Topic: .hack//Roots on Cartoon Network

[Fellini 8.5]

I was caught by surprise last night -- I found out that //Roots was actually starting to air already on cable TV.  I managed to snag it on the DVR, as it was actually at 5am this morning. 

The dub isn't all that bad, seeing as I'm a bit prejudiced against dubs for shows I've already seen in Japanese.  A bit stiff in places, but nothing really annoying, though Tabby's voice was pushing it.  Phyllo's voice and performance was actually quite entertaining.  The music is mixed a little low, go figure; compared to the way Mashimo likes his background music, a Black Sabbath concert would be mixed a little low...

One thing I liked for sure, though, is the translation and the writing.  One of the more annoying things about the fansubs (and about most fansubs of shows with mysteries yet-to-be-revealed) is just how ambiguous it was, which made it hard to grasp anything that was going on.  This translation was a lot more helpful.

The video quality was really crummy for me of course.  Not only was it standard-def analog cable, but to top it off, my DVR makes it look even worse than a low-bitrate fansub.  After watching the 720p H.264 version, I'm spoiled there.

I guess they needed to crank this series out for the US market quickly so they can tie it in with the games.  Does anyone remember how quickly //SIGN was turned around from it's Japan release to it's US?  That was just a bit before my time, anime-wise...

[MartAnimE]

Someone uploaded the episode to YouTube! I tried looking for a torrent of the dubbed version but no luck there... ^^; If you can handle the low quality, and you're awfully curious, it's still better than nothing I guess! Here are the links:

.hack//Roots Dubbed Episode 1 (1/3)

.hack//Roots Dubbed Episode 1 (2/3)

.hack//Roots Dubbed Episode 1 (3/3)

 I noticed they messed up with the ending theme (that's not very nice ^^; ) and for some weird reason they refer to Haseo's player class as "black death rogue" (if I heard it correctly)! Why change the obviously English term "multi weapon" into "death rogue" can someone explain me? ^^; Maybe it's related with the game thing...?

[Ombrenuit]

for some weird reason they refer to Haseo's player class as "black death rogue" (if I heard it correctly)! Why change the obviously English term "multi weapon" into "death rogue" can someone explain me? ^^; Maybe it's related with the game thing...?

You know that is very interesting ^^; I suppose the English team felt that Multi Weapon was a bit lackluster in terms of stirring the imagination, and also a bit of a "cool english phrase" since it really makes no sense  (A character that used multiple weapons or that is a mix of other classes? It didn't seem so because his character only used one weapon until he 'transcended' per se, and it didn't seem as if he casted magic or had special skills).

 In a way I think "death rogue" sounds "cooler" to American audiences, but also it probably fits the description better simply because a rogue is usually a quick character that uses little armor and fast weapons. Death might just refer to the fact that he is a "black multi-weapon" ^^; It also probably connects more to familiar classes in western mmorpgs.

I wonder if color means something special in the .hack universe, and if it really makes a significant difference to the class (if there is something special and different between a White Shino and a Black Shino, did she change class?). I wonder if there are any white multi-weapons 

[JP Yuri]

for some weird reason they refer to Haseo's player class as "black death rogue" (if I heard it correctly)!

Actually, I kept hearing (and it was captioned as) "black adept rogue", if that makes a difference.

[MartAnimE]

for some weird reason they refer to Haseo's player class as "black death rogue" (if I heard it correctly)!

Actually, I kept hearing (and it was captioned as) "black adept rogue", if that makes a difference.

 Well, I'm sure if you have seen it on TV you had a much better sound quality than the Youtube episode I watched, so you must be right! Besides, it's not my first language after all... ^^;

 Still makes little sense that they changed it from "black multi-weapon" to "black adept rogue"... Anyway, the .hack//Roots article on wikipedia seems to have been updated with the english dub information already, so you can check there for any more details on changes made to player classes or any other additional information (oh and if you're watching it for the first time on TV beware of spoilers!). I'm amazed they know the characters real names and ages! ^^;

[Ombrenuit]

Well as for the ages, this is a series that I suppose is being of secondary importance to the game  ; I imagine its information provided in the manual ^^; and as for the "Black Adept Rogue" etc. I simply think that they were translations for the game, which undoubtedly (okay, we can only assume) came before the show translation, which had to be consistent. All right, that's a bit of a leap, it would be interesting to find how why there was inconsistency; or perhaps it was a fan-subbing error in the first place. But adept rogue (especially a name for a class) seems both a bit redundant and illogical considering Haseo's character is a low level  .

[MartAnimE]

or perhaps it was a fan-subbing error in the first place

 No chance for that. They say "multi-weapon" clearly and in english in the original japanese episodes. I think you might be right that it's a change made to fit the term used in the playstation game english version (since the japanese version also stated it as "multi-weapon"!