MovieChat Forums > Makai toshi: Shinjuku (1988) Discussion > What a bizarre dub this movie had

What a bizarre dub this movie had

posted 16 years ago by locust_bean_gum
10 replies | jump to latest

The gratuitous swearing just cracks me up. I remember seeing this on the scifi channel one morning, and weeks later I bought the unedited dubbed VHS and while the censoring on TV was crappy, I had no idea the extent to which they hid it all..."I can't just let her go" was, in fact, "F.ck it, I can't just let her go...sh.t." I never saw this movie subbed..I'm not sure if this was how the characters were meant to speak in the original Japanese script, but if it was it was handled so awkwardly in the dub. I like to think the company just figured nobody was paying attention and had fun with it, but in the end it just plays like they did it just because they could to agitate some shock value back in the day. It definitely works in its own world of Demon City Shinjuku charm, but it's up there with Cyber City Oedo 808 as far as bizarre gratuitous dubs go. Anybody else out there who can't help but smile at the campy swearing in this dub?

[–] PreachCaleb 15 years ago

I'll have to go back and watch the dub again. I haven't seen the English version in over 15 years, and even then it was on the sci-fi channel so there wasn't any swearing in it.

Nevermore

[–] percehonson 15 years ago

I think it's hilarious that for no apparent reason they added in the guy thinking "Gee this girl is great" before they kissed at the end.

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[–] Xcalat3 14 years ago

think it's hilarious that for no apparent reason they added in the guy thinking "Gee this girl is great" before they kissed at the end.

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[–] spindly 14 years ago

haha that is about the only thing I remember about this film, because it was so hilarious!

[–] mustard_monkey 14 years ago

I remember this always being an issue with Manga Video. I think they wanted to ensure as high a certificate as possible because the idea of 15 or 18 rated 'cartoons' gave them an extra novelty or street cred value or something.

I don't remember this one being particularly bad but it's been a long time since I watched it. The ones I always remember for gratuitous swearing were Cyber City (featuring the classic 'take that dicksplash!') and Devilman.

[–] Dream_Demon 12 years ago

I never saw the dubbed version but instead saw the subbed version. The dubbed version sounds hilarious though.

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[–] eeleyebrown 11 years ago

Does anyone know if the japanese translation is as crude and sexually vulgar as the english translation? The subtitles during the english translation are quite benign compared to the actual english dubbing. I know the japanese like their porn and sexuality but it's weird how there's such a difference between the english audio and the english subtitles.

[–] farfromanonymous 10 years ago

I came in here to say the same thing. I remember this being one of my favorite animes when I was younger and watching it now, there's some really weird choices. The lady in the bar in the begging with like a Texan accent, and then the kid on the roller skates with the Mexican accent. So weird and out of place.

[–] PreachCaleb 10 years ago

That kid was a hoot.

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[–] vandwedge 8 years ago

Lol so much to say about this cockamamie dub. There's the gratuitous cursing that you mention—this was surprisingly common in that mid 80s to mid 90s era of anime dubs, most famously in Violence Jack. ("Goddamnit, where the hell is Jack? F-in chickensh-, f- it, f- it, sh-, f- it, sh-!")

There's the time when the translator forgot the name of the movie they were translating, and has one of the characters say that they're going to a "monster city."

There's the sidekick they run into who apparently decided to do a Peter Lorre impression for the whole film.

There's that moment when that sidekick is about to throw a grenade at a demon. His mouth moves, yet the dub is simply silent here. (I rewound this scene to watch it with the original Japanese audio, and he does in fact speak here. The subtitles translate it to something like "This is for my dog!")

BUT MY FAVORITE is when our protagonist gets his father's sword. He's surging with chi power, and the camera dwells on this miraculous transformation while we slowly comprehend its magnitude. Then we get a close-up of him so he can lamely mutter "Thanks, dad."

Oh yes it's Laaarry Holmes/and the feeelin's right/Oh yes it's Laaarry Holmes/what a fight