Forum - View topicSteven Foster and Le Chevalier D'Eon
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6900 Location: Kazune City |
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Well, I guess nothing proves you're "controversial" more than saturating an interview with "f*ck"
Actually, I think one of the more "controversial" parts of this interview is that an industry figure talked about fansubs without mentioning the words "illegal," "pirate," or "killing" and didn't fall into the fallacious reasoning of "because fansubbing is illegal, fansubs are half-fabricated hackjobs done by l33t IRC script kiddies who like to throw in swear-words for the heck of it."
Honestly, I haven't seen many of the "controversial" dubs like Orphen, Gawl, Hoshi no Koe, or Colorful, but I generally haven't hated his works. I watched Cromartie almost exclusively in English, and found that the comedy worked pretty well. Sure, there were some boring parts, but I can't imagine how the Japanese version would've been that much more exciting. I only saw a little bit of the SAK dub, but it sounded all right for what it was. The PaniPoni Dash! dub, which constitutes a majority of my exposure to the series thus far, has also proven satisfactory. Sayuuki's dub has been praised for taking liberties with the script to add comedy. In fact, I'd say that Foster is pretty much in his element with comedy, in disagreement with what AwO said. EDITED October 2007: After watching Generator Gawl and Orphen, I have to say that I liked the "Fosterization" effect. I watched them both in English with the subtitles on, and I found the heavily altered English dialogue far funnier and more interesting than the subtitle script -- the subtitles reflected the same kind of Japanese dialogue that could be found in a dozen other series. But the English version was always something fresh and unexpected, and imo for Gawl at least, it made the series more entertaining in general. I'll have to check out Sorcerer Hunters now. The dub for This Ugly yet Beautiful World, on the other hand, wasn't one of his or the ADV VA cadre's better efforts. If I were to criticize Steven Foster a bit, I'd tell him to break out the Basic Japanese book and extract some better pronunciations out of those actors. Perfection isn't necessary, but when dubs completely throw out the correct pronunciations in favor of "whatever they think sounds right," they lose points in my book. Last edited by Zalis116 on Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:38 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Steventheeunuch
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Im eatin' a subway sandwichhhh
Except that, from what I can see of Foster, it's sort of like a stupid mixture of throwing in the word 'fag' with 'dane cook'esque stuff. I mean comedy isn't something that can be universally appealing, some people will find some things that aren't funny. However, taking jokes and adding fag, inserting swearing, or simply rewriting massive chunks of dialouge for no reason at all is not exactly the height of wit. |
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vash462
Posts: 5 |
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i have to say that this was a very good interview. i like how, even though he is a director and its his job to make a good dubbing on so many works that are intended to sell and make a profit, he still has a reverence for classics like Eva and doesnt want to fudge them up. to me, that makes him O.K. in my book. i mean, I've always thought about what it would be like to direct something monumental like a Cowboy Bebop, but im so afraid to fudge up a classic that i dont know if i have the stones to even try something on that high of a level. still, this interview has caught my interest and i think now i might start tinkering with the idea of becoming a Dub director like mr foster. all in all, a view well done interview
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Sakura Shinguji
Posts: 197 |
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The problem with talking about Foster's controversial works is that, these days, the titles that people more readily associate with Foster are, as one would assume, his more recent works, and his more recent works (Cromartie High School, Gilgamesh, Le Chevalier d'Eon, etc.) are a significant improvement in terms of accuracy over earlier work done when he first started at ADV. This is attributable to one of the following, depending on the title: 1) Foster's adaptation scripts have become much more accurate, or 2) Foster has directed a number of dubs over the past few years for which someone completely different wrote the adaptation scripts. If people are complaining about the Cromartie script, then they're most likely allowing Foster's name and reputation to override some of their objectivity, and poor Kathleen Moynihan, the actual dub scripter/adapter, is taking more flak than she deserves (though it's worth noting that she's also in the business of taking liberties with adaptations, usually incidental dialogue, but occasionally an actual plot point unfortunately gets muddied or buried completely). Foster's early dubs are the ones to watch (or listen to, I guess) to see why he's earned the reputation he has. Again, I specify Sorcerer Hunters (specifically, the second half, as the first was worked on by Matt Greenfield, for better or worse), Generator Gawl, and the first Orphen series. People who hate Foster for something like Steel Angel Kurumi would most likely pop a brain vein if they gave Generator Gawl a listen, though hopefully it's just overreaction. Those three titles feature a wide range of dated pop culture references, out-of-place dialogue, and rewrites that exchange actual plot significance for extra comedy. The most frustrating, though, are rewritten parts that are rewritten for seemingly no purpose at all, and this is one reason why so many folks were so up in arms about Foster's work in the beginning; random unnecessary rewrites that weren't even done to add the usual Foster comedy just reinforced the perception that he didn't give a damn. When something completely innocuous like "it's cold out here" gets changed to "I wonder where we're going," then you can't help but wonder what the heck's going on. This is the main area in which I think the interview fails, since there's plenty of discussion about Foster's reputation, but none of it references any of the early dubs that actually earned him that reputation and maintain it to this day. People experiencing his work today are actually getting a pretty good deal for the most part, Ghost Stories aside. Foster, as I said in an earlier post, is actually a very skilled and competent director, and unfortunately gets very little credit for it since it's all overshadowed by the "evil rewriter" reputation. He's got a great sense of directing for proper cadence and inflection, which really shows in the comedic dubs he's directed because, among other things, it does a lot to make those dubs work in terms of transparency in performances since you need some thought behind spontaneity, especially if you're contrained by something like existing animation. |
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Renaisance Otaku
 Posts: 469 Location: Modesto, CA |
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So he's the reason that dub took such a foul turn? My sister and I were enjoying it quite a bit. I even think I like Brett Weaver a Carrot more than the original (a very rare instance). Then suddenly Gateau's voice changes to something that doesn't fit him in the slightest, and the dialogue becomes peppered constently with how he and Marron are both gay and secretly in love with one another. Even my sub hating sister couldn't stand it after a point, and she loves the show.
I will give him credit on the fansub comment though. |
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belligerent
 Posts: 49 Location: NC |
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I liked the Saiyuki dub; it's got more attitude than the subbed version, and it's funnier. That's the version I watched first because the people I watched it with didn't like having to read subtitles. Does it make me a terrible person or a shallow person that I wasn't interested in Le Chevalier d'Eon until I read they cast David Matranga in the lead role? Hot damn, I didn't think he worked for them anymore. I'll have to check this out now. |
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britannicamoore
 Posts: 2618 Location: Out. |
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No. In fact when i read that I too wanted to run out and buy the dvd I skipped Tuesday. For Matranga. And I enjoyed the English Saiyuki a lot more than the Japanese but when they lost the rights I couldn't watch it anymore. As for the interview: I enjoyed it. I never really knew this guy was so bad. I saw part of Orphen and enjoyed them a lot. I have yet to get the boxset though. I saw parts of Ghost Stories and I think he went in a good direction with that. If it had been the normal show it probably wouldn't have sold. |
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belligerent
Posts: 49 Location: NC |
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Yeah, I can't watch Geneon's dub. I don't mind the actors in it but only when they're in other shows. I just watch everything after the first series subtitled.
I watch Super Milk Chan. For Matranga. He is quite the thick-necked, gravelly-voiced stud. At risk of sounding like a scary fangirl. Though, Super Milk Chan is another show that got a wacky dub. Or two dubs, actually. Having seen both the "straight" version that ran on adult swim and the amped-up Americanized version, I'd have to say I preferred the latter. The original translation is pretty strange, but it's not as funny. I always thought it was strange that AS snagged that dub as opposed to the other one. Ah well! I also thought Cromartie was funny. |
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TheSkyNinja
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i got to school with his son, and he got me the 1st dvd of ghost stories and volumes 1-3 of cromartie high for my birthday. it was awsome.
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