How To Open A Can Of Worms

By: Allen Divers
Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2002

Step 1: Be late for a deadline and start writing with no clear goal.



Step 2: Bring along soapbox.



Well, it pretty much was that easy. I didn't have a clear topic to go with last week, so I just wrote from the heart so to speak. It sparked about 2 days worth of conversation on the English Track forum; so at least I know you are all reading this!



This week, I'm going to stick with a few of the simple house keeping tasks associated with this column. Before that, a correction and some new information: First off, last week I made a statement about the dub cast for Adventures of Mini Goddess being the same as the movie cast. Well, I was wrong. I went off of memory on that one, which was a big mistake on my part.



Next, one of the first questions I was asked involved the use of pseudonyms in voice acting. Over the last few weeks I've been building up connections with the various dubbing houses. During a recent conversation, a statement was made about voice actors using pseudonyms. Basically it comes down to union actors doing non-union work. They'll often use a pseudonym to avoid any conflict. Other actors do other types of work under their real names and moonlight as voice actors under a pseudonym. The conversation went on to include the fact that some voice actors have actually left the business due to being outted (their acting name being associated with their real name) by various people on the web. I wasn't given any specific information; so let's leave it at that.



"No One Expects the Spanish Inquisition!"



Do you know of any shows that have been re-dubbed- say, because a company wishes to do a more accurate translation, or because of a cast change after a hiatus? The only case of this that I can think of is Dragon Ball (with the first 12 or so episodes), but there must be at least a FEW others.



~Amanda



There is no series that comes to mind immediately for me. There have been a few movies, most recently Akira (originally dubbed by Streamline). There was some hope that the three original series that make up the Robotech trilogy would be released with a new dub, but Harmony Gold has only allowed subtitled versions to be released.



If anyone knows of any other series that have been redubbed, please let me know and I'll post them next week.




I've never bought any of the "commercially" available anime before until I started watching Dragonball Z on Cartoon Network and got into the plot. While watching the series I noticed that things must have been changed because I keep seeing a deep plot that it's hamstrung by a goofy dub and some snip snip editing. I went and bought the first DVD that I thought began the series (Arrival) and was outright shocked when I learned it wasn't subtitled. Well, oh well I say, I'll just have to



deal with it, but as I started watching I saw obvious overlays (the beer or whatever they were drinking was turned blue to look like water) as well as a complete cut (when Raditz went to hit baby Gohan, he raises his hand, the music jumps then the scene is cut to Gohan flying across the ground. What surprises me is that this is a DVD! Couldn't they just add it as extras if they are worried about the rating? I just can't believe that they call the DVD complete when I'm sure they are missing a good 5 minutes of footage. I always thought that was why DVD's were the preferred medium for this sort of thing. VHS always seemed to have 2 versions, the dub cut up and the subtitled full uncut version. With DVD's I always believed that you could have the best of both worlds without sacrificing anything. Are the rest of the "commercial" DVDs the same? I'm glad I bought my Tenchi DVD's before it started showing on Cartoon Network, otherwise they might have cut them in the same way. Any info on a "Complete" DBZ DVD that actually is subtitled and has all the footage? As I write this, I'm sure that DBZ has been out for a while and that this must have come up before, so if I sound out of the loop, it's because I've never seen this show before it came on Cartoon Network.



Joseph



When FUNimation first released Dragon Ball Z in the U.S. it was with the intention of showing it on television. They first tried running Dragon Ball on the air, but it just couldn't find a niche (they dubbed only the first 13 episodes of that series). They tried again, this time starting with the first 53 episodes after the climatic battle between Goku and Piccolo. Dragon Ball Z with its more exciting fight scenes, did a bit better and kept the show afloat. Of course, to make the show viable for American Television, severe edits became the norm. Beyond the lessening of the violence, all excerpts and scenes alluding to the previous Dragon Ball series were removed. (I can't remember the exact number, but the first 53 episodes of Dragonball Z were made from the footage of 56 original Japanese episodes.) Its arrival to Cartoon Network really assured its success in the U.S. Around this time, FUNimation began to release it on VHS. Later, DVD began to enter the market. FUNimation decided to partner up with Pioneer to release the series on DVD. For whatever reasons, it was decided to go with the hacked up English version and not include the Japanese version. Pioneer also released the first 3 DBZ movies, Dead Zone, The World's Strongest and The Tree of Might. It is interesting in the fact that the 3 movies all were uncut on DVD with the Japanese soundtrack included. The Dead Zone DVD even contains some of the cut scenes from the first few episodes of DBZ. Around episode 54, FUNimation took over the duties of dubbing the series. Along with this, they also decided to do the authoring of the DVDs. The new DVDs now being released by FUNimation are uncut and have the original Japanese soundtrack on them. Due to licensing contracts with Pioneer, FUNimation is unable to re-release the original 53 episodes uncut with the original soundtrack at this time. The contract should be expiring in the next 2 years. No announcements have been made whether or not they intend to redub the original 53 episodes and restore all the cut footage.



Great column!



Hmm where to begin.



How about a question? Can you explain how the "wordfit" system works? Does Ocean's use of this system explain the complaints that a lot of people have about the dubbing group?



Jpchan



The Wordfit System is basically a computer program used in looping in movies and television shows. Often it becomes necessary for editors to re-record various lines in a studio due to various problems while recording on the set. The program basically matches spoken lines to the movement of mouths on the screen. It does this without distorting the words being said, so they sound natural. In anime, it is used to match up lines to the lip flaps of the characters on screen.



The complaint that most people have with this system is it seems to make the ADR Director and the actors lazy. Instead of working a line until it fits the lip flaps, they can do 1 or 2 takes and use the program to match up to the lip flaps. Many feel that this takes away any potential for an actual acting performance in the delivery of the lines.



Heres what bothering me about the dubs that are being put out by Bandai and company....



Why can't they put out a DVD that includes a subtitle track that only includes the lyrics to the songs? Some of the songs are quite good, but if I'm watching the dub, I only need the words to the song, I don't need the character's dialogue.



Mark



A few companies have actually been listening to customer feedback and are beginning to do just that. This track is also starting to be used for translation of various Kanji that appears on the screen as well. This eliminates the need for hard subs and most overlays. Some recent examples: Love Hina: Moving In..., Those Who Hunt Elves: Elf Stripping for Fun and Profit and Nadia: The Deep Blue Sea. As diehard DVD fans continue to be vocal on this topic, expect more companies to begin utilizing a second subtitle track for this use.



The Quick and the Dub



The new Adult Swim Action block premiered this past weekend. While continuing the fan favorites, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star and Tenchi Muyo, 3 new series joined the line up.



Yu Yu Hakasho



The third series from FUNimation and second to appear on television had quite a lot to make up for thanks to a rough start with DBZ. The voices all sound familiar, but the acting and dialogue take a huge step in terms of maturity. Kyle keeps promising a review copy, so I'll be sure to give it a good spin!



Pilot Candidate



Nothing really big to write home about with this one. While not entirely bad, it's not really anything good either. The performances seem a bit flat and its clichéd setting doesn't help much. The DVD has been out for a while, so no major surprises.



Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory



Another Gundam series makes its debut on TV near its DVD release. Good performances all around from a familiar sounding voice cast.



Love Hina: Moving In...



A huge fan favorite before it even premiered in the states, this release had a lot to live up to. Unfortunately bad acting choices mar what could have been a good release. Clips had circulated on the web, but I was reserving judgment until I got a chance to hear them in context. It didn't really help much.



Those Who Hunt Elves: Elf Stripping for Fun and Profit



If you're looking for an accurate dub script that stays true to the original Japanese dub, don't come looking here. The scriptwriter takes massive liberties in the retelling of this story. The main cast voices fit well with the clichéd and often perverted lines. All the lines are pretty good for those heavy into American Pop culture from the last 2 years. The only other fault lies in the fact that the supporting female characters all sound the same: mostly cranky with scratching voices.



And So the Story Goes...



Ok, I admit it, I'm copping out a bit this week. I've got a stack of DVDs yelling at me to review their dubs, instead of giving them the short treatment. I'll get this thing figured out one of these days! Until then,



Thanks!

Allen

Dub question? Send it to boxie@azraelproductions.com

Run a dubbing House? Contact me at boxie@azraelproductions.com