I've been playin' KH2 English (comes out in 10 days...gotta get my review ready!!). I love it so far, but the one thing that bothered me was the English version of "Passion." Has anyone else heard it?

First of all: I LOVE the song Passion. I think it's genius. However, the English version is ... yuck. I feel like Utada tends to go flat when she sings in English, and all of the harmonies behind her voice in the Japanese version have now been removed...I feel like this was a rushed job.

Anyone else agree? Anyone disagree?

Considering I was a fan of both English/Jap. versions of Hikari ("Simple and Clean") I'm bummed that I don't like the Eng. version of Passion.

Ramza

Haven't heard the English version yet, but I definitely didn't like Simple & Clean in English either, so I'm not expecting much from this.

Christopher Lee as DiZ however, IS something I'd love to hear.

I've heard the refrain, and it sounded terrible to me.
Wait a minute.. how did it go..

"In you and I is a new land
Angels in flight
My sanctuary, my sanctuary yeah."

Etc, etc.

So they actually *did* remove the harmonies behind her voice.. I was wondering why it sounded so empty.
I thought they were such a nice detail, they make the "omoidaseba" part much more powerful.

I was hoping Square Enix would keep the Japanese version like they did with Suteki Da Ne, but apparently they don't.

Yet another reason why I bought the Japanese single, and will ignore "Sanctuary".  No English remake of a Japanese Pop song could POSSIBLY be as good, unless somebody has more than one fluke example, I won't change my mind on that.

I agree. While I still liked her voice in Simple and Clean, the lyrics were just.....eehhhh.

That reminds me.. she's a terrible live performer. Her voice is completely different when she sings live.

Please do not enter any form of employment which involves educating others or attempting to ascertain the exact realities of......anything.

K, glad I wasn't insane.

Also, the voice actors are all AMAZING. I mean AMAZING. Christopher Lee did a WONDERFUL job. I am tickled pink with the production that went into this game. The "Pirates of the Caribbean" world was infinitely better than I had imagined it to be (though the contrast of a cartoonish-Sora and a real-life-ish Jack Sparrow is sort of strange...).

Y'all will like this game. 9 days!!!

and yeah, get the Japanese single. Go rayne.

Ramza

Can't wait man thanks.

As for Passion, I've only heard the TV spots, but yeah, there's just something "off" about it.

So did they hire actors or did Depp et al actually record voices for that world?

I won't know for sure until I beat the game and watch end credits...but if they WEREN'T the real thing, they fooled me. It sounds like Depp and Bloom for sure.

I'll let yall know soon.

Ramza

Re: the Pirates of the Caribbean voices...the Eng. voice actors list scrolled by REALLY fast in the end credits...but I did not pick out either Bloom or Depp from the list. I did see many other familiar names, but I'm guessing they got other people to do the Pirates scenes. Shame...

I could be wrong though...I did beat the game at 2:30 AM, so I may have just missed their names...

Ramza

I don't even remember them putting English voice actors in the credits of the Japanese KH:2.  I mean, didn't they have to stall a long time on the localization due to getting voice actors together?  There's no way that could have been final as of when the credits for Japanese KH:2 were created.

Uh, yeah, but Ramza was talking about the *ENGLISH* version of the game.

Yeah bro. Reviewable copies here. RPGFan.com.

Ramza

Thanks for the reply.  I didnt think they were in the game because Im sure if they were there would be making a big deal about it like in a press release or something.

Yeah. =/ Hikaru's U.S. debut CD, Exodus, is a good example of bad English vocals. Some tracks are cool, but her R&B style in Exodus didn't coincide well with her English vocals. Regardless, Utada Hikaru rocks! I haven't heard the KH2 Passion Eng. ver. yet, but definitely her Jap. ver. is extremely spiffy. For any Hikaru fans: http://www.myspace.com/cubicu

They're just bad English LYRICS. I thought her voice matched pretty well with the music style, but the lyrics themselves...*shudder* Just don't get me started on Exodus...

"Yeah, let's turn this room into a melting pot..."

Here are the lyrics, from Kingdom Hearts Ultimania.

Utada Hikaru : Sanctuary

In you and I there's a new land,
Angels in flight.
My sanctuary. My sanctuary Yeah.
Where fears and lies melt away.
Music inside.
What's left of me.
What's left of me now.

I watch you fast asleep,
all I fear means nothing.

In you and I there's a new land,
Angels in flight.
My sanctuary. My sanctuary. Yeah.
Where fears and lies melt away.
Music inside.
What's left of me.
What's left of me now.

My heart is a battleground

You show me how to see,
that nothing is whole and nothing is broken,

In you and I there's a new land
Angels in flight.
My sanctuary. My sanctuary. Yeah.
Where fears and lies melt away.
Music inside.
What's left of me.
What's left of me now.

---

Not so bad written I guess, but the song probably leaks into the 'Net by tomorrow so until then.

Well, at least that sounds a lot better written than "Simple and Clean" sounds written. Those lyrics are a lot better than S&C, in my opinion.

Geez, they sure did rape a good theme song by making a hasty English version of it.
I love Passion, but this.. no no. Some of the lines are like bubble gum - they just streeeetch and streeetch.

Heard the English version today, first version of the song I've heard. It's not bad, and a damn sight (sound?) better than Simple & Clean.

Actually, everyone.. 'Sanctuary' was written before 'Passion', which might explain the lack of background vocals. Maybe they were added in when she 'redid' the song.

~SS

Do you have a source to back up that claim?  They would have had more than enough time to apply backup vocals if they made Sanctuary first.  The only reason they couldn't have made the off-vocal track as good as Passion is if it was over-rushed.  I'm sure they were willing to spend a few thousand dollars to make the English version of the song up to par instead of sounding worse.

The only source I know of saying "Sanctuary" was written before "Passion" is wikipedia...and the person who made THAT wiki post does not source any sort of credible journal, it just says that she said so in an interview...

uhh...could've just been the work of a bad translator!! ^^

Someone actually emailed me about this at RPGFan, and that's the answer I gave. I told them I won't change my statement about Sanctuary in my game review until someone proves me wrong. After all, the INSTRUMENTAL orchestra version of the song is called "Passion", not "Sanctuary." That screams to me "original, authentic, first-born"...ne?

Seriously, if she wrote Sanctuary first, it would've been released in Japan first. They listen to English songs all the time.

Ramza

Are there two versions of Sanctuary?     Googling, it seems tehre are two versions of Passion, an intro and "after battle."

I haven't been following KH too well, but I prefer English over Japanese.  I'd really like a copy of the "after battle" Sanctuary.  Any ideas?

Yes, there are two versions on the "Passion" single. The original is called "Passion," and the other is called "Passion ~after the battle~". That second one is Utada singing with a mainly piano background, with a long instrumental tacked onto the end. It's not all that great an arrangement, I think.

EDIT: Whoops, just read your post more carefully. Don't know if there are 2 versions of Sanctuary.

Wow, I like the year-later thread resurrection...

...I just checked, and I'm shocked to see that "Sanctuary" is nowhere to be found on the nine disc "complete" box. I mean ... these albums cover the "Final Mix" versions which include English audio for Japanese listeners, don't they? ...apparently not.

Well whatever.

In the game, there is an "after the battle" version of Sanctuary that plays. I'm sure a game rip exists of it somewhere...probably on youtube.

Ramza