English Dub Review: Tamon’s B-Side “Yellow Spring”
OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)
While Utage and Tamon try and fail to decipher how the other is trying to express their feelings, Natsuki Ishibashi, the “cute” member of F/ACE, is tasked with writing a song for an upcoming ongoing TV show about the group.
OUR TAKE
Huh, I guess I was mistaken about us not making time to get to know the other two members of F/ACE! Well, the jury’s still out if we’re going to get any time for Rintaro, the tall one, but it looks like at least this and next episode will be focusing on Natsuki, the one of the group who acts the most boyish and cutesy…on the surface, at least. Much like the other members we’ve highlighted so far, Natsuki also has a hidden side to him, in this case being rather short tempered and crass when he’s not in public, as well as using what I’m guessing is a regional accent that makes him sound like a country bumpkin. I guess there’s no exact way to connect a Japanese regional accent to an American one like midwestern or New York or Boston or etc, so the dub just had to swing for the fences and come up with something to best audibly signify the change in personality. Point is, real Natsuki sounds different and is kind of a jackass, which, just like Tamon and his reclusive neurotic side, is about as far from Natsuki’s public persona as one can get.
And much like with Ouri and Keito, Utage’s influence on Tamon leads to further bonding and growth for Natsuki, as Tamon decides to make a genuine effort to see if Natsuki is feeling okay as pressure builds for him to finish the song in time. This surprises Natsuki, as someone who seemed to be pretty isolated by his responsibilities within the group, also much like we’ve seen from Ouri and Keito, but is now getting a chance to see his fellow bandmates as people he can lean on and not just co-workers. Though to keep this from feeling a bit too samey compared to Ouri and Keito, there’s an additional wrinkle, as it’s revealed that Asuka Inoue, Utage’s new teacher, is actually Natsuki’s ex, and despite her still holding onto pretty rare merch of his, the two seem to not be on good terms when Natsuki tries to approach her at Utage’s school. How will this resolve and what will Natsuki do to finish the song? I guess we’ll see next week as we enter the final three episodes of the season. And hey, don’t worry Rintaro, I’m sure we’ll get you some sort of character development before it’s all over.
