Ranma ep 1.7: "Enter Ryouga: The Eternal Lost Boy!"

Summary | Dub & Animation | Notes & Comments

Animation (1 to 5):
Back down again - and this time I'm putting it down to a 3. There are some wonderful facial closeups, but anatomically the characters are even more off-base than just your general anime. Ryouga is often too short, Ranma looks pretty dippy a lot of the time, and Akane is strangely skinny. There are also parts towards the end of the ep when Akane is always in the same position: standing straight with her arms lankly at her sides, facing away from the action but with her eyes looking to the side. It's irritating. Most of what stands out look like they're directly off of model sheets. So, 3 out of 5, which is nice and average.

Dub (1 to 5):
You know, after everything is said and done I'm going to give this ep a 5 out of 5. It's not the best episode ever dubbed but it's just - GOOD. You can listen to it easily and not feel like you're really missing anything from the original.

First things first, I have to discuss Michael Donovan as Ryouga. Now I'm a big fan of Kouichi Yamadera in the role, but I do think Donovan does a great job. I still prefer Yamadera, mind you, for several reasons - one being that I like the general tradition of having rivals of the hero have lower voices, and another being that I think it's dead sexy. But Donovan really does a great job on his line deliveries (he's a real pro at this work), and his voice sounds right for the LOOK of Ryouga. I mean, it's not a huge stretch.

Essentially, Donovan is deliberately attempting the voice of a teenage boy, and you gotta applaud him for that. And he maintains Ryouga's attitude really nicely despite deviating from the deeper, slightly more menacing voice Yamadera uses. And what he loses in teh sexy, he makes up for with just some really good line adaptations in general. He also does a Leetle!Ryouga voice for the junior high scenes, and they don't bother with that in Japanese (in part b/c it's only about a year or two ago, *lol* But then, I've seen shows with ten-year-old male characters who have deep voices. The testosterone, it flows freely in Japanese male youth, I guess) but it's a cute touch in the dub. Last comparison: I expected Donovan to do a better job than Yamadera during the scenes when Ryouga's running through the forest. And Donovan is excellent but for some reason I still prefer the Japanese. Huh. By the end though I think Donovan is in the lead. ;D

So yes, I have good feelings towards Mike Donovan in this ep.

Also very good are Myriam Sirois and Sarah Strange. Myriam gets a good range in this one again, and Ranma is in dopey-mode for half of it, which Sarah is usually pretty good at. The only point at which I have a problem with her is when Ranma says "Now I remember, you and I were classmates in junior high!" It doesn't scan well. And with Myriam, it's just a matter of disliking how she pronounces Japanese names; I hate how she says Ryouga's full name. :P

This episode, meanwhile, is the first with Venus Terzo as girl!Ranma. Eh, she's not in it a whole lot, so there's not much I can say. She's not off to a great start, I don't think, but she does get better; and given that I've just never taken to the basic sound of her voice, I may be being too hard on her. It's hard not to compare her to Megumi Hayashibara, who is just extremely cool.

Everyone else only has maybe one or two lines, but they're all good - David Kaye has one of the best lines of the ep, Angela Costain as ever makes everything sound natural, and Willow Johnson is on-target. The only complaint I have is still Ian Cortlett and even he is not bad in this one. SO yay! Good dubbing!

As for line changes, there are a few notable ones: some for good, some for less than good, and some just standout for interesting reasons. A lot of Ryouga's line adaptations are good (mostly minor, but good); mainly a few extra words here and there, but sometimes they change the way a sentence comes out. Best instance of that is at the beginning; the first "Where is Furinkan High School!?" gets a "Tell me," stuck on its beginning. This interests me b/c, even though it's just to extend syllables so the mouth movements match up, it changes the tone ever so slightly. It subtly shifts Ryouga from demanding to asking (though still rudely *lol*). Another adaptation to help with syllables is "tell me I'm not dreaming!" which isn't as good, b/c I don't understand why a guy would nod when asked that. ;P

Mainly though, Ryouga's lines keep his anger and also give his dialogue a bit more variety. "Don't patronize me!!" is a great addition. Donovan's best delivery in the episode (and the best adaptation) is when Ryouga attacks in the final scene. The subtitles' "Finish it!? You don't know the half of it! REVENGE!" becomes "I don't want to finish it! The fight - has just BEGUN! This is REVENGE!!" Donovan's line reading is really emotionally charged, and he sounds quite pissed off, which is perfect for Ryouga.

The biggest change that I regret is during the flashback to the bread scene. The lines in the original are just classic and they lose a lot in the dub. "Who are you?" and "you stole my bread, you lousy thief!" have NOTHING on "Give me your name!" and "I will never forget how I hate you for that curry bread!" NOTHING.

Best line - as mentioned, it belongs to David Kaye - is "Whose crackpot idea was THAT, anyway!?" It's very close to the original, but "crackpot" is a standout. And the delivery couldn't be better. XD

From manga to episode:
This is a chapter and a half, with some fleshing out to stretch into an episode-length story. The whole "Mad Max" bit at the beginning is new, and they add a lot to Ryouga's bad sense of direction (even beyond what is in the manga, which is pretty bad). Also, the "Let's Dress Up Ranma!" sequence is new - well, the first one where they put him in Akane's clothes isn't. That's manga. But the back-and-forth in all the different costumes (one of my least favourite moments in fact), that's all new. They also change the story a bit by extending the conversation in the schoolyard; the manga ends it with "I will destroy your happiness!" and then picks up in a new chapter with Ranma getting a challenge letter at the Tendo dojo. And so forth. ;) Makes sense that they'd have to change that - it's odd how Ryouga attacks and is brutally pissed off, then apparently just... goes away to leave Ranma to stew while he sends a proper letter. O_o