Darker than Black Funimation Dub

A month or so ago, Funimation made the first three episodes of Darker than Black available for viewing online. I finally got around to giving it a watch. Yes, I am a slow bento.

The vocal cast brings in a good performance for the most part. Jason sounds nothing like the original Hei, but his characterization works wonders, and it only took me a bit to get used to his rendition. I didn't get to hear much, but Mao and Huang both were pretty solid in their roles. I'd have to hear more before I could form a decent opinion, though. Brina Palencia is an enigma to me. I honestly don't understand how she keeps getting cast as these monotone types (Eve, Enma Ai, Ennis, Moru...) because honestly, that's really not her strong point. Voicing characters like these requires a lot more subtlties in the acting, and while Yin is supposed to have no personality, the bland, robotic acting is disappointing. Kate as Misaki brings in good energy and characterization, but I'm puzzled by her (or possibly the director's) choice to make Misaki's voice a good amount higher and younger than the original. Misaki has a mature image, and the choice of voice seems a little out of place. Colleen as Chiaki was excellent. Her voice displayed the strain and weariness of the character well, and I think she managed to bring out even more than the original. Oh yeah, and whoever voiced Li's landlady is pretty cool too.

The scripting is pretty solid for the most part. I'm impressed with how well they managed to convert over all the bizarre terminology of contractors, payment, ME, and other random words the original authors came up with into something that sound vaguely coherent. If they can actually make all those terms make sense, they'll have outdone the original in terms of script at least (I never did "get" all of the rules and stuff in Darker than Black). Some of the changes are mystifying (Like the landlady assuming Li is some sort of "God-freak evangelist" rather than a salseman) and some put a little bit of a jolt in the plot (Like Hei telling Chiaki to "try to forget," rather than commanding her to forget). Nothing major that throws the entire plot off course, though. So I can't really complain.

Overall, I'd say the quality of this dub is what I'd expect from the industry today. It's easily accessible to new viewers, and old fans probably won't go into a rage over it (but they probably won't find themselves watching it very often, either). I'm neither disappointed nor blown away by the quality. Dub watchers will find a solid show to enjoy. Dub haters...well that's why there are subtitles.

--Ou-bento