Final Fantasy IX Fandub: Episode 5 [EPISODE COMPLETE]

[Actorman]

FRESH LEMONS PRODUCTIONS
Presents...

FINAL FANTASY IX: The Fandub [EPISODE 5]



[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrrxGxdjKls"]YouTube - Final Fantasy IX Dub Episode 5.1[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j53ZLSytN1g&feature=response_watch"]YouTube - Final Fantasy IX Dub Episode 5.2[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWrtH8fzE84&feature=related"]YouTube - Final Fantasy IX Dub Episode 5.3[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17tAvMQU-z8&feature=channel"]YouTube - Final Fantasy IX Dub Episode 5.4[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BSqx_Hx-iU&feature=channel"]YouTube - Final Fantasy IX Dub Episode 5.5[/ame]


Starring (in order of appearance):

Zidane: Actorman
Quina: Rayna Black
Master Quale: Arimnaes
Vivi: Camarilla
Freya: SaiyanSerenityV
Burmecian Soldier 1: Phantomdubber
Black Mage Soldiers: Motly Fool
Burmecian Soldier 2: Daglot Alta
Zorn: GrumpyTheDorf
Thorn: GrumpyTheDorf
Mogmi: Sasuya
Moguta: Motly Fool
Burmecian Soldier 3: Blade Blur
Gizamaluke: Motly Fool
Steiner: Sonicmega
Short Guard: Darkwolf
Tall Guard: Motly Fool
Worker: Kaktus021
Earnest Young Man: Koichi_Saito
Jobless Jeff: Heaven's Incarnate
Part-Time Worker Mary: Dragonknighttara
Garnet: Exdevlin
Conductor: CountAbyss
Burmecian Soldier Dan: Koichi_Saito
Wei: Dragonknighttara
Burmecian Soldier Kal: Ben
Burmecian Soldier Grey: Motly Fool
Stiltzkin: Motly Fool
Sir Fratley: Zeix
Queen Brahne: Tregatry
Beatrix: Sapphire
Kuja: Dusk-Requiem
Burmecian Soldier 4: Sonicmega

[That's quite a cast to get hyperkneed, right?]

PAST EPISODES

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

[Sapphire]

This was really fun to watch! Everyone was just so good. D:

[takahata101]

you really outdid yourself man! this was REEEally good

[hyperknees91]

Nice to see FFIX has actually been this far dubbed, Good luck on the next 3 discs!

[That's quite a cast to get hyperkneed, right?]

Yeah that list is pretty long, so it might take awhile. Perhaps later or another time. I will say I really enjoyed Sir Fratley's portrayal though, so kudos for doing such a good job.

[Actorman]

Nice to see FFIX has actually been this far dubbed, Good luck on the next 3 discs!

Yeah that list is pretty long, so it might take awhile. Perhaps later or another time. I will say I really enjoyed Sir Fratley's portrayal though, so kudos for doing such a good job.

I await it, sir. I really honestly do appreciate your motivation to critique so many projects, and I'm very glad you enjoyed the dub.

And that goes for the other two above, as well. Glad you all liked it so far!

[Damaru]

Whooo I just watched the whole episode! VERY nice job--I really love what you've done with it. The voices just make this game come to life. I like that you included the battle scenes too; the battle grunts and attacks were fun to hear (although it would've been kind of cool if you put in the cursor moving sounds so it sounds like actual gameplay). I'll put in my two cents for some of the main actors here... Most of this is personal preference and how I myself imagined them to sound like, so please don't take too much of my opinions to heart.


Zidane- I was a little skeptical at first, I'll admit. I imagined Zidane to have a younger, higher pitched voice. Some lines were kind of awkward, flat, and fell out of his character. There wasn't a lot of spunk/oomph or emphasis in a lot of his lines that there needed to be, but in general, just the right amount of energy and personality was put into this cheeky hero. I'm sure I'll get used to it if you maintain this! I think it could grow on me.

Quina- This is an interesting take on Quina. The actress did a good job on portraying a pidgin accent that fit the character, but I heard more of a weird little girl than anything (which is what Quina sort of is --...?-- I suppose). I feel that I didn't hear enough "hunger" in her performance, which is hard to explain, but overall it's a rightfully bizarre approach. Again, this is a rendition I'd have to get used to.

Vivi- I can't tell you how much I adored the voice for Vivi. It was perfect and wonderfully adorable! I couldn't hear a girl at all (which is unfortunately rather detectable sometimes when a female is voicing a boy character); all I could hear was a very sweet, shy and modest boy, Vivi. The actress' way of portraying his hesitance was quite natural and very well done. I don't really have much to say about it in terms of weaknesses... I thought Vivi was done justice. One of my favorites in this fandub!

Freya- A very lovely voice for a lovely character. This was a great fit for Freya because while the actress pulled off a strong, womanly voice for her, there were also traces of frailty and romantic weakness that was the very depth of this character. However, there were several times when her performance noticeably slacked, as if she lost the low calmness and sincerity Freya had. There were times she could have been stronger or weaker, depending on the situation since this complex character fluctuates frequently. I'd work on keeping her consistent, but overall a beautiful choice.

Steiner- Very entertaining! I like the deliberate exaggeration put into this character. It was what I had imagined for Steiner--rumbly and courteous, but also quite silly. At times it seemed rather forced, like it was easy to tell you were trying to maintain that rolling HRRUURRURR kind of voice. Some lines came out awkwardly as a result but the flavorful performance made it stand out less.

Garnet- While her voice is rather princess-like, light, and sweet, I felt that part of the delivery was missing something; it was somewhat flat in a few places. She didn't seem natural to me--I feel that she could have more strength behind her voice. Put more emotion and really understand and grasp the character, and combine it with your current, feathery voice and it'll be sure to shine out more.

Queen Brahne- It sounds a little obvious that you were trying hard to talk as a fat lady. XD I understand that it's difficult to mask an attractive woman's voice by trying to be the opposite: nasty and ugly, but there's little that can be done with that. There was a little peaking from the mic but it wasn't that big of a deal. Good job on making her sound extremely overbearing and pompous though. If you added some gruffness to make her sound more grotesque and deviate from your original voice I think that would help digging into this character.

Beatrix- There was something a bit off here. I think there was a slight slur and flatness in speech. Your womanly voice fits Beatrix like a glove, it's just that as her, you could have added more arrogance and texture, and speak like you had a constant, derisive chuckle in your throat. I also think the performance lacked the firmness of a disciplined soldier, something very important that personifies Beatrix, but maybe you had a completely different take on her. In any case, I know that you're fully capable of fleshing out this character further by being more bold and upfront with your voice.

Kuja- Oh boy... Since Kuja is my favorite character in FFIX besides Vivi, I was kind of holding my breath for how he'd turn out here. So I'm just going to insert my critique that's probably harsher than it should be. I think he was given a silky, theatrical voice like he was supposed to have, but I felt that there could have been a lot more flair here. The dialogue felt like it was being read with minimal dips and curves, while there should have been more variation and flow. I didn't really hear enough enunciations, as someone as dramatic as him would curl on every sentence, rich with emotional tones of mockery, snideness, and devil-may-care attitude. I don't think I got enough of that in the performance, and the voice was also somewhat too deep for him in my opinion. The voice itself is gorgeous and smooth like dark chocolate (to put in a metaphorical sense XP); it's the perfect voice type for Kuja (the accent is a very nice touch too), but Kuja is more like... "caramel"--his personality drips and falls off in wispy tendrils. If you read your lines in more of a "wave" (as in, go from high-low-high rather than high-low-low, low-low-high, etc.) and aspirated your voice a bit to make it sound more breathy it would be perfect.

Most of the extras did very well. The exaggeration of the guards' performances was amusing and fit well. I have to say, though, that Stiltzkin and Sir Fratley impressed me! Very well done. Mixing was great, although my main complaint is that sometimes the voices were too quiet, and also some were louder than others. Some sound effects (like when the dragon at the end was lifting off) could also be stronger, but otherwise well done.

Great job guys, really. I hope to hear more from this project soon!

[Actorman]

I love you, just sayin'.

You hit on a lot of interesting points. I'm glad you thought Zidane was flat--this is the first encounter in the game where Zidane has a really defined sense of duty, and it was a strange transition after having for most of the time before gotten to be somewhat carefree and whimsical. A lot of people think he should be higher, though... I dunno, that's just what a 16 year old sounds like to me. His voice DID fall in pitch at times just from the seriousness of tone from the scene. I'll make sure to work on making that transition less awkward in the future, and calling me out on it now will help me since this definitely isn't the last time it happens.

I won't speak for everyone else, but thank you so much for this critique. A lot of this falls on me as director, so I'm feeling the brunt of the pain, haha--but it's good, and I really do thank you for being as thorough as you were, and I sincerely hope you keep watching.



More critiques, MORE!!!

[hyperknees91]

Time to critique ........everybody!

Zidane- Quite honestly I thought alot of care went into Zidane's character. He wasn't highly energetic like alot of people probably imagine him to be, but I think this fits very well because he is a rather composed character. I really just liked how natural and clear he was though. Not a single line felt really forced and all his emotions were well portrayed (I especially liked the slight laughs he was given). My favorite line from him was actually a rather simple one. Just when he was trying to make Vivi feel better about the black mage talk but couldn't find the words to say "Vivi" it really made me feel like Zidane cared about the guy.

The only thing that I would really say to work on was that I think in part 4 and 5, there were some lines I think he could've played around with more (mainly when he was observing brahne and beatrix with freya) but nothing too major. Overall and excellent job.

Quina and Quale- I honestly have no idea what to say about it. I felt like it worked because they didn't really talk naturally but since they aren't human I felt it gave them more character. They definately portrayed the sillyness of the Qu tribe well though.

Only minor nitpick would be Quale could sound a little more flustered when asked about Vivi's grandfather. But once again nothing major.

Vivi- Very natural and quite honestly, I thought his voice was near perfect for Vivi. He was tenderly treated with each line, giving that slight nervousness he always conveys but still showing that he's really just a kind kid inside. I was also impressed with the energy he showed during battle with the "Slow's". Good show!

Freya- She definately gave a strong tone to this character which I quite enjoyed. Her talk with Sir Fratley was very well done and you could really tell that this was the one person she thought tenderly of.

At the beginning I did think she came off a little stiff, and even slightly read. However once part 4 began I think she eased into her character and her emotions suddenly felt all the more natural. I think on a few moments she really did portray her character almost exactly how I would imagine. Though a few times I felt a different way of wording the lines would've done her more justice "What can I do for the kingdom" probably could've been done without emphasizing the I, and just focused on the emotion she had. But overall I still really enjoyed her performance for the most part.

Burmecian Soldier 1- I thought his first few lines were great, a dying man was definately captured here. My only comment would be that on the last few lines when he was explaining to Zidane would be to sound slightly more forced on his voice, because he can probably hardly get out at this point and it would've made the scene a little more powerful. But overall a nice portrayal.

Black Mages- Kill!

Burmecian Soldier 2- I like the energy but I think it needed to sound just a tad more like you were in some serious pain. Though it's better than overexaggerating it~

Zorn & Thorn- I would've preferred them to be a tad more expressive, but their laugh and their manner of speaking was pretty creepy in itself.

Mogumi- She had alot of great energy here and all her lines were delivered in a very entertaining way. Excellent job I'm sure any moogle would be glad to marry her ~

Moguta- Also had some good energy and seemed like a crazy sounding moogle. Only thing I would say is I think on that initial Kupooooo he could've had a little more of his craziness to it, but good job on making the sound like he was actually rising up.

Burmecian Soldier 3- Good emotion and definately had the right tone and manner of speaking for a half dead guy trying to give a warning.

Gizamaluke- One water snake I wouldn't want to mess with.

Steiner- I think this character was given alot of color. He was silly, but tried to act stern at times but no one would interpret him that way. Also his expression was really good and just portrayed alot with his character. Only few things I would watch out for is that a few words here and there were a bit muffled with his speech and he was occasionally hard to understand. Also I think at times in his speech he would go from high to low inflections a little too often and it made him sound a little awkward (but still playful enough). Can't wait to hear more from him~

Short Guard- Really funny actually. Some of his lines near the beginning sounded a little stiff but then his character was eased into. I especially like the "Don't make a false move" had me rolling on the floor.

Tall Guard- I though his expression was really good (maybe a tad too much at times) and I thought his voice was also really silly. But he also seemed a little unnatural because all his sentences seemed to be read at roughly the same speed and his tone seemed a little too forced. Other than that though he was great.

Worker- I liked this guy because I thought there was a good bit of character to his voice. He sounded like a kinda lazy arrogant worker but not really a plain one either, not really sure how to describe it. I'd watch out on being hissy though as that was slightly present here.

Earnest Young man- An earnest young, expressive, natural but not really lacking character or energy either. A nice portrayal indeed.

Jobless Jeff- Expressed as a guy whose mad at the world nothing wrong with that~

Part Time worker mary- I liked her tone but I felt she was a little too monotonous and lacking in energy. Though her huffs to get on the train were realistic so good job there.

Dagger- I really liked that while she had the tone of a princess at times, you could still tell she was a girl as well "Don't look this way."

Some of her performance felt a little stiff to me though because I think she let the calmness of her character go too far. I think she just a tad more expression from some of her lines would work a little better. Though she did have an appropriate amount of energy displayed with the "Wow!" and it did feel natural, so good job with that.

Conductor- I thought his tone was appropriate for a train conductor, but I also found that he slurred and his line was rather robotic. Perhaps it was a little too rushed.

Dan- I felt like he had the right emotion and feeling going for this character. But I also felt like that emotion was just too forced, if he had been a little more held back this character would've been more believable. I also found his voice the same way, It was nice that it was rough and strong like it should've been but I think a little more polish would go a long way.

Wei- I thought her emotion was really well done and she seemed very comfortable with her character. Well done~

Kal- I also thought his tired and beat up tone was rather well done as well. It seemed natural and his thankfulness to Zidane seemed genuinely expressed. Another good job ~

Grey- Didn't hear much but he sounded good ~

Stiltzkin- Well voiced and a kind soft personality, no real complaints.

Sir Fratley- I really enjoyed this performance because in so few lines I thought alot of character was displayed. He sounded strong and mysterious, but also had a touch of kindness to his voice. Nothing felt out of character and everything was natural, just pure awesomeness.

Queen Brahne- I felt like her voice was mature and ugly enough sounding. But she seemed a little forced in both her voice and manner of speaking. She had the energy down that this character needed to convey but I just wasn't that convinced by her arrogant attitude.

Beatrix- She did sound like a fearless woman with a lot of confidence in her abilities. However I felt like the first few lines came off read, and the next few that she had I felt like the emotion and way of speaking wasn't very natural. Her battle grunts though seemed were conveyed with good energy and I enjoyed her "Thunder Slash!". I think a slightly sterner and calmner tone might work a little better as well because her performance was a tad overexaggerated.

Kuja- I liked his tone of voice and thinks it works quite well. But I felt like he wasn't quite comfortable with his character yet and ran into a few of Beatrix's problems. Still his poetic manner of speaking was fun to listen to and his chuckle wasn't bad (maybe a little more energy).

Burmecian Soldier 4- Well portrayed and it was nice to see his mood instantly change after Beatrix announced her name.

Good job to all of you though, I can tell alot of effort and heart went into this dub and thanks for giving my favorite game the love it deserves~

[Actorman]

You... you actually did it. Thank you so much for the critique, man--I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

[Ben]

Oh, wow! You and Shudo have mastered quite a feat completing the first discs of your respective FF dubs. Congrats and persevere! I have to say, as one of the hugest FFIX dorks in the world, I'm so glad there's this sudden interest in FFIX projects (more than VIII, X, or even VII dare I say). I think there's like five separate ones now on the VAA alone. I've had a lot of people tell me it was their least favorite Final Fantasy. Clearly we have a cult classic.

On to the dub! I apologize in advance, but I only watched the Burmecia portion of Chapter 5. This is one of my favorite parts of the game, very climactic, and it revolves around a lot of my favorite characters: Freya, Beatrix, Kuja, OHHELLALLOFTHEM, etc. If I'm a little nit-picky, be grateful. I will try to review everyone:

Actorman: (Producer) As stated earlier, I love seeing other peoples takes on FFIX. It's like a piece of art which takes on different meaning through another's eyes. I could see when reading your script, you had put a lot of thought into your project, and the fruits of your labor show. (Mixing) Audio: It seemed like there were a lot of gradients in mic quality (to be expected in our community), and some, even mine, stuck out and chopped up the fluidity of the moment. This is obviously not your fault. The volume and the sounds seemed to be at the right levels for the most part. Freya's Trance effect seemed to cut off too early though. Video: Ok. Where were Zorn and Thorn? Did the actor/actress die before this clip or after? I noticed on youtube you said their footage was blocked out. I wonder if there is some shareware you could find to capture your own on the computer. Anyways, their story holds up because Beatrix ends up saying something like "there's been no sign of them". However, there's a lot of talk about the black mages and we don't see any. As video editing goes, there were some frames that overlapped or were jostled (especially in the battle sequence). Perhaps because you edited some of the fight to keep the scene relevant? It looks that way to me, but still a bit choppy. That battle was fun to watch. I thought the sword stealing was a little cheesy but cute. On a random note, I like the credits music video. Nicely put together. (Acting) I really like you as Zidane. He's obviously the inspiration behind the whole production. You portray him as the blunt leader I think Square intended (a nice veer from Cloud and Squall). I really didn't feel there was anything particularly off here. I think Zidane is just as confused as the next guy about why the chaos taking place is taking place. Good job.

SaiyanSerenityV: I think this voice is appropriate for Freya. She sounds youthful enough and strong enough, but I think the Dragon Knight title may have been taken a little too literally; it was too flat. I think if there was ever a time for Freya to be vulnerable, it's now. Her home town is crushed, her friends are dying, and of coarse those Fratley wounds are reopening. It would have been nice to hear her less callous and bit more shaken. "Leave Burmecia, NOW!" Those were good battle ad-libs, fyi. Sock it to Beabitch! It'll be interesting to see this character evolve.

Camarilla: I. Absolutely. Love it! I remember watching a clip of the Dali dub you guys did earlier and how you handled Vivi so gingerly then. This performance was clearly thought through, and with the innocence conveyed here, you really made something special. Keep it up.

Rayna Black: I have mixed feelings about this. I'm also one of those directors - I consider acting skill as the most important part of casting a character versus pitch and mic quality, so I can see the potential Actorman does, and so no need to carry on about how Quina doesn't sound androgynous enough here. Oh well. Moving on. The delivery was hit and miss. Yes, yes, we all know Quina's not the brightest crayon in the box, and I think this was cute enough, but I still felt something lacking. Quina has the diction of a caveman, so she can put emphasis on the right words when necessary. A for effort; keep practicing.

Koichi_Saito: Some good acting here, sir. It's so nice to hear extras that have fleshed out their roles. I've said it before, I think IX has some of the best NPCs in any game ever, and they deserve this kind of treatment. I think though, you tried to make him sound older at several different times by making his voice more gravely? It was inconsistent though, so try to stick with one or the other next time.

Dragonknighttara: Holy balls, you remind me of Katie (oldbie, retired). Again, a strong delivery. I could really feel for her, even though she wasn't a major character. A bit nasal, but nothing distracting, and I didn't notice it the first time watching.

Ben: SHITASSMICETC. >8(

Motly Fool: (Grey) One line. Decent enough. (Stiltzkin) Awwwe. This was enjoyable, but I thought the last line kindof fluctuated oddly.

Zeix: Oooh, boy. This voice was all nice and smooth and chocolaty. I kindof got a little steamy. I do think Frately could have sounded a bit more cordial, though.

Sonicmega: Very well done.

Tregatry: Another favorite in this. Now I -have- to go back and watch your Alexandria clips. She sounds SO pretentious here, as most fat louses with power do. When her aggravation shows easily, she floats up into this 'queenly' high voice as if to cover up her ugliness. Tregatry makes her sound ridiculous but dangerous. "IT'LL BE QUITE DIFFICULT IF THEY'VE ESCAPED TO CLEYRA!" >8O You have some acting skills, girl. If I weighed anything what Brahne does, I'm sure my breathing and voice would be shifting around appropriately. Whether this was intentional or not, I think it sounds great.

Sapphire: I'm not used to this 'BAY-AH-TRIX' pronunciation everyone calls you by, but that's irrelevant. "Ignorant fools. Isn't there anyone who is worthy of facing me." I think Beatrix should have read a bit more annoyed and not so bitchy. I don't think she's wiping out these nations because she's bloodthirsty, moreso I think she's trying to fill the void in her life with the tasks Brahne is making her feel useful with. She has a heart, which doesn't show very much, but I still stand by I think she should have sounded a bit more pensive and less naive about her situation. I want to hear more from you.

Dusk-Requiem: I wasn't fond of this voice. Kuja does seem to be the sadistic playboy type, but it's to an extreme here. The lines were delivered a bit slow, which made the scene a bit over-dramatic, a bit unnatural. I got the aesthetic, but it wasn't easy to digest. Also, Kuja already KNOWS Zidane, so I thought his, "this boy could become a problem" line should have been said more sarcastic and playful (as Zidane is laying pretty much lifeless). The laugh as he ascended into the clouds also sounded very forced.

Well, that's all you'll get from me. My fingers are about to fall off. I enjoyed this immensely, and I'm so glad I can say I was involved. I can't wait to go back and watch - well, the whole first disc. You're 1/4 of the way there, my friends. Keep going!