Dub? - Monster (2004) Discussion

[–] andisamy 18 years ago

Why would you want it to be dubbed?

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[–] Efogoto 18 years ago

Because I don't understand Japanese and hate reading during an action flick. I love the manga, but found translations on the web to let me read it. I'm so addicted, I'm picking up the new English translations being released by Viz.

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[–] Draco2-0 18 years ago

It just bugs me that everyone is speaking japenese when it takes place in Germany and a majority of the characters are German.

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[–] highwind_od 18 years ago

So you'd prefer it dubbed.. one of the worst things that can happen to an Anime, just because you're not adjusted to reading subtitles? Dubs are evil, get used to how it's supposed to be in all it's Glory.

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[–] sensunaEQ 18 years ago

It is a matter of tastes. He is entitled to his opinion just as you are yours, so lay off the "Holier than thou" attitude.

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[–] 2Joy 18 years ago

I'd much rather that it be dubbed in German than in Japanese or English. It would make far more sense that way.

You Japanese-dub-only people crack me up. It's as if you think animated characters have a natural language.

*!sporfle!*

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[–] pan0889 18 years ago

some dubs nowadays are greater than the original
I guess that depends on your opinion
people prefer what they prefer
me, i watch whatever i can get my hands on subbed or dubbed

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[–] gamefaqsalt 18 years ago

It just bugs me that everyone is speaking japenese when it takes place in Germany and a majority of the characters are German.

Um... so why is it better for the Germans to be speaking English? That doesn't make any more sense than Japanese.

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[–] tetragrammatoncleric 17 years ago

"some dubs nowadays are greater than the original"

If you look at all major anime ever produced, there are a handful of dubs that surpass the original Japanese actors (Cowboy Bebop, Dragonball Z, and Ninja Scroll to name a few), Cowboy Bebop being the largest example. You know it's a good dub when Japanese people are importing the english dub subbed in Japanese.

But yeah, as a rule, with few exceptions, dubs castrate the delivery of the characters in anime.

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[–] Alyssa_2001_1982 17 years ago

I can't watch subed anime. I tried it with Naruto and YuYu Hakusho and missed half the stuff going on. Now I do enjoy those shows more than most and if I have no choice I will watch them subbed don't get me wrong, but the dubs to me are better and they make it easier for me becuase then I can pay attention to what is actually happening. Now I'm not saying one is better than the other. If you don't have a choice...and sometimes I don't stupid america...You take what you get and don't complain. I just would rather watch a show and understand what is going on without getting confused reading everything everyone is saying.

I am NOT a fangirl. This is how I always act.

Villans are cool...well sometimes.

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[–] effendi-1 18 years ago

All dubs should be destroyed, they bastardize the integrity of the original product. If you can't keep up with subtitles, don't watch anime.

"Blame is for God and small children." - Papillon

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[–] magibber 18 years ago

I prefer dubbed thank you. I would rather see the quality of the art of the show that I'm watching more than the original text (which for most of the newer dubs that I've seen don't change that much, they are trying more now) because I'm WATCHING a show. If I wanted to read, I'd pick up a book. And don't assume that I can't read very fast either. Because I read 800 page books (small font, close spacing) in less than a week, some cases in a 24 hour period, and can tell you every nuance of the story. When I'm watching a show, be it live action or animated, I want to watch it, not read it. See some of the new dubs before you post please. Even ANN has reported on the improved quality of dubs lately. I don't blame you for enjoying subs (or raw as the case may be) but don't blame us for enjoying our dubs.

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[–] people_7-1 18 years ago

However it greatly decreases the quality of the acting. So the only reason we get aggitaded by people who like Dubs is cause it's like someone is telling us "I like the anime allright, but I'd prefer if it was acted by a 3 year old kid and his mentaly handicapped sister". I can't imagine why anyone would sacrifice the emotion conveyed by the japanese actors, for the deadpan delivery of the english dubbers.

The dubs are deffinatly getting better. But I still don't see the point. Why bother putting all that work into when someone else allready did it? I find it odd when they get big actors to do the voices and then on the behind the scenes those actors seem to think they have been a part of the anime when really they just talked over someone elses delivery.

I personaly prefer the art better with Subs, probably cause with subs I'm not cringing in horror at the english actors.

*gets on his high horse and rides into the sunset*

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[–] 2Joy 17 years ago

I agree. Some of the new dubs are excellent. Some of them are just plain awful. It's a good thing that we have both available, no, magibber?

It's not laziness. I watched GITS in both dub and sub and enjoyed it both ways. The dub cast for that show is excellent (with a couple of exceptions), as I am sure that Monster will be if it is ever released in the US.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] disfiguredone 18 years ago

Not anythime soon. The manga was picked up though.

And not all dubs are bad.

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[–] Mcsweeney 18 years ago

It's not really a big problem in this show. I can understand wanting a dub when there's stuff flying all over the place and you want to see what's going on, but in Monster, usually when dialogue is being spoken the characters are just sitting in a chair or walking down a hallway anyway.

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[–] jmusvosvi 17 years ago

dub is the wat forward, down with subs!!!

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[–] Voice-of-Discernment 17 years ago

Will everyone please stop saying that dubs are evil or stupid or whatever?!? and would the others stop saying hat subs are not good?!? Tastes are not to be discussed - some people like it subbed, others like it dubbed. What's it to you if a dubbed version comes out or not if you don't like them?!? Nobody's forcing you to watch it.

Never sight for a better world:
It's already composed, played and told...

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[–] Gravesofthetrust 17 years ago

I read somewhere that Monster isn't being picked up for an American release because of the absolutely poor sales that Master Keaton (another anime by Naoki Urasawa) received. Though I really do think it'll be released eventually. And most likely by Viz. Maybe if the Monster movie does well the series will see a US release.

"The hardest thing in this world to keep is your faith in humanity..."

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[–] mythical-1 17 years ago

I'm mixed opinion on dubs, I grew up watching some anime with dubs like outlaw star or pokemon, etc. Watching those again, the voices sound annoying and make the show sound "kiddie-ish"

There are a few shows that had pretty decent dubs, I watched planetes before it got licensed in the US so I was forced to watch it in "fansub", while I grew used to the original voices, it was difficult to keep up with some of the action and found my self pausing or rewinding alot. When it finally got released in the US, I watched it in dub format and I was kind of annoyed with the voices though they sounded similar to the Japanese counterparts except for a few of the minor characters and one of the major characters (yuri) sounded weird with no accent. I switched to Japanese and watched with subs but the way the subs were made it annoying and I couldn't keep up with the action. The nice thing about the dubs is I was able to pay attention to a lot of details I wasn't able to with subs.

Zipang is another series I watched before it was licensed, this one I was much more mixed opinion, I thought the subs were good and made it feel authentic since the entire series takes place during world war II in Japan. I bought the dvd's and the dubs were horrible. It sounded like they hired some rednecks to do the voices and the main character sounds like a serial killer, the voices just don't fit at all. I much prefer this series with subs despite it being difficult to read on dvd compared to the fansubs.

Either way, I don't think dubs are necessarily a bad thing, it's about hiring good voice actors that can fit the role. I think a lot of companys cut costs by outsourcing crappy voice actors and ends up ruining the series. I can watch some anime with dubs and others it just drives me nuts, golden boy was hilarious with english dubs moreso than the Japanese.

I can see where dubs would sound stupid with something like movies and live action, but with animation, it is slightly different. I remember watching training day with different dubs and I was thinking "holy crap, they butchered this!"

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[–] ChineseRiverCrab 16 years ago

Dubs dont have to be awful, but most of them are. They overreact their lines, which are often crappy to begin with. This is primarily where all the negativity is coming from. It's not a difference of taste, it's the total lack of appreciation on one party to recognize quality voice acting. Japanese voice actors usually understand the characters they are dubbing, English dubbers feel like they just drop in to read their lines off a piece of paper, they can't even pronounce half the words in there.

So no there's nothing wrong with dubs, but since most dubs are awful it's easy to think less of dub watchers when there are perfectly translated subtitled versions around.

Animation I made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-zjxeWKmzY

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[–] jerry4444 15 years ago

interesting discussion. i think it's all boiled diown to what you're used to. if you were not exposed to one or the other, you'd prefer what's usual or seems normal to you. it might take some time to get used to though.

i used to watch desperate housewives & lost dubbed in german (i had no cable tv ;p ) and when i first watched the series in their original language, it felt/they sound, well, so american.

i think that's the case for those who are used to dubbed version of animes.

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[–] aaakpolo 15 years ago

I've watched both subs and dubs. However, I prefer dubbed. Not only do I like to watch and read simultaneously, I enjoy hearing some of the very quotable lines anime has to offer (that is something dubs do better imo, is make the dialogue more poetic).

I think people need to take into consideration that film/television can never be a flawlessly expressed medium; it is a business and there are multiple people doing different jobs - and they have to find voice actors that are available as well as try to fit voice to characters, in Japanese and in English. Japanese have had more experience in doing so, so they usually get it right, or at least tolerable. However English dubbing has made vast improvements.

Imo, GITS, Bebop, Ergo Proxy, Madlax and some others all have excellent dubs that surpass (at least to me) their Japanese counterparts. Fullmetal Alchemist was almost intolerable dubbed. I had to watch 40 eps. subbed. A lot of pausing and rewinding but no cringing. For anime movies I usually watched subbed, mainly because dub is not out yet, tolerable length to read/watch/rewind, and intolerable to watch a movie w/ bad voice acting.

If it's a series I really like to get into, I want to watch it dubbed - again because I like replaying the lines in my head - and I want to take it all in.

It is a matter of tastes. And Japanese delivery works for people who like it, because if we're being honest, I've watched Japanese live action movies and seen Japanese people on TV - they don't sound like they do in anime - I find anime's wise adult male and little girl protagonist voices annoying.

Sorry never been good at editing.

Edit - I've been watching Monster Dub and it is really good - haven't watched enough to say excellent.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] jbhutt0 14 years ago

Subs vs Dubs is a matter of taste, if you prefer dubs it generally means you've got bad taste.

They really managed to botch Detective Runge's voice in this. He's got the same deadpan delivery that I've noticed a lot of the really minor characters have.

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[–] Zanza8 12 years ago

Will everyone please stop saying that dubs are evil or stupid or whatever?!? and would the others stop saying hat subs are not good?!? Tastes are not to be discussed - some people like it subbed, others like it dubbed. What's it to you if a dubbed version comes out or not if you don't like them?!? Nobody's forcing you to watch it.

Really good post. I like subtitles with live-action, and dubs with anime. Most of the newer anime, like Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Rurouni Kenshin, and Trigun, have excellent casts.

http://thinkingoutloud-descartes.blogspot.com/

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[–] maiira 14 years ago

Just to comment on the whole sub vs. dub thing (I know it's been done to death, but bear with me) is that for me, it has very little to do with what language it's in. Yes, I'm probably missing some language nuances by watching it in English, but I'd still be missing them watching it in Japanese, too. After all, I don't know Japanese, so I'd still be relying on English, and no translation can completely capture what the characters are saying.

What matters, to me, is whether or not that particular voice actor seems suited to the role. And, by and large, it's usually the original actor that's best. There is a reason these people were picked, after all. Now, that's not to say that there aren't exceptions (Cowboy Bebop being one of the most notable), but in general, the original actor has made the role their own, and anyone who's dubbing it in another language has to try and capture that--which is VERY difficult. Anyone who's dubbing One Piece, for example, is at a disadvantage right off the bat, because the Japanese cast (particularly the woman who voices Luffy) is very, very talented, and they absolutely nail their roles.

It works the same way with Western animation, too. For instance, Robin Williams played the genie in Aladdin. You are NOT going to find another Robin Williams, in any language, because he is quite literally one of a kind.

Ahh, kamisama! watashi no atama ni ono ga arimasu!

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[–] 14 years ago

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