Mari Iijima's accent in Macross

[Animebox]

You know something hit me about Mari voicing Min Mei that will prove distracting for me watching the show in English.

The character of Min Mei is Chinese yet when Mari speaks she has a Japanese accent. It was fine for Mari doing it in Japanese since you would assume that the Min Mei character spoke fluent in the Japanese version, but if she is supposed to be having an accent in the English version, a Japanese accent doesn't make any sense.

[dlw]

[ QUOTE ]
Animebox said:
The character of Min Mei is Chinese yet when Mari speaks she has a Japanese accent. It was fine for Mari doing it in Japanese since you would assume that the Min Mei character spoke fluent in the Japanese version, but if she is supposed to be having an accent in the English version, a Japanese accent doesn't make any sense.

[/ QUOTE ]

Except to me, listening to her in the show, it sounds nothing like a Japanese accent. She sounds a lot different when talking to her in person, then she sounds more like a Japanese accent.

[Animebox]

Um...David, that is clearly a Japanese accent she has on the dub. There is no doubt about it.

If anything it actually sounds like she is putting more emphasis on her existing accent.

[dlw]

Not saying you are wrong, just saying that to me and several others it didn't remind us of a Japanese accent. Now I haven't listened to my copy of the final mix yet which can often change things but during the recording sessions several of us commented on how the accent didn't remind us of Japanese. And we deal with English speaking Japanese a lot here. [img]/images/graemlins/happy.gif[/img] Listening to her voice outside the show I have no problem pegging it as Japanese. Can't really say what the accent sounds like to me but I'd almost say something like Siberia or Mongolia or around there to me. Of course I don't have a lot of experience with those areas, just that that's what it brought to mind when I heard it.

But the part that really stuck out to me at first wasn't Mari, it was Vic. I kept waiting for him to slap his hands together and automagically repair the mech. [img]/images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif[/img]

[Starwind Amada]

[ QUOTE ]
dlw said:But the part that really stuck out to me at first wasn't Mari, it was Vic. I kept waiting for him to slap his hands together and automagically repair the mech. [img]/images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Careful, Matt may not like you talking about shows from other companies. [img]/images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif[/img] He sounded kinda annoyed when he mentioned Edward in the Macross commentary.

I sure hope Vic was able to transmute Mike McRae's house back to normal after Hikaru crashed it with his Valkyrie (for those who don't know what I'm talking about, watch the scene in which Hikaru pilots the Veritech in Episode 2 and listen to the voices in the background when he falls backwards into a building). He owes him big time.

[ QUOTE ]
Animebox said:ADV is just as guilty for irresponsibly hiring a woman with a Japanese accent to play a Chinese character.

[/ QUOTE ]

Anyone got some duct tape for this guy's mouth?

[JenSeki]

[ QUOTE ]
Animebox said:
The character of Min Mei is Chinese yet when Mari speaks she has a Japanese accent. It was fine for Mari doing it in Japanese since you would assume that the Min Mei character spoke fluent in the Japanese version, but if she is supposed to be having an accent in the English version, a Japanese accent doesn't make any sense.

[/ QUOTE ]

Um...tell that to the Hollywood producers who made "Memoirs of a Geisha" in which they decided to cast mostly Chinese actresses speaking accented English in Japanese roles. Hmm...

In terms of Macross, I haven't heard it yet, but I grew up on Robotech so I can't wait to hear the new dub.

JenSeki

[Animebox]

[ QUOTE ]
Not saying you are wrong, just saying that to me and several others it didn't remind us of a Japanese accent.

[/ QUOTE ]

Then I don't know what to say about you guys Dave. Bottom line is that it is a Japanese accent and that is totally inappropriate.

[ QUOTE ]
And we deal with English speaking Japanese a lot here.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you can't tell what Japanese accent sounds like than it sounds like those "English speaking Japanese" speak English fluently.

[ QUOTE ]
Can't really say what the accent sounds like to me but I'd almost say something like Siberia or Mongolia or around there to me. Of course I don't have a lot of experience with those areas, just that that's what it brought to mind when I heard it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I find it funny you mention two areas of what you think it sounds like, then follow it up by saying that you don't really know what those two areas sound like.

[ QUOTE ]
Um...tell that to the Hollywood producers who made "Memoirs of a Geisha" in which they decided to cast mostly Chinese actresses speaking accented English in Japanese roles. Hmm...

[/ QUOTE ]

What does that have to do with this?

But ok. So if I should go by what you are saying, then ADV is just as guilty for irresponsibly hiring a woman with a Japanese accent to play a Chinese character.

[dlw]

[ QUOTE ]
Animebox said:
Then I don't know what to say about you guys Dave. Bottom line is that it is a Japanese accent and that is totally inappropriate.


[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, must be nice being you. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]

I find it funny you mention two areas of what you think it sounds like, then follow it up by saying that you don't really know what those two areas sound like.


[/ QUOTE ]

Go back and read again what I wrote, I never said I didn't know what those two areas sound like, I said I don't know much ABOUT those areas but that is what the voice REMINDED me of.

One question, why do you seem to feel the need to be so condescending in your posting style? You always present your opinion as the one true way and that everyone else is wrong. It's great to have an opinion and express it, just wondered after reading most of your posts on these forums if it was your intent to try and rub people the wrong way or if it was just a case of the real meaning getting masked by the nature of online forums.

[Animebox]

[ QUOTE ]
Go back and read again what I wrote, I never said I didn't know what those two areas sound like, I said I don't know much ABOUT those areas but that is what the voice REMINDED me of.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh I read what you read what you wrote alright, it just doesn't fit Dave. If you know what the areas sound like then there should be no reason why you are mixing up a Japanese accent with a Mongolian one.

[ QUOTE ]
One question, why do you seem to feel the need to be so condescending in your posting style? You always present your opinion as the one true way and that everyone else is wrong. It's great to have an opinion and express it, just wondered after reading most of your posts on these forums if it was your intent to try and rub people the wrong way or if it was just a case of the real meaning getting masked by the nature of online forums.

[/ QUOTE ]

The latter, but in this specific situation Dave, it isn't a matter of opinion. A Japanese accent is a Japanese accent.

[ QUOTE ]
I don't know what's his problem, In the original vesion everybody was speaking with a japanese accent ... well, to be blunt everybody was speaking standard japanese, so what's the hangup , Mrs Iijima worked in the original version and it's doing the ADV dub, you rather have a chinese accented VA do the part instead of the fortune of having the original VA reprise the character....

[/ QUOTE ]

Instead of being caught up in the "fortune" that the Japanese voice actress is doing the role in English, understand what the problem is because it is quite a big one. Reread this part I wrote:

"It was fine for Mari doing it in Japanese since you would assume that the Min Mei character spoke fluent in the Japanese version, but if she is supposed to be having an accent in the English version, a Japanese accent doesn't make any sense. "

In other words, in the English version only two things make sense for Min Mei. Either she speaks English fluently or if she is to have an accent, it's Chinese. That's because Min Mei is Chinese, not Japanese. Having her speak in a Japanese accent not only doesn't make any sense, it's ignorant.

Sorry people, I know it's great that Mari Iijima is doing the part again in English and all, but that doesn't erase the problem that it causes.

[Vicserr]

[ QUOTE ]
JenSeki said:
[ QUOTE ]
Animebox said:
The character of Min Mei is Chinese yet when Mari speaks she has a Japanese accent. It was fine for Mari doing it in Japanese since you would assume that the Min Mei character spoke fluent in the Japanese version, but if she is supposed to be having an accent in the English version, a Japanese accent doesn't make any sense.

[/ QUOTE ]

Um...tell that to the Hollywood producers who made "Memoirs of a Geisha" in which they decided to cast mostly Chinese actresses speaking accented English in Japanese roles. Hmm...

In terms of Macross, I haven't heard it yet, but I grew up on Robotech so I can't wait to hear the new dub.

JenSeki

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know what's his problem, In the original vesion everybody was speaking with a japanese accent [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] ... well, to be blunt everybody was speaking standard japanese, so what's the hangup [img]/images/graemlins/shy10000.gif[/img], Mrs Iijima worked in the original version and it's doing the ADV dub, you rather have a chinese accented VA do the part instead of the fortune of having the original VA reprise the character.... [img]/images/graemlins/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]