Lost in Translation

By: Allen Divers
Date: Monday, February 11, 2002

Another week goes by, allowing me to muse on what has come to pass so far. I've also quickly realized that I'll probably end up repeating myself when I open this column, so maybe its best to jump right in!

The Name Game part Deux



Last week I set up a poll on the English Track with the 5 best names for this column that had come in at that point. Well, the names kept coming even after that, probably causing more confusion than anything else. The big goal of course, when you name something is to have it be something everyone will remember. The problem stems from the fact that you want to avoid anything that might be misconstrued as negative, so you try to avoid anything with the word English or dub in it.



Well, after much soul-searching and quite a bit of input from email and from the regulars on the English Track, I've decided to go with the name of Lost In Translation. This particular name appeals to me because it implies a kind of introspective thought when translating. Thanks to everyone that participated in the discussion of the name!

The Meat



This week, I wanted to talk about something that can either make or break a good dub. It's probably something you don't really think about in your conversations or what you hear on TV. This also happens to be one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to a solid acting performance, accents.



An accent is probably one of the hardest things to portray in a live action role, even more so in a voice over. If done correctly, an accent can add a lot to the performance of an actor bringing a bit of flavor to a role. It can create a bit of background for a character and even display a lot of the inner personality. A good accent is hardly noticeable, feeling as if the character has always spoken that way. A bad accent grates on the nerves and destroys what could have been a likeable character. Of course, if you are unfamiliar with a particular language, you may not notice the accent at all.




The decision to add an accent to a character lies in part with the director. Another reason could be the precedent of the Japanese soundtrack. How many of you realize Japanese has a variety of dialects and accents? The most well known is an Osaka-ben (Osaka accent). When translating that particular characteristic it most commonly becomes a southern accent (think Dukes of Hazard and you're almost there). Having spent quite a few years living in the south, (and no, I don't have an accent), you adjust to what would be considered a natural southern accent. Actually, its more the fact that you can tell when someone is faking the accent because it makes all the hair on the back of your neck stand up.



Some studios are limited in the number of available voice actors for a particular dub. They can often expand their cast by having the actors mimic other voices. A good voice actor should be able to mimic a variety of voice types, yet maintain a certain amount of realism with each. A bad voice actor comes across sounding cartoonish often making it quite obvious it's a fake voice. Even more disturbing, they throw in an accent to make it sound different from whatever other role they are playing.



Why bother with accents then? An accent helps make a particular setting more believable. A group of nobles from a European country sound more believable with a British accent. The girl from China seems more sincere with a Chinese accent. Accents bring more depth to a large cast, bringing believability to such a large and visual distinct crew. Dramatic elements can be emphasized with the use of accents, after all, what would the atypical vampiric villain be without a dramatic European accent?



The English soundtrack of Nadia springs to mind as an example of a large cast with multi-ethnic backgrounds. Captain Nemo is portrayed with a European accent. Being the man of mystery this fits his character well, showing a bit of elitism and nobility that befits the captain of a ship. Jean speaks with a French accent that plays up his naïve personality and boyish charm. Another example of a subtle accent would be Wendee Lee as Sara in Hand Maid May. The character of Sara normally has a neutral accent, but when excited or agitated a bit of the southern twang comes out. In this instance, it adds a lot to the characterization, providing more depth to the portrayal.



Accents are important tools that voice actors can use to help bring life and believability to a character. Done properly, the characters come to life for the viewers. Done wrong, the viewers won't believe the sincerity of the performance nor take the character seriously. Accents also bring in a more professional polish to what could be a mediocre dub. To get it done right takes real acting which means having more professional voice actors.

Questions



Not near as many as last week, I think mostly due to the fact that this column moves down the front page pretty quickly.



I'M GONNA GO INSANE!!!! This really isn't a question, but rather the rants of a shaken dub lover. In my mind, the dub cast of the Cowboy Bebop TV series was the best cast ever. They far surpass their Japanese counterparts and I know i'm not the only one who thinks this. Recently, the Anime News Network posted a RUMOR that Columbia Tristar MIGHT BE CONSIDERING using the same dub cast for the Bebop movie, Knockin' on Heaven's Door.



Please calm my fears. The need for dub lovers to come out of their closets is now. How can they just CONSIDER the original cast?? I know this is just a rumor, but it has shaken me badly. No cast will ever live up to the original. Even anime lovers who prefer sub over dub couldn't praise this dub more.



I'm not sure if I'd buy the movie if they changed the cast.....................well, maybe..heh.



But as one of the best dubs out there, how can they change it? If they do, they will destroy the Bebop spirit, along with my hopes of one last fun and wonderful romp with the original cast I have grown to love. It just wound't be Cowboy Bebop...



annoyed and Paranoid,

-Charlie



You would hope with something like Cowboy Bebop, executives at Columbia Tristar are doing more than considering the cast, especially when you look at how big the property is here thanks to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block. The audience knows the voices of the TV cast, and would not be happy with any changes. Columbia Tristar would be foolish in trying to bring in another set of VAs for the parts. Anime fans are a niche market and often very sensitive. With rumored plans to take Cowboy Bebop to the theaters, you don't want to upset the audience. Metropolis is showing that an Anime film can make money at the box office when handled correctly. You don't want any negative aspects to hurt potential earnings.



I noticed Animeigo tried to do some dubbing for Urusei Yatsura, but stopped when they had to figure out how to do some of the language related "jokes" (such as AKUMA and AAH! KUMA! (oh! a bear!)). Are there any other Anime series that can't be dubbed for this or similair reasons?



Stephen



A lot of anime makes use of various Japanese mythologies and of course their standard way of life. This stuff really isn't all that difficult to translate; it's just a matter of having it make sense once translated. Does this prevent certain anime from being brought over? Nope, since they'll simply turn it into a similar English joke. For the rest of Urusei Yatsura, Animeigo has taken the path of the leaving the jokes in and explaining it in copious liner notes. If they were to dub this, I'm sure the scriptwriter would insert an English joke to fill the void.



My question? What the hell was ADV smoking when they cooked up Lost Universe? Normally, if I don't like a dub, I move on... but it's almost comical how horrible they did it. Canal talks in questions! Thanks for your time, I think you're doing a good thing. You have this subbed guy's support.



-Dave



Ah, the eternal question, what were they thinking? I wish I knew. This was obviously a direction choice to take the character's personality.

Reviews



Last week, I wrote up a full review on the Magic User's Club dub. I've gotten a lot of positive response on it. The thing is, as I sit here writing, I'm wondering how do I write more reviews like that without falling into a cycle of repeating myself. Unfortunately I didn't find any easy answers. I still intend to do the full dub reviews, but here are some quick peeks at some recent dubs.



Dragonball Z: Cooler's Revenge



The voice actors for FUNimation are really getting into a positive stride with this recent release. The regular voices of Gohan, Goku and Krillin feel comfortable. I have a few complaints with the villains, since they come across more comical than intimidating. The scriptwriter still tries to muck things up by feeling the need to match dialogue with every moving mouth. Sometimes the mouths are moving, but they aren't saying anything! For me though, the real negative is the hard rock soundtrack. It detracts from the overall feel of this quick 40-minute romp and really just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The hard rock songs worked well with the History of Trunks release, but just falls flat with this one.



Saber Marionette J Again



The lead in series, Saber Marionette J, despite a flimsy storyline and a lot of stereotypical characters at least had a good voice cast that matched well with the personalities of the character. For me, it was enjoyable watching the show because of the decent acting. SMJ Again falls flat because of a full cast change. The cast changes for the girls might have worked, if it wasn't for the fact that the heroes voice went up 2 octaves in pitch. That alone was enough to make this a very negative experience with this dub. (Note to anyone else planning cast changes, don't. If you have to at least attempt to match the previous voice cast in terms of timbre or you risk losing the established audience.)



Vandread: Enemy Engaged!



Ah, near perfection! My biggest fear with this dub would be the lack of depth in the voice department to fill the large cast that this show boasts. Luckily Bang Zoom! Entertainment was up to the task. Wendee Lee and David Lucas are among a talented pool of actors for this series. My only real complaint is the inconsistency of Magno Vivan's voice. Pick an old woman voice and stick with it!



Gate Keepers: Infiltrated



Animaze handled the voice recording for this series, and the voices remain strong for the third disk in this series. The diverse characters play well off of each other as this series continues. Johnny Yong Bosch joins the cast as the evil gatekeeper, Reiji Kagiyama. Johnny did a great job as Vash the Stampede and Kaneda from Akira so hearing him as a villain is nice change of pace.



Excel Saga



Ah, the beginning of the convention circuit. Screeners have started appearing for this anticipated release (yep, still waiting for mine!) and some feedback has appeared. The overall feeling towards the dub is very positive. I've heard the performances of the VAs for Sumiyoshi and Puchuu are breathtaking in nature. Nearly out the door



Well, that's all for this week. As always, if you have a question, send it to boxie@azraelproductions.com.



Thanks!

Allen