FIRST IMPRESSIONS – BEYOND THE BOUNDARY

I took a peek at the dub for Sentai Filmworks’ new release and here's what I thought of it...

Sentai has been quiet this year. Or maybe I’m just looking too hard. Or not paying enough attention. The only things I’ve watched with Sentai is Akame Ga Kill and Parasyte on Toonami. Can’t think of any others this year. Now originally I wasn’t going to watch Beyond the Boundary as it didn’t look like the kind of show I’d be in to, but I decided to give it a try. And boy was I impressed.

"That was unpleasant."

The dub for this one is really good. I mean really good. People bitch about bad dubs and shit like that. I don’t really see it. I mean I’ve seen bad acting, but I’m talking awful b-movie stuff. But like most of the dubs Sentai does, I liked it. Clint Beckman voices Akihito Kanbara, a really likable guy. He’s very genre savvy, speaks his mind. He kinda feels like an Average Joe that one can relate to. He points out anime cliches and stuff like that; his only really-anime trait being that he’s into ‘bespeckled beauties’ (has a girl with glasses fetish) which is okay because I admit, chicks in glasses are hot and this is an okay fetish in my book when compared to some other fetishes that other anime get into. This one is relatively safe and sort of normal.

Ah how I love Monica Rial! She voices Mitsuki Nase, a girl who doesn’t seem to play the second girl in a stupid love triangle anime plot, though she does tease (actually playfully insult/embarrass) the hero which is actually more original than having the character just push up her ridiculously huge rack and fall all over the hero. I hate that. But Mitsuki Nase’s VA Monica breathes life into her and I can imagine recording for her must’ve been fun, Nase is very quick with the anti-anime cliches.

"Don't even bother. That sight is simply beyond words."

Krystal LaPorte voices Mirai Kuriyama. While it took me a little longer to get used to her (about 2 minutes), I really enjoyed what she brought to the role. Mirai Kuriyama is probably the most anime-esque of the main characters (eats a lot, shy etc), but it still feels like the production crew wanted to make her dance the line between anime tropes exploded and anime tropes avoided.

The first episode is really funny, but that’s down to the VAs’ delivery of the lines which results in gut punching laughter all around. I also like the plot and how it sets up Kuriyama and Akihito. Right off the bat, you can see that each one has a unique backstory that will be explored later on. Mirai comes across as the villain in the first episode, but that would be too strong a word. It's more accurate to say that she's antagonistic, but not really sinister. More of an irritation for our hero.

After episode one, I found myself wanting more. I love the assortment of characters. I enjoy this unique world where you can earn money by killing demons, but that not every person can/is allowed to do that and I really like how the hero/heroine isn’t some ace badass who just excels at everything they do. While it is cool sometimes, saturation of that specific anime trope tires quickly.

Rating this impression: 8/10. I can thoroughly recommend this to anyone who wants to watch a great, self-contained story with interesting characters and great dubbing.