#phandom thoughts

First:

Shikaku is literally the number 1 (biological) anime dad.

He is constantly encouraging his son to be a better man, to respect women, to have healthy emotional reactions.

I’m gonna assume he had a good mentor as well, for him to be this way.

Second:

The animators ate in that scene. They maxed out the animation to make everything so clear.

Shikamaru’s body language as he slowly folds in on himself. Shikaku’s stillness. The facial expressions from both.

The stiffness with which Shikamaru slams his shogi pieces down. Shikaku’s calmness even when the board game is thrown across the room.

Not animation, but even the moment of silence after Shikaku says “let it all out” is so important. It gives this feeling like a rug has just been ripped from under you and that’s what’s happened with Shikamaru.

Third:

The voice actors also ate.

Although I prefer the sub of this scene, I think the dub does a decent job too. Plus, my primary language is English so that does help some emotional factor to see the scene in my language rather read it.

In the sub though, shikamaru’s crying is much more raw and painful. It feels more pent up, like he has been holding it back for days.

Fourth: (and finally)

The dialogue.

Shikaku’s words are carefully chosen to slowly reveal what is truly bothering his son. First, ragging on his playing skills, then his decisions, and finally landing on Asuma’s death.

I think Shikaku knew exactly what the issue was and knew how to get to his son about it.

One little thing the sub does better is clever wording. Although I cannot speak for the original Japanese, the sub conversation seems a bit more clever.

At the very end, after Shikaku left the room and closed the door, he says “I’ll be here to pick up your pieces.” Speaking mainly about his son’s grief, but also alluding to the game they’d been playing.

The dub loses that line and he says something like “I’ll be here for you.”

So at the end of the day, I do like the sub better, but think there is value in the dub.

Exhibit A: Babe Heffron

He’s one of the replacements who is almost immediately integrated bc of Wild Bill. Here’s how he looks in the episode Replacements:

Adorable, clean cut, happy

And then there’s him in the Last Patrol:

He looks years older, but it hasn’t actually been that long, only a few months.

And he’s not the only one.

Exhibit B: Antonio Garcia and Lester Hashey

While Hashey and Garcia aren’t in the Last Patrol (or quite as much of the show as Babe) for comparison, their contrast comes in Why We Fight.

Here’s them in Replacements:

And by Why We Fight, Perconte refers to O’Keefe as a “D*mn replacement” in front of them, bc at this point *they* are no longer replacements

(I couldn’t find a good picture from this scene so take my cruddy screen shot)

Here Perconte treats Hashey and Garcia the same way he treats Luz and Martin, and they treat him the same. They are no longer children that Frank feels the need to ignore, they are brothers now.

None of this stuff is huge or mind blowing in the way its shown. Its subtle and quiet and in the background. And so many things can be inferred from it:

1. The stuff these men have gone through is so bad that they don’t consider non-taccoa men who were there as outsiders anymore

2. These replacements (several of them who were incredibly young) grew up over the course of a few months in the horrors of war

There are more, but I could go on for hours about the beautiful artistic work done in Band of Brothers (maybe I’ll make a post about how the Last Patrol is the Easy Company’s lowest point physically).

Point is, War is Hell, and the replacements in Band of Brothers are a subtle and artistic way the show communicates that to the audience.