Well I saw the sub of the first episode just now (no offense to those who like the dub), and I can honestly say that I don't think I need to see the dub to know that as far as DVRAB go, this is the version I prefer. That is, I will only watch a dubbed version if it airs in a mainstream, family-friendly timeslot (which would incur some editing of course, but "those are the breaks" as they say).
However, (and I've said this before) I will have nothing to do with any dub of the show if FUNi decides to pull a "Knights of the Zodiac" on the viewers (i.e., with two separate dubs, one for the "fans" and one for "everyone else").
In any case, I do have one problem with the sub. (Almost) every chance Funimation gets, "de arimasu" is "translated" (which in this case means "re-interpreted") as "Sir! Yes, Sir!". My feelings about this are stated thus (and I'm not trying to be rude or anything):
That's not a proper way to translate it, sir!
It's a common, polite way to end sentences in Japanese, sir!
It's not always in a military context, sir!
It shouldn't even be translated at all, sir!
Well, you get the idea. Also, I'm not really feeling "senior" for "senpai". If they had just said "upperclassman", that would have been sufficient.
In any event, I'm still not sure about this show as a whole (Japanese version or otherwise). It's just the first episode of course, but it kind of gives off the feeling of a "sitcom-style" series, which is something I don't always get into. Even an episodic series can have some direction, and I tend to find that "sitcom-style" series are simply 30 minutes of seemingly random humor that don't really go anywhere (which is why they usually--repeat, USUALLY aren't that good, but that's another story). Still, I'll continue to give the show a try for the time being.
One other thing, so am I to understand that Funimation didn't make a "Shin Chan" style dub of the show? Again, I only intend to watch a dubbed version on TV (as stated above), but I would still like to know. Also, given the comedic style of this show, I get the idea that a dubbed version would be a little hard to swallow (even if they didn't change any of the references); it would feel just like all the other American-made "sitcom-style" shows with most of the "humor" being sarcasm (you see, sarcasm isn't always funny, but I digress); any sarcasm in this particular show (and this is based on the sub) comes off to as actually being a part of the humor overall, and not just merely sarcasm, period. So, personally, I find the subbed version (somewhat) preferable to any dubbed version that could be created (I repeat however, that I am willing to give a dubbed version a try...if it were to air on TV in a non-adult timeslot).
So, here's hoping that the show turns about to be enjoyable in the long run, and that Funimation doesn't pander to one "audience" or the other.