Voice Acting

[Tiff]

Oh, don't take what I said the wrong way; when I said "we", I meant "the anime fan community", not just we here on SMU or those of us replying to this thread ^^;

Oh! I know! XD I was just adding to discussion. I know some people, including myself, are very auditory people, so sometimes while it may seem they're being purist, they really aren't.

[Cardcaptor Takato]

Of course Japan's VAs aren't automatically superior to America's just because it's Japanese, but it doesn't have anything to do with that. It has more to do with the different resources and money the different countries have to work with as well as how much effort the companies are putting into their production. In Japan, anime is seen as a much more serious business just like Hollywood movies or Disney films in America. In the U.S., anime is seen as just being like any other Saturday morning cartoon and isn't taken as seriously. Naturally, the Japanese companies have better resources and more money to work with than the American companies not because they're naturally better than America but because there's higher demand for it. Japanese VAs are practically celeberties in Japan whereas most dub VAs are virtually unknown outside the anime fandom community in the U.S. I recall Manga Entertainment used to literally hire people off the streets with their dubs. I think that as anime becomes more popular in the U.S., more companies will start taking anime more seriously and we'll start seeing a greater improvement of dubs. Compare the dubs of any '80s anime back when anime was virtually unknown in the U.S. to Disney's dub of Howl's Moving Castle and you'll notice a great deal of difference in the quality of dubbing. So, the Japanese voice artists being considered surperior to American voice artists doesn't really have anything to do with one race being naturally surperior to the other; it has more to do with how much high demand there is by the general public for a quality dub.

[Rin]

Actually, in Japan, the animation is done first and then the voice overs are done. Nice research...

Can you provide a source for this information?

[Tempest]

Actually, in Japan, the animation is done first and then the voice overs are done. Nice research...

Can you provide a source for this information?

While I don't have proof, I've heard that animation first, dubbing second was how it went. I can't remember if I watched it on a DVD bonus feature or read it in an "Anime" based magizine. But I have heard that was the order of things.

[Panda]

Just to make sure veryone knows. I watch subs alot more than dubs (I know no one said anything but I'm avoiding any misunderstandings that may arise from this discussion.)

My beef is, alot of people say Japanese is better than American purely on the basis that "American actors just dont sound good" (I've heard not fit the character, like what Tiff has been saying also, but that is a more valid point that I'll address later). What I don't think makes sense is how someone can tell if the American or Japanese sound better if they are not fluent in both languages?


As for the other issue...

Well, as for the voice not fiting the character. I totally see where you guys are coming from but I don't think that's the main issue here. I mean, that mistake is made in both countries (in all countries...)

[Rin]

Emotion is universal.

Yes there is both good and bad Japanese and English voice acting, I just happen to find it more common with dubs. Maybe American cartoons dont sound as good when their dubbed into Japanese, who knows.

I can give you an example

In Escaflowne,

[spoiler] A few episodes after all the Dragonslayers are killed, we see Dilandau lying on a table being experimented on. He lets out a loud scream at first. In the Japanese version, he actually sounded like he was in tremendous pain, while in the dub, his sounded more like he dropped his wallet over the side of the vione. Then he precedes to scream out the names of the Dragonslayers he is closest too but doesnt seem to realize that they were killed. In the Japanese, he screams out their names sounding completely desparate while in the dub, he just yells their names like he wants their help for some menial task, and the animation doesnt match up to the dub at all.[/spoiler]

Escaflowne did have a very poor English dub though.

As I said before, most of the anime I watch is dubbed, but there are a few series that I can not tolerate dubbed.

[DreamEmpress]

I always find American dubs a mixed bag. Most of the time I prefer the subtitle. But that's because to me the music and voices flow better and I can enjoy the anime. But I do enjoy a few animes that are dubbed too.

Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service and Howl's Moving Castle were all great examples of dub. When you have the right people, it just flows well. I found that Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer is a very funny movie in english. Even Inu Yasha isn't too bad dubbed.

I don't feel sub is superior. After all dub has it's great moments. But sometimes for the right emotion, no one does it better than the original cast.

About the animation, I saw on a documentary about Amy's First Love, they showed the original cast of Sailor Moon in the recording studio. They were watching the anime and reading their lines. And if I'm correct, on the 2nd disc of Spirited Away, in the documentary, or whatever it was, they had the original cast in the recording studio reading their lines while watching the movie. It was very interesting to watch. So I think that's how it's done over there.

[Cardcaptor Takato]

My beef is, alot of people say Japanese is better than American purely on the basis that "American actors just dont sound good" (I've heard not fit the character, like what Tiff has been saying also, but that is a more valid point that I'll address later). What I don't think makes sense is how someone can tell if the American or Japanese sound better if they are not fluent in both languages?

Why do you have to be fluent in both languages in order to have an opinion on what you think of their acting? Miyazaki-san didn't know English but he thought the voice acting in the Warriors Of The Wind dub was terrible, so does his opinion mean nothing then since he doesn't know English? And I may not know Japanese, but I do know English, and if something doesn't sound right to me in English, why shouldn't I be able to judge the English voice acting just because I don't know Japanese? And to answer the earlier question, yes, the voice acting is done after the animation is produced in Japan. Like DreamEmpress said, on the making of Spirited Away extra on the Spirited Away DVD, they showed the Japanese VAs recording their lines while looking at the animation on the screen. Chihiro's Japanese VA even had to re-do her lines several times while trying to match the lip movements because it didn't match up correctly. The biggest difference is that the Japanese VAs perform their lines together in the same room whereas dub VAs perform their lines seperately in different rooms and in some cases they don't even meet the other VAs at all.

[jupiter23]

For me, whether I watch the sub or the dub version depends entirely on how well the dub was done. There are some anime that I believe the dub is pretty good and I'll watch it either way, depending on my mood. And there are some that I may never watch the dub of again, only because I thought the dub voices were completely horrible.

And from what I remember seeing on a bonus feature on my Saikano DVDs, for that one at least the Japanese voice actors were all in a room together and were reading their lines as the animation played on a screen in front of them. That led me to believe that was the way they did it for most, if not all, anime.

[Rin]

Fruits Basket is an anime where I like some of the voices better in the dub, and others better in Japanese, and some I don't care either way.

Better Japanese voices:
Yuki- His dub voice sounds very creepy.
Ritsu- Another very creepy dub voice.

Better English voices:
Kagura- I really don't like her Japanese VA at all, it got on my nerves fast.
Torhu- Same reason for for Kagura.

Everyone else I think is equal in both versions unless I'm forgetting about someone. I tend to watch Fruits Basket dubbed.

[usachan]

Actually, in Japan, the animation is done first and then the voice overs are done. Nice research...

Can you provide a source for this information?

Well, from anime to anime it could be different. If I remember correctly though, the omake for volume 3 of Sailor Moon showed Mitsuishi Kotono doing her voice over, and it looked like as she was doing it, she was watching the animation to help match up her voice with it. I could be wrong though, I haven't watch the omake's in a while.

[Skull13]

I don't know why, but I prefer dubs over subs, despite how horrible it can be sometimes. That's all I can think of saying about this.

[DistantMemory]

And Miyazaki's films usually have good dub voice actors. ^^

The keyword here being "usually." There is an exception: Castle in the Sky. X_x;

[Rin]

And Miyazaki's films usually have good dub voice actors. ^^

The keyword here being "usually." There is an exception: Castle in the Sky. X_x;

Ah yes, Castle in the Sky. The one thing that I really hated about that dub was when they added dialogue where... Grr can't remember her name, but the main girl is given a pair of the female pirates pants. They felt the need to add dialogue when the scene was funnier without it.

[Sailormars Obsessed fan]

I tend to prefer sub to dub but not because I dont like dubs or anything I just like seeing things as they were originally created (which is why I want to kill Stephen Speilburg but thats a totally different subject)

There are some dubs I like to watch better though simply because they did a great job with the voices (I think) and Id rather watch anime then read it, but I have to admit this is the minority

[Musashi]

Actually, many people can't stand subs for that reason- don't like reading. I have absolutely no problems with this, but I am pretty fast at reading in general, when some of my other friends can take like, a whle minute to read a paragraph. ^^; And since many anime fans are young/don't like reading/can't focus on both the animation and the translated speech... yeah.

Or if a character speaks at a really, REALLY insane speed like Excel Excel. Reading subs then I could see as being pretty hard.

Heh, same with me, I can't even stand American cartoons dubbed into other languages. I like seeing everything as it was meant to be seen. -lame-

I haven't seen the Castle in the Sky dub. I might get it just to see the bad dubbing 'cause bad dubs amuse me. xD;

[Blackat]

I do think that Japanese seiyuu have the additional advantage of speaking Japanese, which is on balance a more euphonious language. Japanese has only the one stand-alone consonant n, so the proportion of vowels is much higher. Also, the voiced plosives (b, d, g, j) and the labial (p) are fewer since they're part of the rarer "two points" kana. English, with its germanic roots, has a more biting sound to it.

I think this is one of the reasons why I really like japanese voice-overs - just the way they say even the plainest of words sounds cool. I remember while watching SMS I was fascinated with the way they said "crisis" (I can't remember what it is in japanese), because well....it was neat! Some words can really make a character sound cute (eg - "desu" in Steel Angel Kurumi) in the original japanese, but when it's translated to english it just looses that kind of magic. I don't know, I'm blabbering on here.

About the animation, I saw on a documentary about Amy's First Love, they showed the original cast of Sailor Moon in the recording studio. They were watching the anime and reading their lines. .

Where and when did you see that? I'm very intrigued! Is it available anywhere?

[Iced_Cappucino]

I haven't seen the Castle in the Sky dub. I might get it just to see the bad dubbing 'cause bad dubs amuse me. xD;

IMO the dub was good, but that's because I've seen it more than the original and therefore I am used to the voices. I think growing up with an anime changes how you view it. I watched Tenchi Muyo when it aired on CN/Toonami and I love the dub voices. I don't ever watch the Japanese dub because I am so used to seeing the English version.

It's like when people say Sailor Moon was dubbed horribly. If you watch the dub more than the original or grew up with it, there's a good chance you will prefer that version.

Some people haven't seen or heard of the original versions which is why the value dub versions.