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NEWS: Madoka Magica English-Dubbed Trailer Streamed


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Kakugo



Joined: 29 Nov 2007
Posts: 163
PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 6:02 am Reply with quote
kakoishii wrote:
It's almost like you're seeing the word "dub" as some horrible four letter word that should never be uttered. Perhaps it's just the bad rap dubbing has gotten in the anime fandom, but imo there should not be a negative connotation associated withe the word dub.


Okay, I'm confused: Where did I say that dubbing a program from one language to another was an inherently negative thing? Heck, I think FUNimation's Shin Chan is (usually) hilarious. It's got almost nothing to do with Shin'ei Douga's Crayon Shin-chan, but it is a perfect example of a dub operating as a totally unique and entertaining experience.

I do tend to think dubbing is unnecessary in today's market, but that's mostly irrelevant to this discussion: Madoka Magica's getting a dub, and my argument isn't whether it should or shouldn't, or even whether or not it's a good or bad dub. My argument was that the original performances are a part of the show, and that the argument "all animation is dubbed" implies (or so I thought) that the original performances are somewhat irrelevant - 'cause, you know, they're just voice overs anyway. But if I misread this argument totally - if it was a simple semantics game to point out that anime characters require an actor in Japanese too, hey, mea culpa. Smile

But, now I'm really lost... you see, I don't see why limited animation being dubbed into a second language (just to avoid confusion) is seen as any different than, say, Pixar's fully rendered speech, or live action. Please explain, why is it "less" acceptable (or unacceptable?) to dub live action material? What fundamental difference does dubbing a live action feature have over dubbing limited animation? Both involve the same steps of adapting the original dialog, hiring voice over actors, getting approval from the licensee and publishing the new version to consumers. The fact that it looks 'weird' watching an actor speak one language while another comes out of his mouth seems irrelevant; the same exact process is going on, it just shows the seams of that process more easily.

Now I'm curious: Do you, or anyone here who tends to watch anime dubbed, opt to watch a live action films dubbed into English? I don't mean Shogun Assassins where there's no other options - I mean on contemporary material, or when you're given the choice on a DVD? I'm just trying to understand how watching 13 Assassins dubbed in English is somehow different than watching Shigurui: Death Frenzy in English?
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 6:26 am Reply with quote
I can only speak for myself on this one:

Kakugo wrote:
Okay, I'm confused: Where did I say that dubbing a program from one language to another was an inherently negative thing?


Even if you didn't explicitly state it, that's kind of the impression I got.
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kakoishii



Joined: 16 Jul 2008
Posts: 741
PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 1:15 pm Reply with quote
Kakugo wrote:

Okay, I'm confused: Where did I say that dubbing a program from one language to another was an inherently negative thing?

The tone of your comments regarding dubs implies some negativity. Whether that was intended I'm not sure, but that's how it definitely reads.
Quote:

I do tend to think dubbing is unnecessary in today's market, but that's mostly irrelevant to this discussion: Madoka Magica's getting a dub, and my argument isn't whether it should or shouldn't, or even whether or not it's a good or bad dub.

Irrelevant maybe for you personally, but as a whole, as anime attempts to reach a wider audience, dubs are definitely relevant and necessary. Do you really think there would have been an anime boom in the early 2000's if anime wasn't dubbed and given visibility on cable tv? Sure enough it's getting more visibility with more streaming options and simulcasts being sub only, that doesn't render dubs irrelevant though. There's no getting around the fact that by and large people would rather watch a show with characters speaking their own language. This is by and large not just within the niche factions of the anime fandom, I'm talking larger general public which would include a large faction of casual fans who could potentially write a show off if it only got a sub release.
Quote:

My argument was that the original performances are a part of the show, and that the argument "all animation is dubbed" implies (or so I thought) that the original performances are somewhat irrelevant - 'cause, you know, they're just voice overs anyway. But if I misread this argument totally - if it was a simple semantics game to point out that anime characters require an actor in Japanese too, hey, mea culpa. Smile

I think you're definitely misunderstanding the argument. Dubbing isn't just "dubbing over" it is also "dubbing in." Because it is animation, a voice must be "dubbed in" for any of the characters to have a voice. Thus the statement "all animation is dubbed." There's no implication about one version being any more relevant than the other, and even if there was, why should that matter considering that sort of thing would be relative to the viewer anyway?
Quote:

But, now I'm really lost... you see, I don't see why limited animation being dubbed into a second language (just to avoid confusion) is seen as any different than, say, Pixar's fully rendered speech, or live action. Please explain, why is it "less" acceptable (or unacceptable?) to dub live action material?

Other people might like watching dubbed live action, but me personally, I avoid that sort of thing like the plague and here's why: live action mouth flaps don't lend themselves to being dubbed over. Like I stated in my last post animation is especially in japan pretty much drawn characters with indiscernible mouth flaps that are meant for a voice actor to fill in with their own voice. Live action is some character speaking their specific lines, when you dub over that with some other person's voice speaking in a different language, it's pretty obvious, it's jarring, and it definitely takes me out of the movie/show/etc. Other people may be okay with it, and that's fine, but there's no getting around the fact that live action doesn't not naturally lend its self to being dubbed over, on the flip side animation is supposed to be dubbed, see the difference?

Quote:

Now I'm curious: Do you, or anyone here who tends to watch anime dubbed, opt to watch a live action films dubbed into English? I don't mean Shogun Assassins where there's no other options - I mean on contemporary material, or when you're given the choice on a DVD? I'm just trying to understand how watching 13 Assassins dubbed in English is somehow different than watching Shigurui: Death Frenzy in English?

Personally I watch anime both subbed and dubbed unless there's no option on the dvd I'll just watch the anime subbed (I did this with Tokyo Godfathers when I thought it was dual language when it actually wasn't, but I enjoyed it just the same). When it comes to Live action I'll always watch it in its native language with subtitles, unless I'm watching the move with my brother because he doesn't like to read the subtitles. Again if I'm watching an anime dubbed there's nothing jarring about watching a dub, the way it's animated it's meant to have a voice over (It's just a character with it's mouth indiscernibly opening and closing), live action mouth flaps do not jive with a different language coming out, it has nothing to do with the voice performance and everything to do with me knowing and seeing the disconnect between the words that are coming out and movement of the mouth. In animation that sort of thing is not an issue.
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Ingraman



Joined: 07 Feb 2005
Posts: 1084
PostPosted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 12:19 pm Reply with quote
dtm42 wrote:
But anyway, PMMM has had many articles here at ANN, I question how you've managed to somehow avoid all of them until now. Also, many of the major Anime blogs and podcasts (even Colony Drop) were covering this show when it was being aired, and there were many YouTube videos too.

It can't be that hard to not read/hear them, although you know that they're there because of the headlines/links for the articles.

If I haven't seen a particular anime or read a manga, I pretty much stay away from reviews/trailers/articles about them because they likely contain spoilers about the product. I generally watch streams and fansubs "blind", knowing little to nothing about what I'm getting into. On occasion, I've glanced at some of the charts/graphics that people put together about the upcoming shows for the season, but it's not something that I regularly do.

Yeah, that means that I miss good shows, because I don't sample everything that gets released each season (usually only 4-5 series).
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Red Fox of Fire



Joined: 24 Jan 2010
Posts: 345
PostPosted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:09 pm Reply with quote
I find it quite disappointing that many people have to be told that Madoka is a dark deconstruction of its genre before they are willing to watch it. I only went into the show because I like SHAFT's style, so I knew I couldn't miss their first (right?) original anime. I was expecting an overall pretty-typical-but-better-than-most magical girl series...then I saw episode three and Everything I Knew Was A Lie. I got the better-than-most part more than I could have expected, but the pretty-typical part was shot.

Being trolled by the show I think is a big part of why people love it so much, so it's unfortunate (though reasonable) that people refuse to watch it until they know too much.

However, when I finally own the show I'm going to tell people it's a cutesy magical girl show with lollipops and rainbows and force them to watch it anyway. I hope other people think to do the same.
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CG-LOVER



Joined: 22 Mar 2010
Posts: 355
Location: East Lansing, MI
PostPosted: Mon Dec 26, 2011 8:30 pm Reply with quote
I thought this might be noteworthy, but if you want to hear more of Christine Marie Cabanos playing Madoka, "The Live Show" on Crunchyroll has posted a video which feature her performing some of her lines from the show.

http://www.crunchyroll.com/the-live-show/episode-52-cabanos-signing-and-voice-acting-588992

Now, the full clip is only available to premium members, which I am not, so I don't know what other footage there might be. But I did see the sample clip they provided, and I'm still reasonably satisfied with her performance.
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ArsenicSteel



Joined: 12 Jan 2010
Posts: 2370
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 3:17 am Reply with quote
The dub doesn't sound natural at all, even when I keep in mind AoA is trying use the deceptively happy tone.

My biggest problem right now isn't how unnatural it sounds but that I can't tell any of the female(Kyuubey) performances apart.

I wish I would hear a significance difference between the performances like others can so I could take part in the "miscasting" debate.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 9:48 am Reply with quote
Was surfing YouTube, and in amongst the PMMM mashups of 300 and Team Fortress 2 I came across this fan-made trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9ASQnY_Cnw&feature=related

It reminded me of this thread, and how so many people were annoyed with the official trailer. Also, how so many people refused to listen to all of us who were saying that the show is so much more and were basing all of their opinions off the trailer alone.

Don't worry, this trailer has almost no spoilers, and it provides proper dark tones and awesome music. If someone is still reluctant to give PMMM a go, show them this trailer and hopefully it will change their mind. Hopefully.



Two very excellent PMMM mashups for those who are interested:

With Inception (kind of spoils a pivotal scene, but not fully):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POjj67bIQiU

With Sucker Punch (very well done, but beware massive series-ruining spoilers. Cannot stress this enough):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkNDBl5iltA



(And no, I didn't make either of these or know the people who did, so this is not self-promotion.)
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