Dubbed anime. Why is it so hated?

[itsnotyouitsme]

I know if you read other posts like i don't you'll hear everything you need to know but to sum it up.

dubbing does a few things:

#1: It kills the characters because normally the voice actors don't fit the character. Like meeting a big grizzly man and when he talks he has a girlscout voice.
#2: A lot of the time they give the characters a catch phrase. Everyone knows dubbed gave naruto "believe it" which kills the character since the voice actor says it with such annoyance and repetatance it kills the show all together. Naruto's most said phrase in japanese is not "believe it" or but rather "damn it" since naruto does get his ass kicked a lot.
#3: In dubs they generally change the animation or scene or something, and if they don't, they change the dialoge to something that is retarded. For instance, in pokemon in one scene they changed a riceball to a sandwhich, and in another they didn't change it but the character called it a donut. This may seem petty but like the catch phrase it gets annoying when done every half second.
But the other part of this is that they will change the scene entirely by changing one thing. Like changing a gun to a water gun. When this happens, it turns spartans to cake town forever.
#4: Sometimes, they will change a very important phrase or scene, or just skip it entrely, and completely kill the series. I have no examples of this since before i got to see something like this, I stopped watching dubbed all together.
#5: Lost in translation. Have you ever seen a TV show and for some reason the captions are on and every now and then the caption will add a sentence that was not said or will change the sentence said to something stupid. Same thing bsaically only you won't know what he was actually suppose to say.
#6: And my final complaint, right now at least, is the music. In anime, they generally have nice rock music that a lot of the time is featured later in the anime, either that or they have nice classical or orcitrated music which is really nice. Sometimes the tv show will actually put the japanese music and have subtitles, but other times they decide to change it. Make it rap or translate the song into english. And beyond just the music, when they change the intro they really go a half-ass job about it. You know, a job where it looks like a poor youtube amv. Just compair them yourself!

Spoiler: Japanese

Spoiler: 1

Spoiler: 2

Spoiler: 3

Spoiler: 4

Spoiler: English

Spoiler: 1

Spoiler: 2

Spoiler: 3

Spoiler: 4

 

[Dango]

Because most of the voice acting in dubbed versions is just plain bad.

I did like the Clannad dub though, despite the clearly superior sub.

I wouldn't of hated it as much if Tomoya didn't sound like such an arrogant douchebag in his mid 30's and Sunohara didn't sound like... I don't even know what he sounded like, he just sounded terrible, though.

 

[Shia-Neko-Chan]

Since America doesn't seem to take anime dubbing seriously, they hire very low-rate voice actors to do the job. Also, they very rarely re-synch the lip animation to match natural dubbed speech. These problems make for, not only strange accents and voices, but also strange and unnatural enunciation. They also do nothing to try to make the characters names sound natural during dialogue.

If the dubbing companies would try to get someone more well known and seasoned for voice acting, try to resynch the lips to the actors voices instead of the other way around, and try to get appropriate voices (this is crucial. Try to get an actual child to play a child or someone who can play one convincingly), then I would have no problem watching dubs.

 

[redhd]

Because most of the voice acting in dubbed versions is just plain bad.

I did like the Clannad dub though, despite the clearly superior sub.

I wouldn't of hated it as much if Tomoya didn't sound like such an arrogant douchebag in his mid 30's and Sunohara didn't sound like... I don't even know what he sounded like, he just sounded terrible, though.

Tomoya's voice actor worked out in After Story, though. Since he was a pissed off, depressed guy in his early 20's. I loved Kyou's voice dubbed, it seemed more fitting for her being a tomboy. And it seemed like they really closely matched Akio's voice. Nagisa irritated me and you're kinda right about Sunohara...

 

[Dango]

Because most of the voice acting in dubbed versions is just plain bad.

I did like the Clannad dub though, despite the clearly superior sub.

I wouldn't of hated it as much if Tomoya didn't sound like such an arrogant douchebag in his mid 30's and Sunohara didn't sound like... I don't even know what he sounded like, he just sounded terrible, though.

Tomoya's voice actor worked out in After Story, though. Since he was a pissed off, depressed guy in his early 20's. I loved Kyou's voice dubbed, it seemed more fitting for her being a tomboy. And it seemed like they really closely matched Akio's voice. Nagisa irritated me and you're kinda right about Sunohara...

Thank God I never got to hear what dubbed Fuuko sounds like...

 

[redhd]

Because most of the voice acting in dubbed versions is just plain bad.

I did like the Clannad dub though, despite the clearly superior sub.

I wouldn't of hated it as much if Tomoya didn't sound like such an arrogant douchebag in his mid 30's and Sunohara didn't sound like... I don't even know what he sounded like, he just sounded terrible, though.

Tomoya's voice actor worked out in After Story, though. Since he was a pissed off, depressed guy in his early 20's. I loved Kyou's voice dubbed, it seemed more fitting for her being a tomboy. And it seemed like they really closely matched Akio's voice. Nagisa irritated me and you're kinda right about Sunohara...

Thank God I never got to hear what dubbed Fuuko sounds like...

I didn't think it was too bad, well... ok... she did sound like a little kid. But it really fit with her personality.

 

[Dango]

Because most of the voice acting in dubbed versions is just plain bad.

I did like the Clannad dub though, despite the clearly superior sub.

I wouldn't of hated it as much if Tomoya didn't sound like such an arrogant douchebag in his mid 30's and Sunohara didn't sound like... I don't even know what he sounded like, he just sounded terrible, though.

Tomoya's voice actor worked out in After Story, though. Since he was a pissed off, depressed guy in his early 20's. I loved Kyou's voice dubbed, it seemed more fitting for her being a tomboy. And it seemed like they really closely matched Akio's voice. Nagisa irritated me and you're kinda right about Sunohara...

Thank God I never got to hear what dubbed Fuuko sounds like...

I didn't think it was too bad, well... ok... she did sound like a little kid. But it really fit with her personality.

Must... resist urge to go hear it on youtube...

 

[The Youth Counselor]

I've talked to voice actors before in conventions and asked them this very same question. Now I'm not being a dick who is pointing out their bad acting, but moreso pointing out how come they sound good most of the time, but when in the subject of anime, it's so awful?

Josh Keaton [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005079/] and Laura Bailey [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1154161/] are some of my favorite voice over artists and yet they have had their misses. They explained it pretty thoroughly to me. Here is the gist of some of the things they taught me:

Anime in English speaking countries is a niche audience. The target demographic includes kids who don't care or know about terrible voiceovers, and otakus who will listen to the original Japanese audio track anyway. So companies in charge of distribution and dubbing have little incentive to spend time and money on a translator with a decent grasp of the English language and scriptwriting or on a cast.

In regards of the translations, there are supposedly companies that just use babelfish or software to do the translations, which of course leads to non-sensical Engrish results. The only reason this just slips by us, is that it eventually makes it through the hands of several English speaking persons who edit them as little as they could before handing it in. Think Engrish dubs are bad now? Think "Jill Sandwich" and "Shilly Shally" is the worse it gets? You should see what the scripts look like before the recordings!

Then comes the part of the voice actors. The companies don't invest enough care, nor do they have such a budget to invest much of the time. Decisions are made by people who have little understanding of drama or English.

In normal most ADR sessions studios prefer all the actors to be in the same recording room when their characters are together in a scene. This dynamic makes the performances more natural and allows them play off one another. Sometimes cameras are placed, so animators can use their faces and gestures for reference.

With though, it is common for the actors to not even get a proper script let alone be in the same room together. Many times an actors just gets a list of lines they need to speak into the mic: alone. Much of the time, besides the lines themselves there is no context to how they are said or what is happening in the scene. The better than average Anime scripts would just tell one to read the line with a certain emotion, or accent. Making voice over artists perform in dozens of different accents in one session is very common due to the aforementioned limited funding and also the personal friendships that develop within a working community. Studios will just use the same handful of actors repeatedly and make them do the work of hundreds. This forced and unnatural strain on the vocal cords, have sometimes made actors lose their voice and put them out of work temporarily.

Josh Keaton told a group I was among that he almost had an Orson Welle's Frozen Pea moment [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_Peas] due to an incident where he was made to do the voice of every other male character in some Anime. It had the bads of every wrong previously stated, no descriptions of scenes or actions. Characters that he didn't play omitted. It was filled with Japanese to Engrish transliterions that made absolutely no sense. When he tried to give input on better ways to phrase the lines, ways that would actually make sense in our language, the recording director (who was Japanese) just forced him to read the scripts word for word. Scripts that sometimes are already bad in their native Japanese.

 

[vanthebaron]

Besides the obvious it also can completely destroy the way the character is suppose to be presented to us, ex: clannad (the whole cast) the male MC we are introduced is turned from a nihilist into an angsty twat, our female MC is turned from lowselfesteem and sufferer of manic depression to an oblivious manic depressive.

 

[mr_rubino]

funny American voices replace serious sounding Japanese voice actors makes it

A: lessens the effect of the mood/feel
B: makes every character sound funny....
C: usually painfully untalented voice overs ...

Every sin that a bad Anime dub has been said but to sum up the highlights.

Taking Anime that was clearly intended for teens/mature (ie. Sailor Moon, Naruto, One Peace) and making them into a bad children cartoon. I mean seriously, if I created a good Anime I would sue the dubbing company that did some of the things that the bad companies done. I blame Fox, "we will buy anything, but you have to make it into a children cartoon because adults do not watch cartoons".

-whatever in God's name this wildly hyperbolic post was attempting to get across-

And y'see, stuff like this is part of the problem. Anime fanatics go on and on about the importance of cultural purity in the work (being that anime is in no way influenced by the west), and yet so many of them seriously don't have a clue what they're watching or who it's made for. Maybe if they knew the language, it'd be a bit more clear?

And I like the undertones I always hear about how, for example, One Piece is apparently well-suited for the purposes of international cultural education, as opposed to it just being another overcaffeinated show that its intended audience (little boys) could accept without having to think too hard.
Yes yes, the Naruto dub went the extra negative-mile and kept the "jutsu" and the "rice balls" and all that piddle and crap that has no relevance to the story. But having Naruto say nonsense at the end of his sentences (for the first half-season or so)? Unthinkable. (Also his voice is annoying; the Japanese voice actress didn't make him a nasally brat at all.)

If the dubbing companies would try to get someone more well known and seasoned for voice acting, try to resynch the lips to the actors voices instead of the other way around, and try to get appropriate voices (this is crucial. Try to get an actual child to play a child or someone who can play one convincingly), then I would have no problem watching dubs.

Dubbing companies are not animators, and no country puts child actors in the majority of its animated shows because it makes long runs problematic.

 

[AyreonMaiden]

I don't get the whole "Japanese acting sounds better" thing.

It all sounds the same to me. Could be because I don't understand the language, and as I study it more, I might begin to spot just why it's better.

But for now, frankly, I prefer English dubs precisely because I get the story in a language and mannerism I understand. The blunt, loud, direct nature of English is something I totally get, and it's something I totally prefer in my storytelling. As much as I love the sound of Japanese, and as much as I love studying it in order to become fluent, I understand Western attitude better than Eastern ones because it's what I grew up in. Of course, it's a given that the acting must be good.

But, less than the indirect nature of Japanese, what bothers me the most is the fans' unreasonable insistence on having things AS CLOSE AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE WITHOUT LITERALLY TRANSLATING THE GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE. I'm bilingual and when my friends ask me what a phrase in Spanish means, I'll tell them "There's no exact word for it in English, but it basically means..." And it seems like a lot of fan translators don't even try to relay the concept of a word or phrase, and think that authenticity means neglecting to give meaning to a word in a way that isn't intrusive.

/Rant incoming.

Take a scanlation of the manga Berserk, for instance. I was so pumped to read this because I was ready to catch up to the official release, and I find that Guts' name is translated as "Gattsu." In later volumes, it changes to "Gatts" until they finally settle for "Gutts." I mean, really? The word "gatsu" means "month," but what's more likely? That Kentaro Miura wanted him to be named "Guts" for how vicious he is? or Gattsu for...well...what? I mean, Guts isn't a great name, but again, in a world of Cascas, Rickerts, Farneses, Pucks, Griffith's, Schierkes, and other such Western sounding names, what's more likely? Guts for "vicious, atrocious warrior who bathes in the blood of his enemies?" or Gattsu for..."month."?

Along the same lines, the classic "Raito" and "Light" Yagami. What did Tsugumi Ohba mean when he gave him that name? Nonsense katakana randomly put together, or did he mean to say, in the best way he could, "Light," which encompasses the self-centered belief that he is a savior?

Or take a joke or cultural reference in a funny anime. I will always and forever take a wholly different joke over the old "Japanese joke on the bottom subs, explanation on the top subs as to why the pun/cultural jab is relevant/funny." To me that's like a shit comedian going "LOL GET IT IT'S A JOKE, HAHA HA HAA HAHAH HA. HA." at the end of his shit joke. It's intrusive, it wrecks the joke, and it's completely lacking in professionalism.

Or the old "dattebayo." What the hell is a freaking dattebayo? As grating as Naruto's voice is, I prefer "Believe it." Snappy, encompasses the nature of his character, and ISN'T NONSENSE.


/Rant done.

Stupid niggling crap like that makes me hate fan translations with a passion. I feel like a lot of them are too far up their asses with their "commitment to authenticity." I will always risk it with a shit dub before I try a fansub.

 

[minarri]

I think a lot of it is leftover rage from back in the days when English dubs were almost always even worse than the original Japanese. Nowadays though I'm under the impression that studios are usually taking more care with dubbing and are turning out less crap.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Some dubs are shit. I'm looking at you, Sailor Moon. Not all are, however.

Aww...Sailor Moon's wasn't shit, really. At least, there's far worse out there, only one or two characters' voices made me want to claw at my ears, and the utter cheesiness of a lot of it was kinda charming.

...changing the attack names was a little more unforgivable, yes, but they eventually came around on that (and bless them for it; "Sparkling Wide Pressure" and "Shining Aqua Illusion" were far better than the alternatives).

...and his name is Endymion, goddammit.

When they cut episodes, made the obvious lesbian couple into a pair of cousins that had some severe undertones, changed character names and even re-characterized some, such as Rei, and cut the part where, if someone had enough energy taken from them, they'd die I had a few alarms go off. When they cut an entire season, however...

I admit, I only watched a couple of episodes after R's run completed (it took so long for them to put it up), and only because I was a complete Sailor Saturn fanboy. I did find the "cousins" thing to be amusing (especially since they really didn't even bother to change any of the subtext). Didn't find the name changes to be all that odious (though I almost never use the dubbed names).

...and wasn't that season supposed to be shit, anyway? Haven't heard much good about Stars. Most I've spoken to seem to consider it the final dropping point where the anime crossed the line into "horrific adaptation of the manga."

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

Most of the time dubs are poorly done. Aside from that, I don't know at all. I actually like dubs when they are well-done, such as with Cowboy Bebop or Death Note.

This.

The actual act of dubbing isn't so bad - you take a Japanese language cartoon and voice over with English-speaking actors. Great concept. They often are just lacking in execution; bad translation, bad acting, sometimes plain completely changing the dialogue and story, or character names. Straight-up subtitles don't have this issue, and some Japanese actors do a really fucking good job - the actor of Kyon on Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has nailed the art of sarcastic annoyance. His English counterpart? Not so much.

Sometimes they're done really well though. I prefer Cowboy Bebop's English Spike Spiegel. And sometimes? I think people just really like to feel like this is a different cultural thing they're watching, literally a foreign film... rather than just another ol' cartoon.

 

[MulticolorCharizard]

the actor of Kyon on Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has nailed the art of sarcastic annoyance. His English counterpart? Not so much.

Oh come on! Crispin Freeman blew Kyons seiyu out of the WATER.

 

[Jewrean]

Yet again I post this video because it's so damn funny:

 

[mr_rubino]

Or the old "dattebayo." What the hell is a freaking dattebayo? As grating as Naruto's voice is, I prefer "Believe it." Snappy, encompasses the nature of his character, and ISN'T NONSENSE.

According to some drive-by on the last page, it means "Damn it."
Yyyyyyyep. "I'M AN AWESOME NINJA AND I'M GONNA BE A THE KING NINJA SOME DAY! DAMN IT!" It's Japanese you see, so it automatically makes sense.
The original mangaka was not trying to make Naruto simply not-terribly-bright. He was thinking more "Aspergers plus severe retardation." Indeed, that comes straight from the literalist Western fans, and you and I both know they wouldn't just be giving us the letter of the line at the cost of the spirit of it.

 

[Naheal]

Some dubs are shit. I'm looking at you, Sailor Moon. Not all are, however.

Aww...Sailor Moon's wasn't shit, really. At least, there's far worse out there, only one or two characters' voices made me want to claw at my ears, and the utter cheesiness of a lot of it was kinda charming.

...changing the attack names was a little more unforgivable, yes, but they eventually came around on that (and bless them for it; "Sparkling Wide Pressure" and "Shining Aqua Illusion" were far better than the alternatives).

...and his name is Endymion, goddammit.

When they cut episodes, made the obvious lesbian couple into a pair of cousins that had some severe undertones, changed character names and even re-characterized some, such as Rei, and cut the part where, if someone had enough energy taken from them, they'd die I had a few alarms go off. When they cut an entire season, however...

I admit, I only watched a couple of episodes after R's run completed (it took so long for them to put it up), and only because I was a complete Sailor Saturn fanboy. I did find the "cousins" thing to be amusing (especially since they really didn't even bother to change any of the subtext). Didn't find the name changes to be all that odious (though I almost never use the dubbed names).

...and wasn't that season supposed to be shit, anyway? Haven't heard much good about Stars. Most I've spoken to seem to consider it the final dropping point where the anime crossed the line into "horrific adaptation of the manga."

Stars was awesome.

Spoiler: When the open the season with

killing Mamoru off

it was a bit of a hint that the kiddy gloves were coming off. That said, they did screw up some of the adaptation from the manga to the anime (which... that fits for the whole fucking series, really. I had a campaign based upon the "past world" of the manga simply because I preferred the tone there. For instance, Miss Moon's not afraid to kill someone in the manga. In fact, she's the one who kills off three of the four big bads...)

And they brought back the lesbian brigade, Saturn, and Pluto. That won points in my book.

 

[Glaive_21842]

The questions in the title. Is it because of frequently poor voice acting and scripting, Or is their something about it that I'm not getting.
And while I'm at it anyone care to explain why there are so many fans subbed animes on the internet?

[emphasis mine]
Yes.
Also, pirates.

 

[Mcface]

Because dubs frequently screw things up in the transition over. They frequently shoehorn jokes into serious moments, which is incredibly annoying.

Also, censorship, which 4Kids is notorious for doing.

Spoiler: For example

Spoiler: Sometimes racism as well

Sometimes even the music gets screwed up. Let's hear a set of battle music shall we?

Spoiler: Japanese version

Spoiler: English Version

And of course, the actual dubbing can be screwed up the arse. Yes, I know some animes like Cowboy Bebop are better dubbed, but how often does that happen?

To be fair, i think they made him white to avoid the racism thing.

A black guy with giant lips and nose? kinda asking for trouble