Anime Things you may not know about dubbing

(to my fellow mods, modding here in the anime forum. I would like it very much if this were stickied, so future members could see it, and hopefully, understand the dubbing process a bit more. However, if you find there’s no need to sticky it, I understand)

Things you may not know about dubbing
It’s easy to complain about a dub. However, you have to understand that there are some things the dubbers cannot help, so you should not blame them for it. Here’s a little guide to help you understand.

First, let’s talk about ethics
There are some things that are okay for Japanese audiences but not for American. Every place in the world is different. An example of how our North American culture is different from other cultures, such as Japan and Italy: in Japan, an old man can read a porn magazine (they’re available in vending machines!) outside, in front of children, and no one would care. Over here in America, in this same situation, people passing by would stop to tell this man that he is sick, for there is a definite stigma here regarding porn (especially in front of children!). In Italy, this man would be arrested. See the differences?

Now, we are a much more diverse country than Japan, full of different peoples and cultures. To you, names such as ‘Black Lady’ (from Sailor Moon) and ‘Black Magician’ (from Yuugiou) and ‘Cure Black;’ (from Pretty Cure) may seem to be harmless, but to a dubber, they see that people may interpret this as racism to the African Americans. Do not blame the dubbers for this, this is not their fault. They just don’t want to get sued. Blame our sensitive, full of prejudice society.

Also, there are certain things we just don’t deem to be appropriate for children over here, such as sexual relation, excessive violence, swearing, etc. I’m sure most of us saw the woman who complained about Fooly Cooly (FLCL) when it broad casted on Cartoon Network about a year or so ago, because it wasn’t appropriate for her children, even though the show was on at MIDNIGHT. Unfortunately some groups of parents don’t understand that not all anime is for children (although a large percentage is) just like not all cartoons are intended for children. (I’m thinkin’ Simpsons, Family Guy, the greatness that was Clone High…). This is a general opinion that applies for all cartoons over here (once again, some parents don’t get Family Guy isn’t for younguns) and video games (good god, remember the GTA: San Andreas hullabaloo, over the ‘secret mini-game’? -_-). Blame the parents, not the dubbers.

There are also some things the networks aren’t allowed to show in ‘children’s entertainment’ on their channels. For example, Fox TV does not allow smoking, guns or alcohol in any of their children entertainment, therefore 4Kids (I hate to stick up for these a-holes… >>) have to take out all scenes containing these things, or change them. Yes, it’s stupid, but once again, blame our society.


Sexuality
While somewhat covered in ethics, let’s cover it a little further.

Let’s talk about homosexuality (mmmmm…yes….*ahem*). For crying out loud people, AMERICA IS THE COUTNRY THAT GOT ALL BEAT UP OVER A GAY SEA SPONGE AND A GAY TELETUBBIE! Ya know how they figured Twinky-Winky was gay!? Because he was purple, owned a purse and had a triangle shaped antenna on his damn head! I kid you NOT. That is seriously why homophobic Americans deemed him to be gay, no foolin’. There was a Christian group that boycotted Disneyland for years just because the park gave benefits to their homosexual employees. Even up here in Canada, a country that’s supposed to be all accepting and tolerant, there was a huge ruckus after gay-marriage was made legal.

Homosexuals are just not accepted yet in this culture. They may be in Japan, but Japan is not over ridden by Christianity (in fact, a very, VERY small percent of Japan is Christian…not even 10% I believe). Maybe in the future they’ll be more accepted…with more serious movies like Brokeback Mountain, but even then, they’ll still be somewhat looked down upon. How do you think the American public would’ve reacted to Sailor Moon if they knew Haruka and Michiru were ‘more than just friends’? CHAOS, I SAY CHAOS!! For crying out loud, my mom is very accepting of homosexuals but when she heard of lesbians in Sailor Moon she decided that the original, uncut version was as bad a porno. X_x

Parents have a problem with sex and their kids in general. Many get flustered when their children ask ‘Where did I come from?’ and make up stories about a stroke and confuse the crap out of kids. (Just tell them they came from mommy’s tummy. -_- My parents told me that, and I accepted it and didn’t ask any more questions like how I got in mommy’s tummy in the first place XD) So sexual relations in general can be a problem.

Oh, and people have such a problem with cleavage nowadays…

Name Changes
“Such and such had a better Japanese name!” Yeah that may be true, but if the name had stayed the same, voice actors may’ve mangled it. Alfred Kahn, CEO of 4Kids, called Naruto “Naratu”. The name Hotaru in Sailor Moon was kept the same and people STILL aren’t saying it right today. Sakura was mispronounced ‘Sah-KUR-ah’ for years, even though in the CCS dub some characters were in fact saying it right: ‘Sah-kuh-rah’. Names like Zakuro are still being mispronounced, I don’t know how many people I’ve had to tell now how to say it right, and bring in clips of Zakuro saying her name in transformation and attacking so they get it. I’ve heard over 5 different ways to pronounce Kamui from X/1999, and not many of them impress me.
(and before you say anything, I am learning some Japanese, and I get vowels and how to pronounce names right. But I still make mistakes myself, just recently I realized I’ve been mis-pronouncing ‘Hinagiku’, ‘Hinajiku’, but I’ve corrected myself)

This is I why I support the changing of names. I rather an English name, than a horribly mangled Japanese one.

What I don’t like is when a name doesn’t have a similar name to the original, or suits the character. I agree with the Sailor Moon dub names (Serena came form Serenity, Amy and Raye look like Ami and Rei, Mina comes from Minako, Lita is derived from Leda one of Jupiter’s moons, Michelle doesn’t look that different from Michiru, and Trista seems ‘sad’ or ‘lonely’ which is perfect for the lonely guardian of Time, Pluto. I just don’t like Amara XD). I DON’T agree with the Tokyo Mew Mew –I mean, Mew Mew Power names. I don’t get how a name that translates to English essentially as ‘Strawberry Pink’ (that SO should’ve been her name!) becomes ‘Zoey Hanson.’

Voice Actors
Unfortunately, dubbers have to choose their voice actors from those that audition. They can’t just say ‘none of these voices are right, I’m not casting any of them’. That just doesn’t work. They have to pick SOMEBODY. There are different kinds of voice actors: kinds that don’t suit their characters but they CAN show emotion and they DO have talent, they’re just not appropriate; and then there’s the kind that acts like they’re just reading their lines off the script with no heart or emotion (AARON DISMUKE!!!! HATE THAT KID!!!); then there are those that are over dramatic and make the whole thing seem horribly cheesy. And then you have Lisa Ortiz who is perfect no matter what role she plays!!!!! ><

Also, take note that the life of a voice actor is not easy. They’re not well paid, many of them end up suffering of voice loss cause they gotta do over 2 episodes a day. They need to take courses to get ready and there’s a lot of competition and the possibility you’ll never get a single role. They have to have experience…and they barely even make enough to cover the rent of their apartments for crying out loud. Very sad what these people go through. Never mind how hard it is to match mouth flaps. Seiyuu in Japan are lucky; character singles are created for their characters, so they make money off the CDs, and some become huge names. Takehito Koyasu (who is known for his roles in Fushigi Yuugi, Weiss kruez, Utena and more) has his own line of jewelry in Japan. (No kiddin’.)

Quite frankly, I think American voice actors should abandon this whole ‘voicing in separate rooms’ thing, attempting to match mouth flaps. I think they should do what the Japanese do. Record in the same room with each other so they can work off each other’s energies like real actors. Cause quite frankly, I don’t pay attention the mouth movements. I do have a problem if the mouths been shut for a good couple seconds and the person’s still talking, but otherwise…I pay more attention to the performance than the matching of the mouth…but whatever..

 

(stupid character limit...bleh)

Music
Here’s something I had a problem with until I found something out recently…

Did you know the dubber have to PAY for the music rights?

They are quite expensive. It’s cheaper for them to just make the music themselves than to buy the rights to use the original music. (Cause everyone just wants to make money, everyone).

I suggest you all respect the companies like ADV and Pioneer who go out, buy the music rights, AND the rights to the original Japanese audio track, and then do all the dubbing work, just for YOU (and money >>). ADV, in my opinion the best dubbing company out there, is currently doing HORRIBLY financially, because people aren’t buying the DVDs. If they can put in all that effort to bring you good quality, uncut DVDs, you can buy some DVDs and make their investment worth it, otherwise, these companies will go bankrupt, and we’ll just be left with horrible 4Kids dubs.

-

What you SHOULD be hating dubbers for is horrible, corny, totally not the same dialogue (lookin’ at YOU 4Kids), hiring 12 year old voice actors with NO experience (once again, lookin’ at YOU AARON DISMUKE and those idiots at FunI that casted you!!!), retarded names like Zoey Hanson for a girl named Ichigo, relinquishing all puns, un-necessary localization of shows (lookin’ at 4Kids again. God, Saban didn’t localize Digimon and no one gived a sh--!), un-necessary title changes (once again 4KIDS, and those jerks at Nelvana!) and so on…

Well, hoped I educated some folks…

 

About DUB voice Actors: It's impossible to work all in one room. Why?

The japanese work with KEY animation, whereas the American companies work with FINAL animation. So they can say whatever they want, if it fits, it's in. In US, they have the get the lines excactly to the scripts and to the lips.

They don't really need that, they need to actually get degrees, some of them. Here's the list that if they're in it, it's bound to be a good dub:

Laura Bailey (Sana Kurata; Laura Bailey)
Mike Mc Farland (Jean Havoc; Suji; Ritsu Sohma)
Jerry Jewel (Jimmy/Jimichi Kudo; Akito Hayama; Kyou Sohma)
Chris Patton (Sosuke Sagara; Joshua Christopher; Naozui Kumura)
Greg Ayers (Chrono; Tsuyoshi Ohki/Sasaki)
Vic Mignona (Vic Mignona; Kurz Webber)
Coleen Clickenbeard (Riza Hawkeye; Rose; Misako Kurata)
John Burgmeier (Kurama; Rei Sagami; Shigure Sohma)

There's tons others that at this moment I can't remember right now, I may keep on updating...

-Seishin

 

okay so now that i have less to blame dubbers for. i'll shut up about the little things.

 

i am so happy when the companies buy the rights to the series....like taku's stuff....because these write the stuff to fit the series and they have a better understanding of the meanings put into the series than the "new score writers" do. but hey i like to watch both dubbed and subbed

 

Very nicely put FR. Like I said before they are getting better.

 

interesting indeed Seishin m'boy...thanks for the info however...

You're missing the point!! XP Bleh~~

Oh and I'd also like to point out religious symbols. We have a very religious society, much more so than the Japanese. So the Japanese may not care to put a cross where ever they want, hey, they'll do it because crosses look cool. However, there's always the chance that some one religious over here may be offended by a religious symbol in an anime, so dubbers try to avoid this. (personally, i think this is a little paranoid. I mean...unless ya got the cruxifix....I don't think any religious groups are gonna be insulted by the sight of the cross in an anime Oo but that's just me...)

 

I won't go against that. DUBS are gradually getting better. In some copmanies.

I think that it all just depends on three main roles:

*Script Writter:Write a smart script, not stupid
*Director:Needs to direct the staff how they're supopposed to be directed, excellent, not say 'oh, I think it sounds cool, so I'll leave it'
*Voice actors:Need talent, not just some people that got lucky without degrees...

I may have missed one cause my mind is somewhere else, but those are the main things that need to be worked on.

The best DUB companies (for me) right now are Funimation and ADV.

-Seishin

 

Wow, I actually didn't know alot of that stuff about dubbers. But I believe it is easy to learn a name and say if properly, though I won't accuse dubbers as badly anymore, I guess.