Forum - View topic

New Ah! My Goddess T.V. Series Dub...

The biggest problem I have with the new series is when I compare the English subtitles with the English dub. Often I turn on both English sub and dub together (if the disk allows) so I can compare the two; sometimes I can pick up some interesting differences.

Well, in OMG's case, Belldandy in the subs uses "Keiichi" a lot, while in the dubs she uses "Mr. Keiichi" instead. This tends to confuse me a bit. Seeing "Keiichi" in the subs tends to make me think her relationship with Keiichi is very close, and that she is not just sincere about her contract with him, but has personal feelings. When I instead hear "Mr. Keiichi", it gives me much more of an impression of distance from Keiichi, and is primarily fulfilling her contract out of necessity.

Quote:

Well, in OMG's case, Belldandy in the subs uses "Keiichi" a lot, while in the dubs she uses "Mr. Keiichi" instead. This tends to confuse me a bit. Seeing "Keiichi" in the subs tends to make me think her relationship with Keiichi is very close, and that she is not just sincere about her contract with him, but has personal feelings. When I instead hear "Mr. Keiichi", it gives me much more of an impression of distance from Keiichi, and is primarily fulfilling her contract out of necessity.

I'd have to go back and double-check to be sure, but I think what you're running into there is the difficulty of translating Japanese honorifics. In English we use "Mr." and "Mrs." and the like before a name but usually only in formal situations. Japanese honorifics, which are tacked onto the end of the name, are not only broader in scope but used nearly all the time. (Not using them, as I understand it, is considered quite rude in most situations since it implies intimate familiarity.) I'm sure if you listened to the Japanese language track carefully the character is really saying "Keiichi-san," which is the standard honorific used in a polite and formal situation. It roughly translates as "Mr. Keiichi" but isn't used the same way, which is why it's usually dropped in subtitles and dubs. And since the English script and subtitle script are usually done by different people, it's not surprising that the sub and dub would have two different interpretations of how to handle it.

Well, as a tremendous fan of the Oh! My Goddess OAV's (Mr. Simpson and Mrs. Cesario were a phenomeonal pair as K1 and Bell) and now owner of the 1st TV DVD, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with the dub.

Keiichi's voice actor is spot on. Very believable (if a little jumpy) and slots into the character without a hitch. I do feel there's a little too much "Crispen Freeman as Hideki Motosuwa" in his performance, but that's hard to help these days.

Belldandy's new actress is a little harder to spot. While the tone and speech is right on, the timbre and inflection is a little off and at times it seems very forced. The new actress also plays Bell up as much "girlier" than Cesario; playing up her naive charm instead of her gentle grace. It's a catch 22, and only 5 episodes in a little tough to call.... but honestly I still feel Juliet Cesario is the superior Belldandy.

And they both have tossed Ruby Marlowe's movie performance to the curb.