Miscellaneous

Dubbed anime ain’t so bad when Conan O’Brien does it

 

Newly-anointed host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show”, literal and figurative behemoth Conan O’Brien, has always been pretty damn funny – lately he’s been getting a bit more buzz in some online circles after his set was recognized to look like a level in Super Mario – and now, he’s made his foray into the anime industry. Turns out their studio is not far from Bang Zoom, one of the companies that does the English dubbing for anime, so in true Conan fashion, he and co-host Andy are put to work voicing none other than… Ghost in the Shell.

Of particular interest is a cameo from Tenjou Tenge chibi Maya’s rocket tits; also, I would’ve liked to hear them tackle Gurren Lagann instead – but then again, watching Conan shout “I WILL PIERCE THE HEAVENS WITH MY DRILL” might have been the end of all anime in the English-speaking world…

Miscellaneous / Suzumiya Haruhi

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gensou Actually Not Bad

     

In my dark and depressing pre-20 anime per week days, I would usually scoff at those who listened to anime and game OSTs – why listen to some pew pew soundtrack when you could be listening to… oh, Puff Daddy or DMX or uhh Ayumi Hamasaki. Y’know – cool people music.

Ah, those were the days. Since then my music collection has slowly been overtaken by an abundance of [nipponsei], and I’ve even uploaded some Youtube videos of me playing those same songs I used to scoff at.

Times have changed, and I’ve really started to appreciate the amount of talent that goes into this kind of composing. Still, I believe there’s a difference between the music that goes into the likes of K-ON and that of Gundam, specifically it how well it translates to classical orchestra music.

Which is why I was thoroughly surprised with Suzumiya Haruhi no Gensou, the concert by the Tokyo Philharmonic on April 29 that was just released on CD. The music from Haruhi was largely… teenybopper and/or rock, both of which I wouldn’t imagine translating well into classical.

Surprisingly enough, the adaptation is quite good! Some tracks remind me of Hisaishi’s work in Totoro, others sound like it could’ve come out of some classic Disney movie. Well, the instrumental tracks, at least. Several tracks have Hirano Aya and Chihara Minori blaring away, and while some of you will probably love these alternate versions, their inability to hit or hold the right notes is a bit hard on my ears.

Check out orchestral Mikurun-run and a Hiranofied God Knows!