I cannot speak for the newer dub of "Grave of the Fireflies" on BD, but I will say that of the Ghibli dubs, Central Park Media's "Grave" is probably the least effective. J. Robert Spencer is fine as Seita, but Rhoda Chrosite's Setsuko sounds very unconvincing and unnatural, and that is a major problem. I can tolerate a somewhat mature voice for a character roughly around 13-14 (Pazu in Laputa, Vic Mignogna as Edward in Fullmetal Alchemist, even though David Henrie as Shawn was a bit eccentric, although not to the point where he brought down the dub), but for Setsuko, it's crucial for her to sound authentic because she's four years old. That and this is also a drama, not a fantasy. Amy Jones does an OK job as the Aunt, but honestly the best VAs in the dub are the ones who get incidental roles: Veronica Taylor, Dan Green, and Crispin Freeman have cameo appearances and they turn in fine jobs. All in all, though, the CPM "Grave" dub is nowhere nearly as good as any of the Disney Ghibli dubs. That said, it certainly isn't the worst Ghibli dub around: those prestigious titles belong to the gross edit of "Nausicaa" in the 1980's retitled as "Warriors of the Wind", and the ancient 80's dub of "Castle in the Sky". Disney's version of that film, while not perfect, is easily a masterpiece by comparison.
reply
share