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NEWS: Staff: Live-Action Gantz to Open in U.S. in January

No matter how much I'd like to see it, I'm not forking over money for a dubbed movie I will never understand why Americans overall (I've lived in cities that this is not the case) have such an aversion to reading subtitles - considering the literacy rate is reportedly high.

Well, you see some people have this thing where they can't see too well, if at all. And some people can't read well because of this thing called dyslexia. So subtitles don't do them any good. I can read subtitles and I agree live-action dubs aren't that great, but better than they used to be. However, my point is, there are people who have legitimate excuses. It's not simply laziness and stupidity. I wish people would remember that.

rinmackie wrote:

Well, you see some people have this thing where they can't see too well, if at all. And some people can't read well because of this thing called dyslexia. So subtitles don't do them any good. I can read subtitles and I agree live-action dubs aren't that great, but better than they used to be. However, my point is, there are people who have legitimate excuses. It's not simply laziness and stupidity. I wish people would remember that.

I'm not quite sure what the point of your comment was? Dyslexia and poor eyesight are unique to the United States?

I certainly took those factors into account when I made my comment. I have lived in countries around the world where films are shown in their original language and subtitled, this was the norm. For whatever reason or despite hindrances, people paid and sat there.

I suffer from poor eyesight myself and understand that it can be difficult to watch a subtitled program - it makes it terribly difficult to be dependent on hearing over seeing at times when others in the cinema (or room) aren't very considerate in keeping quiet

As for dyslexia, while there is still ongoing research and quite a bit of controversy over defining origins of the condition but as all aren't caused by neurobiological reasons, there's hope for many dyslexics to have a chance to learn to read their own and even foreign languages successfully.

Regardless, that still is no reason to offer consumers both options rather than subjecting us all to dubbing. Many of us enjoy watching a movie in its original context, despite any personal hurdles.

I got excited, then I got to the part about it being dubbed.

I wouldn't mind so much if it were animated, but I'm familiar with Nino's and Matsuyama's voices (being an Arashi fan and having seen a couple of Matsuyama's movies). It's going to be strange seeing their mouths move and hearing a different voice...

Against the Gantz dubbing? Why don't we say so!
E-MAIL/LETTER WRITING IN SUPPORT OF A SUBBED GANTZ IN THE AMERICAN THEATERS

Okay, I don't want to necessarily broach this as a campaign because honestly? It's probably too late, they've probably already started sinking money into the dubbing process and definitely already started advertising this as a dubbed film. However, everywhere I've gone, I've seen a lot of people with the same reaction "Ugh, dubbed? That's awful. I'm not even sure if I want to see it like that." So for the sake of future projects, I think we should say something now!

This film should really build on the fanbase already present in America (and all around the world!). We could be excitedly talking about bringing people to this movie, instead of even weighing if we really want to watch the movie like that ourselves. Why alienate the market you already have trying to appeal to people who might overlook foreign films anyway? Let's tell VIZ Pictures that dubbing is an outdated practice that doesn't work to their advantage in 2011!

There are addresses for both letters and e-mails. I'm not sure what's most effective but I think if more people just sent in a quick e-mail, the numbers might work to our advantage.

This should probably be the primary place to contact, as they are actually in charge of the dubbing process:
VIZ Pictures, Inc.
c/o NEW PEOPLE unit
1746 Post Street
San Francisco, CA 94115

AND E-MAIL:
[email protected]
(Taken from the contact page here.)

However this is the place distributing the movie in theaters so it's good to let them know you'd support a subbed film:
NCM Fathom
A division of National CineMedia
9110 East Nichols Ave, Suite 200
Centennial, CO 80112-3405

AND E-MAIL:
[email protected]
(Or just use this contact form here to send an e-mail.)

As in all letter writing, we want to come off well so be polite! Despite other concerns, we're lucky they are giving us both a chance to see the film and a live broadcast of Nino and Matsuyama Ken'ichi. I would suggest we show our thanks and appreciation for that! This really is a cool event, something I didn't even expect to happen, it's just this dubbing thing. I think the best bet is to be honest: for example, tell them if you wouldn't go because of the dubbing or just say if you're not excitedly spreading the word about it since it's dubbed. Maybe tell them why you don't think dubbing is to their advantage: mention the huge market for subbed anime in this country or that Nino is known in America because he was in an Oscar-nominated movie that just so happens to have been subbed. Your message doesn't have to be more than a paragraph.

Obviously, also feel free to ignore this post! This one-night dubbed event probably won't seem important enough to prompt letter writing for everyone and that's totally fair. However since I plan to turn my annoyance into a letter to VIZ, I thought I'd at least spread the addresses around. Happy Gantz watching, whenever you get a chance to see the film.

ETA: TICKETS NOW ON SALE. I haven't seen a list of all 300 theaters pop up yet but if you search for Gantz on movietickets.com and fandango.com, you can find some theaters (in fact both list different theaters) and buy tickets for it already! I think they are adding more as time goes on. It might help to know if you even can attend these screenings.