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Anime Localization

I just want to know why "dub only" fans consist a large proportion of US anime fandom while are almost nonexistent in East Asia anime fandom.

I think it is because East Asia (and also Europe) consists of a lot of smaller countries compared to North America, which consists of only two English speaking countries.

Well, my take on the 'dub-only fanbase' in the States, is that the US, along with 'heavy dubbing' European countries like Germany, Italy and France, are use'd to having lingually homogenus media. Meaning that most shows on tv have been served to the viewers in their own language from a very early age.

In my country, Norway, only shows for children are dubbed.
All other shows that are not allready in the native tongue are subtitled. That means that Norwegians are acustomed to not only reading subtitles, but also listening to "strange" foreign languages that they don't fully understand.

Now, Americans, or maybe native english speakers in general, maybe get frustrated by having to suddenly read to get what's going on. A nice, understandable dub in ones native language is probably a welcome alternative.
If this is true, it is only natural that the 'hardcore' is in minority.

I don't have numbers to back this up, but im willing to bet that the opposite is true in Norway, and most countries where subbing is more common on TV.

The same theory mentioned above would apply to the 'heavy dubbing' countries.

Then again, i could be WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!

unfortunately, we all remember some of the awful dubbing done to fit American TV....Evangelion was just too damm awful...none of the voice matched anywhere near the character they portrayed....and voice "actors" all sounded like they're 8 year old kids....

Actually, I wouldn't be so quick to jump to the conclusion that the anime referenced in the first post is Ghost Stories. I'm pretty sure Chris meant for the comment to apply generally (especially since he started writing the article long before the GS incident).

smutchi wrote:

I think it is because East Asia (and also Europe) consists of a lot of smaller countries compared to North America, which consists of only two English speaking countries.

Wow... Way to delete a full French province in there. Canada has 6-7 million people in one province speaking French... and not all Quebecers understand English to boot.

Well, the thing is with the 4kids DVDs, they were not marketed well and all the clamoring fans who requested the DVDs never bought the things either. This may be a taboo statement, but truthfully most fans of 4Kids shows would rather download a fansub than support the "evil" 4Kids company.

Let's look at Initial D specifically; Tokyopop saw a growing North American drifting / import tuner market and realized that Initial D could appeal to them. A look at Initial D's sales numbers shows a certain amount of success in this market, frankly, Initial D is selling more copies than it ever would have if it were sold only to anime fans. David Williams believes strongly that it would not have sold as many copies had it not been “tricked out”.

These tricked out releases that are targeted to mainstream audiences also offer the industry, and indirectly fans, another benefit. They act as "gateway titles," titles that introduce new fans to anime. This obviously benefits the industry because it increases potential sales of new series. This, in turn, benefits other fans, because as the market grows, it becomes steadily more possible to bring a greater array of new titles out sooner.

Ultimately, what most fans want, in terms of localization, is a nearly literal dub and an even closer to literal subtitle track. Some adaptation of sentence structure and what not is required to make the translations work, but no meaning or innuendo should be added, removed or altered.

It was the humble opinion of all the panelists, myself included, that if fans get a "fan-friendly" release they really shouldn't complain about what companies chose to do with the other versions that they may chose to release on TV or a second DVD release. We stated for example that fans of Initial D have no reason to complain about Tokyopop's "tricked out" release, because Tokyopop also released a subtitled version of the show with a literal translation, the original music and no edits or cuts.

Unfortunately this conclusion of ours fell apart rather quickly when we were reminded that some anime fans prefer dubs to subs. In fact, while a preference for subtitles was once the defining mark of a "true anime fan," there are now more anime fans that prefer English dubs. Like their subtitle loving brethren, these purists demand a literal adaptation with no changes, the only difference is that they want dubbed it in English, not subtitled.

These fans, who now make up that majority of the anime enthusiast market, are the ones who are cheated when companies release "tricked out dubs" combined with true-to-the-original subs. Like any other aspect of a release, and in fact any other topic at all, understanding the issue is required to effectively lobby for change.

I don't feel that anyone should "shut up and be happy with whatever they get," but knowing when and how to complain, and accepting a few compromises, will get anime fans more of what they want.

In a perfect world, every anime and manga would be released with perfect translations, and there would be no need for tricked out releases because the North American mainstream audience would only want faithful adaptations. Unfortunately the world isn't perfect, so we have to accept that sometimes companies will have to decide between us and the mainstream market. And given the choice between selling a couple thousand and tens of thousands of copies, what would you chose ?

Like I said, you don't have to quietly accept every tricked out adaptation, but pick your battles wisely. And for the love of god, don't complain about a title that you weren't going to buy anyways, it's as bad as supporting the movement to get a particular title licensed and then not buying it when it is licensed. In the long run, it kills the credibility of anime fans in general, and makes companies less likely to listen to our requests.

Gakkou no Kaidan/Ghost Stories?

unfortunately, we all remember some of the awful dubbing done to fit American TV....Evangelion was just too damm awful...none of the voice matched anywhere near the character they portrayed....and voice "actors" all sounded like they're 8 year old kids....