Verthandi Reviews The Black Rose Blooms DVD

Somehow, I managed to rent The Black Rose Blooms. According to Anime on DVD, the official release date is November 12, so I guess this copy dropped out of a time warp or something.

The box art indeed shows the same image that has been used in advance publicity. (I still think it makes Utena look like a hentai series.)

EOI's admin thinks it looks like a Hong Kong bootleg. What were they thinking?

The menu opens after an extended sequence with clips from the OP and "Rinbu - revolution" playing in the background. After the menu loads, the background shows clips from episodes 16 and 17 with images from the Japanese LD/VHS covers displayed in the foreground. The quality of this DVD is much better than the last two. Extra chapter stops facilitate navigation; now you can forward directly to the OP, the start of the episode, the eyecatch, the shadow play, or the ED. The video is crisp and bright and a million times better than my VHS fansubs.

The lyrics are no longer hardsubbed, but the title screens and the challenge notes in Utena's locker are. I understand why such things would be hardsubbed, but it still irks me.

If you were pleased with the dub track of the movie, you'll be pleased again. If not, then avail yourself of the Japanese soundtrack and a frosty mug of shut the hell up. :B

As for the new voices...

Souji sounds very sexy and strikes an appropriately creepy note in the first elevator scene. Something in his voice reminds me of Midorikawa Hikaru...I swear I've heard him before. For Mamiya, they used a male VA, whereas the original seiyuu was female. This is one of my pet peeves, but barring that, he sounds good. It almost seems as though he is trying to match the tone of another, established character...but I refuse to spoil anyone here, so if you have no idea what I'm talking about...neener neener neener. Kanae sounds very sweet and bland. Her English voice lacks the maturity and sensuality of Orikasa Ai, but this means that she actually sounds like a high school student in the English version, so it sounds more realistic when she says that Akio seems more mature than she is.

Once, there was a time when I would have said, "It sounds different; therefore, it's wrong!" but I've matured since then. Go me!

I think she brings her elevator scene to a nice crescendo; she's a good screamer, and her tone of voice in the ensuing duel scene changes effectively. Lisa Ortiz returns as Shiori. And there was much rejoicing! For me, she was the highlight of the movie. But C-ko sounds even less manic than she did in the movie. In the case of the Shadow Play Girls, I strongly prefer the Japanese voices.

The translations of the duel songs differ from those by the Utena Translation Project. This sounds strange, but the new translations give you a whole new perspective on the duels. The dialogue translations are pretty accurate. No ad-libs, but some off-screen dialogue was added to the long pause Shiori takes when talking with Utena and Anthy, because god forbid the soundtrack go silent for more than two seconds. Bleah! Tenjuu is now Tenjou, but other pronounciations are still a little off. "Kanae" comes out as Kanee about three times and "Himemiya" is Him-memiya. (Him rhymes with slim.)

In case you were wondering how they would handle Nanami's "mou" puns, they stuck with the original script and had Nanami draw out the long vowel sounds ("anymo-o-ore"). In the Japanese version, it makes sense to have Nanami rave about blankets (moufu) and virulent (moudoku) snakes, because the words contain "mou" sounds that make her sound like a lowing cow. In the English version, Nanami is still raving about blankets and snakes, but since the same "moo" sounds just aren't there, it's even funnier when Utena remarks, "Nanami's lost it."

The DVD is chock full of extras: a short interview with Ikuhara, to be continued on the next volume; a longer interview with Roxanne Beck, the voice of Wakaba and Kozue; an image gallery, also accessible by DVD-ROM; and a text summary of the previous thirteen episodes.

I am so buying this when it actually comes out.

When queried for more details about the duel theme translations and their differences, Verthandi added:

I should have transcribed all the lyrics before I returned the video. I'll try to rent it again.

One example comes from "Chikyuu wa Jinbutsu Chinretsushitsu." The original line, aa, hito wa nashi, which UTP rendered as "Ah, man does not exist," was subtitled as "People are nothing." I came to feel that Nadelman's (I assume?) translation better suits Shiori's motivation for dueling, moreso than UTP's primal, nihilistic sigh. Shiori never ceased to exist; what pained her was existing in the shadow that Jury cast – but existing without worth, being nothing.

I suppose the UTP translation eventually visits the same conclusion, but the directness of Nadelman's translation seemed to relate to Shiori on a personal level, and I rather liked it.

Also, Nadelman translated giri no futago as either "twins by obligation" or "twins by duty." UTP's translation uses the rather quizzical "twins-in-law." I think the idea of obligation or duty is also important to Shiori's relationships.

I do prefer the UTP translation of jinbutsu as "personality" or "character," to Nadelman's translation as "made by man." The end of the song presents various descriptions of Earth as a toybox or a museum. UTP translates the lines as "Earth is a toybox of personalities" but the subtitles have something like, "Earth is a toybox made by man." I'm not sure whether one is "more correct" than the other. The UTP translations are more theatrical, which corresponds with Ikuhara's comment about taking inspiration from the theater.

Your mileage may vary.