SPD to Recieve Japanese Dub! This is both equal parts entirely out of left field and awesome.
According to this Press Release/Article from Toei, they're planning to air a Japanese dub of Power Rangers SPD in August as part of the Super Sentai anniversary on Toei Channel. So it's kind of similar to Kamen Rider Dragon Knight getting dubbed and released in Japan as a part of the Heisei Rider 10th Anniversary Project, though there were obviously other factors as well. In addition, much like some of the early Power Ranger dubs, the Dekaranger cast will be voicing some of their counterparts, including Tetsu Inada (Doggie Kruger), Ryuji Sainei (Ban), Ayumi Kinoshita (Jasmine) among others. Interestingly, Kat is going to be played by
Rie Tanaka, with the original actor for Swan, Mako Ishino, instead doing the opening narration.
I'm not quite sure why they chose SPD over some of the other recent series, but it still looks promising. Not to mention this is the first Japanese dub since Lightspeed Rescue back in 2003, omitting Season 3 of MMPR and Zeo, of course, which were never dubbed, so this should prove interesting in terms of audience response.
And as a "taste", here's an overview of SPD from the 30th Anniversary Super Sentai Encyclopaedia DVD, narrated by Tetsu Inada himself:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da77r6I2vYw"]SPD Entry[/ame]
Any thoughts?