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Last night,I watched the latest episode of "Lupin III:Part 6" and something really got to me. The show was set in London and sadly,there wasn't anyone with a British accent on that show. This was supposed to be in London,and yet everyone sounded like they were a group of American actors rehearsing their lines on a studio set. Now,I've seen plenty of TV shows and films from the UK and a number of shows and films set there. Why didn't the voice actors use any British accents there?
It's my same complaint with "Irina:The Vampire Cosmonaut." It was supposed to be set in a Russia-inspired country but they didn't use any Russian accents. That kinda disappointed me. It didn't feel like a country that was Russian or even Eastern European. Yes,it had the Cyrillic alphabet,but without the accents,it felt like window dressing. Now,don't get me wrong. Both "Lupin III" and "Irina" are good anime. It was just their settings didn't feel authentic to me.

To get what I'm talking about,let's look to two shows that are set in Britain,"Black Butler" and "Emma:A Victorian Romance." Now,these shows used British accents in that show and they used them very well. You felt like the show's setting was authentic,like it was really in Britain. Especially with "Emma." The people who did the English dub took the time and trouble to make the accents as true to the setting as possible.
But,not every dub gets it right. I've heard a lot of criticism of Funimation's dub of the second season of "Free!" The show had some episodes that were set in Australia and while the original version had Australian actors there,Funimation sadly didn't. They had to make do with American actors trying to do an Australian accent. Either that was due to them being unable to get the original Australian actors to be in the dub or something else entirely,I don't know. What I'm not going to do is criticize them too much. They had to make do with what they had and I'm not going to fault them. At least they tried to make the show feel like it was in Australia,so I'm not going to be too upset with them.

In my view,it's better for English dubbers to at least try to lend a little authenticity to whatever setting their anime is in. If it falls a little short,I'm not going to get too angry with them. Better to try to make the show feel as real as possible to the setting and make some forgivable mistakes than not to try at all and have the show feel artificial and inauthentic. I liked the fact that the English version of "Infinite Stratos" had three of the girls,Charlotte,Cecilia,and Laura have different accents for them. That was because Charlotte was from France,Cecilia was from England,and Laura was from Germany. The Japanese version didn't have those accents for whatever reason.
I don't know why shows like "Lupin III" or "Irina:The Vampire Cosmonaut" don't have foreign accents in their English dubs. They're in settings where they're certainly warranted. Why they're never used in them is a mystery to me. It would make their settings feel more true to life if they were used. I don't know why that is. I hope someone will enlighten me as to the reason because I have no idea as to why.

I was also hoping for some deliciously cheesy "English" accents. Honestly I don't even care most of the time if they're particularly accurate or not, so long as they set the right mood. FUNi's brilliant work on Baccano!, or Sentai's on Princess Principal, immediately come to mind.

Thank you,Top Gun for your comment. Like you,I wouldn't have minded if the English accents sounded cheesy,just so long as they fit the setting in the current "Lupin III" series. The show seems like it could use them and I wouldn't have a problem with that. If some of the characters sounded like Bernard Fox or Benedict Cumberbatch,I wouldn't have minded it either. "Lupin III" is the type of show where the cheese factor is very high. Some goofy British accents wouldn't hurt the show's tone any and might help improve it.

So for shows that are set in Japan, does that mean everyone should speak with a cheesy Asian accent? Wink

I get what you're saying but I think whatever accent choice they make for the overall script should be consistent for every voice talent (except for characters who are specifically not British). If we're dealing with an American cast, that might limit the choices of available voice talent (not all can do English accents).

I actually prefer that they don’t use fake English accents for the risk of sounding like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. To me, no English accent is better than a cheesy English accent.

Last edited by Snomaster1 on Fri Apr 29, 2022 2:36 am; edited 3 times in total

Don't worry,Past. I kinda get your joke. I just never had a problem with them using foreign accents in the first place. There may be people who are bothered by them,but I'm not. I just wish they were used in the cases of "Lupin III" and "Irina:The Vampire Cosmonaut." I felt as though they would have made their settings feel more authentic and true to life than without them.
As for you,Beltane70,I guess I'm far more forgiving of Dick Van Dyke's accent in "Mary Poppins" than others were. I didn't think it wasn't too bad. Needed a bit more work but it never grated on me as it did other people. You may think me silly for saying that but I've seen the movie many times before and it never really bothered me too much.

Even if you have access to actual English actors, the question becomes which English accent. There are dozens, based on class, location and the period of history involved.

Also there is the fact that a real English accent may be hard to understand. I've watched English made shows with closed captions on just to figure out what they are saying. This is a mares nest that is best not gotten into.

Well,that may true,Alan45,but I still don't have a problem with it anyway. When I watched the "Lupin III:Part 6" episode last Saturday,I thought "Where were the British accents?" The show's set in Britain,and yet they didn't use those accents at all. I don't know how the show will be received once it reaches Britain itself but I think there'll be a bunch of people upset that those accents weren't used at all. I don't know if anyone in the UK's going to be reading this post but I'm giving them a heads up all the same.

One gripe I have with using accents is when they're faked (a little research will prove the voice talents are faking their accents), it can be considered a type of cultural appropriation. This may be why others have a problem with it too. In other words someone is taking some cultural aspect and using it for entertainment or personal gain. Just ask yourself what do people who actually speak in a British dialect think of their culture and heritage treated as a joke or not really respected? But then again Brits have been doing it to other cultures for centuries.

@Snomaster1

The one place you for sure do not want to use a faked English accent is in England. It is not going to sound right to them. You of all people should understand since you have been very critical of any mistake made by a show concerning the US. Think how bad a fake American accent sounds.

If you think about it, England is the cradle of the English language. As a result, BBC English should be considered the basic pattern and anything else, (including what we use) is an accent or dialect.

Last edited by Snomaster1 on Tue May 03, 2022 2:29 am; edited 2 times in total

Well,Past,Alan45,I think that you might have missed the point of what I was saying. I will grant that an accent can seem like it is making fun or ridiculing someone else's culture if it isn't done right or even well. Something like that can happen even if it wasn't intended to do so. But,when it's done well,an accent can enhance a character. I've said before about two anime that were set in Britain,"Black Butler" and "Emma:A Victorian Romance" that did a fine job with their accents. And,from what I heard,when they dubbed "Emma" into English,they took the time to make sure the right accent fit the character. From what little I saw of it,it looked like something the BBC would have done if it had the show.
Another character that I didn't talk about was from the show "Kaleido Star." In the English version,they gave Sarah Dupont a British accent and that was because she's originally from Britain. But,there was more to the character than that. She's not only a great singer,but also a fun and engaging character and her accent helps make her character feel more authentic than it would have without it.

But,as I said before,when you use an accent,you have to be careful or something could go wrong. That's what happened to Funimation when they had dubbed the second season of "Free!" into English. As I explained previously,there were some episodes set in Australia and they had a problem. While the Japanese version used some Australian actors for those episodes,Funimation weren't exactly able to get those same actors when they dubbed it into English.
So,they had to work with what they had. And,that meant they had to use American actors using Australian accents. While the results have been called by some a bit insulting,I'm not going to fault Funimation too much. They weren't able to get the same Australians to America to do the dub,so they had to make do with what they had. Now,there are those who are going to say that I'm giving Funimation too much slack for this but really,it wasn't their fault. They were simply dealt a bad hand and to work with what they had.

There is a point Alan45 made that I want to address. While there have been foreign actors who have done bad American accents like there have been Americans who've done bad foreign accents. But,here's the thing. People like Bob Hoskins,Benedict Cumberbatch,and Henry Cavil have done fine American accents so I've never had problems with them. With me,the problems come when you have anime like "Sword Art Online" basically go back to the well of the Nasty American stereotype and throw any goodwill the show they may have built up here out the window because they couldn't think up a better villain for their show.

Dick van Dyke’s been mentioned already, but it’s worth noting that nearly 60 years after the fact, he’s still mostly known in Britain for his bad accent in Mary Poppins, never mind being a major US sitcom star or anything.

Quote:

The one place you for sure do not want to use a faked English accent is in England. It is not going to sound right to them.

It’s not a great idea in Scotland or Wales, either. (Sorry, just being pedantic about England!=Britain here.)

There are a lot of possible ways to go wrong with a fake accent, but when doing British accents it often seems to be going too posh and old-fashioned.

(Though, speaking as a UK viewer, I’m not going to have much of a reaction to the accents in Lupin III, as I was planning to watch the sub in any case.)

I would say that accents are really important on creating a character, which is why I rarely watch Anime English Dubs. The only two animes that I have enjoyed is Trigun and Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood. The other reason why that I rarely watch English Dubs is not because of the accents, but because of translation (but that is another topic in another time Smile

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Last edited by Snomaster1 on Wed May 04, 2022 2:34 am; edited 2 times in total

Wow,Dayraven. I had no idea you were from the UK. That's great. If you want great anime that are set in your country,than you can't go wrong with the two I've been mentioning,"Black Butler" and "Emma:A Victorian Romance." Not only did they do a great job with the accents in the English version but they're great anime overall. I guarantee you'll like them a lot if you watch the English dub. Also,let me tell you about "Lupin III:Part 6." It doesn't have any British accents in the dub,I'm sorry to say. At the beginning of this thread,I said that it didn't feel like London to me,but a bunch of American actors rehearsing in front of a movie set.
In my opinion,it didn't feel like London to me without those accents,Dayraven. I'm not trying to insult you or other Brits by saying this. I want the setting of shows like this to have some authenticity to them. I'll also say this. I've watched "Mary Poppins" many times over the years. I was never bothered by Dick Van Dyke's accent. I don't think he did it to be insulting,any more than the people at Funimation did with their handling of the Australian episodes of "Free!" You should see his other work like "The Dick Van Dyke Show." You'll see why he's been around for so long. He's a talented and funny guy. You'd like him if you gave him a chance.

As for you,SenpaiDuckie,I hope you give English dubbed anime a chance. You'll find it pretty interesting. I'll recommend two for you and see what you think of them. My first is one I mentioned at the top of this post,"Infinite Stratos." Not only did they give three of the girls,Charlotte,Cecilia,and Laura different accents that weren't in the Japanese version,but I think they help add to their characters with those accents there than they were without them.
Another anime I'd recommend is "Gunsmith Cats." Not only does it have one of the best English dubs I've ever heard,but the accent of Natasha Radinov's English voice actor is also among the best. Marcy Rae does a fabulous job in giving Radinov a voice that fits her ice cold and menacing demeanor,all topped off by one of the best Russian accents that's ever been in a dub. You should watch it in English. You'd like it almost as much as I do.

those accents in Infinite Stratos were terrible and added nothing of value. They sounded like they belonged in Hetalia.

Personally I think accents are just accessories, and not at all critical to dubbing. If an ADR director decides not to use any, that's perfectly fine. I'd rather have none than terrible efforts that detract from the overall dub

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