Reviews of BPAL Ranger and Villain

[lunabee34]

Now that I feel well enough to type, have a few perfume reviews from May before I got too ill to smell anything. Neither of these were potential big bottle purchases.

Ranger

The Catalog Description

Untamed wilderness: buckskin accord with Terebinth pine, Russian birch, black ironwood, elder bark, hay, armoise, juniper, patchouli, galangal root, Spanish moss, and cabreuva.

The Forum Reviews

Sweet, masculine, pine, dust, good to layer, most reviewers smell the leather; likened to Golden Priapus, Voodoo, and Yule

Our Reactions

Emma doesn't really like it. She finds it a faint, woodsy, outdoorsy smell with a hint of mint. I smell pine and a little mint. It's sweet and sharp, almost alcoholic. Ranger reminds me of Thanatopsis but sharper and with no dirt. It fades quickly. Josh was pretty neutral/ambivalent. I'm glad to have smelled Ranger, but it didn't ping me as anything special.

Villain

The Catalog Description

A classic Victorian men's cologne: a lavender fougere, with hints of lilac, lime, and citrus musk.

The Forum Reviews

Masculine; creamy; shaving cream; Yardley English Lavender soap; Andra says, "a soft, clean-shaven cheek of a man who is terribly adored"; the reviews seem torn between awesome and aftershave

Our Reactions

My mom thought it smelled like bathroom cleaner. Josh thought it smelled like Play-Doh. I thought it smelled like lavender, but I realized after reading the reviews that what it really smelled like was my late grandfather's shaving cream. Emma thought it smelled zingy and minty and lavendery. She liked it so well that I gave it to her, and she's worn it since. Although it seems a bit of an incongruous fragrance for her to gravitate towards, I like it on her more the more she wears it, and she seems happy with it.

Comments

[umadoshi]

I'm delighted by this "well enough to type" state of affairs! *hugs*

[lunabee34]

Meeeeeee toooooo!

It's weird how disconcerting it was not to read LJ or DW. I felt really unmoored and disconnected, and I'm struggling even now with getting over the apathy that being so sick caused. It still seems easier to just go to bed than anything else.

But! More Furuba has been read! I'll have six volumes to review because I got behind when I was sick. It's getting so good. *bites nails* I don't know the conventions of the different types of manga but I sincerely hope this one is the kind that ends well for everyone. LOL

[umadoshi]

*nodsnods* I hate being out of touch online in general, but it's by far the worst when I lose touch with DW and LJ, since I feel like that's where the majority of the connecting with people is.

Eeee, more Furuba! *^^* Where does that put you--around vol. 12 or 13 or so?

[lunabee34]

We just finished 12. I'll return 10-12 tomorrow and get the librarian to order the next three. Normally, I would have already ordered them but Josh picked 10-12 up while I was sick.

[umadoshi]

*flails* Oh, volume 12--!!! One of my very favorites, for a few reasons. *^^*

Also, there's a line in vol. 12 that was translated/adapted weirdly and added an implication that I gather does not exist in the Japanese--specifically, when Haru is talking to Rin in chapter 70, he doesn't actually say anything about having been complacent.

And while I'm mentioning the English script, I don't remember if I've told you, but volume 14 is missing the very first line entirely (which I mentioned to the translators years ago, and we think the line went missing in lettering--and I can easily see how it happened). So just so you know, the first line in vol. 14 is supposed to be something like "It wasn't like that" or "That's not how it was", and then it goes from there as written.

I have one other major complaint about the official vol. 14 script, but it's technically spoilery, so I won't mention it now. (And that one I argued with the translators about extensively, but long after it happened, and it wasn't even their decision--but they agreed with the adapter's choice, hence the extensive debate.)

[lunabee34]

I remember him saying the line about complacency; thanks for the clarification. And now I'm curious about vol. 14!

I need to make my review post of the previous volumes so we can talk about them!!!!

It must be so maddening to to find things wrong in manga given your profession.

[umadoshi]

In vol. 14, Stuff Happens. Yes.

It must be so maddening to to find things wrong in manga given your profession.

Well...yes and no. I mean, yes, when I notice, but other than Fruits Basket there aren't many manga around where I'm at all familiar with the Japanese version (well, plus things I've worked on), and even in Furuba's case it's more that by the time the English version was coming out I'd usually read at least two previous versions and had become friends with the woman who did by far the best fan translations of the second half or so of the series.

My first-ever adaptation was the first of the two Fruits Basket fanbooks, which covers right up to vol. 14, and that's how I got to know double_dear. They translated the entire series--and are the only people who were involved with it from start to finish in English--and were willing to chat to me about it when we barely knew each other, which was awesome. And the thing that I HATE in the vol. 14 script isn't technically wrong, anyway; it's just a thing that can be translated two ways with equal accuracy, technically, and I think the wrong call was made, for tone reasons. (And I don't think I've ever seen anyone else comment favorably on the decision. >.<)

But! The positive news is that everyone who was involved with Furuba in English was very good! double_dear are very solid translators. And Jake Forbes was the first editor on it, and then when he stopped editing full-time at Tokyopop he did the adaptation for several volumes (he also adapted the Fullmetal Alchemist manga!), and he was very respectful of both the series and the fandom. He left Fruits Basket after vol. 14, and then my friend liannesentar (the only other adapter I actually know, and I have the most ludicrous amount of respect for her) took over for the rest of the series and did a FANTASTIC job.

(I didn't actually get to know Lianne at all until after she was finished working on Fruits Basket, and she's just...amazing. She's one of the co-founders and editors at Chromatic Press now, and I'm completely in awe of her. *g* And our preferred adaptation styles probably couldn't be more different if we'd actively set out to be as unlike each other as possible.)

(Long comment is long.)

[lunabee34]

this is so fascinating!

I love behind the scenes glimpses of The Way Things Work from people in the know.

Isn't it awesome when people are willing to talk like that? I love how the internet has made that kind of communication more likely to happen.

about ranger

[archersangel]

i guess it's not the scent for sam carter after all.

Re: about ranger

[lunabee34]

Nope.

The search continues!

I actually have some hope for Chanel Sycomore. *crosses fingers*