Geneon/Pioneer's "Chobits": dubtitled?

[chloes_fork]

I can't find anything to confirm this, but this review I ran across of the second Chobits DVD volume sure sounds like it's describing dubtitles:

However, I did notice something odd. When the Japanese language track was on, there were a few times when there were subtitles, even though no one was actually speaking. I turned up the volume during those times, thinking that maybe the characters were speaking too softly for me to hear, but that wasn't the case. When I listed to the English dub, these parts that had not had Japanese spoken dialogue had English spoken dialogue.

I would be amazed if such a high-profile show were dubtitled and nobody ever noticed, but again, I don't see any other explanation for what the writer's describing. I don't own the show myself, but I've lately become interested in it and was trying to decide between FUNi's re-release and the original Pioneer/Geneon version. If the old one is dubtitled, though, it will make the decision much easier.

[hikaru004]

Why? I'd be amazed if FUNimation did anything more than slap their logo onto the Geneon version and upscale it for the blu-ray version.

[touma]

Well it definitely is not dubtitled in the sense of the subtitles being a closed caption track.
I always watched Chobits dubbed. I have never had the subtitles on throughout the whole show but I have turned them on several times. The subtitles are very close to the dub dialog but they are not close enough for them to be the same script. There are differences in the way things are worded. There are a few words that are different in the sub and dub such as "underpants" and "underwear", "Lord" and "Master", "30 meters" in the subtitles is "100 feet" in the dub.
Since I do not understand Japanese I could not tell if the similarities were because both scripts were accurate translations or if there was something else going on.
Of course what the reviewer reported is odd. It would have been nice if he had said where it happened.

So, to summarize, I guess this really amounts to "I don't know."

[Rhodes]

Originally Posted by touma

Well it definitely is not dubtitled in the sense of the subtitles being a closed caption track.
I always watched Chobits dubbed. I have never had the subtitles on throughout the whole show but I have turned them on several times. The subtitles are very close to the dub dialog but they are not close enough for them to be the same script. There are differences in the way things are worded. There are a few words that are different in the sub and dub such as "underpants" and "underwear", "Lord" and "Master", "30 meters" in the subtitles is "100 feet" in the dub.
Since I do not understand Japanese I could not tell if the similarities were because both scripts were accurate translations or if there was something else going on.
Of course what the reviewer reported is odd. It would have been nice if he had said where it happened.

So, to summarize, I guess this really amounts to "I don't know."

All those instances are minor... a simple swap/corrections during dubbing probably explains it.

30 meters is roughly 100 feet. they use metric system in JP like the rest of the modern world but we still use inch/feet/pound/mile.

I believe Chi was sent out to buy underwear... female underwear or panties. No one I know would call em underpants. JP audio I think was pantsu, which Chi kept repeating like a mantra.

As far as master and lord goes... will need to know what is said in JP. But either is interchangeable. I would assume it's a persocom addressing their owner... each persocom has their own personality.

I never saw this with JP audio and subs... I watched the dub without subs. If subs show up when there is no audio for the JP track but there is dialogue for the english track... then yeah it's a dubtitled show. Final dub that is recorded is seldom the dub script 100%.

Someone would need to pull out their old Pioneer/Geneon DVDs and check.

[touma]

I gave those words as examples because I did not feel like transcribing all of the dialog.
There are many places where things are worded differently, different sentence structure, different order in which the sentences are spoken, enough so that I believe that the scripts must be different.

Are they different enough that the subtitles are not dubtitles?
I do not know how different they have to be. So let me ask this:
What, exactly, is the definition of "dubtitled"?
I do know how to find definitions on the Internet. I would like to know what it means to people here.

[sailor53]

It's been a while since I last watched the series, but I don't remember there being any subtitles when people weren't talking. I have the original Geneon/Pioneer singles.

[Rhodes]

Dubtitle = Dub audio's meaning reflected in the subs and timed to the dub.

Subtitle = Original audio's meaning reflected in the subs and timed to the original audio. It can be a subtitle even if they swap name order and family/given name used. Or sub in names when titles are used. Sucks but I've come to accept this for the most part.

That's more or less it...

I buy hentai so sometimes for laughs I have on the English audio and subs and wow you can see the difference. Sure the meaning is roughly the same... but often the case English has a lot more spoken dialogue Also is a dead and easy give away when the subs roughly reflect the spoken jp audio but you get a lot more colorful words show up on the subtitles when there is no jp audio.

It doesnt need to be closed captioned where every single word is reflected in the subs. Close enough works. I dont think the subs are worked and produced after the dubbing process... unless they are working on a closed caption subtitle track.

[Shiroi Hane]

Originally Posted by Rhodes

I believe Chi was sent out to buy underwear... female underwear or panties. No one I know would call em underpants. JP audio I think was pantsu, which Chi kept repeating like a mantra.

People kept complaining about this at the time. The punchline requires for her to ask for "pantsu" and be given boxer shorts, which makes no sense if you translate it as "panties".
It's been ages since I watched it, but I'm sure I would remember if it was dubtitled since I made a fuss over the Haibane subs which seemed a closer to the English dub than the Japanese (dubtitles being even more of a touchy subject over here since some of our releases, most notably Ghibli before Optimum took over from Disney, were dubtitled here while they also had literal sub tracks in the US due to the requirement to pay to have have both tracks rated by the BBFC).

Anyway, I've loaded up the second disc (which is the UK version distributed by MVM) and it doesn't look like dubtitles so far - subs say "study hard", english dub says "hit the books" - it's not like have to match flaps since his mouth is offscreen.
No obvious mis-match between the Japanese track and the subs in the first episode.

[Shiroi Hane]

Originally Posted by touma

What, exactly, is the definition of "dubtitled"?
I do know how to find definitions on the Internet. I would like to know what it means to people here.

A dubtitle is a transcription of the dub script. The only difference should be where it has to be adjusted to fit on screen and be on screen long enough to be read or if the director made changes during the recording.

[Buckeye]

It would be a dubtitle if everything that was said in the English dub appeared exactly as it was spoken. Geneon was never known to do that, and I can't imagine Funi bothering to change the sub unless it is to update it with the honorifics and everything that is happening these days.