• So the news of the day is that Utawarerumono got licensed by ADV, and that its English release name will be “Shadow Warrior Chronicles,” at least according to what ANN is reporting from Otakon. I usually don’t care at all about dubs or how things are done stateside, but this was just too hilarious and ridiculous a name to pass up.
    Having said that, the growing consensus seems to be that either ADV or ANN screwed up and that the English titles for Utawarerumono and the other ADV license Shin Angyo Onshi – supposedly re-titled “Blade of the Phantom Mask” – got mixed up. This would make a ton of sense, since Shin Angyo Onshi actually has “phantom soldiers” (aka. shadow warriors) and Utawarerumono actually features someone with a mask. “Blade of the Phantom Mask” still isn’t a fantastic title, but it’s not bad either. And it certainly doesn’t make me crack up like “Shadow Warrior Chronicles” does (at least in relation to Utawarerumono).
  • In other news, it seems that Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora is getting a j-drama coming in October on TV Tokyo. Rika will be played by Ishida Miku. I certainly wasn’t expecting a drama for this at all, but it’ll be interesting to see how it matches up to the novels and the anime.
    Source: Yahoo News
  • 32 Comments

    1. …i just hope that Omni’s right and that they screwed the names up by accident… Blade of the Phantom Mask fits Utawarerumono more then “Shadow Warrior Chronicles”

      sh4dowreaper
    2. Who exactly is the shadow warrior, y woudl they giv eit a name when there isnt any shadow warriors in it, they should have left the name jap.

      I’m really looking forward to the live action show, i wonder if it will follow the manga this time rather then make many different endings, not that that’s bad.

      AnimeFan159
    3. This was quite surprising, but a good series such as Utawarerumono will be licesnsed soon anyways. Here was an interesting find:
      “Wolverine Princess” from ANN forums said this; “They should have renamed it I Pick My Nose and Eat the Boogers. It’s about as relevant to the series as “Shadow Warrior Chronicles”, and if I was a casual anime fan browsing the DVDs at Suncoast I’d be much more likely to buy a series with a title like that without hearing anything about it than something like Final Demon Shadow Warrior Vampire Fighting Evil Fantasy Chronicles.”
      Oh man, that cracked me up =] I am unhappy with the title too.

      Zanarky
    4. Dude, that had better be right about a mix-up. “Shadow Warrior Chronicles”?

      I still think that the US anime companies should ask the Japanese production companies what they want /their/ anime to be named in English if the name is ever changed. The US companies may be doing the Stateside release, but the /Japanese/ companies are the ones who made the show and did all the real hard work, including getting the show distributed in their own country.

      Shinji103
    5. Ya know, Im fine with the name change, I really am. People are acting like there gonna change everything aobut the story and show.

      I mean really, tranlating it as “THat wich is sung” (Wich isnt even really all that acurate either FYI) will not only turn people away from it (Imagine your in a dude in a store and you see a DVD with cute little Aruru on the cover and it’s called That wich is sung, your not gonna think super violent awesome as hell war story” youll think some cutesy music related girl fest)

      Shadow Warrior Chronicles at least is somewhat true to the seem of the show, we have a group of warriors (Some with Shadowy pasts OMG!) and this is somewaht of a chronicle.

      Really now as long as teh content stays the same who cares that it;s not Utawarerumono (Wich is not easy to pronounce nor will you bother to remeber how to spell it so you look at info later)

      IT’s not the best choice of names by any means, but peopel are acting liekt he show will suddenly stop beeing good.

      ADV is a pretty good company to overall. THey did a great job on Bubblegum 2040 they did great with Godannar, AzuDai is done good as was Full MEtla Panic.

      I mean really it’s not that big a deal.

      7th
    6. we’ll hope its “news release stupidity” in the name mixup. Well…. not fond of ADV but as long as they handle the video quality decently and we have a quality japanese soundtrack with subtitles, they can hire out the Simpsons as the VAs on the English dub for all I care. I’ve pretty much given up on any US anime distributor hiring actual “A/B-list” voice actors. Bland line reading and pathetic casting for the most part…
      Actually Homer voicing the Mr. Mask (the english name) and Marge voicing Eruffruff (her english name) might have some comedy value.

      I like this series but I’d pay an extra few dollars a disk for some decent dialog acting. 🙂

      vexx
    7. Omni i hope you are right and mabey there was a name mix up by somebody about these two shows.It seems they are both from the animation production company oriential light and magic.So there is hope of a mix-up.PS they are both great anime under any name.

      moonglum
    8. …Damnit – -;
      I knew it would be licensed eventually…But…That name is just so…Unacceptable…

      Imo, whenever an anime gets licensed, bad things happen to that series…Very bad things…That, and the sudden shortage of fansubs just plain sucks. The urge to kill things goes up by atleast 48 points at the same time…

      (Besides…Imho, all US VA’s technically screw over any and all anime…I actually watched an episode of Naruto yesterday, and what VIZ did to Shino made me want to vomit >_>)

      FireIce
    9. Look @ Poll of the Day
      Why don’t keep its original name? Nonsense, just nonsense..
      Nice to hear Hantsuki is getting a live action, but I’m not a really fan of live action movies.
      And I have enough drama in my own life^^

      *Chi*
    10. I’ve mostly lost interest in the Uta anime since playing the game and mini-game, but even so that is just an awful name- sounds like a cross between a new Robotech saga and an early 90’s RPG. If it is a mix-up, that makes things slightly better, although “Blade of the Phantom Mask” doesn’t exactly trip off the tongue.

    11. Yay for my gay HTML skillz…

      I would be infinately more interested in Naricssu Side 2nd (Haeleth Forum topic) as opposed to a HanTsuki Live Action, especially if it goes topside and ends up like the anime :/ (Hoping it won’t – heard the novel material was way better than the way it was protrayed in the anime – in any case, I will still watch it for Rika 😉 )

      It’s going to be released (tentatively) during Comiket 70, which is this month. So keep your fingers crossed that the english translation will come along soon 😉 The post also mentioned about a rumour going around that a live-action Naricssu might be made – I got a feeling that people got it mixed up with HanTsuki, so the rumour is probably not true ;(

      bakavic
    12. Well. This is amusing. I can confirm that it was a screw up considering that Shin Angyo Onshi is about a travelling gunman of sorts that comands an army of “Shadow Warriors”. XD

      Taltos
    13. Just a random post ^^ I think Shadow Warrior Chronoicles isn’t a very good name, but of all the American companies out there I’m super-glad that it was ADV films that got it. They do justice to anime I think, and more than likely they did contact the japanese companies; they do it to learn character names and how to spell them and how they’d like them to be presented, why not do the same for the name of the show?
      I dunno, but I can’t wait until it’s dubbed! I’m kinda dreading Hakouro’s voice though… It’s perfect as it is, unique to his character. I can’t see how they’ll match it.

      Ryoura

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