8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kodocha a.k.a. Marmalade Boy on crack!, January 26, 2009
This review is from: Kodocha: Season One Box Set (DVD)
To be fair to this wonderful early 90's anime series, I will give it 5 stars to counter the other harsh 1 star review. (I would have honestly given it 4 stars, otherwise.) The series itself should be given 5 stars, but this review is also for the Funimation DVD translation and contents, therefore, 4 stars.
I'll start with the series itself:
I am a huge fan of Kodocha and it's possibly one of my favorite anime series of all time. That's no easy task as I have seen many, many anime series and am quite selective about quality; not popularity. Kodocha is one of few anime capable to make me cry so hard. It can also effectively make me laugh as hard. Sometimes, both, simultaneously! I can say with confidence that not many anime can (and will) match Kodocha when it comes to the department of wackiness and variety. It covers various topics ranging anywhere from love, pregnancy, friendship, child abuse, homelessness to relationship with parents. I would like to go on and on about how wonderful and brilliant this series is but I also don't want to write an essay.
Now on with the Funimation DVD contents:
Regarding the gripe about the missing first season opening, Funimation apparently couldn't get the rights to use Tokio (performer of the opening song). Also, in the first episode, the reason some dialog was bleeped out is because one of the members of Tokio was mentioned. No big deal.
The dub and translation is where this release struggles the most. I'll be honest and say I'm no dub fan. Regardless, I understand the purpose of dub and can appreciate a good dub when I hear it. Laura Bailey is probably one of the most talented female voice actress out there for anime. She does a wonderful job filling the role of the main character, Sana Kurata. It's unfortunate to say that other characters are simply tragic. I'll just leave it at that. And the translation itself have some flaws mentioned by the other reviewer.
Regardless of some of the flaws, giving this wonderful series "1-star" is unwarranted since these flaws are easily avoided if watched in it's original language. This Funimation release isn't perfect by any means, but the quality of the series itself is definitely worth the price of this box set. Twenty-seven hyperactive, engaging, humorous, wacky, emotional roller coaster episodes for $40-something? Honestly, what are you waiting for?
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easily one of the best child romance, school life, and slice-of-life anime ever!!!, October 27, 2009
This review is from: Kodocha: Season One Box Set (DVD)
I've heard of certain Funimation flops that do well in Japan and are well-recieved critically, but... are financially a flop because not enough people in the U.S. are aware, appreciative, or just flat-out care about this type of show.
Kodocha (anagramical summaration for Kodomo-no-Omocha/a.k.a. A Child's Toy) is a story about a SUPER-hyperactive girl and her everyday life through life at it's highest and lowest moments.
Sana is, by far, one of the most energetic anime heroines EVERRR! So energetic that the word: "energetic" probably can't even describe it!
She is an aspiring child actor who is egoless as much as she is energetic, making her one of the VERY FEW hyper anime characters that's not annoying, but rather endearing.
She has a quarrel with one of the bad apples, Akito, and tries to best him, and ends up helping him in a way that forever affects him... She treats it like it's no big deal, but for him... he can't express how grateful and happy he is to her.
Sana thinks of Akito in a dual manner: One side of her thinks of him as a mortal enemy (and I say this in the most humorous of intentions), and the other side of her thinks of him as an eternal best friend.
With this as the initial premise of the story, we go through life in the eyes of kids. Rarely sappy, always fun(ny), sometimes confusing, and emotionally affecting.
(For spoiler reasons I've subtracted, to the best of my abilities, all of the details leading the events I've specified.)
As for the product itself: It contains the first 6 DVDs of the original releases, spanning from eps 1-24, handling the first 2 story arcs, and adding a fun recap episode, and some great slice-of-lifers.
The audio options are English 5.1, Stereo, and Japanese Stereo. You might think that a 5.1 seems unnecessary for this type of show, but believe me! IT IS A HUGE BONUS!
Dubbing is handled by Funimation. Funimation is widely known for their adaptable reversioning on Dragon Ball Z, their legendary voice work for Fullmetal Alchemist, and for their super accurate adapation of the life affecting Mushi-Shi.
Here we see more of an interpretation than an accurate dub effort. That doesn't mean, by a long shot, that it's on of their inferior works!
Laura Bailey shows some of the best talents an English VA can do. Her fast paced speech is PERFECTION for Sana's character. COMPLETE PERFECTION!!! Need further proof? Watch the 1st episode!
Jerry Jewell initially disturbed viewers with his low-pitched tone, that some thought was too deep to pass as a kid. If you continue though, you'll find that his voice connects quite... pleasingly... It's an (extremely fast) acquired taste, so no worries with that issue.
Extra's include textless opener, interviews with the director, and commentaries with Collen Clinkenbeard, and Laura Bailey. The commentaries were especially interesting, since you see how much fun they had with the series, in both dubbing and in actually watching it!
Kodocha is an overlooked anime that NEEDS much more attention than it already has.
Buying this is a no-brainer, and, while it may seem like a Saturday morning cartoon, it has some of the best insights of child life that NO cartoon, American or Japan, has!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
