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Topic: Anime in American or Japanese (Read 3507 times)

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pinkfluffy_dragon

#1 June 07, 2007, 12:48:14 pm

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When watching Great Teacher Onizuka's first series in Japanese with subtitles.. I thought I'd watch the second in American.

It might just be me, but does anyone else feel that the American versions on anime completely lose the emphasis and feeling that the Japanese put into the characters.

It may just be because I watched the original first, but it just seemed really dull in comparison.

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NovaGenesis

#2 June 07, 2007, 01:57:47 pm

OK Computer
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American? Its called ENGLISH

But yeah, dubs are generally horrible to watch on animes IMO.

Franklin the Freedom Mouse says: If you really want to make the world a better place, join the fight against international communism!

Buck Fush!!! it is his fault i am a retard

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XxSylverxX

#3 June 07, 2007, 02:11:27 pm

Chronic asshole syndrome
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when i was more hardcore into anime i would have agreed, but now i cant be bothered to watch subtitles.

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Swordfish

#4 June 07, 2007, 02:12:39 pm

Comrade!?! I AM NOT A FUCKING RUSSIAN
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subs > dubs, unless the actors are really good aka Nadesco (at least i thought) and even then most times Subs > dubs.

RIP DoktorMartini

My brute!

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jakechan

#5 June 07, 2007, 02:13:31 pm

what
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dubs sux

i guess most dubbing companies like 4kids actually make it "for kids" god im witty
i hate amerika

hail travelers it is i the jake chan

(hey whoever took out the

smilie put it back thaaaaaaaanx)

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helter skelter

#6 June 07, 2007, 02:20:25 pm

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It's ENGLISH.

ENGLISH

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Shadowtext

#7 June 07, 2007, 02:29:35 pm

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It is very rare that a dub is so bad that it changes the overall quality of the show in question. Most of the time when people make this outcry against the dubs, it's because they don't realize that the thing sounds every bit as silly in Japanese. I could understand the complaint ten years ago, when dubs generally were pretty awful.

But these days the biggest complaints people have is that they don't like the way a character's catch phrase/signature sentence construction got translated to english ("Believe it!"), or that a pun (that wouldn't have gotten in the first place if it weren't for a note from the translators) isn't translated well. Or maybe they just don't like the english interpretation of Kansai-ben. I mean there are occasional exceptions, like One Piece (I'm told), but they're mostly all titles translated by specific companies, so you know what to watch out for.

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Klean

#8 June 07, 2007, 03:21:36 pm

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Quote from: Shadowtext on June 07, 2007, 02:29:35 pm

. . . Most of the time when people make this outcry against the dubs, it's because they don't realize that the thing sounds every bit as silly in Japanese. I could understand the complaint ten years ago, when dubs generally were pretty awful.

Hi, if they don't realize that it sounds silly in Japanese then either it
a) does not sound that silly or it
b) doesn't even matter if it does sound silly because it doesn't sound that silly to them

Reasons why dubs are inferior:
Japanese culture is not English-speaking culture so translating the exact meaning becomes difficult
Dub-writers write their scripts in a particular way to sync up with the characters' mouth movements

Last Edit: June 07, 2007, 03:26:02 pm by Klean

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UPRC

#9 June 07, 2007, 03:32:14 pm

No, it doesn't stand for anything.
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I don't know, I prefer to watch my anime in Canadian.

Gomu gomu no pistol, eh?

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Shadowtext

#10 June 07, 2007, 03:33:46 pm

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Quote from: Klean on June 07, 2007, 03:21:36 pm

Japanese culture is not English-speaking culture so translating the exact meaning becomes difficult
Dub-writers write their scripts in a particular way to sync up with the characters' mouth movements

Not really. See, that's exactly the issue--a translation that's faithful to the spirit of the original is generally held by everyone (except anime fans) to be the best kind of translation. The characters behave the same and the same sort of feeling is evoked by their actions and dialogue.

Now anime fans who seem to insist that subs are always better also seem to be the ones that think that translations are only acceptable when they're exact translations, which is idiotic. Look at FLCL's dub. Not only does it have great voice actors, but they manage to translate many of the Japanese cultural references to ones that mean about the same thing in English-speaking territories, (Or at least America. I have no idea if Britain ever got Crystal Pepsi or the Van Halen commercials associated with it), but it's far from an exact translation.

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Eyrie Platforming Engine for RMXP pre-Alpha (Released 12-24-2006)
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Klean

#11 June 07, 2007, 03:41:09 pm

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I like how you use the exception instead of the rule in your arguments. FLCL is pretty average.

Quote from: Shadowtext on June 07, 2007, 03:33:46 pm

Not really. See, that's exactly the issue--a translation that's faithful to the spirit of the original is generally held by everyone (except anime fans) to be the best kind of translation. The characters behave the same and the same sort of feeling is evoked by their actions and dialogue.

I agree with this, but it just normally does not happen.

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UPRC

#12 June 07, 2007, 03:52:20 pm

No, it doesn't stand for anything.
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You want to know a damn good dub? Wolf's Rain. Holy shit, did they ever do a bang up job on that.

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Supra Mairo

#13 June 07, 2007, 04:43:54 pm

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I can't really enjoy neither because english dubs are usually bad/awkward but then again the japanese female voices are extremely annoying and they all sound the same. imo.

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pinkfluffy_dragon

#14 June 07, 2007, 05:16:09 pm

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Okay before even more people have a dig! I know it is English, I am not retarded!

But the dubbing is done by American actors! Therefore you can hardly CALL it English just because the basic language is the same!

Us English speak and pronounce things differently to Americans! Hence me not saying it was an English dub! ffs! -_-

Last Edit: June 07, 2007, 05:21:02 pm by pinkfluffy_dragon

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#1 Vodka fan

#15 June 07, 2007, 08:41:53 pm

orly?
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You guys forgot that one little detail that the dubs are done by professional translators while subs are made by the amateur japanese speaker fans of the show.

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UPRC

#16 June 08, 2007, 02:49:05 am

No, it doesn't stand for anything.
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Quote from: pinkfluffy_dragon on June 07, 2007, 05:16:09 pm

Okay before even more people have a dig! I know it is English, I am not retarded!
But the dubbing is done by American actors! Therefore you can hardly CALL it English just because the basic language is the same!

Us English speak and pronounce things differently to Americans! Hence me not saying it was an English dub! ffs! -_-

Ah, it's all in fun.. This is GW, after all.

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Klean

#17 June 08, 2007, 05:08:55 am

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Quote from: Kassey on June 07, 2007, 08:41:53 pm

You guys forgot that one little detail that the dubs are done by professional translators while subs are made by the amateur japanese speaker fans of the show.

You know there are professional subs too, right?

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Rye Bread

#18 June 08, 2007, 06:07:34 am

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They're about the same, not counting exceptionally bad dubs.

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LORd

#19 June 08, 2007, 03:12:07 pm

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I suppose I am just a RIGID CONSERVATIVE since I have difficulties watching anything in any other language than the one that I was first exposed to in. Ie. Disney movies I can't stand to watch in English since I've seen them all in Finnish before, and in similar vein I just can't watch anime in spoken English either.

I always watch my anime with English subtitles as well even if there are Finnish ones available so you see just how deep my condition runs!

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Main Character

#20 June 08, 2007, 06:51:42 pm

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I dunno why all you commies are complaining, but I speak American with a Texas dialect.

Anyways, I do usually prefer English subs, especially when the story itself is set in Japan, which is often the case with anime. In the rare cases the characters are meant to speak English but it's in Japanese I sometimes prefer dubs.

Given the nature of which I attain most of my media I usually get used to the Japanese voices and can never stand the English ones, but sometimes I much rather have English dubs. FLCL and El Hazard for instance... I think the VAs did such good jobs on those series that I can't think of seeing them without English voices.

As for games I enjoy games like the Metal Gear Solid series in English because it's *supposed* to be English... the Japanese voices in place just don't sit well with me no matter how good they are.

Plus David Hayter kicks ass.

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