Claymore Episodes 1-26
Dub Production by FUNimation Productions Ltd., Flower Mound, TX.
Line Producer: Colleen Clinkenbeard
ADR Directors: Todd Haberkorn, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Leslie Patrick, Vic Mignogna, Caitlin Glass, and Monica Rial
Voice Fit: A
Emotional Feel: B+/A-
Delivery Flow: A-
Recently, there has been a lively debate in the Anime/Manga Forums here over the question of adaptation. When it comes to dubs, the adaptation process is one of the key aspects of the creation of a dub. When it comes to adaptations, there are several roads that can be taken, but each choice has its advantages and disadvantages. An overly literal adaptation that replicates the original Japanese version in every respect may be what many dedicated fans wish, but such an adaptation can, in English, seem like nothing more than a pale imitation with no life of its own. Worse, it can sometimes result in an incomprehensible mess. On the other hand, make the adaptation too loose, and you can have an entertaining dub, but one which bears little resemblance to the original work, igniting the ire of the hardcore fans.
Often it is easier to adapt a straight up action show such as the one whose dub we will be looking at now, Claymore, dubbed and released by FUNimation Entertainment. Claymore follows the life of a half-human, half-monster hunter of monsters named Clare. The monsters, called youma, are particularly evil creatures, as they often camouflage themselves as human beings, the better to acquire their favored food: human innards. To meet this menace humanity formed a group called The Organization, who in turn have created the half-human, half-youma hybrids that they have named Claymores. Claymores have greatly enhanced speed, strength, stamina and regenerative abilities, making them the perfect hunters of youma. There is a rather long and involved plot, the manga actually continues beyond the point at which the anime ends, and the anime itself has an original ending that not everyone was pleased with. There are webs within webs in this one. The show is far more complicated than this very short description, but that is all that I will say for the moment except when commenting on specific roles below.
In the lead role of Clare we have Stephanie Young. Ms. Young is well known for many sultry vixens, such as Elfriede in MoonPhase, Junko in Desert Punk, and Itoko in School Rumble. Though she has a range of other roles under her belt, this might be the first time that Ms. Young has voiced the title character in a show. For this role, Ms. Young does not need to play it sexy, for Clare is a staid and serious warrior. And Ms. Young provides a suitably appropriate voice, one that is filled with calm assurance, professional confidence, and the clipped tones of a soldier. On occasion, there is a slight tinge of sadness in her voice, a feeling of regret, which works very well at times. There is a lot of action voice work as well in this role, and Ms. Young handles it quite well. As is mentioned in the audio commentary provided for the first episode, Todd Haberkorn, the first ADR Director for this show who oversaw the primary casting, he chose Stephanie Young specifically in order to allow her to play somewhat against type, and it was a very good decision. While Clare can exude confidence and professionalism, there are also moments of self-doubt and even times when Clare borders on panic and resignation. Ms. Young handles this range of nuance very well, which is challenging since Clare is above all a young woman trying her best to suppress her emotions as much as possible.
In addition to directing the first run of episodes, before others took over duties in the booth, Mr. Haberkorn also plays the human boy Raki, an orphan whose family was killed by a youma, a youma that Clare is eventually called in to kill. Latching onto Clare as the only one who seems to care about him (as he is made an outcast by his own village), Raki tags along with Clare, with her grudging approval. Raki is your average spunky young boy which shounen action shows are littered with, though this time he is not the main character. Mr. Haberkorn captures the essence of the character quite well, giving appropriate emphasis to Raki's weakness, one of his central traits, along with Raki's kindness, which is an important anchor that helps to keep Clare firmly tied into her human side. There is also a strong streak of naive cluelessness, which Mr. Haberkorn expresses well.
Looking over the entire run of the show, there are really too many characters to mention every single one. There are many notable performances in secondary and minor roles. Early in the show, there are some memorable turns by Chris Sabat and Eric Vale as two human warriors who aid Clare in hunting down a powerful youma in their town. Especially worthy of mention is Christine Auten, who plays another Claymore in an extended flashback that runs over several episodes, but about whom I will not say too much, since her role is central to the larger plot that later comes to involve Clare. Ms. Auten gives her Claymore, Teresa, a voice that is much more confident, one that projects power without any effort. While Ms. Young's Clare sounds like she is trying to exert control, Ms. Auten's Teresa exudes the aura of control.
As we move further into the show, many more Claymores appear, three in particular that are important to mention: Miria (Monica Rial), one of the most powerful Claymores in The Organization, Helen (Jamie Marchi), and Deneve (Caitlin Glass), two other powerful Claymores, the three of whom team together with Clare at one point to take on one of the more powerful types of youma, a creature called an Awakened Being. Ms. Rial gives Miria a hearty confidence and more adult sounding voice than many of us are probably used to hearing from her, since we have so often heard her in much younger and more highly pitched roles. Ms. Marchi give Helen a playful spark while Ms. Glass' Deneve is much more serious, but not without her own emotional moments, including a very nice turn towards the end of the series in episode 20.
Another later addition is Jean, another top-ranked Claymore, who forms a very strong bond with Clare. Voiced by Laura Bailey, Jean is yet another confident and powerful warrior, but one with a firm sense of honor. I could go on mentioning Claymores, since so many of them pop up throughout the series (one wonders whether the show should have been titled "Claymores" instead of "Claymore"). I will limit myself to but three more: Ilena the Quick Sword (Wendy Powell), another very powerful Claymore who later gives Clare a very important hand at a crucial moment. Ms. Powell gives Ilena a deep and mature voice, one that is reminiscent of Barbara Goodson; Flora, which features a rather uncharacteristically high-pitched performance by Trina Nishimura, one of the more powerful Claymores, but with a very cute sounding voice; and Galatea, one of the currently three most powerful fighters in The Organization, who is voiced by Colleen Clinkenbeard in a performance that is a close vocal match to her turn as Yuko Ichihara in xxxHolic.
Besides the many, many Claymores, there are villains as well. Some of the more memorable ones are played by Luci Christian, John Swasey, Brittney Karbowski, Vic Mignogna, and Brina Palencia. I would say more, except that it would give away a bit too much of events to discuss them in detail. They are all suitably villainous in their roles and that is not an entirely easy matter, since their villainy varies greatly and all is not as it seems with even the most evil of them.
To conclude this review, I would like to return to the issue of adaptation, with which I began. Because as is often the case with Funimation localizations, the English dub script is very much on the loose side. It is not on the scale of wholesale re-writing that would radically alter the nature of the show. The dub script does get across the same basic meaning as the subtitle script, but occasionally adds some information that is not in the subtitle script. Often it is extremely minor and does not constitute anything that anyone who is worried about accuracy should be concerned with. On the rare occasion, however, there are a few moments where there is a significant change in emphasis or nuance which does alter the meaning. For example, in Episode 5, there is a key scene where Teresa is talking about the young female human child that she has taken under her wing after she has killed the youma who was holding the girl captive. In a voiceover monologue expressing her thoughts, Teresa, in the dub script, is made to sound as if she willingly decides to watch over the child for the moment: "But if I am all you have, I have to try." The sub script, on the contrary, makes it clear that Teresa does not really have such tender thoughts in her head: "Ultimately, there's nothing I can do for you." In this case, the meaning is rather strongly altered. I wish I had the manga, but I do not, so I cannot checked how the source material treated this scene, if it even appears in the original version.
This is the most glaring example. More often than not, the minor additions do not result in any noticeable changes in meaning. The question can be asked, does it have any effect on the dub? In this case, I do not think it does any damage. The basic meaning and the general thrust of the plot and action is always maintained, so purists take heart, this is not a title with which you will have massive issues. Does the adaptation confer any benefits? To an extent, it does remove a certain measure of ambiguity, so if you do not like having things left uncertain too much, then some of the minor changes might be to your liking. It can be noted that sometimes, the English speaking world is not as enamored with the sound of silence as much as the Japanese can be. Long pauses yearn for the noise of speech, and part of what this localization does is to remove those overly long (in some viewers' minds) silences. This is an adaptation practice that FUNimation dubs often employ. Does it ruin the work? I hardly think so. But this is a case where for every viewer, your mileage may vary.
Final Thoughts
While dealing with a very large number of characters, including a large assortment of different Claymores and many distinguishable (as opposed to indistinguishable) villains, Funimation has managed to give each individual a distinct voice and feel. The line reads are smooth and professional, with even the most minor character sounding professional and properly voiced. The lead, Stephanie Young, does an admirable job, giving us a performance which we have not heard from her previously, one that suits the lead character of Clare very well. The other roles, major and minor, are ably voiced, and it is a very polished dub. If you are a fan of action shows, and you prefer your acting to be done in English, then this dub will suit your needs well. The only minor quibble is the looseness of the script, but unless you watch dubs with the subtitle track on, you will never really notice. Recommended.
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