71–77 of 77 posts
French japanimation enthusiasts over 30 probably remember how official dubbers for Fist of the North Star/Hokuto No Ken in the late 80's actually took pride in providing bogus dubbing (with bad puns, changes in the dialog and purposely egregious voice-overs) because they thought "the show should not have been brought to young French kids" and just didn't care [1] This is precisely why you need enthusiasts providing q…
"hokuto de cuisine ..." ;)
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> A good translation is supposed to replicate the experience of watching something in its original language. I disagree. I prefer to have the literal translation and then have the reference explained. I want the purest, most literall translation possible. Imagine this situation. A character says "He is like a modern Nobunaga". I want the translation to say exactly that and, is the translator feel the need to, have a…
I can see what you mean in that case, but what about wordplay and puns? A running gag in Dragonball is Goku keeps calling Fortuneteller Baba (Uranai Baba) "old broad that nobody wants" (urenai baabaa). Do you want to read an explanation that takes up half the screen every time they do that joke? Would you even find it funny if you had to have it explained to you?
In commercial subs you can't make that assumption so, yeah, you explain it every time. But you could get creative with it. Instead ov explaining every single time you can only explain once per episode. And you can use the Intro or the Bumpers to give some context on the joke.
In dubs that gets complicated but, well... Don't watch dubs :)
I enjoy watching various anime but am by no means into Japanese culture, nor the American culture that is into Japanese culture. However, when I was first introduced to anime by a friend (minus Spirited Away) which was Naruto, I was introduced to the English-subbed versions even though English dubs were available. After watching a few episodes of listening to Japanese and reading the subs, I thought it would be a goo…
I would agree that a lot of english dubs are bad, but I consider Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell (Stand Alone Complex, not Arise) to be the two exceptions. The casting decisions were very well made.
Edit: looks like I'm mistaken about the You're Under Arrest distribution license [1]
[1] http://www.animeigo.com/products/anime/youre-under-arrest
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I speak Japanese and I think putting those in is a distraction. That is one of many deep nuances in Japanese that can't be directly translated into English but needs to be considered in the translation's gestalt. Your choice of personal pronoun, use of end-of-sentence particles, and choice to use polite, extra-polite, or casual expressions also conveys a lot about you and your relationship to people. However, nobody…
There are times when the plot changes and for example, in a romance, characters may switch from using surnames to first names. I've seen many low quality subtitles where the character will use another character's last name, but the translation will use the first name. While it does require some knowledge of Japanese (or other Asian cultures), it does contribute to the overall consumption of the anime, and only distra…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can see what you mean in that case, but what about wordplay and puns? A running gag in Dragonball is Goku keeps calling Fortuneteller Baba (Uranai Baba) "old broad that nobody wants" (urenai baabaa). Do you want to read an explanation that takes up half the screen every time they do that joke? Would you even find it funny if you had to have it explained to you?
In fansubs it expected that the viewer sees all episodes in order (and why wouldn't he?), so the joke would be explained once. In commercial subs you can't make that assumption so, yeah, you explain it every time. But you could get creative with it. Instead ov explaining every single time you can only explain once per episode. And you can use the Intro or the Bumpers to give some context on the joke. In dubs that get…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In fansubs it expected that the viewer sees all episodes in order (and why wouldn't he?), so the joke would be explained once. In commercial subs you can't make that assumption so, yeah, you explain it every time. But you could get creative with it. Instead ov explaining every single time you can only explain once per episode. And you can use the Intro or the Bumpers to give some context on the joke. In dubs that get…
I think it's important to think about the audience a bit. In an academic translation, sure, go nuts with long footnotes. But I think in the case of something intended primarily to entertain people you should make some concessions to practicality. Even many fansubs just swap in some English pun to go for the same effect (which leads to kind of funny results like fans who watched the fansubs complaining the dub "change…
But while some people have no problem with "adapted references" other people have.
And I disagree with you dismissing it as "just entertainment". It is clearly very important to some people. It should be respected and cared for for the sake of not only the fans but it's creators as well.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it's important to think about the audience a bit. In an academic translation, sure, go nuts with long footnotes. But I think in the case of something intended primarily to entertain people you should make some concessions to practicality. Even many fansubs just swap in some English pun to go for the same effect (which leads to kind of funny results like fans who watched the fansubs complaining the dub "change…
I believe is a matter of taste. But while some people have no problem with "adapted references" other people have. And I disagree with you dismissing it as "just entertainment". It is clearly very important to some people. It should be respected and cared for for the sake of not only the fans but it's creators as well.