Another thing that’s been bothering me is how weirdly this fandom perceives Zowie
I get that he isn’t exactly a fan favorite, which probably explains why he’s treated so differently compared to other characters. A huge part of this perception comes down to the English dub, which is honestly pretty low-quality — it sounds nothing like the original Japanese voice acting and doesn't even try to capture the original tone. The overall impression you get of Zowie in the Japanese version is worlds apart from the English one. The fandom has this habit of analyzing every single character except for Zowie. I don't think it's because he's a villain, because the fandom adores Gregorio, so it's a matter of a specific character...
People treat Zowie like he’s already committed some unspeakable atrocities, like he’s already conquered the universe and tortured everyone, when in reality, he hasn’t actually done anything yet. He ended up getting beaten up for no reason. I mean, he was forced to fight — Gitaroo Man, who wields all eight Legendary Gitaroo, even though Zowie doesn’t even know how to play(fight). It probably implies that the Gravillians simply don’t know any other way to resolve things besides fighting
I also want to point out how the fandom constantly pushes Zowie to the background. Nobody ever stops to think about what happened to him after the game’s events, or even just thinks about him as a character in general. Meanwhile, other characters get detailed, thoughtful development arcs, but I’ve never seen anything like that for Zowie. I haven't seen anyone write about how he dealt with the aftermath of the game, whereas people constantly think about Gregorio or Kirah. It feels weird and honestly pretty unfair. I’m not as biased or harsh about his actions because, let’s be real, he wasn’t that huge of a threat to the universe. So what if he gathered all eight Legendary Gitaroo? What then? He wouldn’t have been able to use them anyway. It’s almost like he just wanted the Last Gitaroo as a birthday present
Speaking of which, there’s this annoying tendency to "whitewash" Kirah’s actions, which really pissed me of. In reality, she acted pretty low. Sure, from U-1's perspective, it was a good thing, but look at it from the Empire's side — or Zowie's! It must have been devastating for him. In the Japanese dub, after stage 9, you can actually hear the hurt in his voice, like he’s on the verge of tears, whereas in the English dub, he just sounds angry. That changes the whole perception of the scene. Kirah literally betrayed the Empire to join the enemy because she supposedly "I realize that's my music is not for fight". Congratulations, but you didn't have to betray the Empire to do that. They were a Gravilian family! And she doesn’t even seem to think she betrayed them, but objectively, she did. I get that she had no other choice but to sing along to the Legendary Theme, but from the perspective of her comrades...
The English dub creates an image of some angry middle-aged man, whereas the Japanese version makes him sound much younger and way less evil. He’s often just posturing and trying to act tough. The English dub strips away all the emotional nuance in his voice, especially in that cutscene before stage 10
Live, laugh, and listen to the Japanese dub. Please, stop forgetting about Zowie. He suffered even more than the rest of the Gravillians
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