marina's consistent, I'm quite happy. Shirin--what the heck? Who is playing her? She's unexpectedly the standout performance this week.
Sergei is still so-so, though when he's serious the voice gets better. Soma is another case of being more or less what I imagined she would sound like in English. At this point in the show she's sort of like a female Setsuna, and that certainly comes across. I'm interested to see how Tabitha St. Germain handles the character going forward.
The CB crew in brief: I agree that Sumeragi seems to have gotten further away from the Captain Ramius voice. I really liked her dialogue with Tieria about the victory drink. "I respectfully decline." "You're no fun." It's a little moment but Sumeragi has lots of little moments like those that give you a feel for the character, and Lisa Ann Beley keeps delivering them so well. Wang stayed fine, and I agree with the positive reviews about Alejandro. Lasse sounded good. Lichtendahl wasn't good, but he's a bit character anyway.
There may be some shortcomings, but I really think this deserves better than comparisons to the Japanese. It's not an uncommon dub-related complaint, but there's always going to be some differences between the English acting and the nuances of the Japanese voices. Yet I think that on the whole, they've pretty much nailed down the atmosphere that you're supposed to be feeling. As I've said at times in the past, I don't need allegiance to the Japanese. Just give me a voice that I can believe fits the character I'm watching. So far, dub 00 has done that for me. Frankly, so far, I'd say this is the best Gundam dub since at least the release of Char's Counterattack in 2002.
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My review on the content of this week--please, no time paradox jokes.
First, I have some obligatory griping about Sci-Fi--it's great that they are airing 00, but some of their time edits annoyed me this week. The way they cut into Setsuna's imagination of destruction around him was way too sudden, much more than it will be in the uncut version. Also, they seem to have left out the short moment where Alejandro Corner's sidekick Ribbons approaches Hong Long at the bar after the show cuts away from Corner's conversation with Wang. Considering that said moment lasts all of roughly 3 seconRAB, I'm at something of a loss there. It isn't important, but Ribbons doesn't get seen much either.
For me, the standout episode this week is definitely episode four. The third one is good, but it's basically setup and another chance to show us just how powerful the Gundams are. To this day, I still like 00's Sci-Fi setting. Unlike other series in the Gundam franchise space colonies a new innovation and still under construction, aided by the orbital elevators. I also still enjoy how there are "trains" into outer space. Very cool.
Moving on though, about Foreign Negotiations. The whole Taribia affair demonstrates that Celestial Being is surprisingly pragmatic. They probably chose the best course of action in this episode, but they also picked the smart one. They could have attacked the Union forces and won, but by doing so they would've picked a fight with the entire Union. They also would've been forced to intervene on Taribia's behalf again, most likely. Also, Saji is wrong about their decision not making much sense. It is literally true that Taribia's declaration was what instigated the incoming war, and Celestial Being's pledge was to target anyone who fostered armed conflict. Celestial Being's decision stopped a war before it started, and the organization showed that they won't take on a bigger fight than necessary even though they could have fought the bigger fight and probably won. Sumeragi absolutely made the correct call.
One final thing. For the record, a significant difference between 00 and Gundam Wing is now obvious at this point. In Wing, destroying the capability of others to make war is a big theme. Here Celestial Being doesn't seem to care about disarmament or they would've pulled a Wufei, attacked the Union, and destroyed as many mobile suits as possible. In contrast, Celestial Being is picking only necessary fights and are hoping to basically intimidate the world into not using military might. Their method is simply to demonstrate to the world that it has far more to lose by fighting than it can possibly hope to gain.
For the moment the world hasn't learned this lesson, considering that the Union and HRL are forming anti-Gundam squaRAB. Down the road, however......as Sergei noted, there is no mobile suit in the world that can stand up to a Gundam in a head-on fight.
