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Studio Ghibli, English dub better than Japanese??

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May 18, 2011 4:17 PM
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The other day, i took out my Spirited away movie, put it in the DVD player thing and began to watch it as I normally did, in English, when a stroke of genius hit me upside the head. My DVD comes in three languages: English, Japanese, and French, and since I am learning japanese I figured "What the hay, mind as well watch it in Japanese!" So I did and was expecting to be blown away and never want to watch it in english again but I was nothing but disappointed and shocked.

The voices didn't seem to fit the characters very well, or at least not Chihiro's and a few others, and the acting seemed..........well, it was how it usually is in the ENGLISH version of an anime 9maybe not quite THAT bad but pretty close). I have to say, I was very surprised by this, but I thought it was just a fluke that maybe Spirited Away didn't come out as great in the japanese. Once again, I had no idea how wrong I was........

A few days later, I did the same thing with Howl's Moving Castle, once again deeply disappointed. The voice actor for Howl, I LOVED and was exactly what I expected with a very nice, deeper voice, but as for the rest of them...........I can't say I felt the same way.

I have to wonder, is Ghibli just some weird case of "the exception proves the rule" or is it possible that after watching these films since I was six years old, I've become so accustomed to the English voices that I simply can't adjust to the Japanese? Is it just my imagination or for once is the English actually better than the original?

P.S. I have yet to get a chance to try out Kiki's Delivery service (which wasn't the best english dub ghibli has ever done) nor Castle in the Sky but I hope they are better.
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May 18, 2011 4:19 PM
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Whatever you hear first is usually what you will prefer. i have watched the ones i've seen in japanese and haven't had any problems with them.
May 18, 2011 4:23 PM
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is it possible that after watching these films since I was six years old, I've become so accustomed to the English voices that I simply can't adjust to the Japanese? Is it just my imagination or for once is the English actually better than the original?


These are questions that cant really be awnsered by others, since its your opinions your talking about here. As for the last, it really depends on preference. There's no absolute better, its opinionated. I can only speak for spirited away here though, but in MY opinion, they did a great job in both the English and Japanese voices, but I do prefer the English dub just because its not a bad dub, and two, reading subtitles = less time watching visuals. =D
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May 18, 2011 5:04 PM
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Well seeing as you saw the english version first it shouldn't really be surprising that you found the characters voices to be more fitting than the original japanese. Admittedly this isn't always the case though.

As for Howl, he's voiced by Christian Bale so he's a proffesional actor doing that which probably helps.

When it comes to Laputa, I simply have to watch it in english becuase Colonel Muska is voiced by Mark Hamill, and that's just incredibly awesome.
May 18, 2011 5:27 PM
#5

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From what I've seen, both the Japanese and English dubs for Studio Ghibli films are very well done.
May 18, 2011 5:36 PM
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jpem said:
Whatever you hear first is usually what you will prefer. i have watched the ones i've seen in japanese and haven't had any problems with them.
This is pretty much the case. I've seen dubs on Adult Swim (notably, Death Note, Code Geass, Bleach, Full Metal Alchemist, etc...), and because of seeing those first, I didn't really mind the dubs, despite everyone else seeming to say "they're awful".

Dubs in general don't seem to really be that bad. Although in my opinion the original Japanese can be just a little bit better with some shows, with one character or two.
May 18, 2011 5:59 PM
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RedLunge said:
Well seeing as you saw the english version first it shouldn't really be surprising that you found the characters voices to be more fitting than the original japanese.


Pretty much. Both language tracks get a lot of money poured into them since Ghibli films are pretty high profile and profitable for anime, so there's not really going to be anything major wrong with either; it's really just that you're looking for something that matches what you're used to.

For Howl's Moving Castle, the movie was set in a Britain-esque place, and the dub had a lot of VAs with various accents, so maybe it was the lack of those that threw you off.
May 18, 2011 6:14 PM
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RedLunge said:
When it comes to Laputa, I simply have to watch it in english becuase Colonel Muska is voiced by Mark Hamill, and that's just incredibly awesome.


Quoted for truth, although don't forget Cloris Leachman's Dola.

But I'll definitely say what I've been saying all along--as far as English dubs go, Disney's dubs for the Ghibli films are some of the best in business. I think they ultimately play much better if they're appreciated on their own terms, and not as comparisons to the Japanese versions. In the end it's all a your mileage may vary thing, but the Ghibli dubs done by Disney are nothing terrible in the least--many dubs don't often get the kind of treatment that Disney does.
May 18, 2011 6:44 PM
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No offense to the original voice actors, but I wasn't really impressed by most of the original voice acting in most of the older ghibli films, much less the english re-dubs. it may just be the dating and lower budgets, but i didn't really find either the english or japanese any better for the ghibli movies I've watched.

I did enjoy noticing Patrick Stewart in Nausicaa, despite his minor part.... can't really find a more talented voice actor. Most of the voices are pretty unremarkable in both dubs though.
http://myanimelist.net/people/827/Patrick_Stewart

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May 18, 2011 7:02 PM
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Hmmm, I liked both dubs of Princess Mononoke however, like you, I think the english dub of Spirited Away is superior to the Japanese. I've also seen Grave of the Fireflies in both languages but I liked the english version better.
May 18, 2011 7:08 PM
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I like most of the Disney dubs for the Ghibli movies. I think they did a really good job on them. The only one I didn't care for was My Neighbor Totoro, not that was terrible but the little girls voice was rather grating to me. I also prefer the old FOX/Streamline dub by Carl Macek.
May 18, 2011 7:43 PM

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Yeah, the Disney dubs were well done for Princess Mononoke/Spirited Away.... Disney was probably the best at dubbing at the time considering that they were the largest animation studio, with perhaps only Warner Brothers to compete in the english animation market and dwarfishly so. They already had a mature voice and sound staff and resources that were difficult to rival. I can't imagine them being any better for the time period.

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May 19, 2011 2:33 AM
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I don't know. It really depends for some. The original never fails. The Original Cantonese dub to me was the best. But the newer dubs have been good to. english dub wise. I would say some of the old dubs for the older anime movies were better. Such as Laputa. I had a copy of Laputa that was airred on ITV in the 80's or 90's and the dub was really good.But as usual we lend the recording to someone and we never get it back.

It was also in the early days that Hong Kong would also dub the songs for the children. So you would get Cantonese dubbed versions of the Ending songs. And opening song in Totoro's case.
May 19, 2011 4:18 AM

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The Disney dub of Totoro was horrid, after the Fox version. Spirited Away & Howl's Moving Castle I prefer in English, but Princess Mononoke is better in Japanese. And Ponyo was great both ways.
May 19, 2011 8:34 AM

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DeathNeko said:
The other day, i took out my Spirited away movie, put it in the DVD player thing and began to watch it as I normally did, in English, when a stroke of genius hit me upside the head. My DVD comes in three languages: English, Japanese, and French, and since I am learning japanese I figured "What the hay, mind as well watch it in Japanese!" So I did and was expecting to be blown away and never want to watch it in english again but I was nothing but disappointed and shocked.

The voices didn't seem to fit the characters very well, or at least not Chihiro's and a few others, and the acting seemed..........well, it was how it usually is in the ENGLISH version of an anime 9maybe not quite THAT bad but pretty close). I have to say, I was very surprised by this, but I thought it was just a fluke that maybe Spirited Away didn't come out as great in the japanese. Once again, I had no idea how wrong I was........

A few days later, I did the same thing with Howl's Moving Castle, once again deeply disappointed. The voice actor for Howl, I LOVED and was exactly what I expected with a very nice, deeper voice, but as for the rest of them...........I can't say I felt the same way.

I have to wonder, is Ghibli just some weird case of "the exception proves the rule" or is it possible that after watching these films since I was six years old, I've become so accustomed to the English voices that I simply can't adjust to the Japanese? Is it just my imagination or for once is the English actually better than the original?

P.S. I have yet to get a chance to try out Kiki's Delivery service (which wasn't the best english dub ghibli has ever done) nor Castle in the Sky but I hope they are better.


Unless you are actually are fluent in both Japaese and English then you have no actually way of judging the acting ability of both the English and Japanese voice actors or how much emotion they put into their role. I know that many weeaboos claim there is or that they can tell how much emotion they put into their roles, but they watch subs instead of raws because without the subs they wouldn't understand a thing the Japanese voice actors were saying. There is also the facts voice actors are usually paid to do other voices instead of their own natural voice,which means what they think is great acting or better emotion is really a children's show character voice.
May 19, 2011 9:46 AM
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I beg to differ about the older dubs being "better" than the Disney versions.

The older dub of LAPUTA didn't strike me as a particularly good dub when I saw it; perhaps it's because I'm in love with Disney's version and the Japanese version, but one listen to the older version and I was actually cringing. Muska, in particular, sounded very off, like he was just reading from the script and not acting at all. Even the leads -- no offense to their actressess -- sounded like they didn't know where they wanted to go with their characters. James and Anna weren't perfect, but I thought they did much better jobs overall. And for the supporting cast, nothing beats Cloris Leachman, Jim Cummings, or everyone else who plays the pirate gang and the minor roles. Least of all Mark Hamill, who simply OWNS the role of Muska. The scripting was not particularly good either--despite being more "accurate", the dialogue sounded very choppy and stilted, as if it was written by somebody who didn't know where he wanted to go with the dialogue. Maybe the older dub of LAPUTA was decent for it s time but today it just sounds very stale and dull, especially compared to many other dubs of today. I'd rather hear Disney's version of this movie.

As far as TOTORO is concerned, there is no denying that the FOX dub is quite good and even holds up pretty well, but does that mean Disney's dub is inferior? In my honest opinion, no. It's just different. If anything, I'd say both are on par with each other for different reasons. Dakota and Elle Fanning are not Lisa Michelson and Cheryl Chase, but they certainly don't deserve to be maligned for their work as Satsuki and Mei, and everyone else in both dubs sounded quite solid. The only weakness of the Disney dub was the opening songs, which sounded a bit more "gungho" than the softer-sounding FOX versions, but otherwise, there really is nothing wrong with Disney's dub. I just like both versions equally; they're not better or worse than each other, only different.

I heard a bit of KIKI's older dub, and it sounded fine, although I'm much more used to Disney's version.
May 22, 2011 8:19 PM

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ezikialrage said:
DeathNeko said:
The other day, i took out my Spirited away movie, put it in the DVD player thing and began to watch it as I normally did, in English, when a stroke of genius hit me upside the head. My DVD comes in three languages: English, Japanese, and French, and since I am learning japanese I figured "What the hay, mind as well watch it in Japanese!" So I did and was expecting to be blown away and never want to watch it in english again but I was nothing but disappointed and shocked.

The voices didn't seem to fit the characters very well, or at least not Chihiro's and a few others, and the acting seemed..........well, it was how it usually is in the ENGLISH version of an anime 9maybe not quite THAT bad but pretty close). I have to say, I was very surprised by this, but I thought it was just a fluke that maybe Spirited Away didn't come out as great in the japanese. Once again, I had no idea how wrong I was........

A few days later, I did the same thing with Howl's Moving Castle, once again deeply disappointed. The voice actor for Howl, I LOVED and was exactly what I expected with a very nice, deeper voice, but as for the rest of them...........I can't say I felt the same way.

I have to wonder, is Ghibli just some weird case of "the exception proves the rule" or is it possible that after watching these films since I was six years old, I've become so accustomed to the English voices that I simply can't adjust to the Japanese? Is it just my imagination or for once is the English actually better than the original?

P.S. I have yet to get a chance to try out Kiki's Delivery service (which wasn't the best english dub ghibli has ever done) nor Castle in the Sky but I hope they are better.


Unless you are actually are fluent in both Japaese and English then you have no actually way of judging the acting ability of both the English and Japanese voice actors or how much emotion they put into their role. I know that many weeaboos claim there is or that they can tell how much emotion they put into their roles, but they watch subs instead of raws because without the subs they wouldn't understand a thing the Japanese voice actors were saying. There is also the facts voice actors are usually paid to do other voices instead of their own natural voice,which means what they think is great acting or better emotion is really a children's show character voice.


I forgot to mention: When I watched them, I watched them without subs, just the raw Japanese.
May 22, 2011 8:23 PM

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I have no problems with the dub, but I do prefer to watch them in Japanese.
May 22, 2011 8:41 PM

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I usually love them both equally, at least for the ones I've seen. The only exception I will make is for Kiki's- I really, really do prefer the American version for this one, and I know that I originally saw it in Japanese.
Jul 7, 2011 2:17 PM

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English dub I think is better.
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Jul 7, 2011 2:27 PM
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I really like the english versions better. And I have watched it both in jap and eng. Disney puts a lot of time and effort into these movies when dubbing them. Plus they deal with big time actors, who have done voice acting before, or who have played different types of roles, that it adds diversity to their voice acting. Take Christian Bale in Howl's Moving Castle, he added such raw emotion to that character. I mean he added his Batman Begins voice to his role, so good!
Jul 7, 2011 2:40 PM

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am i the only one who simply can't watch dubbed anime... its just.. weird?
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Jul 7, 2011 2:59 PM
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LmfaoADoing said:
am i the only one who simply can't watch dubbed anime... its just.. weird?


Here is the thing. I can understand why you would feel this way. because yes there are times where I cannot watch dub version, because i like the japanese version better. However, some started watching anime with the dub version before listening to it in japanese, so you become accustomed to it. Before there was internet, I grew up watching anime in the dub version in the states, no subtitles. a lot of it had to do with censoring things for kids. Sailor Moon had some things in it not kid approved so they had to rewrite or cut things out. I also watch voltron, and ronin warriors. So understand that its not its weird to like japanese over dub, it simply has to do with how the person came across anime in the first place. That's just from my perspective.
Jul 7, 2011 3:59 PM

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kaleidostar1187 said:
LmfaoADoing said:
am i the only one who simply can't watch dubbed anime... its just.. weird?


Here is the thing. I can understand why you would feel this way. because yes there are times where I cannot watch dub version, because i like the japanese version better. However, some started watching anime with the dub version before listening to it in japanese, so you become accustomed to it. Before there was internet, I grew up watching anime in the dub version in the states, no subtitles. a lot of it had to do with censoring things for kids. Sailor Moon had some things in it not kid approved so they had to rewrite or cut things out. I also watch voltron, and ronin warriors. So understand that its not its weird to like japanese over dub, it simply has to do with how the person came across anime in the first place. That's just from my perspective.


mhm.. guess your right. anime was never broadcasted in my country so i just found out about it on the internet.. never could've watched it other than just subbed >.<
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Jul 7, 2011 7:01 PM
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@LmfaoADoing Yea that's how it is in most cases. It's kinda funny because anime did not start really broadcasting in the states until the mid 90s, or at least there was not many being shown. So its funny to see who starts with dub or sub when it comes to anime.
Jul 7, 2011 7:42 PM
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in english thhey change alot
from miss translating titles to taking key plot polnts out
"If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine"

When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one
For the Union makes us strong
Jul 7, 2011 7:52 PM
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Tennoryu said:
in english thhey change alot
from miss translating titles to taking key plot polnts out


The reason that happens is the amount of syllables in certain words, so in order for the voice overs to get it right, they have to make some altercations. Now when stories change it has to do sometimes with censorship for kids, that why stories change sometimes.
Jul 7, 2011 7:57 PM

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There is no right answer since really it depends on how you first experience anime and your expectations toward it. Polls and such and past topics like this have proved that people who watch a lot of anime tend to prefer the original japanese with subs. That is partly due to widespread fansubs and piracy, but it is true that some things get lost in translation.

I also find that japanese voice actors are just more skilled at what they do, perhaps only because their work environment is much more competitive and widely scouted. When you don't yet have an ear for another language the subtle ideas will be lost on you anyway, but there are a lot of english speakers who watch foreign films and don't complain about the subtitles being too distracting. I think with a quality fansub or official sub the overall experience is better.

If you watch anime casually then you are better served by watching dubs (if there is a high quality one available), but those who watch anime regularly are doing themselves a disservice by not learning a bit of japanese.
sakaJul 7, 2011 8:14 PM

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Jul 7, 2011 8:00 PM
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kaleidostar1187 said:
Tennoryu said:
in english thhey change alot
from miss translating titles to taking key plot polnts out


The reason that happens is the amount of syllables in certain words, so in order for the voice overs to get it right, they have to make some altercations. Now when stories change it has to do sometimes with censorship for kids, that why stories change sometimes.


no a key point on Mimi o Sumaseba plot was changed
"If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine"

When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one
For the Union makes us strong
Jul 7, 2011 8:04 PM

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I think both are great. I prefer the English version though, because I actually like it and it's easier to watch w/o having to read subs.
Jul 7, 2011 8:05 PM

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kaleidostar1187 said:
Tennoryu said:
in english thhey change alot
from miss translating titles to taking key plot polnts out


The reason that happens is the amount of syllables in certain words, so in order for the voice overs to get it right, they have to make some altercations. Now when stories change it has to do sometimes with censorship for kids, that why stories change sometimes.


I've heard a character in Japanese say "Strike!!" to indicate his interest in a beautiful lady and the English dub changes "Strike!!" to "Totally my type"

I have also seen anime that feature Tokyo Tower in backgrounds and as a plot relavent location but the dub changes the location from Japan to California.

While there are reasons such as censorship, mouthflaps, and technical reasons for changes at times - it is not true every time, sometimes it is just bad localization.

Jul 7, 2011 8:06 PM
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DISNEY DUBS THEM THATS WHY THIER GOOD, THEIR GETTING BIG NAME ACTORS LIKE CHRISTIAN BALE AND SUCH

woops sorry caps lock was on
Jul 7, 2011 8:17 PM

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Caps aside, ItsSoPringles is correct. Disney is probably the best at dubbing animation anywhere, so it's not surprising that the dubs they handled are very high quality.

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Jul 9, 2011 2:09 PM

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Honestly, I love both but Disney never cease to surprise me with an amazing cast. The voices for the characters in English are just fantastic!
Maybe this is one reason why Spirited Away won for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards.
Jul 9, 2011 3:16 PM

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i said it before and i say it again.. sub > dub imo.
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Jul 9, 2011 4:00 PM
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LmfaoADoing said:
i said it before and i say it again.. sub > dub imo.


To each is own. No wrong or right answer. Everyone has a preference.
Jul 9, 2011 4:07 PM

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kaleidostar1187 said:
LmfaoADoing said:
i said it before and i say it again.. sub > dub imo.


To each is own. No wrong or right answer. Everyone has a preference.


thats what the "imo" was for :)
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Jul 9, 2011 4:14 PM
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have you ever Mimi-wo-sumaseba in Japanese if so you Know what the Changed Key plot point is
"If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine"

When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one
For the Union makes us strong
Jul 9, 2011 4:17 PM
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I think Ghibli just puts more funding into their voice actors.
When you watch Anime that's been dubbed (such as Naruto, Angelic Layer, any major title) they tend to recycle the actors, and don't try as hard to cast a good ensemble.

I was always curious as to why the voice acting differs so much from Japanese to English; American voice actors seem so much more 'cartoony' than the Japanese variety. Japanese voice actors from what i've seen tend to portray themselves as believable people, while American actor's seem to be characters.
Jul 9, 2011 4:36 PM

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I actually watched both English ver. and Japanese ver. for Spirited Away, and I preferred Japanese ver. Not liking especially that they added something that Japanese ver. didn't have (end).
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Jul 9, 2011 4:58 PM
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Mobamoga said:
I think Ghibli just puts more funding into their voice actors.
When you watch Anime that's been dubbed (such as Naruto, Angelic Layer, any major title) they tend to recycle the actors, and don't try as hard to cast a good ensemble.

I was always curious as to why the voice acting differs so much from Japanese to English; American voice actors seem so much more 'cartoony' than the Japanese variety. Japanese voice actors from what i've seen tend to portray themselves as believable people, while American actor's seem to be characters.


Think of what american actors have to work with. When americans do voice acting they record their voices first. Then the animators draw based on the voice actors facial movements, or any extra characterization to the character. I mean take Monster's Inc for example I mean Mike played by Billy Crystal enthusiastic, sarcastic, and hilarious. Artists draw based on inspiration, and sometimes they get it by watching the voice actors, and adding a bit them to the character. Now anime tends to have the same facial expressions, or reactions. American voice actors when dubbing have to make do with what they have, they try to add themselves, but try to respect the original intent of the artist, and makers of the anime. They also have to try to get the right words, and amount of syllables in to make the dubbing work, so that it does not look like some cheesy 1960s karate film, that was dubbed. So american actors are limited. Give them credit for at least doing somewhat of decent job.
Jul 9, 2011 6:05 PM
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kaleidostar1187 said:
Mobamoga said:
I think Ghibli just puts more funding into their voice actors.
When you watch Anime that's been dubbed (such as Naruto, Angelic Layer, any major title) they tend to recycle the actors, and don't try as hard to cast a good ensemble.

I was always curious as to why the voice acting differs so much from Japanese to English; American voice actors seem so much more 'cartoony' than the Japanese variety. Japanese voice actors from what i've seen tend to portray themselves as believable people, while American actor's seem to be characters.


Think of what american actors have to work with. When americans do voice acting they record their voices first. Then the animators draw based on the voice actors facial movements, or any extra characterization to the character. I mean take Monster's Inc for example I mean Mike played by Billy Crystal enthusiastic, sarcastic, and hilarious. Artists draw based on inspiration, and sometimes they get it by watching the voice actors, and adding a bit them to the character. Now anime tends to have the same facial expressions, or reactions. American voice actors when dubbing have to make do with what they have, they try to add themselves, but try to respect the original intent of the artist, and makers of the anime. They also have to try to get the right words, and amount of syllables in to make the dubbing work, so that it does not look like some cheesy 1960s karate film, that was dubbed. So american actors are limited. Give them credit for at least doing somewhat of decent job.


You pretty much proved my assertion that American actors are trying to flesh out characters vs. people. Each character's voice is VERYYY distinct in a dub.
If you heard the voice of a character in an anime vs. that of an actor in a Japanese film; there wouldn't be much difference. It's usually more natural.

That's why I like the dubbing in Ghibli films because the voices suits the characters. The actor doesn't have to force anything.

Now compare an American voice actor's work in an anime with that of an actor in an English speaking film.

You can match syllables without overemphasizing your voice and changing the pitch drastically. I'm not degrading their trade, I was pointing out the differences.
Jul 9, 2011 7:25 PM

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I don't see how japanese voice actors are any different in the above examples... though because of animation shortfalls the mouths are usually timed to the audio after the fact (usually by computer). I don't see how the animated mouths necessarily flesh out the character more, or what that has to do with the unique voices and characters made by the actors. Also, roles are cast in anime with expectations of the actors and the characters' personalities in much the same way.
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Jul 9, 2011 7:33 PM
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Mobamoga said:
kaleidostar1187 said:
Mobamoga said:
I think Ghibli just puts more funding into their voice actors.
When you watch Anime that's been dubbed (such as Naruto, Angelic Layer, any major title) they tend to recycle the actors, and don't try as hard to cast a good ensemble.

I was always curious as to why the voice acting differs so much from Japanese to English; American voice actors seem so much more 'cartoony' than the Japanese variety. Japanese voice actors from what i've seen tend to portray themselves as believable people, while American actor's seem to be characters.


Think of what american actors have to work with. When americans do voice acting they record their voices first. Then the animators draw based on the voice actors facial movements, or any extra characterization to the character. I mean take Monster's Inc for example I mean Mike played by Billy Crystal enthusiastic, sarcastic, and hilarious. Artists draw based on inspiration, and sometimes they get it by watching the voice actors, and adding a bit them to the character. Now anime tends to have the same facial expressions, or reactions. American voice actors when dubbing have to make do with what they have, they try to add themselves, but try to respect the original intent of the artist, and makers of the anime. They also have to try to get the right words, and amount of syllables in to make the dubbing work, so that it does not look like some cheesy 1960s karate film, that was dubbed. So american actors are limited. Give them credit for at least doing somewhat of decent job.


You pretty much proved my assertion that American actors are trying to flesh out characters vs. people. Each character's voice is VERYYY distinct in a dub.
If you heard the voice of a character in an anime vs. that of an actor in a Japanese film; there wouldn't be much difference. It's usually more natural.

That's why I like the dubbing in Ghibli films because the voices suits the characters. The actor doesn't have to force anything.

Now compare an American voice actor's work in an anime with that of an actor in an English speaking film.

You can match syllables without overemphasizing your voice and changing the pitch drastically. I'm not degrading their trade, I was pointing out the differences.


Gotcha!
Jul 18, 2011 2:40 PM
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538
kaleidostar1187 said:
Mobamoga said:
kaleidostar1187 said:
Mobamoga said:
I think Ghibli just puts more funding into their voice actors.
When you watch Anime that's been dubbed (such as Naruto, Angelic Layer, any major title) they tend to recycle the actors, and don't try as hard to cast a good ensemble.

I was always curious as to why the voice acting differs so much from Japanese to English; American voice actors seem so much more 'cartoony' than the Japanese variety. Japanese voice actors from what i've seen tend to portray themselves as believable people, while American actor's seem to be characters.


Think of what american actors have to work with. When americans do voice acting they record their voices first. Then the animators draw based on the voice actors facial movements, or any extra characterization to the character. I mean take Monster's Inc for example I mean Mike played by Billy Crystal enthusiastic, sarcastic, and hilarious. Artists draw based on inspiration, and sometimes they get it by watching the voice actors, and adding a bit them to the character. Now anime tends to have the same facial expressions, or reactions. American voice actors when dubbing have to make do with what they have, they try to add themselves, but try to respect the original intent of the artist, and makers of the anime. They also have to try to get the right words, and amount of syllables in to make the dubbing work, so that it does not look like some cheesy 1960s karate film, that was dubbed. So american actors are limited. Give them credit for at least doing somewhat of decent job.


You pretty much proved my assertion that American actors are trying to flesh out characters vs. people. Each character's voice is VERYYY distinct in a dub.
If you heard the voice of a character in an anime vs. that of an actor in a Japanese film; there wouldn't be much difference. It's usually more natural.

That's why I like the dubbing in Ghibli films because the voices suits the characters. The actor doesn't have to force anything.

Now compare an American voice actor's work in an anime with that of an actor in an English speaking film.

You can match syllables without overemphasizing your voice and changing the pitch drastically. I'm not degrading their trade, I was pointing out the differences.


Gotcha!


Quoted for truth. Oddly enough, I hear from people who say that Disney has "destroyed" Ghibli's films, and that the Mouse House somehow "lied" that their dubs would be "good" and "100% faithful". I don't understand it at all. Because I have yet to hear a bad dub from Disney.
Jul 18, 2011 3:11 PM

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jpem said:
Whatever you hear first is usually what you will prefer. i have watched the ones i've seen in japanese and haven't had any problems with them.


It's usually this. In any case, whatever you hear first, no matter how well done or shitty it was, you'll probably prefer it better.
Jul 18, 2011 3:31 PM
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Jun 2011
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I can't really stand any Ghibli film dubbed; the voice choices and script/dialog changes are annoying and sometimes get in the way. They changed quite a few things in the Spirited Away dub from what I remember.

I've always watched them subbed.
Jul 18, 2011 5:08 PM
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The reason why Disney changes lines in their dubs is because realistically a 100%, slavishly accurate script usually translates into stiff, awkward-sounding dialogue. Furthermore, there are a couple of concepts in Japanese culture that American audiences may not understand so readily. That's why the changes are made. I understand that some purists may make noise about this, but as long as Miyazaki and Ghibli have the final say, I really don't see anything grinding about any deviations. Now granted there were a couple of times where the deviations seemed distinctive, but nothing to really ruin any the films for me.
Jul 19, 2011 4:19 AM
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I have to say, they are both not bad. Usually just depends on the cast That each have chosen.
Jul 19, 2011 5:44 AM

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Oct 2009
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I like both the Japanese dub and the English for Studio Ghibli's movies.

I used to always go straight to watching the dub, but now I always look for the sub first.
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