130201(3) – 電視動畫版《銀河機攻隊 マジェスティックプリンス》(銀河機攻隊 Majestic Prince)鎖定4月開播,「Team Rabbit」聲優陣容出爐! (Photo credit: ccsx)
Just got back from an advanced screening of the upcoming new release from Sentai Filmworks, the dub release of the first four episodes of Majestic Prince. The odd title derives from a nickname given to a team of 5 (literal) space cadets thrown into battle to guard the retreat of Earth forces from a remote base. Through a combination of bravery, recklessness and pure luck, they not only successfully cover the retreat, they push back against the enemy and cause them to withdraw, sparing the lives of scores of civilians who were otherwise destined to be abandoned owing to a lack of transport ships. This heroic action wins the cadets actual military honors and instant celebrity status in Earth's media, along with the nickname "Majestic Princes", a backronym created from their official military designation, M.J.P.
These child soldiers are mecha pilots genetically engineered to fight the alien invasion. They are superior in every way to ordinary humans and have an intimate connection to their mecha right to the level of their individual DNA.
If the character designs look reminiscent of 2007's Heroic Agedistributed in North America by FUNimation Entertainment, that's because Majestic Prince shares the same character designer, Hisashi Hirai. Hirai's distinctive style carries over to 2014's Majestic Prince and its loveable cast of characters. The tone of the anime is generally serious, but it has its lighthearted moments where the characters can look and act quite cartoony for the sake of comic relief. They are still young teenagers at the end of the day, with all the insecurities and angst you'd expect from that age demographic. Hisashi Hirai also did the character design for yet another Mecha show, 2005's Fafner, which was recently rescued & re-released by FUNimation Entertainment with its original dub cast.
I was definitely highly entertained by these first four episodes. Hell, the English dub trailer alone was enough for me to throw down $$$ on a pre-order for this show on Blu-Ray over at Right Stuf! for their recent Sentai Filmworks 40% off sale. The story, the characters are great, and this show is positively GORGEOUS. I can't wait to watch the rest of it in full HD Blu-Ray quality on my flat screen TV.
We also had a surprise visit from the ADR cast & crew, who graciously answered audience questions during the Q&A period at the end. I asked if the Alien language was simply the original audio or if it too was re-dubbed (which it was). One of the newer Sentai Filmworks cast, who plays the "gun" otaku of the band is an aural dead ringer for Josh Grelle, so I was surprised to not see Josh's name in the credit roll. I know Josh mainly works on FUNimation properties but he will sometimes come down to record for Sentai Filmworks, as Monical Rial did for this production, whose character is so lovely and adorable you just want to hug and squeeze her.
I also thought the more reserved girl was being voiced by Jessica Boone, but then saw it was actually Genevive Simmons, who also voiced the titular main character of Mysterious Girlfriend X in the English dub of that show. Incidentally, I was happy to hear Ms. Boone in Devil Survivor 2.
I give this series a big thumbs up so far and look forward to finishing it and to acquiring Part 2 when that gets released later on by Sentai Filmworks.