Dub Talk 279: Somali and the Forest Spirit

0:00 warning the dev Talk podcast contains language and content that may not be suitable for younger audiences listener discretion is advised there will also be spoilers for various anime throughout the course of this episode please use caution in case we discuss a series that you haven't finished finally the opinions Express are those of the individual participants and may not reflect the dub dog podcast as a whole enjoy the show [Music] hello and welcome to a brand new episode of Dev talk show where a bunch of nerds get together talk about the latest greatest in dubs and voice over in the English language um I am your host today roots of Justice uh joining me today is Andrew I like to

0:45 feel things this is a show that's good about feeling things and we're gonna feel a lot of things tonight friends including parental love heartbreak sadness and Eldritch Horror and we also have jet what is this feeling you call love baby don't hurt me don't hurt me no more messy I I thought you were gonna go into the I I Believe in a Thing Called Love thing but different Rock reference see now I'm sitting here and I'm trying to think about how would how would have how would a stoic very straight matter of fact golemen say What is love baby don't hurt me

1:33 what is this emotional response in my chest please I ask you refrain from harming this person do not do not harm this person anymore yeah okay cool we get we got it all right anyway anyway there we go um we're talking Somali in the forest Spirit today uh this was the actual winner of our seasonal patreon raffle um and Andrew who ended up winning the raffle this time around this was Julia W who not only has requested this episode but as a fun fact for you it is because of the home video release that

2:22 Julia was actually able to update the anime News Network casting list so we could actually do a dub talk episode that's like way back when it first yeah so a second fun fact um not only is this the first time I'm on a patreon episode uh this is also my first hosting gig for a patreon episode and that is because originally when the show was coming out I was gonna host an episode for this but we didn't have a sufficient castles to do it yeah there's a specific there's a specific reason for that would you like to explain why that was in fact how so

3:07 oh literally the specific reason was the fact that this was an early Crunchyroll English dub that they commissioned themselves completely independently from the FUNimation partnership which I believe oh gotcha which I believe they were broken up from at the time so this was one of those shows that they had commissioned for and I believe they they didn't actually announce any of the cast at the time so it was basically just I think I think that answer the weeds were and that was it they announced the two leads and then everybody else either announced theirselves on social

3:53 media or they didn't I think for the longest time I knew of exactly five characters in this dub yeah I I mean I mean I was able to guess like Emergency Care everybody gets all the caters we'll be talking about but there are a few sad characters who would like completely Escape like like even outside of like our own knowledge and memory we've kind of learned over the years that to assume is to make an ass out of you and me so if you're like I think I know who that person is and nobody can really corroborate it you don't actually know who that person is yeah trust me I learned that one the hard way so for like a good two-ish years two maybe three years

4:40 we had pretty much no real complete concrete cast list and then Sentai filmworks picked up a bunch of Crunchyroll titles for home video and then put them out and then when they put and here we are then they put it out with a complete picture of the cast list Side characters cast and crew and all so now we have a complete puzzle uh our lovely Patron Julia w compiled that cast list from the DVD from the Blu-ray release updated the a n and now here we are today and there we are so a brief plot summary courtesy of anime News Network which comes from the manga uh in a world ruled by spirits and

5:28 monsters humans are persecuted and driven to the brink of Extinction in a certain force a Golem the guardian of the forest and a little girl meet their Journey as surrogate father and daughter to each other begins and it's basically just like that this is a Charming little show that I kind of started but did it really get far in way back when I think I I liked I saw the first two episodes and enjoyed what I saw but it like nothing immediately had like grabbed me at the time I thought it was charming and cute and I figured yeah I had started it and then the pandemic happened yeah and

6:14 God was it and my schedule crunched yeah that's wrong yeah yeah I think for me it was I said it was I certainly didn't share with Japanese thought it was fun I thought it was cute but like I guess I didn't think too too much of it beyond that then came back and I was like okay I want it that way I got a little farther to the dog which I liked and then I kind of fell behind after a bit and then like we were getting down to crunching for dummies that year so I was like okay because I should probably finish the show now and then I was like oh wow this was a much much much better show that I thought I would pick up those first three episodes it is yeah this is a Charming show and I think the thing that was kind of interesting to me about

7:01 the specific time it was released is that there was like a period of time where I think like Crunchyroll was picking up and dubbing several shows which were like the pseudo parent experience and you're like oh this is very cute this is very sweet it's a found family thing it's Charming it's like a father and daughter and then you're like hey let me look a little into the spoilers of the series and see how it goes and they grow up and they hook up [ __ ] [ __ ] it's it's just it's just it's just that song from The Producers what Nathan Lane

7:49 singing about how he was betrayed it's that feeling it's that level of like oh this is cute it's family family is more than just blood it's Charming it's adorable what do you mean she grows up faster than a normal childhood what do you mean they hook up that's [ __ ] no no stop it uh the Betrayal I'm very curious I'm not gonna say what the show was I'm curious if people could figure that out from those context clues and I mean I mean there's okay I mean there are like two or three shows like that so that's definitely everything yeah the fact that it the fact that you don't know is kind of the worst part please put in the comments what show you think I'm talking about below

8:37 any idea how little that narrows it's basically that yeah but this is a show about an inhuman Golem literally inhuman and a small human child having a parent and child Bond and I remember when I first watched this after several times I had been betrayed by shows like I had just described my immediate thought was and I hate that this was my immediate thought this is probably going to be the worst thing I'm going to say tonight and then we will move on my immediate first thought was

9:22 oh thank God he has no dog this is gonna be fine not wrong just because you're correct doesn't mean you're right that's what I know you want to say yeah yeah yeah yeah uh yeah I mean I don't want to be like there are certain things where you can kind of tell if there's a chance of it going that direction because sometimes you really can't but it's like I would be like flabbergasted if that was like I know you've been remotely in the car for this yeah yeah this is this is a this is an adventure show in a unique world and

10:09 it's kind of like a it's like a buddy road trip a father-daughter story and kind of like an impending tragedy all at once while also being shockingly colorful creative and pretty intriguing in its World building it's basically like made of a made in Abyss but without most of the things that turn people off from Maiden Abyss I see what you mean about made it Abyss but I want to throw another one in there I'd say it's also got a bit of that Kino's journey in there too yeah yeah I can see where you're coming from with that if the thought of made in

10:54 Abyss meets Kino's Journey excites you it probably should I would like to talk more about this one and uh yeah talk about it we shall starting with its ADR staff uh so we have two directors and a scriptwriter uh first of all we have Kirsty Simone who you would know from such works as Tower of God burn the witch and suck a gun and we also have an interesting one in the form of Joel Muller who you would probably recognize from things like Baki and the second series of tiger and Bunny he apparently does a lot of casting and

11:41 um direction for prelay work that studiopolis does really and then in terms of script writing we have Steve Kramer another really interesting figure to talk about in terms of script writing because his credits include things such as tiger and Bunny which is one of the more recent ones I can list off but also monster also Robotech okay so this is beers it's like the beginning beginning so that that is yeah as far as like I feel like people like to throw around somebody being an anime OG nothing is more OG than [ __ ] Robotech

12:31 I mean I see I mean I've seen I mean I've at least see like the extreme blind uh hagliers are dub and he was going on in that so yeah he's been around since like the 80s yeah I mean like him Richard epcar Tony Oliver like they've they've basically been around and seen the anime industry grow into what it is it's really fascinating to see his name here it used to just be literal pennies like I know we talk about like there's a conversation about the industry being particularly like cheap and stuff like that but it used to be literal pennies I would imagine probably yeah

13:22 but I reminded me I think anime that's what he like literally started like a basement or something I was like I should do this guitar like I did a video on it but like my memories escaping me yeah but honestly I've gotta say um the script writing and Direction feels really and honestly necessarily low-key yeah but so yeah it's really oh yeah it's really tall and I think the direction here is that really good like all the same like all the characters out how they need to uh they're like uh there's a pretty good they're pretty good amount of distance between the main cast and even like and even some of the

14:08 anybody some of the background characters I appreciate like they but like some of them have like quirky little you know monster voices without going like super over the top of it which I appreciate it kind of gives the it kind of gives a double lots of flavor in a way that I kind of used to take more of more out of like you know maybe suffered the late 90s or early 2000s opposed to like modern dogs but it is kind of a nice little tense and I appreciate and I'm and I'm script wise I think it's pretty good is it again there's like a pretty good amount of decision between characters like was that like how like everything feels how everything feels out good

14:55 that she does get out aside from you know maybe saying father instead of like Daddy or something to eat otherwise sounds like a little kid which I appreciate because uh little kid is a much harder script writing thing to do than you might think and Steve does that really well so uh this is an interesting show to kind of revisit because I know we mentioned a lot about like early Crunchyroll dub stuff which was done either at studiopolis or at bang Zoom and I feel like there's a lot of studiopolis dubs that have been done by them that I would say are a little on the um

15:45 okay like yeah like saitama saying okay level okay yeah yeah I would say it's a lot of these guys to get hit by that there's a lot of the isekai's which is very much like a like a lot of the people that work at studiopolis are people who have been in this industry for a long long time like actual ogs like the types of people that have been around long enough that probably just either do not have social media accounts or just don't give a [ __ ] about being active and engaged on social media these are people who have been around for like several decades as far as the work they do and I feel like a lot of the things that like Crunchyroll gave them to do were

16:31 kind of isekai which is very some of these shows might be interesting and some of them might be okay this is the flavor of the week show that you have probably completely forgotten about until I brought it up where it's like uh High School prodigies have come from another world or did I say to make my average abilities great in the next life or those types of things yeah everything I can remember that second one was because Veronica the only one was it did it I like I'm forgetting a lot of those but it's just this level of like oh they they the the stuff they worked on with Crunchyroll were not always the

17:18 strongest like they seemed like pretty middle of the roads for projects and sometimes it's a matter of the material but sometimes it just felt like it was okay output yeah that's why going through this one again it's kind of like this is a lot stronger than I was expecting it to All Things Considered I think the strong benefit for this particular dub is that this is a relatively small core cast working on at least engaging material well another thing that I kind of wanted to bring up in terms of the direction of script writing is

18:04 um so on the one hand well the while it does sort of fall into the pitfall of the Crunchyroll studiopolis stubs where the double casting is kind of rampant with the secondary cast it's not quite as noticeable as something like oh brought an example my next life as a villainous that or um Tokyo Revengers fair enough I I really like I do enjoy the dub of my next life as a villainous but my thought process is like every other character is charmingly yeah it also think it helps that like the incidentals in the show feel very

18:50 incidental in that this is a this is an NPC in a in a big vast world or this is a straggler or this is a guy that's going to get his ass kicked they will disappear as soon as they are off frame where I feel like the the issue with a lot of those other project projects is that these are named characters who have to interact with each other I remember a particular actress do for their acting reel was like I'm doing a scene where two characters I voice are playing off of each other in a scene and that was one of those studiopolis isakai projects

19:36 yeah but I think um thankfully report that it's only kind of noticeable with Somali but at the same time like the actors do a pretty good job of making the background characters they play distinct like I think yeah yeah yeah I think it's I do get to think of if you are familiar with these characters I mean if you're familiar with these actors like you could probably pick them out of a crowd yeah yeah you'll be able to pet them out but like they're doing executive voices that they don't sound like whatever major characters they're playing so like yeah play like it's on right but I think I definitely do think this is a pretty

20:22 interesting dub and I think the core actors like the the core crew and even like the incidental characters are strong and distinct enough that they really left an impact several of the ones we're going to talk about tonight I really was like incredibly impressed with their work I actually think it was a lot stronger of a dub than I was expecting this to be hmm and I think with that we can probably start talking about those characters um so I'm only Really Gonna introduce three groups of characters because they're like the ones that have a couple episodes and an arc to them but we are gonna probably talk about at

21:10 least a couple more as the course of the episode goes on and we're actually bringing them into conversation um first of all we have the Ark in the desert where Golem and Somali are trying to travel to the edge of the desert where there has been rumored to be a settlement of humans um I should also mention the the uh the core mission of Somali and Golem and that is Golem is trying to get Somali to a group of humans to take care of her because he is within the last year of his life cycle uh Golems typically live about nine uh about a thousand years and he has um he is in his 999th year he has roughly

21:57 300 days left to function before he dies it's basically this is a small defenseless human child in a world that hates human and I need to find her a home where she can be safe and happy which the more you go through the show I really do not think she would be safe or happy with a colony of humans but that's that's we'll get into that um we'll get into that so in the desert um Somali and Golem meet two bird people named uzoi and haitora um uzoi is of the the monster category harpy and I can't remember the the group that

22:42 they put haitora in I think he was he was just like a a birdkin and that was kind of their cover story gotcha but as we as that kind of implies he's not actually a bird person at all he is completely human um but due to the act of eating uzoi's mother has been infected with feathers across his face that has scarred him I feel like the phrase karma is a [ __ ] is almost an understatement for high Torah nope hi Torah kills uzoi's mother in a fit of

23:29 panic and because he and his family are hidden out in a cave and starving they decide oh we're gonna eat her um his wife and daughter die in the process because the the feathers that infect them infect their throat and they suffocate um he is not so lucky and it just hits him in the face it it just grazes him while he watches his wife and daughter die painful horrible deaths as the child of the harmless woman he [ __ ] beat and consumed finds him at his truck and is left alone in this world so he basically takes her on and becomes her dad out of sheer guilt

24:15 it's rough yeah it felt God you know what I was thinking of like during that whole episode I was like wow this side this kind of cute show suddenly became very Chimera and Arc Billy doesn't go away after this episode and then her and then her other batch of characters shows up in the second episode and then they are a major presence in the finale um they're too Oni one named shizuno and one named yabashira um they're kind of a wisecracking Duo the show never makes it clear if they're

25:02 brothers or you know two brothers chilling in a hot tub as as I think I think it's like uh one is like an artist and the other is like explicitly like um is that I guess like works for him was supposed to be the application I think I would say that these two have a very they are bickering married couple energy straight up yeah you've got like the bread you've got kind of got like the actual like Breadwinner who's just kind of like a helpless idiot on their own and then you've got the other one who's kind of like the house husband who could

25:49 actually take care of the things that need to be done but is also not afraid to call the other one out a big lazy and stupid yeah too much I was gonna say this out for a little bit why not Jesus Molly how could we get three dads she kind of does get three okay I'd argue two and a half still uh and then we have our leaves uh Somali and Golem Somali is a little girl who was um her backstory is revealed toward the end of the series where she was part of a shipment of humans it's unclear if she was about to be sold as a slave or as food she was absolutely going to be sold as something because

26:37 she was chained up and she basically escaped because the driver was under the influence and literally killed everybody in that cart and through his ability to communicate with animals Golem finds Somali and at first tries to Ward her away but she ain't having none of that yeah she kind of like immediately imprinted onto him kind of at first sight which leads me to believe she has had a pass with a Golem but they don't really say as much in the show but she treats Golem as her father and

27:24 through their interactions and uh Golem's realization that even with with his rapidly diminishing lifespan she is not going to be protected in the event he finally succumbs to time so he decides I'm gonna go ahead take her I'm gonna take her to a human Village and then I can die in peace which of course the greatest the greatest laid plans of mice and men often go awry yep the golf the gollum's a really cool Golem by the way like I feel like oh yeah I feel like there's a lot of them that kind of treat the more

28:10 like either mechanical or like boring like I feel like this this universe's take on Golems is kind of goes into the mystical elements of them which I actually really appreciate so introducing the actors for our main core cast of characters like I said we're going to be talking about more over the course of the series and we're gonna name actors but I'm not gonna go so far into the the roles they played for them except for one uh so hi Torah is played by Michael yurchak uh you would know Michael yerchak from such roles as ungo sakaguchi from Bunga

28:57 stray dogs hawk'sai from the vizdub of Sailor Moon Tenma Uno Mia from TwinStar Exorcist and also one that I wanted to mention um Toby aka the adult Obito from Naruto Shippuden get the [ __ ] out what yeah okay yeah yeah specifically yeah specifically he was the first one I'd like Toby before we found out he was you know secretly are we doing oh my God I [ __ ] missed that one just because I I didn't see the other roles holy [ __ ] oh yeah holy [ __ ] what and uzoi is played by Christina Valenzuela under the credited name Christina B um you would know Christina Valenzuela from such roles as Vivi from Vivi floret

29:42 ice song uh sakuramato from they say not even limited blade works and darkness from konosuba and because I compared that whole Arc to the khmera ant Arc I'm gonna throw in kilwa zoldick from Hunter Hunter yeah also Killa uh yabashira is played by Kyle McCarley uh he has play characters such as Pearson Hill from Hunter Hunter John Steinbeck from Bunga stray dogs and uh Mob from Mob cycle 100. shizuno is played by Lucian Dodge you would know him from such characters as waiver velvet from the Fate franchise akaza from Demon Slayer and mahito from Jiu Jitsu Kaiser Somali is played by Karina bediger uh you would know Karina from such roles as magical cat from the second season of

30:28 tiger and Bunny uh tatsumaki AKA terrible tornado from the second season of one punch man and Aya tadamaru from kimonojihan and because I'm not going to shut up about it and it's going to be my biggest point of reference for tonight they are Mizuki from I the somnium files and I the somnium files Nirvana initiative yep there's that and also because I feel like people would complain if we didn't uh yes they are also probably about to get to it backwards and the thing both people would probably do okay look look look in Impact is genshin impact we don't need to suck it off anymore than the rest of the internet does but I mean Andrew

31:15 the kitchen impact fans didn't game the game awards ballots for us not to mention it oh ah watching the episode oh boy that was that was great that was great I've seen a shocking amount of people shipping gentian characters with Sonic Sonic the Hedgehog by the way [Laughter] the internet's a strange place every day we know for the Exotic acids out that's out of the Hedgehog will marry you if you fulfill these very

32:00 specific conditions so you know what sure why not alrighty and last but not least uh the Golem is played by one Kyle hiber you would know Kyle hibera from such rolls as sosuke Eisen in Bleach fat gum in my hero Academia and Gohan the adult version in Dragon Ball Z fun fact I just learned from a random article on a n from the year 2000 there was a rumor they were going to try and get Freddy Prince Jr to be adult Gohan like 22 years ago and I'm I kind of glad that fell through don't try I'm kind of glad that fell through

32:45 because like I I can't imagine that being anybody other than Kyle a bear to be honest I mean I don't know if it was true or not but I remember is that I remember hearing stories way back when like I think it was like a remedy when funny first acquired able movie something about like I I don't I don't try to do other people joking that they should get Robin Williams like in there because he was a pretty big gamer for him I think that might have been the um live action movie ADV tried to get off the ground man the anime industry's got some fascinating weird stories but anyways I I just need to break that up because I'm like that's so wild yeah I may never forget

33:32 that he did everybody's got a story but honestly actually like bringing up the the three groups like the story in the desert is probably like it's to me it's the emotional core of the entire series of Somali in the forest spirit I I would actually 100 agree because everything about uzloy and high Torah is very overt parallels between Gollum and Somali just somehow even more tragic than literal child being sold into slavery or food

34:18 yeah yeah it's and like the thing of it is like the parallels work so well because like not only is it you know a monster either a monster taking care of a child or a human taking care of a monster like it's it's also that kind of character Arc of guilt for both High Torah and Golem paralleling against one another with with high Torah guilty that he basically murdered uzoi's mother and Golem whether whether he realizes it or not is feeling guilty for the fact that eventually at some point he will have to leave Somali behind and it may

35:05 not be his choice when it happens there's a lot of great parallels between these two groups of characters and I really really enjoyed a lot of their performances in particular Christina V is kind of very established at this point but I adore this kind of bratty bird girl she's playing uh yeah because because I enjoyed somali's friendship with a lot of characters her age like I really like we're not gonna talk about them tonight I adore uh Alex cesares is that how you say their name Alex cesarez as uh kikila the cute little bunny boy from the uh prior Arc

35:53 and I like seeing those two interact together and seeing Somali get to befriend like children her age and having to have like this childhood friendship Dynamic with like a little kid who's trying to be brave and a girl who's just kind of like naturally sweet and kind of bold like she like she's traveled a lot at this point like Kiko is a kid trying to be brave but kind of a little bit of a scaredy cat and Somali is just a good girl who has been through a lot and can handle herself better than she lets on and I like that Dynamic but uzoi presents a very different dynamic which is a what happens when you deal

36:39 with somebody who's kind of a little bit of a brat and how do you handle dealing with somebody who's a little bit of a brat also how do you deal with near murder yeah yeah because and uh because she's kind of under the impression that hey she's human if I kill you and hi Torah drinks your blood he'll get better and stop dying so I need to kill you to save my dad which creates complicated emotions in a person when you realize oh no I enjoy having you as my friend I hate this um

37:24 and yeah to our credit Christina gets that conflict across really well oh absolutely and the and the thing I like about it as well is like kikiwa does in a sense earn or not kikila uh uzoi I'm reading the wrong section of my notes um uzoi does not get all um does not get away with she does not get away with attempted murder scot-free yeah yeah to earn her forgiveness with Somali which she does by turning around and saving somali's life when she falls off a cliff

38:09 you think Gollum would have straight up like tried to kill her I mean if he saw what happened maybe yeah definitely if Somali did not step in he would have considered it I would not have been surprised yet and honestly Michael yurchak is probably one of the strongest actors of The Arc and that's saying something because Christina Fallon's where Christina Valenzuela did probably one of the Highlight performances of her career with uzoi like it is that good damn that is that is High Praise there my man that yeah that that yeah that is really I

38:55 praise but it is definitely a really good performance um but yeah Michael your check um just as this Solon tragic character nobody knew who he was until he put on the mask not unlike Toby which I think oh my God I can't believe that's [ __ ] Toby yeah yeah I like I like Michael's performers and it's like it's really kind of nice vulnerability to it where he comes off as you know this very quiet Madness away and you can tell that there's like something he's hiding but you're not quite sure if it's innocent or not and if I did that no no what he's hiding it there's no but he's had it seems pretty adorable when it's uzo

39:40 who's apparently up to stuff and every Friday that nope nope he actually did have something pretty messed up oh God it's all done I would say the specific thing I like about Michael's performance is high Torah is he sounds like a man in his late 20s who is like age 30 years like he's he's got that level of somebody who is not physically that old but like the amount of trauma stress and just sheer fear has made him age considerably and he sounds like somebody who is very strained who is very sickly somebody who has definitely been through a hell of a lot and you could definitely tell the Innocence has long since left

40:27 them yeah it's it's frankly you could kind of tell like he truly loves and adores uzoy enough because there's that level like even though he feels that guilt that genuine childlike innocent is probably the only thing anchoring him to this Mortal plane anymore yeah and in fact it is basically uzoi who has to oh pull him off the cliff um because he essentially tries to sacrifice himself to save uzoi Somali and Golem from a sand shark oh yeah by the way apparently is a creature in the desert yeah I I love the fact that this is just a fantasy world

41:13 and that they can do some very strange things with it where it's just like oh that's no big deal here's your fit your big flower and here's just a bunch of things here's a sand tornado here's a sand shark don't worry about it it's fantasy and mommy should have guilt shh you don't need to know why it has gills does it actually have gills I didn't even notice that it had gills yeah what are the gills for then is that I don't does it unless you think about it but it's there does it does it breathe in the sand like water is that how it works

41:59 as as I I mean I don't know why you were talking guys just flashing back to the yeah because I watched that last night that was really good okay I need to get to that I also need to get to that anyways it's a fantasy world don't matter just don't look at the gills it's already dead absolutely goes at him for thinking that dying would mean she would forgive him I know I kind of adore the climax of that because she basically overhears the story about what happened to her mother and all that and she's basically like killing yourself will not make me happy

42:46 you will atone by taking care of me and protecting me for the rest of your life which is in one sense like kinda tragic but also really charmingly sweet in a uniquely strange way yeah uniquely strange is the thing we're gonna be probably saying a lot about the characters of this show I will say this I wanted to say I wanted to say like what we're talking about like a sort of pseudo father-daughter store adventure story I wanted to throw out the comparison of the last of us but that didn't quite feel right with the Golem and Somali

43:32 I will say that feels a lot a lot more accurate to say Ellie and Joel are paralleled in some a relationship like hi Tora and uzoi which is a much more complicated found family relationship built on a little bit of Deceit mistrust and a [ __ ] ton of trauma mm-hmm but yeah I yeah I really do think Christina and Michael especially are absolute highlights to this dub and really really enjoyed their characters their arcs and especially their performances too

44:19 yeah I also kind of fish oh sorry go ahead I was also gonna say we'll talk more about it in a bit I kind of adore how this show tackles humans and I'm gonna have to use this word I hate this as a noun the grotesque I find the grotesque is an extremely clumsy noun by the way there's just something about it that's very clumsy I mean on a bright side it does I would probably race it does yeah it does sound appropriately racist which is kind of where I was gonna go in this in that I kind of love the way the show approaches

45:05 the concept of people versus like their entire like races and cultures in that humans and these mythical monster creatures are [ __ ] up in how they approach the different in society and this show is not afraid to call out Humanity in regards to that they are weak and frail and they will hate and kill what they do not understand yes oh yeah that is like literally the entire background for this though like the humans back like all the mods of people or me we're basically scared of them trying to wage war and the humans

45:52 got themselves killed out so uh that didn't go well that didn't go well but also there's just that level of like there are groups of like these mythical monsters that like will go out and try to exterminate these people eat them and sell them to the highest bidder to kind of satiate their own greed and desires too because they do have the strength and there are true they are people who mean well who truly do mean well but this cycle of fear misunderstanding and unwillingness to hear each other out leads to this violent cycle and will continue to perpetuate this violent cycle

46:37 until you have understanding and empathy we are talking about her but uh shout out to Laura pose as uh the creepy and keeper wife perhaps even really good there oh the creep yeah okay I I need to I need to preface this [ __ ] conversation um so we were talking about the this old witch lady who was recounting the story of her ancestor which is kind of relevant to what's going on and she was played by Laura post I was like hey it's very nice that Laura post is in a show where she's being very nice to children and then it turned out she was playing another character in this show where Not only was she not nice to children she

47:25 was actively trying to sell this child to people that wanted to eat her and even had her own song and I'm like it's just the [ __ ] fur it's a scaly Isabella from the promised Neverland I realized that I was like [ __ ] [ __ ] just Isabella oh uh and like the whole save me the liver thing was kind of like good in a creepy way too oh it's this is a very sweet show but it is not it does not [ __ ] around with throwing its punches which actually I kind of wanted to segue to the bringing up uh the story of uh

48:14 what was her ancestor's name uh Theodora uh theodoro and Horatio or horizo Horizon why'd I say Horatio Horizon where that's the other Golem we Golem we see in the show uh played by uh Ed Edward Bosco and Sarah Williams was Theodora and Mia I'm gonna throw out was Jeremy Lee which was a really great story of seeing the perspective of witches can kind of pass which is are like sort of like inhuman they are humanoid but they are pale magical humanoid creatures but they can pass in human society so

49:02 when Theodora kind of wanders upon a human Sanctuary which is being managed by horizo like there's that level of like oh you're human like us right it's like well it's like are you human are you human because if you're not we don't take kindly to your she is human you leave her alone and there's this there's this [ __ ] great I really love that because there's like this genuine love peace and understanding of a culture that can get along but it's propagated by the fact that people the human beings are stupid ignorant creatures

49:47 yes so like when it I also kind of love the fact that like they just capture a giant monster that's like I mean you know harm and they're like kill it it's [ __ ] talking it's talking like a person rip its [ __ ] throat out and like even like the innocent little children are getting indoctrinated in this culture of violence and fear against the other where even like the cute little girl she's the friend befriending is throwing rocks at this [ __ ] corpse is like wow and honestly like it Jeremy's Mia even um like at the end of that Arc

50:32 after she gets saved because she has to use her witch's broom to save her from falling to her death and then the people turn on her and like you can start to see like in Mia's head she's starting to put things together but it's not quite there yet and it does and it doesn't come soon enough for it to not end somewhat tragically it's it to me that story in particular was that children are not inherently hateful children can be taught to open their minds and open their hearts while adults are stubborn fearful and Incredibly violent and racist to things they do not understand

51:21 [Music] and I I'm kind of impressed at how strong this show is at committing to that message and it kind of really impressed me and yes also I thought Sarah Williams as the witch was very cute and I really liked Edward Bosco as uh the other Golem and I love the way they approached the Golem speak is that they are very formal big word inanimate in that they are gonna describe it they are not Rob they are less robotic and more

52:09 Drax from Guardian of the Galaxy if that makes sense they are stoic in the literal definition of the word yes they are not distant they are just extremely literal beings and I find I think that's a very interesting approach but I guess I really like that particular flashback with uh I thought Sarah Williams Edward Bosco and Jeremy were really good and I thought that was a really strong story Edition and universe building thing for this series right and I kind of want to move the conversation over to the the two Oni

52:57 because like we had mentioned that they they kind of bicker like a married couple and like Lucian Dodge and Kyle McCarley just do a really good job with them like yabashira is sort of the bigger more mature of the two and she's a nose sort of the the creative one he's he's small like a child but he he's also he displays a maturity that believes his appearance so yeah like he's well like explicitly he is the one who knows his First Sensibility I think she's so I I love these two so much I think yabashira is such a good boy and I think

53:43 shizano is such a little [ __ ] in the in the specific sense that I feel like she's a no she's no kind of knows he's smart and he's arrogant about that and there's a specific thing that Lucian does and that this dub does that really cements to me that level of like cocky arrogance and just like belief in themselves where it's like I know I'm hot [ __ ] and it's the way Lucian likes to roll his R's when he describes himself as the great shizano and it's not just great she's no

54:30 it's the great she's a no and I'm gonna be honest like a thing that I happen to catch on to with Lucian Dodge's performance I really appreciate it feels very cat-like it feels very Sly but not it's not Sly in the sense that he's trying to deceive you the audience or then the characters he's just a crafty character who is able to discern character interactions from a glance and doesn't play all of his cards initially you know that's kind of even funnier remembering that in episode one there is an evil cat played by Kyle McCarley yeah yeah which I I kind of love that random

55:18 little cat where it's like ah you are a human I will eat you you will be in my belly and Somali just like oh Kitty scratch scratch trash stop petting me um you just leave me alone and then he just prank like well that's so [ __ ] good I love how there's just demon cats in this world that are just actual cats but I 100 agree with you in that Lucian as she's a no is 100 very cat-like and catty even yeah he he's kind of lazy but a lot more brilliant empathetic and caring that he lets on but he is not afraid to be a lazy [ __ ] and knock [ __ ] over if he feels like it that day

56:08 but and then yeah Carly as yabashira is just he is just Dad he is the other dad he's I would how do I describe it okay so let's talk about the three dad scale so she's no is bordering on Big Brother status but there's a little bit of dad in there too he is he is I think uncle's kind of the [ __ ] that Nails it yeah he's the friendly Uncle he is the one that doesn't have to actually take care of anything but it's like hey

56:54 yo you playing Super Smash Brothers yo pass me that GameCube controller I want to show you my six skills that destroy this child it um it also in a sense um I saw a post about mob psycho 100 and the relationship between mob and um Reagan and Reagan where it's just like or or a picture of them was used in context of this it's like yeah um more Uncle like relationships I have no responsibility to him but I'm taking him out later for lunch and getting him Hot Wheels that feels like she's a no in a nutshell oh that's relationship to

57:40 Somali oh that's very strong and very accurate uh meanwhile like yabashira is the more responsible one he yeah but they both they both care about each other and they end up coming to care about Golem and Somali but gabashira is the one who sort of has a More Level head so it's like this she said that was great he's gonna take you out to go get Wendy's and he's gonna tell you about all these fun stories and then you're gonna have sing-alongs in the car but what are you gonna do when you actually need a [ __ ] meal like real food that [ __ ] Wendy's fry isn't

58:28 going to sustain you when you need protein [ __ ] do you think that this man it's over here with the three face knows how to make eggs I mean be metaphor aesthetically adds but we actually do see season of cooking in his introduction so okay let's put it like this I believe shizano knows how to cook I do not believe that no here's he's a he doesn't but B the reason shizano knows how to cook is that yapashira nagged him to hell and back to learn how to cook

59:16 let's see it look I look some days I work very hard you're gonna have to make your own food yourself okay gosh damn it like you're big boy you can do it yourself we have the [ __ ] tools it's like your big brain can take a break and just make some [ __ ] eggs damn it and that he didn't eat for three days until he's like okay please please tell me how to cook it's like thank you I really like these two only because I I 100 believe they're bickering camaraderie like they may be brothers they may be extremely platonic because it's not gay

1:00:01 but they're they have the exact married couple Dynamic it's not it's not quite like Boomer comedian complaining about his life level like married couple but it's just that level of like you could tell they bust each other's balls a little bit and all that on the regular and they have fun yes but yeah Kyle McCarley I think has this very Charming he's got this very Charming I'm a little too like how do I describe it it's like Kyle McCarley has the energy of he he comes off as being fed up with his [ __ ] but he honestly isn't he's got that

1:00:48 level like you could tell he enjoys this relationship and you could tell he really does love and care for Somali in the end and they really do grow together as this interesting little found family I also like how Kyle I also like how yabashira is absolutely the one that kicks ass and takes names and I kind of love Kyle being this very Sly cocky guy like when they're when the human Hunters are trying to come from is like oh don't mind me there's nobody here you're being very rude in the middle of the night and he's like see nobody was here and then he just goes to kick all of their asses that's great um yeah I definitely love the way Kyle kind of like holds himself as yabashira

1:01:34 as this very friendly openly available person who's just kind of a little bit tired of dealing with she's in his [ __ ] and I think it's very fun it is very much so God and [ __ ] I I do love that level of like cocky arrogance that stat Lucian has as she's no but it's also that level of like being a snide little [ __ ] but it's also very funny when he kind of gets put in his place like I think one of my favorite moments was like uh when the Axolotl Laura post totally not Isabella scaly lady comes in he's like oh you must be

1:02:19 the child oh aren't you so cute you're growing up big and strong and he's getting picked up and treated like a baby he's like I'm I've been I'm a small adult thank you and it's like that level of like that cocky like the cocky arrogance and that level of like him being so smart and talented kind of Fades away when somebody's holding him up in the air and literally baby talking him like who's a big boy you are yes you are and he's like I don't I don't like this 30. thank you foreign but yes I'm a big boy God now I'm just imagining just she's enough she's a no doing the [ __ ] uh

1:03:05 Matt uh Master Shake thing I am 30 or 40 years old and I do not need this right now but yeah I feel like we brought it up earlier but I think it absolutely also works holding out that Lucian is great at doing the dramatic stuff too especially when he's opening up with Golem about the fact that he was able to pick up that somali's human and just that level of like like he did not make snide comments he just openly listens and was like empathetic to her struggle and his impending demise and the struggle that

1:03:51 he's dealing with the fact that he only has so much time left and he's basically like you have only so much time left are you going to leave her or are you going to stay with her to The Bitter End it's your choice I won't stop you but please think it over very carefully during those conversations like like as fresh as Jesus always kind of you know like active return a lot of time like uh he doesn't he does immediately offer to look after it's a body and something happens to the goal of which is that which I get a good idea for stuff I got this nice yeah and I mean in that moment in those last two episodes where you're at

1:04:38 like she's you know is directly confronting Golem about his plan and basically like you know hey I know you don't have a lot of time left but is this really the right thing for Somali to take her to somebody who will care for her like don't you want to see don't you now have the ambition to see her grow you know I I do very much like the fact that it's basically he does not choose the coward's way which is basically to abandon her when instead I will be here until my last last moment

1:05:26 until my body breaks and I can no longer see the sky I will be there for this child until the very end and God [ __ ] damn it that that last episode really did get me yeah [Music] uh but more on the point like when when the annoying [ __ ] gag character like has an actual point you listen yeah to which I thought yeah to each other do we make fun of this and we make fun of this particular light a lot and I'm kind of surprised he never actually said that right but good on Lucid for being able to say I will protect that smile like every concert sincere yeah yeah like like you're right because I'll

1:06:13 protect that smile it's like I want to protect us when I was kind of like something you do where it's like it's like Precious cinnamon roll too good and pure for this world and all that so it's kind of like beam status but you're right that is a very the delivery and the execution of saying I want to protect that smile is very genuine and earnest and that was pretty impressive I'll give Lucian that for sure start moving on to Somalian Golem themselves I would at least uh throw in at least maybe like a group in between just saying I like the I like the witch's coven sisters yeah I mean say there's not much to say in the

1:07:00 matter just because like they get maybe an episode they got an episode and a half yeah I think Hazel I think Hazel is hot and I I agree with jet that it's very funny that praline is basically just tomboy tails yeah she is yeah which Hazel is Renee Dorian and praline is the literal iconic Colleen osakase yourself they're fine I like praline having like a that really kind of haughty tomboyish personality and like Hazel kind of being the force that keeps her in check

1:07:48 that I'd say I'd say their relationship is pretty similar actually to that of uh she's you know and yabashira except this is overtly stated they are siblings and you know I do also kind of want to throw a shout out to um Alex casarez and actually Ray Chase as well and um uh as Kiko's Dad yeah yeah no for the restaurant Arc I think that was Charming because that was that was Golem seeing a literal father-son Dynamic like naturally as in birth parent that is there for their kid and

1:08:35 has to deal with the struggles of being a parent that won't always get it right because because it's very clear Golem's not galway's gonna get it right and yeah but yes apparent you're never gonna get it right all the time you're never going to be perfect but you just have to be open enough to understand either why they were upset with you or to open openly admit you were wrong and say you're sorry and that's a healthy relationship is that sometimes you are wrong and just need to say I'm sorry on both sides or one or the other yeah as long as you can open up and admit that and let it slide you can heal and have that healthy

1:09:23 caring relationship leader of the liberty of that was uh I I realized that there he had he had good debt energy to any contrast uh Ray Chase's musica was um I mean it's really that like the first time I watched a show I would probably not have immediately picked up on it with Ray James honestly same actually yeah yeah yeah and I think I think even this time I was like it's probably Ray cheese but maybe it's Matt Burton right now I heard a couple more lines and it's like okay yeah it's definitely a Gruff it's definitely a Gruff or growl get it yeah because he's because he's a wolf man because he's a big sexy furry Wolfman like that that is that is

1:10:09 somebody would look at that Wolf Man and just go like woof yeah and I do appreciate that he's oh that he's also one of the first to like go uncle about like hey to add when uh every like tamale tries to give Golem like the flower and he starts older girl and like this big scary wolf fan it's like being friends wanted to go go about like hey you know you're this really do something nice for her life for you you don't have to be mean but yeah I really enjoy Alex and Mick and Ray Chase is pretty fun too and your spirit and particularly the performance of Alex kazares as kikila

1:10:56 after cyberpunk and like the big role that's gonna probably put Alex his or is a bit more into the spotlight see Rebecca see that's the public answer the one I enjoy and thought was amusing I thought it was very funny seeing another show where caramatsu and chibita were friends ah [Music]

1:11:42 but yeah good good I probably should have gotten to that at some point at some point it is certainly a trip I will say that anyways I'd say now it's about time to Journey on to our lead pair which yeah which one should we start with because I feel like each of them are definitely the meatiest ones to talk about so I guess my question is which one do you wish to start on Kyle or Karina I think we're probably gonna have a little more to talk about with Golem so let's start with Somali okay cool God I have so much more appreciation for Karina after playing the somnium file games because holy [ __ ] [ __ ]

1:12:30 yeah yeah this is interesting because I think like the first time I saw this by I I mean I'm not sure if I anything a difference either I hadn't heard of Korea before or I know we recognize a date I mean I don't really recognize the name for like maybe one or two things and then I think it was like literally like maybe immediately after they get it back came out and then they blew out significantly yeah which is just kind of funny to me and the thing I'm probably most impressed with with Karina's performance um they they sound like a child like Somali is a very young child it's as I uh yeah that one's got any

1:13:15 interesting thing for me going back to this time because again driving Play Day having playproof either something filed and take like a decent amount of get added buying a decent amount of Genji then back I was also I was always trying to get back to this and expected to be like the pie my voice or something but it's like oh no this is like an actual child boy it's like I could hear a little bit of their musically but it's like a lot more countless and even better like because because the youngest Mizuki is a 12 year old child is like a 12 year old kid this is samal Somali is between the ages of like six to eight I would probably say somewhere between probably three and six

1:14:02 I would say anything specifically because uh you know your teams are following that when you're sick so oh yeah okay that's fair I'm I'm going to yes I'm gonna say six myself two which is impressive that it is similar to what I heard of their work as Mizuki but also still more distinct higher pitched and even more precious child heads the whole spectrum of their baby girl absolute sweet cinnamon roll kind of little bit of a bratty kid and also just the genuine anxiety the trauma that

1:14:47 comes with this kind of a journey because there's as many times as like I'd say Somali made me smile and I was rooting for this little kid where it's like I feel so bad for the hand they've been dealt in life but everything about Karina's delivery as Somali is absolutely precious unbelievably like truly truly precious I will protect this child with my life voice which is so incredible to know her range and seeing the types of characters they can do

1:15:34 yeah like I I've really walked away from like I the somnium files and now watching this dub coming away and saying God damn Karina is a friggin tour de force of a voice actor absolutely absolutely hire them for more things they are good and I think the I think the most praise I can lob toward their performance as Somali is it's not saccharine like at all it is just sweet enough but it's also like Somali is a very complex character

1:16:21 uh yeah yeah and I think like uh going back to what I mentioned before with the script I think one thing I appreciate is that that there is like a pretty good time like to do like even the way she speaks literally yeah like sometimes you'll like mix up words or stuff like that which I think it's like I I do enjoy the fact that like I do enjoy the fact that Golem naturally uses very sophisticated big words and he'll say he'll say something like do not exacerbate your stomach like that and then she'll and then she'll be like I'm not gonna excavate anything what are you talking about which is a very it's very old like Behavior

1:17:07 I would I would say this is a show or at least I would definitely say whoever wrote Somali and the four spirit understand children yeah because I because I will say I have watched how do I say this uh academically um a [ __ ] ton of anime let's go with that I've watched a [ __ ] ton of anime over the years and I can absolutely say that there are shows out there in this medium that do not know how I [ __ ] a child would interact

1:17:53 because sometimes these kids are good but sometimes these kids are almost like too good and too pure and all that and then some and then sometimes they are also like way shittier than you would expect sometimes depending on whose kid it is or what the story calls for I think the thing with children is that they are all at once is that they are a canvas and that canvas can be anything but they are the canvas is still wet and nothing has dried on it yet so those children can and will be anything and everything all at once

1:18:40 and I think the ones that really write kids good are the ones that understand that kids are a tour de force of everything everywhere all of the time a little bit of everything all the time oh God damn it nothing's gonna be stuck in my [ __ ] head um but but yeah it's like this is it understands that this is a kid who's very cute and sweet and means well and loves her dad but is also a child that's going to get distracted by a bunch of [ __ ] is also going to be a little bit of a brat when it comes to like food and all that jazz and is also kind of going to freak out about stuff and try to push themselves more than their body can handle I think I think the show gets kids and I

1:19:25 think Somali is a good kid and I think Karina is a fantastic is a fantastic actor to really convince me that this is a child and this is how I feel this child would sound and talk with somebody like Gollum absolutely absolutely floored by Karina in particular I will absolutely say they are to me the star of the step and uh yeah oh go ahead Joe as as and and I just wanted that as I try to think about getting like project are we strong seeds aside from like the scene of the finale but I think another I said

1:20:12 I took another pretty one pretty good one is like going back to the whole like uh Somali trying to pick a file for the go a little bit at the goal of getting upset with her thing yeah is that is that like later on the episode like he's that literally episode he gets sick after the whole thing and why the goal of the week after her and I thought that and I thought that whole book says were like they both had to have to apologize to each other with handle pretty well I like to create a celebrity there yeah and I think her interactions with the zoy were also pretty great also like episode nine um the whole thing where her tooth is starting to get loose and she's getting worried about it but she doesn't want to say anything because I

1:20:57 met them they met the mouse Dennis and it freaked her out like that was CR that was Christopher Swindle by the way I was very curious yes I believe it I believe that was Christopher Swindle as the uh as a mouse dentist I very much remember him from that guy in the Millennium actress dub that was fun um but I like that actually because it's like to us it seems like a silly little concern but in a world where nobody really understands humans and where the humans don't understand human things she's genuinely afraid she's gonna lose her tooth and like that's going to actively hurt her going forward and she thinks

1:21:43 she's going to be and feel trouble if it falls out and she's kind of scared and worried before they're like oh that's a baby tooth you're gonna grow up back that back and you're gonna be fine and I like how the show actually shows her without a tooth after the fact I felt like that could have been a small detail that somebody would Overlook but no they they keep her without the tooth after the fact and I appreciate they kept that little detail in yeah and yeah um I think it's time we get to uh the Big Man on Campus um Kyle Hebert which I gotta say the dub script writing probably played to play to Kyle's strengths probably better

1:22:29 than any other character in the show for Golem in the specific sense that it's a little more literal and is that where you're going at with us well I personally I think the best of Kyle habera's performances are where he gets to sort of be the gentle caretaker hmm and they get to do that with the show but it's also just like Golem is a very very stoic literal character that's kind of why I compared like the gollums in this two Drax from guardians yeah yeah which is um what's a good is a thing that is a

1:23:14 little more difficult to do than some people will give credit for and Kyle does that really well but I think what really impresses me about the performance is that even though uh the Young Living is clearly meant to be a very silly character and speaks in that way you could actually you could tell through Kyle's like inflection how the globe is feeling about like and pretty much any given moment about any particular thing yeah and that I think that would be really hard to do with other circumstances but Kyle does that like is that like pretty much how to die but it's really impressive it is very hard to be stoic and still be a motive and I think Kyle absolutely nails that very specific element down to a T yeah I mean by zero means is Kyle Cabarrus Golem monotone

1:24:02 he just plays it with a sense with such a strong sense of stoicism that it takes a little bit more time for you to interpret the emotion he is trying to convey if the emotion is still there even if he himself doesn't recognize it yes and it's also like it also does not feel like Kyle is trying to obfuscate Golem's emotions at all like these are things that I don't think even Golem understands Golem is feeling and it's it's great that like Kyle is

1:24:48 able to interpret this in such a way yeah yeah there's a lot of really good interpretation with his part and I really like the way he can kind of again switch between certain emotions while still kind of handling the choices and like when like whatever really gold is being like really strength or absurd what's a molly you can actually that you can only hear it again soon and then no like and then like later on to show again and like episode four where like somebody gets sick and it'll answer like what a rattling for medicine like you you can hear the you can hear the bandicon to go with voice even though again he's so kind of sad story again it's like you you literally kind of feel

1:25:34 the desperation and it's like dude it's in the middle of night I would require medicine or something I mean all of the medicine that would work for the best is like that's gonna be pretty pricey here

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