Ouch! Now you're just getting plain old cruel (she says, with tongue in cheek).
I’m a freelance translator and dubbing script (ADR) writer who’s been working full time translating and writing anime for the past ten years or so.
I share quite a few of your disappointments with the series. But your arguments are based on numerous incorrect assumptions of the post-production process.
When a US or Japanese company who owns the North American rights to a show commissions a North American studio or post production house to do a dub, there are many factors which determine the outcome of the dub and how closely, if at all, it resembles the original script. I can assure you though, it has nothing to do with the translators being lousy, or the writer having taken too many liberties, just on a whim. The client has a lot at stake, so naturally they not only call all the shots, they also have many approval stages during the entire dubbing process, to make sure the show is progressing the way they want.
For starters, sometimes the animation is partly or completely recut, at the client’s request. Maybe the client wants to give certain characters more or less air time. Or perhaps they want more fight sequences. So the animation itself may end up looking nothing like the original.
The client with the show’s NA rights then either provides the dubbing/post production company with a translation, or commissions it to the dubbing company, who contracts it out to one of their translators. Side note: a translation is a translation is a translation. It has to be literal, it simply cannot be improvised or rewritten dialog. It just doesn't happen. Anyway, the dubbing company then sends the literal translation (whether done in house or by the client) to a writer. The literal translation also goes to subbing, where it is closely followed, with minor adjustments made because of timing issues.
This is where things get tricky. The client–not the dubbing company or the writer or the translator–sets out very precise guidelines for how they want the show to play for the North American audience. The client is the one with the rights, remember, so they’re the ones calling the shots. Although they’ll generally listen to minor concerns outlined by the post production company, they just want someone to give them what they want. If we were to say, “hey, your animation sucks”, or “the original Japanese story line is totally lame”, then guess what? They’d take their business elsewhere. Me and all the other people in post production are doing this for a living. Kids to feed, bills to pay, blah blah blah. So other than minor concerns or suggestions, we’re paid not to criticize the outcome, and we certainly don’t have much of a say in the final product. If we are offered to work on a show we think totally, totally sucks, then (assuming we have any integrity and a bit of money in the bank), we turn it down. Otherwise, we bite our collective tongues and give 'em what they want. It's the only way to survive in this business.
For the dubs, some clients want to follow the literal translation almost to the tee (with the understanding that minor changes must be made to fit the lip flaps). Other clients want a complete rewrite. They actually tell the writer, “throw the literal translation script out the window, and give us something completely new”. That's how you end up with "blood sugar level" type discrepancies with the original Japanese script. The client has asked for it. And, at many, many stages during post production, has approved it.
So, in short, I wanted to say that I take exception to your “lousy translator” theory.
With any show that’s been dubbed, there’s a good chance the dub has little to do with the literal translation–at the client’s request. Mostly though, I wanted to let you know how it is that some of these discrepancies with the dubs and originals come to be.
Now, back to my hopefully-not-too-lousy translation I must go.
Kathleen
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