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STUFF!!!
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I am a huge anime fan. I like the idea of watching anime on T.V. and not needing to buy anime DVDs. Unfortunately, once brought to America, dubbing companies have a bad habit of ruining anime.
Changes:
1. Altered Dialogue-Altered dialogue is present in just about every anime. If you happen to have a bi-lingual anime DVD try playing it in English but have the subtitling be that which is meant to translate when played in Japanese. If you'll notice, there will likely be discrepancies between what you hear in the English version and what is actually being said in Japanese. Some times these are acceptable, for instance; if a character says something like, 'Darn,' in the Japanese version, and the character says 'Oh, no,' in the English version. It would be nice if in the English version the character said 'Dar,' there's certainly no reason it can't say 'Darn,' but as this is a minor change, 'Oh, no,' is acceptable.
What's NOT acceptable is when the dubbing company just feels like adding whatever they feel like. Sometimes they'll change conversations drastically, often removing plot points. Sometimes they'll even add dialogue where there was none originally. This is stoopid and WAY too common.
4. Missing Episodes- Episodes maybe cut out of the dubby version if the dubbing company just doesn't like it or doesn't think it's necessary. This is annoying.
5. Changing Character Genders- often, if a male character looks like a girl or acts like a girl, or likes another guy, dubbing companies will make him into a girl. I haven't seen a female character become male for an English version, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that it has occurred.
6. Changing Character Relations- HARKA AND MICHIRU ARE NOT COUSINS! If there's an instance where it's not possible to change a characters' gender because it loves a character of the same gender, dubbing companies will sometimes say that those characters are related to explain their affectionate behavior. As if being homosexual is such a horrible thing. I find this to be a very sad example of the lack of acceptance by society to homosexuality.
7. Changing Plot- often a side effect of the above changes, although sometimes done intentionally just because the dubbing company doesn't like the plot.
Why?
1. To Make Anime Suitable For Little Kids- the fact of the matter is that most anime brought to America were originally intended for older audiences, not young children. It's kind of like trying to make South Park (I'm neither dissing nor promoting South Park) be ok for kids. So many scenes and episodes would have to be cut, so much altered dialogue, changing the plot entirely.... you get the point. It's ridiculous.
If the companies want a cartoon for little kids, they shouldn't take an anime and mangle it until it's kid friendly, they should just use American cartoons that were originally intended for little kids anyway. They shouldn't even touch anime.
An alternative is NOT aiming the American version of the anime at kids but aiming it at its original target audience.
2. To Make Money- Profit over people, greed, greed, greed. The irony is that they'd probably actually make more money if they DIDN'T kill anime. Just think of all those people who go out of their way to get un-cut bi-lingual anime DVDs or even ordering bootleg anime fan-subs off the internet. Dubbing companies are chasing away their customers. If the dubbing companies were to leave anime in its original format... things would be different.
Additionally, it costs money to hire translators, voice actors, and film editors. If animes were left the way they were meant to be than it wouldn't be necessary to hire those people, would it?
3. To Annoy Anime Fans- Yeah, they do a good job of that.
I plan to send copies of a petition to several dubbing companies to express the displeasure of anime fans that seek reform. The goal is to get un-cut and un-edited anime, preferably in its original Japanese version with (ACCURATE!) English subtitling. It's a long shot but the more people who agree with this and sign my petition, the more anime fans who seek anime reform, the more likely they'll be to listen to us. It's unlikely, but it's my goal.
Just so you know, you don't have to use your real name; you can use a nickname a made-up name if you want. I will use my real name; I want the dubbing companies to know who I am. When you E-mail us, make sure you include whatever name you'd like to be called and any message you may have for dubbing companies (no profanity please).
Thanks!
In a related story, I recently send an E-mail to 4Kids Animation, you know, the English dubbing company that ruined, among other things, Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, Shaman King, and One Piece. . The letter read as follows:
"Dear 4kids,
some of my favorite anime sunrises are One Piece and Shaman King. Naturally I was quite pleased to hear the series was coming to America, that is, until I learned 4kids would be dubbing it. I find a troubling pattern with your company and anime. You ruin it. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to bash you, I'm trying to help.
Allot of American dubbing companies try to bring anime here. However, the show they bring is not the show they intended, just a horrible dubbed version. This is due in large part to unnecessary editing. Changed names, changed conversations, missing scenes, missing episodes, even missing seasons! (Yu-Gu-Oh)I find that while you're not the only company that ruins perfectly good anime, you are the worst.
Most of my anime-loving friends, disgusted by American editing and censoring, have resorted to buying bilingual DVDs so they can see the original Japanese versions with English subtitles, or even getting bootleg fan-sub episodes off the internet. Me? I'm starting a club to teach Japanese so people can see the original versions and understand them.
Every day more and more people get so frustrated by American editing. The only ones who still watch dubbed anime are ignorant little kids (7 and under) who don't know any better. These are not the intended target audiences for most of there sunrises.
My advice? It may sound crazy but trust me on this one, the majority of the English speaking anime-loving community would much prefer to have the original Japanese versions, in un-edited format with accurate English subtitling. If you have and odd FCC issues, just have the show moved to a later time on TV.
You can expect to hear from me again in the future, with a petition. I will prove that I am not the only one who feels this way.
Best of luck,
------."
I have yet to receive a response. (I wish I could talk to someone from 4Kids face-to-face, E-mails are pretty week.
If anyone wants to, they could try sending letters to dubbing companies. With enough negative feedback, they're bound to listen to reason sometime, I hope.
E-mail us! We'd love to hear from you.
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