October 1st, 2013
Foreign Language Dubs as "Adaptations"
Anime Relations: Fate/stay night, Steins;Gate
I like to think of foreign language dubs (in this case, English dubs of anime) as adaptations. What I mean by this is that dubs, like any other adaptation of an existing work, should not have to be completely faithful and accurate to the source material to be good.
When one judges a work, one should use the work's own standards (medium, language, culture, etc.). Instead, what I see people doing is comparing <this anime> to <its manga/novel/VN/etc. source material> or <this English dub> to <this Japanese dub>, which I wouldn't say is wrong until someone says one is better than the other. At the very least, one should compare English dubs with other English dubs, anime with other anime, etc. before someone says something is "good" or "bad."
One of the best examples of this concept put into practice are "abridged" series on YouTube (e.g. TeamFourStar's Dragon Ball Z). They're nowhere close to being faithful other than following the basic plot, but among all the good abridged series out there, they all do their original series justice by being original, creative, and entertaining.
All that being said, if you're still a proponent of the original work over anything else, this concept may not matter to you. But if you're wondering why some people would prefer watching a version of a work that is, to some degree, different (read: not inferior or superior) from the original, this would be my spin on it.
When one judges a work, one should use the work's own standards (medium, language, culture, etc.). Instead, what I see people doing is comparing <this anime> to <its manga/novel/VN/etc. source material> or <this English dub> to <this Japanese dub>, which I wouldn't say is wrong until someone says one is better than the other. At the very least, one should compare English dubs with other English dubs, anime with other anime, etc. before someone says something is "good" or "bad."
One of the best examples of this concept put into practice are "abridged" series on YouTube (e.g. TeamFourStar's Dragon Ball Z). They're nowhere close to being faithful other than following the basic plot, but among all the good abridged series out there, they all do their original series justice by being original, creative, and entertaining.
All that being said, if you're still a proponent of the original work over anything else, this concept may not matter to you. But if you're wondering why some people would prefer watching a version of a work that is, to some degree, different (read: not inferior or superior) from the original, this would be my spin on it.
Posted by gamer2710 | Oct 1, 2013 12:03 PM | 0 comments