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GeekNights 061220 - Dubs and Subs

RymRym
edited December 2006 in Anime

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk a bit about subtitled versus dubbed anime. In the news, Katsucon's Artist's Alley rules changes spark some Internet uproar.

Scott's Thing - Gross Genitals Grief Graef
Rym's Thing - Iron Man

Comments

  • Swag for swag huh... I would send you guys a fan-mix cd I made for fun...

    I just need an address to mail it to.

    PM if interested!
  • Hmm, the time when you showed Hellsing in English dub, I remember that. I also remember a girl sitting next to me in the very back row of the Building 8 auditorium wanting to kill me for not raising my hand objecting to the decision.
  • I hate dubbing, I'm a subtitle girl all the way.
  • edited December 2006
    About the Katsucon stuff, in regards to webcomics, when I was there last year I was helping out my friends who have webcomics and they had tables. They were technically in the artist alley, but all the webcomics were put in a side hallway separate from the actual artist alley room. It was really more of an alley.

    I assume that they'll do something like that again this year with the webcomics, especially since most of them are likely going to be going to the con as guests. I'll have to ask my friends about it and see what they know.

    [Updated: didn't want to double post so just adding this here]
    In regards to the dubbing, specifically from when you were talking about the English dubbing matching the mouth movements of the character, while the Japanese in some cases doesn't. I took a flash animation class my last semester at college, and we did some lip syncing stuff in it. My teacher was a professional animator, and basically told us that in regards to lip syncing that getting the mouth movements isn't completely necessary, but rather having the body movements and general reaction movements are more important in a good lip sync.

    He had a story about an animator showing a sequence to Walt Disney for a Disney movie that was still in production, and Walt commented that the lip sync was perfect, to which the animator pointed out that they hadn't even animated the lips yet for the sequence.
    Post edited by Kiey on
  • When I was younger I enjoyed dubs much more. It was mainly do to the fact that the dubs were much more affordable in my area (Dub: $19.99, Sub: $29.99). But once I started getting a hold of anime via the interweb I have found that I actually enjoyed subs more. There are, of course, exceptions. There are times when the American voices are much better (in other words the original voices annoy me).
  • Interesting idea Scott had with the "penis seeking turret" I'll have to find a way to put that in a conversation over the next week.
  • I always have subs on, no matter what I am watching.

    I still prefer subs with original dialog. I can read the subs quick enough now not to miss any of the action.
  • In Second-Life, you are allowed to synthesize any model you make as many times as you want. But, if you own land, you can put a setting on that land to not allow anyone to be able to create any objects on it, or in the sky above it. The option was there to prevent the attack, they were just too dumb to use it. Thank god.
  • Second life is fun occasionally to fly around and sightsee (because it's free). But I can't imagine spending money in the game. (I hear someone built a Replica of Serenity...
  • I watched that Second Life video.....damn that was "tehhh freakys." XD
  • After I've watched movies enough, I sometimes even turn off subs and leave it on the original voice acting. For example, I make a habit to watch Spirited Away without subs in Japanese. It's a lot of fun.
  • edited May 2007
    Dubs all the way. It's not like it was ten years ago with dubs.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • I certainly wish English dub actors in general would put some more energy into their acting (or in certain cases, less).
  • edited July 2007
    I could see why some might not like dubs, but I tend to watch anime with dubs as opposed to subs. I do this because I don't want to miss out on what's going on on the screen when I'm reading the subs. I don't really mind bad dubs. I really like things in English when I'm trying to understand the plot and appreciate the animation or lack of. I am kind of ticked off if the dubs are not accurate, though. That's when I put on the subs along with the dub!
    Post edited by letseatcake on
  • I liked the Fullmetal Alchemist dub... Alphonse kind of bugs me, but it's more his whining and snivling character than the voice actor. Vic Mignoigna(spelling) does an excellend Edward Elric, and generally it's a good dub.
     
    The Eva dub was unbearable, I'm watching EoE after watching the whole series subbed...
     
    I sampled some Trigun dub and it made me so sad.. :(
  • edited July 2007
    Vic Mignoigna(spelling)
    Just a lesson, but if you are not sure of a particular spelling, one would use the word sic. It is used "to indicate that an incorrect or unusual spelling, phrase, punctuation, and/or other preceding quoted material has been reproduced verbatim from the quoted original and is not a transcription error" (Wikipedia). Here is an example:
    • The House of Representatives shall chuse [sic] their Speaker...
    Post edited by Andrew on
  • Just a lesson, but if you are not sure of a particular spelling, one would use the wordsic. It is used to indicate that an incorrect or unusual spelling, phrase, punctuation, and/or other preceding quoted material has been reproduced verbatim from the quoted original and is not a transcription error (Wikipedia). Here is an example

    [Verbatim]
     
    Good call. Thanks WiP.
  • If I first saw an anime that was dubbed, all subsequent viewings have to be the dub version, and vice-versa if I watched the sub first. Some of my friends discovered cowboy beebop while they were in college, watching it dubbed on DVD, while I had watched it in high school with subtitles. When they wanted to watch the dub version, I had a hard time because I had watched the whole series multiple times with subtitles. The issue wasn't whether one was better than the other, but that the characters seemed totally different becasue of the different voice actors. The same thing goes for Trigun. While the dub is pretty terrible, Vash forever has the voice of johnny Yong Bosh for me.
  • Vash forever has the voice of johnny Yong Bosh for me.
    I'm sorry.

    Personally, I do see where you are coming from, but there is a solution. First, don't rewatch things so often. There are so many good things out there, and I doubt you have seen them all. I've done my share of rewatching things, but you can't overdo it. Mostly concentrate on watching new things with only a little bit of reruns.

    If you have a bad dub stuck in your brain, just watch the subtitled version and keep watching it over and over. Maybe watch the first episode three times until you get used to it, and then watch the rest of the show. I had Robotech in my brain from my youth, but was able to erase it by watching Macross enough.
  • Vash forever has the voice of johnny Yong Bosh for me.
    I'm sorry.
    They redid a lot of the dub with the same people doing better. Also, why would you be sorry that he heard Vash as JYB? He's a great voice actor, and a Power Ranger, actually.
  • Vash forever has the voice of johnny Yong Bosh for me.
    I'm sorry.
    They redid a lot of the dub with the same people doing better. Also, why would you be sorry that he heard Vash as JYB? He's a great voice actor, and a Power Ranger, actually.
    Uh, no.
  • What's strange about these discussions is a consideration of bad Japanese voice acting. It seems to be taken as a given that the Japanese performances are always great and that the English performances are always inferior. To this day, I've only heard one review that comments on the bad Japanese performances (Anime World Order's review of Kishin Corps). As a matter of fact, when I hear of a show that is really popular with American viewers and not so much with Japanese ones, I tend to blame bad Japanese voice acting. The main this I'm thinking about is Trigun. The manga's really popular, and Americans really gravitated toward the anime, while the Japanese left it swinging in the wind.

    So, let's break it down. People in Japan obviously liked the story and the characters, as those are holdovers from the manga, therefore the show's failure to attract Japanese viewers must be either in the script, animation, or voice acting, the three things that are specific only to the animation. Of those, the script (once translated) and the animation have been universally acknowledged as quality by from the American fans, therefore we know that it must be the voice acting that drove the Trigun manga fans away. It could just be taste, as it's been pinned on for a long time, but I think that a more likely that, in this case, there was a qualitative reason for this. It just makes more sense to me?

    Also, people often accuse English voice acting of overacting. Secondly, in both the "Subs and Dubs" and "Dubs and Subs" episodes, Rym said that he learned how Japanese emotional cues sound by watching anime. It never occured to you that you were able to pick up those cues because the Japanese actors were overacting? Just food for thought.
  • It never occured to you that you were able to pick up those cues because the Japanese actors were overacting?
    The thing is, they aren't really overacting. Most anime are intentionally melodramatic. It's supposed to be done that way. The american voice actors fail because they can't pull it off without letting in some corniness.
  • I mention Japanese voice acting every time I tell my friends about a show. It's most of the time not positive if I mention it. Or it'll be a great/famous actor who does an sub-par performance compared to that persons other works.
  • edited February 2011
    The thing is, they aren't really overacting. Most anime are intentionally melodramatic. It's supposed to be done that way. The American voice actors fail because they can't pull it off without letting in some corniness.
    Okay, I understand that I'm basing an argument entirely on things I don't know, but do we know that the performances aren't corny to the Japanese?
    I mention Japanese voice acting every time I tell my friends about a show. It's most of the time not positive if I mention it. Or it'll be a great/famous actor who does an sub-par performance compared to that persons other works.
    Are there any shows that have bad voice acting that are liked by non-Japanese audiences?
    Post edited by progSHELL on
  • edited February 2011
    Elfen Lied. Kurozuka (I liked this one actually). Viper's Creed. Nijuu Mensou no Musume. Zone of the Enders (One of the versions). Ninja Scroll. Kyou no 5 no 2 (the bad version). Hagane no Renkinjutsushi Brotherhood. A million harem shows. I could probably very easily go on for ages. But with all of these, it's pretty obvious that it's just a case of 'they don't know any better' when they like these shows and aren't Japanese.
    Post edited by Aria on
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