Nijigasaki English Dub: Episode 6: The Singeing of Smiles
So, I just heard that there's going to be another Love Live anime. Love Live! Superstar! I'm sorry if I'm a little late to this news and you all already know. I haven't been following Love Live super closely this year. I used to really love the series though. When I first watched School Idol Project, I was enamored by the 3-dimensional characters, and great songs. Then when sunshine came out, I thought it was even better. Then last year Nijigasaki High School Club was released, and I fell in love with that too. Nijigasaki was my favorite of the animes up to that point. I thought the girls were the most distinctive, fun, and developed as they had ever been in the series.
I really loved the girls Kusumin, and Ai but my favorite girl in the anime was Rina Tenoji. Being autistic, I really identified with her shy nature and her inability to express emotions. Her focus episode was my favorite, and it was something I was able to watch whenever I was feeling down about something.
That's probably why Heather thought it would be the perfect thing to traumatize me with.
It was on my seventeenth birthday that my former friend Heather gave me a birthday present. She delivered it to my house that day and I saw her climb out of my fancy car and walk up the front porch to my doorstep.
When I opened the door, I was confused. For an entire week before that Heather had been giving me the silent treatment. See, we worked on a podcast together where we talked about all the anime that we liked. I had forgotten to tell her I had some family business on one of the days we were scheduled to do the podcast together. She blew up at me, I apologized, she refused to accept, and it had escalated into a big fight. So, by the time my birthday rolled around we weren't exactly on the best terms.
However, she seemed to have forgotten all about that when she came to give me my birthday present that day. She apologized for not talking to me for so long and wished me a happy birthday. Then she gave me small rectangular present wrapped in shiny silver paper. I opened it to see a DVD case with the words "Nijigasaki English Dub Episode 6" written on a sticky note taped to it.
Heather elaborated, saying that she had been working on a fan dub of the Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Series. She started watching Love Live long after I did so she was used to watching the dubs. Because Nijigasaki was so recent however there wasn't a dub yet and this had bothered her. She had a feeling it might come out eventually but was impatient and had decided to try making her own.
She said she knew how much I liked Rina Tennoji, so she gave me the dub of her focus episode. "It's a little preview of the rest of the project." I remember her saying to me with a wink. I accepted the present without question. I was just glad Heather was talking to me again and super excited about the present. I thanked her and rushed inside to find my DVD player.
I popped the DVD into the DVD player the minute I was able to hook it up to the television. I was jumping up and down with excitement. I sat down as I watched the teaser play. It depicted Rina having trouble to talking to the girls in her class and then meeting Ai. This scene always resonated with me, not just because Rina and Ai were two of my favorite girls but because I could personally relate to the scenario.
Heather's voice acting was really good too. She was a theatre kid as well as being a huge fan of animation, so her voice talents were expected to be good. What surprised me was the quality of the voices which were much higher quality then I anticipated. Heather must have gotten a new microphone just for her dubbing project.
I got up and danced when the op came on. I couldn't help myself. Niji-iro Passions was an amazing song and it always got me amped up for every episode. Thankfully, Heather hadn't tried to dub it. She had left the op song in its original Japanese language just like the other Love Live anime did.
The episode went on as normal. Through each scene I was amazed at Heather's acting abilities. It was sort of funny because you could tell every voice was hers, but it was clear she had put a lot of heart and soul into it.
The part where Rina was hiding in the box got me extra emotional. I cried as she confessed to her fellow idols about how she felt about herself. I could relate to her struggle to express her emotions and Heather's voice acting was amazing. I was beginning to think that she could get a career as a voice actor. It was that good!
Finally, the main event came. Rina was going to perform at the Sega arcade they had been playing at in the beginning. I couldn't help bouncing up and down on the couch as all the girls got hyped to see Rina's performance. I mimicked the huge grins of Ai, Kusumin, Karin, Emma, Setsuna, Shizuku, and Katana as they watched Rina climb onto the stage. Oddly enough I didn't catch Ayumu's expression as I didn't see her in the shot where she was in the Japanese version, but I didn't think much of it at the time.
I got up and danced again as Rina performed Tsungaru Connect. It was also a great song with a lot to say if you paid attention to the lyrics. Unfortunately, that could be hard for a lot of people as not everyone speaks Japanese.
When the song ended, I smiled right along with Rina. I was so proud of Heather and grateful to her for making this dub. I was just beginning to become excited to see the entire season dubbed by her when a splash of water was dumped on her from above. My mouth fell to the floor. That was NOT part of the original episode.
The crowd gasped as Rina looked about herself in shock. "Who did that?" asked Rina, her cute little voice holding a horrified and devastated tone. Then I watched as Rina jumped in pain. "Ow." She squeaked. "It shocked me."
"Oh no!" Yu screamed from backstage, she rushed onto the stage in front of the crowd to Rina. "Rina! Let me take the Rina-chan board off!" But it was already to late for Rina. I watched in horror as my favorite Love Live girl recoiled in shock every time the Rina-chan board spazzed out. Eventually, the Rina-chan board caught fire. Everyone screamed as it exploded, and Rina Tennoji burst into flames. Rina let out a blood curdling scream and crumpled to the ground, the groundbreaking technology still burning up her face.
"RINA!" I shouted as tears spilled down my cheeks. I knew it was pointless and stupid, but I couldn't help it. I had just seen one of my favorite fictional characters of all time die a slow and painful death on screen.
Yu was just as horrified as I was. "Rina!" She shrieked. She was on all fours at this point. "Someone get a fire extinguisher!" she shouted to the crowd as tears spilled down her cheeks. For the most part no one could do anything except scream or stare in horror. I watched as Yu blubbered and fretted over Rina in perfect, fluent English.
After what felt like eternity to me but was probably just a few seconds both in the show and in real time, Karin muscled her way to the stage with a fire extinguisher. Yu snatched it out of her hands and blasted its contents at Rina. Tears flew down the girls' eyes as the white foam engulfed their friend. For a few moments after the flame died me and the girls of Nijigasaki High School Idol Club stood perfectly still, breathing heavily as we tried and failed to absorb the events that had just happened.
Then, Ai, slowly and carefully walked up to the perfectly still body of Rina Tennoji. Her idol outfit still soaked from the water. "Rina?" Ai whispered as tears came into her eyes. Gingerly, Ai removed the Rina-chan. I let out a blood curdling upon seeing what lay behind it.
Rina's face was completely unrecognizable. Her face had been completely burned and was charred black. A lot of the skin had melted off, revealing muscle and even parts of her skull. But the thing that shook me the most was her expression. It portrayed all of the horror, fear, and confusion Rina felt in her last minutes while also looking creepily tranquil.
In the world of the anime many people in the audience screamed. A lot of them averted their eyes. Some rushed to the bathroom while others threw up right where they were. In the crowd both Emma and Kanata passed out. Yu doubled over and vomited while Karin fell of the stage as she tried to run away from the horrible image that had just assaulted her eyes. I hadn't stopped screaming.
Ai stood up and dropped the smoking and mangled Rina-chan board. Tears raced down her cheeks and soaked her face. "WHO DID THIS!?" she bellowed in perfect English.
"Up here." Said a voice from above the stage. Ai and Yu looked up to see Ayumu sitting on the top of the stage with a large plastic bucket in her hands. She sat in a leisurely position, but her expression was callous and cold.
I understood instantly. Ayumu was Heather's favorite girl.
"Why!? Why one EARTH would you do this Ayumu!?" Ai screamed from the stage. I watched in horror as Ayumu's eyes travelled to me. I shivered from the reproach coming to me through the television screen.
"Because you've been nothing but unreliable and LAZY since we met." I actually stepped back and fell back onto the couch. This was Heather's actual voice. Not Heather pretending to be Ayumu. Heather was talking to me. "That podcast was special to me! It was the first time I was able to make something others could connect with! I may be part of the theatre club, but no one comes to see me perform! My family doesn't care, and I certainly don't have any friends that do!"
"Heather that's not true!" I screamed at the screen in front of me. I was going mad with despair at this point.
"You know what happened when you didn't show up to record the podcast that night! I had to do it without you! And you know what happened! People unsubscribed! Because they didn't care about what I had to say! They only cared about you!" Ayumu's face contorted into one with so much rage and anger that it horrified me. I shook with tears in my eyes as Heather berated me.
"Because of your negligence I lost the ability to connect with the things I loved! So now I'm doing it to you! You want to know who killed Rina Tennoji! You killed her! But I have to say it was fun voice acting what you did!" Then the screen went black. The show was over.
Right after it ended, I tearfully fumbled for my cell phone. I didn't have any idea what I was going to say or how I would go about bringing up what just happened. I just knew I had to talk to Heather.
"Heather Parkinson speaking!" The tears intensified when I heard Heather's cheery voice. She spoke as if she didn't know who was calling and why.
"Heather what the hell!?" I screamed into the phone.
"Oh. It's you! Did you like the present!?" she asked as if nothing was wrong.
"No, I did not like the present! What is wrong with you!?"
"Oh, you did! Thanks!" Heather said. "It took a lot of work, but it was super fun to make. Although, I'm pretty sure that was obvious just from watching it, huh?"
"You belong in a mental hospital!" I screamed as tears ran down my face. I couldn't stop crying.
"It wasn't entirely me though. I did get some help with the extra animation. Did you know my uncle works at Pixar? Lots of people say they have uncles in important positions, but I actually do!"
"You are demented! Get off my phone!"
Heather let out an exaggerated sigh before saying "Yeah. I'm getting tired too. Talk to ya later girlfriend!" Then she broke the connection. I threw the phone across the room and collapsed onto the couch in sobs.
Rina Tennoji had died a slow and painful death and I didn't know who's fault it was. It was that traumatic experience that killed any desire to watch Love Live.