Okay, so I just got Excel Saga set (MAC); I'm all excited.
Now the hard question is, Sub or Dub?
For series like Love Hina where Dub sucked and original Jap. VAs were so good, it was no contest.
However, many ppl told me that Excel Saga Dub was done really well, and I don't know how good original VAs are.
Any advice to help me out of this dilema? I would watch both if I have time, but recently got a new job, and can't afford to watch both sub and dub. :mad:
Thank you in advance, really appreciate all advice.
I have to say dub.... but for some reason, MAC changed all the subtitle colors to white.
In the ADV DVD, two subtitle lines that overlapped, one would be in white, one would be in yellow. MAC has them both white, so that would make it a little tougher.
The dub leaves out lots of stuff.
Conclusion: Subtitled with AD-Vid notes turned ON.
Subbed, with the vid-notes. Excel's English Voice actress changes in.. I wanna say disc 3 in the dub because the original burned her voice out doing all of the screaming that's required for the part. I would think it would be jarring and annoying to have a brand new voice for the main character halfway through watching it.. So I pretty much stuck with the subs, and they were top notch.
I'd go for subbed not only because I watched everything subbed anyway, but also because Excel is voiced by Mitsuishi Kotono who I think is fantastic. Not only does she manage to speak at a mind-boggling speed she doesn't equate acting manic with screaming yourself hoarse a la the English dub.
I also think Pedro is even funnier in Japanese. Noooooo!
I'll admit I found the Vid notes distracting - they sometimes clutter the whole screen - but this was the first time I had watched the series.
Meh, I'll be brave and stick up for the dub. I thought the localization was terrific and all the voice acting was fantastic. The voice actress for Excel doesn't change until very late in the series, and you almost have to know that she's changed to notice it at all.
Plus anyways, for a series that's this visually vibrant, having to constantly have your eyes on the subs for Excel's motormouth is a travesty. Having watched it both ways, I can safely say that you really do miss a LOT by not being able to have your full attention on the action while Excel is rattling off one of her giant tirades.
But the dub VA for Excel can't say her lines as fast as japanese Excel, so sometimes she's behind on lines, and they even cut out some lines.
Like
Japanese Excel:
Says lines 1-6 in 15 seconds
English Excel:
Only fits lines 1-4 in 15 seconds
And some puns are just tough to put in english.
The Vid-notes can be annoying, but they are handy to leave on neverthless, if you want to fully get the series. Although I always turn the vid notes on, and turn the regular japanese audio on.... the bloops it makes annoys me.
Although what's funny is that sometimes there's a bloop in the audio, but not Vid Note appears. This is on the R1's, not an FX error.
Are the vid notes on the MAC series as well? And when you watch it in dub...whenever that guy puts up a sign in Japanese you have no clue what he's saying unless it's subtitled. They actually translate his banner when he puts it up when it's sub.