Shogun Assassin 5-Film Collector’s Set — dvd box set review — early!
Shogun Assassin 5-Film Collector’s Set. By far, the easiest review I’ve ever done. Chris has done all the dirty work already with his awesome reviews of the rogue ronin Ogami Itto and his impossibly adorable son Daigoro, so all that’s left for me to do is reveal the special features.
You’ll find program notes (brief description), an image gallery slideshow, DVD credits, audio commentary with film scholar Ric Meyers and martial arts expert Steve Watson.
An interview with dub director Scott Houle describes the tedious process of dubbing voice-overs, adding music and effects tracks, mixing tracks. Beginning with immersion for familiarity with the film (even prior to receiving the translated script), moving on to stealthily casting appropriate voice actors, and rounding out with loads of research out of necessity (actors’ motivation) and personal interest in the culture and history of Feudal Japan. Houle also discusses the difference between live-action dub and anime, mainly involving the quest for authenticity in retro-fying sounds and equipment used (i.e.: mics), and degree of difficulty. It ain’t small beans; an hour and a half of film equals about a month and a half of planning, recording, completing a dub, not including mix time. The dub wizard also expresses his concern for the hazards of loose, truncated interpretations, explaining his preference for dubs over subs, and reasons for recommending Mac Pro Tools.
Also included in the set is 26-page booklet featuring an essay, making-of interview, liner notes, cast bios and “where are they now?” blurbs, plus a few black/white photo stills. Several key terms are explained in a short glossary for each film.
Brownie points for the warning tag: “[c]ontains violence, nudity, and rivers of blood” and the fold-out case with the title in bold block letters across the bottom third, with only enough room for 2-3 letters of the word Shogun Assassin per panel, so you can flip and “customize” onomatopoeical words like “sinun” and “sasog” and “unass”.
- Shogun Assassin
- Shogun Assassin 2: Lightning Swords of Death
- Shogun Assassin 3: Slashing Blades of Carnage
- Shogun Assassin 4: Five Fistfulls of Gold
- Shogun Assassin 5: Cold Road to Hell
Shogun Assassin 5-Film Collector’s Set is set for a November 18th release from AnimEigo.
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