Forum - View topic

Hey, Answerman! - Japanese & Legalese

I had typed a "What I'm Thankful For" response but as I scroll down in the topic review section it seems like this has turned in a Fansubs vs Pro Translator battle between a handful of people. Great job on taking the thread ridiculously off-topic guys.

TitanXL wrote:

Being Japanese is more than just a setting; it's also writing, characters, dialog, and execution.

Rather than just "generally japanese" I think these things are much more defined by the individual effort of a certain writer and to a degree the team surrounding that particular series.

PingSoni wrote:

, I'd prefer to watch this anime with no subtitles, but that is not an option. (Is there some licensing reason why having the Japanese voice track without subtitles is rarely an option?)

Its typically a requirement by the original Japanese companies to avoid reverse importing.

You haven't tried using your player to turn of the subtitles.

In regards to localization problems, the worst experience I have had is the Viz release of the Honey and Clover anime. The subtitles use first names when the Japanese voice track is using family names, and even sometimes gets the names totally wrong. This makes the anime almost unwatchable for me. (I read the manga first, in the late and sorely missed Shojo Beat magazine.)

Because I know the story so well, and have some knowledge of Japanese, I'd prefer to watch this anime with no subtitles, but that is not an option. (Is there some licensing reason why having the Japanese voice track without subtitles is rarely an option?)

Bleach, Naruto, and Dragon Ball have one thing that is universally appealing: fighting! That's why they are popular, not because they're Japanese.And yes, they do have some good storytelling but i don't think that's distinctively Japanese. I have a degree in Asian Studies and have actually been to Japan, so I can spot the "Japaneseness" in anime. But husband does not have this kind of education but he likes Bleach, whereas I initially didn't care too much for it. I'm sure such is the case for many fans of popular anime; it's not so much the Japanese aspects of anime, but the fact that the shows have something that appeals to them that everyone can comprehend. Anyway, the amount of "Japanese" in an anime is not what makes it good or appealing.

Professional subs? You mean like the official, professional, paid for, Hulu subtitles for Digimon?



Just because they're professional doesn't make them good. It just makes them 'official', which doesn't correlate to quality in any way.

rinmackie wrote:

Bleach, Naruto, and Dragon Ball have one thing that is universally appealing: fighting! That's why they are popular, not because they're Japanese.And yes, they do have some good storytelling but i don't think that's distinctively Japanese. I have a degree in Asian Studies and have actually been to Japan, so I can spot the "Japaneseness" in anime. But husband does not have this kind of education but he likes Bleach, whereas I initially didn't care too much for it. I'm sure such is the case for many fans of popular anime; it's not so much the Japanese aspects of anime, but the fact that the shows have something that appeals to them that everyone can comprehend. Anyway, the amount of "Japanese" in an anime is not what makes it good or appealing.

Fighting can't be the only reason why those shows are popular. Majority of anime feature fighting and yet few become as popular. There are also the shounen elements and tropes that fuel these series that somehow appeal to mainstream audience. I think these are what they meant as "japanese" because only Japanese would typically use them.

The same goes for the English to Japanese translation. You're going to complain about that too? Don't tell me the Japanese infamous mistranslation of "Remember, no Russian" to "Kill them, the Russian" in Modern Warfare 2 get a free pass from you. There will be mistranslation and mishap on any localization, it goes both way. There's no exception, the same applies to translating to Japanese language.

Regrading anime being too Japanese and having "universal appeal", does it really matter. I do think IMO, anime that are too Japanese can maybe be appealing to foreign audiences because of it's exoticness. I will agree there are anime that are too Japanese that foreign audience may not understand like if Shin-Chan was release in subtitle instead of a spoof dub, it'll turn off some people in US because of too many references to Japanese pop culture that American anime fans may not be familiar with.

casualfan wrote:

rinmackie wrote: Bleach, Naruto, and Dragon Ball have one thing that is universally appealing: fighting! That's why they are popular, not because they're Japanese.And yes, they do have some good storytelling but i don't think that's distinctively Japanese. I have a degree in Asian Studies and have actually been to Japan, so I can spot the "Japaneseness" in anime. But husband does not have this kind of education but he likes Bleach, whereas I initially didn't care too much for it. I'm sure such is the case for many fans of popular anime; it's not so much the Japanese aspects of anime, but the fact that the shows have something that appeals to them that everyone can comprehend. Anyway, the amount of "Japanese" in an anime is not what makes it good or appealing. Fighting can't be the only reason why those shows are popular. Majority of anime feature fighting and yet few become as popular. There are also the shounen elements and tropes that fuel these series that somehow appeal to mainstream audience. I think these are what they meant as "japanese" because only Japanese would typically use them.

I guess the Japanese are the only ones able to approach that level of storytelling style. Just compare One Piece to Avatar. You can easily spot Avatar as the poorman's imitation of a shonen anime. Most people aren't dumb, they can tell when its actually the real deal and when it's just a fake.

The fact that there are people who are as willfully ignorant as you are makes me sad.