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Best and worst foreign anime theme song you have heard?


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randomuser2349



Joined: 24 Dec 2011
Posts: 36
PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 8:46 pm Reply with quote
What are some of the worst foreign theme songs (as in outside of Japan) you have ever heard? By "foreign theme songs", I mean when a dub of an anime has an entirely new theme song instead of dubbing the Japanese theme or keeping it intact.

I'll give you some in my opinion.

BEST:
Sgt Frog Italian: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPeu2TVcMow
One Piece German: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq_x74RG68Y

WORST:
DBZ French: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ1NcxAZUYk
Naruto German: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8xoTBZrzko
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Tony K.
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 9:32 pm Reply with quote
Those aren't opinions. Opinions involve you actually saying something about each choice (the vocals/lyrics/whatever). Maybe you could put a sentence or two for each? Also, I'm moving this to the Music forum, 'cause you know, it's for music.
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EricJ



Joined: 03 Sep 2009
Posts: 876
PostPosted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 8:42 pm Reply with quote
Tony K. wrote:
Those aren't opinions. Opinions involve you actually saying something about each choice (the vocals/lyrics/whatever). Maybe you could put a sentence or two for each? Also, I'm moving this to the Music forum, 'cause you know, it's for music.


As for opinions, I like the "Menudo version" of Sgt. Frog, although that's with disclaimer that that's only being compared to its rather odd and random JP themes after Keroro March--The original must remain a classic.

And even though Japan may think of DBZ as the extension of a "cute kids' show", or give it the standard generic let's-go hero theme, I grew up on Cartoon Network, and believe DBZ US deserved speed-metal. Cool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdFy2lWc3lo
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Tony K.
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 10:41 pm Reply with quote
No argument with Rock the Dragon from me. I'm all against dubbing OP/ED themes, as I don't see the point in singing over another singer. Voice acting, I'm okay with, as the mouth flap thing opens up all kinds of possibilities for serious interpretations (pending on the actual story material) and whatnot. But being a lover of music and spending around 8 years in school choirs, it feels like a slap in the face to take a song and try to imitate it like some American Idol tryout. Not cool.

Oh, I guess I should also mention the instrumental version of Just Communication for Toonami's run of Gundam Wing. At that point, my anime exposure was limited [i]only/i] to what I saw on Toonami. I had no idea what actual Japanese music with lyrics sounded like, but the way they cut the animation together and the sound of the melody (and that electric guitar at the end) is pretty awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqEny2Ir_Sk
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randomuser2349



Joined: 24 Dec 2011
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 21, 2012 9:46 pm Reply with quote
Strange how nobody's commenting on the German Naruto opening. Usually people get so mortified.
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Nenorock



Joined: 08 Dec 2012
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 9:34 pm Reply with quote
Id say the shaman king opining was good when the fox box still aired on Saturday mornnings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qLl145FqQg&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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Crispy45



Joined: 23 Sep 2012
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 11:41 pm Reply with quote
Nenorock wrote:
Id say the shaman king opining was good when the fox box still aired on Saturday mornnings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qLl145FqQg&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Nooo x_x Oversoul is so much better and fits the show more. All of 4Kids stuff have terrible openings. Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Shaman King, One Piece, it's all terribad.

The only good foreign themes are those Spanish or Italian versions of Japanese themes they just dubbed. I wish we got those kinds of songs compared to the PokeRap or One Piece Rap >_> Everything has to be painful rap here for some reason. Or extreme rock like DBZ when Cha La fits the innocent series so much more.
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Ringking



Joined: 14 Sep 2009
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 2:47 am Reply with quote
Tony K wrote:
Oh, I guess I should also mention the instrumental version of Just Communication for Toonami's run of Gundam Wing. At that point, my anime exposure was limited [i]only/i] to what I saw on Toonami. I had no idea what actual Japanese music with lyrics sounded like, but the way they cut the animation together and the sound of the melody (and that electric guitar at the end) is pretty awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqEny2Ir_Sk


So, from this I take it that means that they ran Gundam Wing with no lyrics in the OP when it aired in the US?

That kinda strange. When they aired it here in Australia it ran with the original Japanese lyrics in the OP, which really puzzled me as a kid because I didn't realize it wasn't English, so every day I would listen to the OP really closely to try and figure out the lyrics lol.
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Tony K.
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 10:15 am Reply with quote
When they aired Wing here in the States it was on this afternoon programming block called "Toonami" on the channel "Cartoon Network." Really, it was the beginnings of televised anime on any channel in the States at the time. So I guess in order for it to transition it better with kids, what they'd do is introduce each show with some kind of promotional talking and highlights of the show and just skip the actual opening credits, then end it with some kind of edited sequence at the for the closing.

It wasn't until they actually moved Toonami to the evening block that they started showing full OP/ED credits with the Japanese songs.
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Ringking



Joined: 14 Sep 2009
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 4:15 am Reply with quote
Ah, that explains why the Youtube video has it as 'ED' rather than 'OP'.

Still, I guess our Toonami's were more different to each other than I thought, because we had Toonami for the afternoon programming block on Cartoon Network as well. As far as I can remember they always ran a OP and ED sequence for shows, though it was usually a dubbed one.

The only show I can think of that wasn't shown with an opening sequence were the Zoids show's (though if I recall correctly New Century did have an OP at one point, different from the JP one, which they stopped using in latter re-runs).

Might have something to do with difference in content though. I know alot of shows that ran on Toonami in the US ran on Adult Swim or just didn't run at all here. Maybe we just ended up with all the ones that had dub openings and Gundam Wing was just some weird exception.
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CrowLia



Joined: 24 Feb 2012
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Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 5:22 am Reply with quote
How come nobody's brought up the Spanish Saint Seiya opening. It's hilariously awful. Especially with the Spanish accent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuVZzEoSdcs

As for the best... I don't know, actually the Latino dubbed openings used to be pretty good. Except for the Yu-Gi-Oh one, which was really horrendous. Card Captor Sakura had a very neat Latino dubbed opening, so did Digimon (at least, all the seasons I watched). The Pokemon themes are also classics. And the Magic Knight Rayearth Latino dubbed is very well done. Heck, even Saint Seiya's Pegasus Fantasy had a very good Latino Dub, the guy who sang it had an amazing voice. He sang with a lot of passion, I love it.

Card Captor Sakura, first Opening Latino http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvXXlRmeHx8

Digimon Adventure, Opening Latino
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxX3M6MqYcQ
(holy skit hearing that one again actually made me teary in the eyes. It really is a damn good dub)

Collection of Saint Seiya Openings, Latino dubbed (+ that hilarious Spanish one)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaPi9fjz-kE
(I'm actually surprised to know there's a dubbed version for the Elysion OVA. Latin America sure loves its Saint Seiya)

Damn, writing this post has made me so nostalgic. I suddenly felt an urge to rewatch all those shows from my childhood. I feel like an old lady now
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EireformContinent



Joined: 30 May 2009
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Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land)
PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 5:53 am Reply with quote
This Saint Seyia spanish dub was based on French one, thus dubbed their songs.

IMHO all European versions of World's Masterpiece Theater songs beats the originals- special mentions go to Italian Trapp Family and Polish Moomins. Also nearly all Italian songs sung by Christina d'Avena give the positive vibes.
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CrowLia



Joined: 24 Feb 2012
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Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 2:47 pm Reply with quote
EireformContinent wrote:
This Saint Seyia spanish dub was based on French one, thus dubbed their songs.



Oh, I didn't know that. I live in Latin America, so the Spanish dub is pretty popular, and that opening for Saint Seiya is just classic. Haven't heard the French one, I guess I'll look it up
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Argentine



Joined: 16 Jan 2013
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 6:14 pm Reply with quote
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Tamaria



Joined: 21 Oct 2007
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Location: De Achterhoek
PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 9:11 am Reply with quote
Oh, German One Piece! That brings back memories. The lyrics are kind of corny, but it captured the spirit of the show pretty well.

As for truly awesome openings: the opening to Spice and Wolf in Russian.

The ending theme sounds a lot better in Russian, too. Partly because it gets rid of the Engrish, but also because I just love that voice. It's like it exists to sing anime theme songs Anime hyper

Or how about God Knows in Russian? Don't get me wrong, I don't speak a word of Russian, but it's absolutely perfect isn't it?

And back to the (German) nostalgia zone: Sailor Moon You can't get more Nineties than that.

Going even further back: the Dutch opening themes of Nathalie (Katri, Girl of the Meadows) and De Tovenaar van Oz. Oh, and De Familie Robinson of course! Those are all just so catchy.

As for horrible themes... Yeah, it doesn't get much worse than French/Spanish Saint Seiya. I made the mistake of clicking on that link and now it's stuck in my head, again. Last time it took the whole day to get rid of it...
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