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Is the original version always better?


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TurnerJ



Joined: 05 Nov 2004
Posts: 483
Location: Highland Park, NJ
PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:32 pm Reply with quote
Just today I got into a minor disagreement with someone who tried to prove to me that an older, hastily made '80s dub of an existing Anime was superior to a more polished, professionally made newer version, acting as if if was a fact while seeming to accept my preference for the newer version as an opinion. I felt very confused and conflicted about this.

Which leads me to ask: is the original always better?

Honestly, I have not always found that to be the case. Sometimes the original version of something can be problematic and a dub can be better. Not always, but sometimes. The problem I have with it is when someone tries to impose what is simply their preference down my throat as a fact. It doesn't feel right to me; because then it's no longer an opinion. I hate dealing with that argument and people who try to convince me that it is true. What do you think about this?
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wcsinn



Joined: 01 Oct 2010
Posts: 186
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 1:05 am Reply with quote
I think its time you grew a pair and starting standing up for what you believe - who cares what he thinks. As you already stated, it's just his opinion and what makes his opinion more valid than yours?
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Veers



Joined: 31 Oct 2008
Posts: 1197
Location: Texas
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 1:12 am Reply with quote
The answer is no.
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Gatherum



Joined: 14 Feb 2012
Posts: 773
Location: Aurora CO
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 1:53 am Reply with quote
Not necessarily. Only purists and elitists are going to espouse that sort of narrow-minded nonsense. They can be, but that is the extent of such "certainties."
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Gon*Gon



Joined: 29 Sep 2011
Posts: 679
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 2:10 am Reply with quote
No one will say it's always better. But...it's very often better. As in 95% of the original is better regardless of what media it is.


Sometimes the original is just as good as the localization. But when a localized version of something is better, that's often a surprising exception.

A bit of subjectivity comes into play here.
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ArsenicSteel



Joined: 12 Jan 2010
Posts: 2370
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 2:40 am Reply with quote
Gatherum wrote:
Not necessarily. Only purists and elitists are going to espouse that sort of narrow-minded nonsense. They can be, but that is the extent of such "certainties."


I would hope this topic is about the original English dub of a show versus a new English dub, ex 4kids' OP vs Funimation's OP dub. The op didn't even explain what the show he and his friend were arguing over that would have made the topic more clear. Of course the one-sided way the op has explained the problem makes it easier to agree with his more flexible opinion rather then his friend's absolute stance.
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TitanXL



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 4036
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 3:23 am Reply with quote
Are we speaking dub to dub or sub to dub? First paragraph makes it sound like dubs, but the last one makes it sound like dub VS sub.

Dub to dub.. depends. Funi's dub is clearly better than 4Kids when it comes to One Piece, unless you're one of those "One Piece sucks, 4Kids made it enjoyable/fun to laugh at" kind of people which I feel frankly shouldn't be taken seriously in any serious debate on quality. So it depends on the dubs in question. I don't know too many anime that get redubs though.

Sub to dub, well... it was originally produced in Japanese for a Japanese audience. The Japanese voices, script, and pacing are the original. If you consider anime to potentially be art in any way then the original voice acting, script, and pacing is part of the original product. Not that I hate dubs (as long as they aren't 4Kids hackjobs) but there's no real valid argument against that statement. It would be like drawing over the Mona Lisa with crayons, it ceases to be the original piece of art, and there's quite a lot of times where dubs just flat out do not work for a series. Above all other reasoning, I think it should be required for someone to watch the original before judging a show. As you said, sometimes I see someone dismiss an 80s anime as bad because it had a bad 80s anime dub.
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EricJ



Joined: 03 Sep 2009
Posts: 876
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 4:13 am Reply with quote
TurnerJ wrote:
Just today I got into a minor disagreement with someone who tried to prove to me that an older, hastily made '80s dub of an existing Anime was superior to a more polished, professionally made newer version, acting as if if was a fact while seeming to accept my preference for the newer version as an opinion. I felt very confused and conflicted about this.

Which leads me to ask: is the original always better?


I was trying to think of "originals" of redubs I'd heard, but all that were springing to mind were the original Streamline versions of Dirty Pair: Project Eden and Castle of Cagliostro....Well, strike two for redubs. Confused
(Granted, the Manga version of Cagliostro had the improvement of of using Lupin's name, but somehow I remember Streamline's version of Zenigata being so much better...)
At least the Disney versions of Totoro, Kiki, Porco Rosso and Laputa were better, that's a point in redubs' favor.

And then there's also the Pioneer "real dub" of Card Captor Sakura Movie 2, made by ear after they didn't have to worry about "Cardcaptors" anymore...
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Gatherum



Joined: 14 Feb 2012
Posts: 773
Location: Aurora CO
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 7:43 am Reply with quote
ArsenicSteel wrote:
Gatherum wrote:
Not necessarily. Only purists and elitists are going to espouse that sort of narrow-minded nonsense. They can be, but that is the extent of such "certainties."


I would hope this topic is about the original English dub of a show versus a new English dub, ex 4kids' OP vs Funimation's OP dub. The op didn't even explain what the show he and his friend were arguing over that would have made the topic more clear. Of course the one-sided way the op has explained the problem makes it easier to agree with his more flexible opinion rather then his friend's absolute stance.


He's referencing redubs. At least, I assumed as such.
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Touma



Joined: 29 Aug 2007
Posts: 2651
Location: Colorado, USA
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 12:11 pm Reply with quote
TurnerJ wrote:
is the original always better?


That question is so broad and general that the answer has to be "no."
As others have already said we cannot really tell what you are asking about.
Your original example was about an old dub being compared to a newer dub, but this:
Quote:
Sometimes the original version of something can be problematic and a dub can be better.
seems like you are comparing the original Japanese version to a dub.
In either case the original is not always better, or worse. It is just a matter of opinion.

Quote:
The problem I have with it is when someone tries to impose what is simply their preference down my throat as a fact.


There will always be people who insist that their opinions must be accepted as facts (the really scary thing is that some of them seem to believe it). You can easily find them right here in this forum.
What I try to do is just give my own opinion and then ignore them when they say that I am "wrong" because my opinion does not agree with their "facts." But sometimes I do give in to the temptation to argue with them, even though I know that it is futile.
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Saffire



Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 1256
Location: Iowa, USA
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 12:53 pm Reply with quote
Assuming we're talking about an 80s English dub vs a modern english dub: Keep in mind that when talking about something that old, nostalgia is usually in play. It's very, very difficult to argue against someone's childhood.
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TurnerJ



Joined: 05 Nov 2004
Posts: 483
Location: Highland Park, NJ
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 1:51 pm Reply with quote
Everyone:

Sorry for sounding so vague and confusing; the topic I created was unnecessary and not very well informed. If you want to close this thread and lock it, that's perfectly fine, because I don't like to create threads that are this vague and confusing.
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Saffire



Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 1256
Location: Iowa, USA
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 2:30 pm Reply with quote
TurnerJ wrote:
Everyone:

Sorry for sounding so vague and confusing; the topic I created was unnecessary and not very well informed. If you want to close this thread and lock it, that's perfectly fine, because I don't like to create threads that are this vague and confusing.
You could just clarify it and we can refocus the discussion around it. Smile
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jsc315



Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 925
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:51 pm Reply with quote
Saffire wrote:
Assuming we're talking about an 80s English dub vs a modern english dub: Keep in mind that when talking about something that old, nostalgia is usually in play. It's very, very difficult to argue against someone's childhood.


I have to disagree most of those ADV dubs from the 80s are awful! Some of them do have a bit of charm, hell I like some of them just for the fact they are so bad that I'll like it more then the original Japanese voice acting.
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ArsenicSteel



Joined: 12 Jan 2010
Posts: 2370
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:43 am Reply with quote
Quote:
I have to disagree most of those ADV dubs from the 80s are awful!


So your opinion is that bad English dubs are more preferred than Japanese. Ladies and gents, we've reached ludicrous speed where English can do no wrong.
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