This review is my first and I really haven’t thought in depth about how I am going to do this. Just remember, the review is of the dub of the series and not the series itself. The series doesn’t need a review from me anyway, because, frankly, it’s one of the best series every made. It needs no introduction, as it’s the most popular show of the decade, and my personal all time favorite. Here is my review of the spectacular…..
The dub of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, which was licensed by Bandai Entertainment, was handled by Bang Zoom Entertainment (Hare + Guu, Last Exile) and directed by Eric P. Sherman (Hare + Guu, X, Last Exile). The cast of the main five characters are as follows: Haruhi Suzumiya is played be Wendee Lee (Faye- Cowboy Bebop, Weda- Hare + Guu), Kyon is played by Crispin Freeman (Alucard- Hellsing Ultimate, Zelgadis- Slayers), Itsuki Koizumi is played by Jonny Yong Bosch (THE FRICKEN BLACK POWER RANGER, Vash- Trigun), Nagato Yuki is played by Michelle Ruff (Kuchiki Rukia- Bleach, Fujiko Mine- Lupin III (Geneon)), and Asahina Mikuru is played be Stephanie Sheh (Eureka- Eureka Seven, Orihime Inoue- Bleach).
Simply put, this dub is the best that Bang Zoom, and for that matter Bandai Entertainment, has put out. This was a huge series with its popularity growing by the day. MHS was, and for that matter is still, most popular Anime in Japan since Evangelion. Anyone who is part of the “fansub community” downloaded, watched, and loved this. MHS needed to have one of the best dub’s ever heard to make the fans happy, and it does.Eric Sherman did a wonderful job with all aspects of the dub. The intention coming from the Japanese dub is pulled off just as well. If you listen to the two dubs side by side, aside from the different language thing, it is seamless. The script was only changed enough to fit into American lip flaps, hell, even the Full Metal Panic (a series licensed by two other companies) were kept in, which won point with me.
The Acting; Wendee Lee was the perfect Haruhi and I can’t imagine everyone else pulling off the slight Idiotic and Aspiration in Haruhi’s tone, as well as Wendee has here. Crispin Freeman’s Kyon, while a little deeper than the original Japanese, was probably my favorite voice in the series. The cynical views of Kyon (aka his commentary) were acted PERFECTLY. He, and Eric, got the timing and setting of Kyon’s little inserts (which practically makes the series for me) right on the spot. Mikuru was the only part that took a bit to get used to, but if you think about it, Mikuru’s nasally high voice is not a stereotypical English type of voice at all. Once you got around the weirdness, you’ll Sheh’s rendition is the best you can get in English for this. She makes Mikuru her own, and separate from Goto’s, equally good, performance. Koizumi was portrayed fantastically by Mr. Yong Bosch. His calm demeanor worked perfectly with Bosch, as he has done this several times in the past. Bosch also captures Koizumi‘s quirky comments quite well, also. Bosch’s tone was dead on with Daisuke Ono’s, and worked quite well. Michelle Ruff has done a wide range of characters, From Fujiko to Rukia, but none quite like Yuki. I thought Yuki would’ve been the hardest to portray since she speaks very little, but I was wrong. Ruff did Yuki so perfectly well, she has outdone (with no disrespect to) Minori Chihara in terms of displaying the adorable and yet strong demeanor of Yuki. Even the secondary characters were done very well, most memorable in my mind being Bridget Hoffman’s (Atoli (<3) - .hack//g.u, Shinobu- Love Hina) Asakura Ryouko. The way her voice was all cutesy while talking about murder Kyon was absolutely, mind blowing… like …. The best thing I’ve ever heard.
Well there you have it. Haruhi has one of the best Dub’s and I Recommend even the most foul of dub haters give this a shot. I promise you won’t regret it. I should probably mention I will be doing a mini review when the fourth DVD comes out, specifically about the songs in Live a Live, God knows…. And Lost my Music.
Until Then,
Kurono K
