Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Are Adapted Dubs Still Being Made?
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Stuart Smith
Posts: 1298 |
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I'm not sure I'm comfortable with calling those shows action cartoons. The increasing genre of comedy shows with slapstick action elements like Adventure Time and Stephen Universe have been replacing true action shows. The last notable one was Legend of Korra, but that was aimed at boys and it ended up being pulled from networks due to poor ratings. It's also hard to classify them as 'girl shows'. They seem gender neutral if anything else, because of how much of SU focuses on Stephen as the main character, and Marco being Star's partner. Shows will generally have a male and female main characters to catch both audiences. Meanwhile, Pretty Cure generally has zero notable male characters unless they're love interests or villains. My Little Pony is the only real girl show I would say given it's toyline and merchandise. It also has much more 'serious' violence. The girls being battered and punched relentlessly. Smile Precure specifically had that one fight where Joker smells and licks Cure Beauty's hair like a real creeper as he beat her down. I'm curious to see how toned down Pretty Cure will be with it's on-female violence. It's more rough than comedic slapstick. Speaking of which, dismissing a show because it's a toy commercial is kind of unfair. Just because it sells toys doesn't mean it can't be good. Pokemon XY has been amazing with some great action sequences, and Yu-Gi-Oh has always had a strong focus on character development and story drama. Gundam is one of the most beloved franchises and it's just a 30 minute commercial for Gunpla. -Stuart Smith |
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Lili-Hime
Posts: 569 |
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Keep moving those goalposts If Star isn't a girl's action show pretty much nothing is. She beats the crap out of monsters every single episode, many times with punches, kicks etc... Have you even watched the show?? And on having a male character.... lol. I guess Sailor Moon's not shoujo then, because Tuxedo Mask and all. And Jem's totally gender neutral because they have Rio. Ever occur to you that girls are interested in boys and romance? Huge section of Star fandom wants to see Star & Marco end up together. Unless they really push the envelope and include a f/f romance you can't have romance in a girl's show without male characters |
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Ali07
Posts: 3333 Location: Victoria, Australia |
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This hits on something that is something I think about. Sure, people can say it's insulting to the original Japanese creators when things become donuts or kids are named Ash, but I don't find it to be the case. People will always have a problem with things being edited for certain audiences. Personally, when it comes to anime, I don't see it as important. This isn't cultural studies, it's entertainment. It shouldn't have to involve effort to find out what onigiri is (even if people are probably on their phones when watching, thus being able to easily Google it). As much as people probably hate to hear it, but there are many that just want what is familiar to them in their entertainment. Some people will branch out, and find out things if they are really that invested. But, many will just drop a show if the unfamiliarity with terms bothers them, as it's just another show. Not everyone wears the "fan cap" on every piece of entertainment they may consume. The importance of being true to the source material really depends on whether or not you have that cap on your head. I guess I've never been one that has seen entertainment as some sort of learning tools, and that I should belittle people for not branching out of their own culture. The world is at a point where people can immerse themselves in another culture. I know many, usually older, people that have moved to Australia and they know more of what is happening in their country of birth, than the country they live in. If people want to broaden their horizons, good on them. But, I don't think that people should be belittled if they do not want to. Which, I feel some seem to be doing in their posts here. |
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TamenishDragon
Posts: 43 Location: Australia |
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I will admit that some western dubs are ridiculous, but as a kid watching Pokemon, I didn't know it was a Japanese anime. When I got older I probably only gave anime a chance because of my exposure to Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh as a kid. These franchises removed Japanese terms that would have confused the younger, less internet savvy version me that had no idea Ash is actually named Satoshi in Japanese.
Bearing this in mind, it's probably a good thing for the anime industry to have franchises aimed at younger kids dubbed and scored differently, drawing them into the world of anime and increasing the likelihood of these children becoming anime fans in the future. Plus some altered western dubs make shows much more enjoyable, for example, when they alter some jokes to make them more humorous for English audiences as in Hetalia and Sgt. Frog. |
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jr240483
Posts: 4426 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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not quite. the issue with those series is that the dub companies that released them have a damn monopoly on those series so any chances of anything related to the original japaneese version is squashed. while ADV was able to release an uncut english dub version of macross, because of the BS done by harmony gold, other series with the macross title are getting massive roadblocks to be released in the US. its cause of those bastards that macross frontier haven't been released in the US.
afraid not answerman. while the main cash cow will always be the games and TCGs, that is true i'm afraid the TV versions have been an afterthough. how else could you explain the Final season of Zexal only being shown in canada or austraila tv and not in the US, and the new Arc V haven't even gotten a US release. its because no one really gives a damn on those 4kids style edits. even those kids in those demographs their targeting, are now instead watching those shows online via fansubs instead on TV. dont be surprised if those series have records for being the most online pirated animated TV series in history. also lets not forget a while back that viz media did an edited version TV version for naruto which was praised cause it wasnt edited that much and they also did an uncut version too. I'm pretty sure Konami/4k media as well as PUSA can keep their TV version but at the same time released a sub only version of those series. it would be a win win. unfortunately their too dead set on this americanized version of those shows to keep parental advocates happy and alongs as their sticking with this 4crap kids type editing, i'm afraid the loss of revenue of their anime series via illegal streaming and fansubs will always outdo those DVD sales that noone would really have on their shelf unless its imported. |
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BadNewsBlues
Posts: 6199 |
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I'd agree with this if reality television weren't essentially another gateway for people to familiarize themselves with different cultures and what not. And if those weren't so popular despite the redundancy of them all.
When cultural isolation leads to the continued existence of things like sexism, racism, gay bashing, religious persecution, etc you're kind of asking to be belittled for living in whatever Century you or your country is stuck in mentality and/or socially. Last edited by BadNewsBlues on Tue Nov 10, 2015 9:52 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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bs3311
Posts: 416 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio |
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What are you implying? Focus groups and soccer moms will still have there trigger phone ready to complain and request changes even if locally produced. Its rarer on cable networks due to the implication that you get what you paid for in the provided channels. Though I should've meant adapting, but oh woe is me I'm still a bad man lol.
And in the japanese you get the same thing. Unless its the original/duelist manga or even parts in the 1st 4kids dub of Yu-Gi-Oh where they mentioned terms of death and character development in one way shape or form.
A bad neck japanese character with a badly voiced accent gets a bad neck brooklyn accent. Out of all the Yu-Gi-Oh cast, Joey is still the most recognizable even compared to Yugi and Kaiba because even in the 4kids dub they kept his character. A person going through rough times with his family finding solace in enjoying a hobby with his new best friend until reality comes to wreck his life again. And when he finds out about a tournament reward that can fix a part of it by winning with the hobby that he finds peace in. He rises to the challenge as an underdog. And Wayne Grayson portrays that to a T. Though Arc V definitely has issues with accents, at least Joey and some other dude in the grand championship arc were the only offenders.
Whatever decision they made, it leads to horrendous feedback. Even if they allowed death, viewers will still find it hilarious on how over the top they raise the stakes......even though the alternate dimension bit has very borderline comparisons to eternal damnation or loneliness. Alot more scary then death. And the taken away card has been used in grand epics to mentally toy with the character in fear of their existence and then descent to madness due to them desiring where they are........Sure that this is a 4kids show? lol |
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Saidah Gilbert
Posts: 28 Location: Trinidad and Tobago |
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Reading these posts about dubbed anime introducing kids to Japanese is confusing me. I remember watching Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh and Hamtaro as a kid and it was only a few years ago that I realised that they were anime and based on Japanese culture. I couldn't tell that from the show at all. In fact, my introduction to anime was through one of those accurate and unlocalised dubs- Bleach.
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BadNewsBlues
Posts: 6199 |
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Hence kind of why I pointed out that making made for TV edits for Kid's anime.....or Anime in general is pointless. Most of it's on cable and to twist the knife if further they'll likely not finish out their runs on TV.
None of that explains or justifies giving him a brooklyn accent which looks even more weirder when his sister doesn't have one and no one else in the regular cast has an accent either.
Funny plenty of kids movies especially those made by Disney have featured death or implications thereof for decades and they still do even some kids shows across the decades have done the same thing. Thing is if you're going to be airing a show that you know upfront is going to feature a number of instances or mentions of death......maybe you shouldn't air it if you fear riling up a very small minority of people who have no concept of irony or history. |
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louis6578
Posts: 1873 |
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While I see the writer's point, I'd rather have a great anime that ten people choose to watch than a mediocre anime that 100 or even 1,000 people will watch. I don't think most kids would really care if Ash and Misty kept their Japanese names. Sure, it sounds weird thinking about it now, but what if we didn't grow up with an edited Pokemon dub with changed names? What if Yugioh stayed true from the start? Would it really be so weird for us to call Joey by his Japanese name, Junoichi, if we've been calling him that to begin with?
I don't really mind Doraemon or Digimon, or even Pokemon's choices for the most part. But when there's a show with an overarching plot, when a single handful of episodes being taken out or edited down because of violence or dark themes could ruin the pacing or understanding of the show, that's when I say "maybe this shouldn't be dubbed for kids then." I don't think that changing the names really makes it more understandable to a western mind. Dragonball Z kept its names the same for the most part (Tenshinhan to Tien is pretty minor, Kururin and Krillin can be interpreted as the same name, etc.) and it's perhaps the most popular anime in the west barring Pokemon. Rurouni Kenshin aired weekdays on Toonami with a whole ton of awkwardly untranslated Japanese dialogue in the dub, yet it was a hit. Yet, Sailor Moon changed many names and edited a lot of things out, and now when most people think back to it "fondly," the non-anime fans I talk to who claim to have loved Sailor Moon as kids can't even tell me the first thing about it. This tells me that, yes, kids will "watch" these shows if you westernize them, but they won't really absorb it. If they wouldn't watch it just because the culture was different, changing it to their culture awkwardly will leave a bland taste in their mouths through the whole viewing. I do think that if the people who license these shows are going to have the edited dub on DVD without a sub track, they should at least release a separate sub-only DVD alongside it. I've been waiting years to watch Zatch Bell (Konjiki no Gash Bell) in Japanese without resorting to fansubs. Anime is from Japan. I shouldn't have to disguise that to get people to watch it. Thankfully, I think this trend is dying out. Edits are usually done only with the most childish of kids shows, and even then, they're not awful. Changing Yen to Dollar Bills in Doraemon is understandable. Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z, and One Piece have been redubbed uncut (something that I hope will happen for many more anime to come), 4kids and DIC have been banished from our anime lives, and even the few dubs who still edit things down for kids don't treat the kids like they're stupid. They won't change Whiskey to Soda or anything like that. |
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bs3311
Posts: 416 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio |
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No you did'nt, I lead it along with an actual example. There are still plenty of non cable users that have to deal with the BS. Plus, put a band aid on that wound. Think of the cause for it, is it for the edits, anime in general or viewers already hooked on 1 or 2 shows that they not only watch on tv but on their tablets/pc's? Television is becoming a dying breed, and with the digital age comes the removal of exploring content that you happen to find on the block on the latest channel. People can stream it now, and people usually watch shows that are within their circle of friends. Putting stuff on TV is becoming pointless unless you are a original produced show with good marketing and nostalgia fuel. Streaming helps more in the long run since you can watch when you want to watch it. Unlike TV's limitation on content being shown due to survey people or demographics depending on the channel.
Their parents were already divorced, splitting them apart at an early age leaving plenty of time for dialect development from being in different households with different people.
Movies and TV are different things. Children would either have to ask their parents permission or had to be a specific age when viewing by themselves. Your putting money down on something with no expectation on it besides trailers and word of mouth. Plus animation back during the hay day was viewed as a medium not only for kids, but adults as well until the 70s where religious focus groups and parents had power over tv content which melded the community into assuming animated content was for children........dumb children. Right now were seeing a trend of shows fitting kid and adult demographics which slid during early 2000's and rose back up now. If the original creator approves of your changes in the licensed content, they the company has the right to do so. All these adapted dubs people despise were accepted by their original creators because they saw them as business peices knowing and taking the risk of viewing in another country. Last edited by bs3311 on Tue Nov 10, 2015 9:42 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Aura Ichadora
Posts: 2300 Location: In front of my computer |
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What defines an "action" show to you? One that has more focus on things like fighting? While I can't speak on Adventure Time or Korra (as I never seen more than one or two episodes of them), Steven Universe has a lot of action in it. Yes, it has comedy and drama, but the action is just as plentiful. I wouldn't call the action it has "slapstick" when it's just as intricate to the show as the comedy and drama is. And if anything, recent and continuing events in the show are proof that it's not just there to be there. I do agree that calling Steven Universe a "girl" show wouldn't be right; it's a show that appeals to and represents all genders and age groups. |
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TarsTarkas
Posts: 5909 Location: Virginia, United States |
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What is funny is that some of the posts here, seem like they didn't even pay Justin any attention.
Justin spelled everything out in a way, that even I understood what he said. Money talks, and what they are doing has been working for decades. They are not going to risk their cash cows for a needle's worth of fans. |
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Hongqilim
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Well, have a Wikipedia article on this controversial issue:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editing_of_anime_in_American_distribution
Well, No cuts policy was involved in this too, I guess... Uh, one question. I was wondering if adapted dub was included in the same dvd box as the original subs. Last edited by Hongqilim on Fri Nov 13, 2015 6:27 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Kiyomaro
Posts: 213 Location: Chicago,Illinois |
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For more kid-centric anime, I don't think we have to aim for either extremes of the spectrum of either ultra-faithful or Americanized. Yo-kai Watch's dub seems like a good middle ground:
-English versions of OP and ED -Original BGM intact -Doesn't go out of its way to unnecessarily hide the show's Japanese-ness (so far) |
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