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Hey, Answerman! [2006-09-29]

I totally hated Ahiru being called Duck in PT.

I don't see why fans can't complain about this stuff. Hell, Viz is just unnecessarially making changes that could have easily been the same and had more focus on other parts of the dub. I mean, there was absolutely no reason to change this stuff outside of "Americanization." (The name thing IS nothing more than Americanization. As far as I know, none of my friends call me by my last name ever.)

The point of that one was because it followed a theme, had consistency, and would have made sense. I don't understand their reasoning, if any, behind changing shinigami to 'soul reaper' and yet leaving 'zanpakutou' the same. Anyone have any idea at all whatsoever?

The point of that one was because it followed a theme, had consistency, and would have made sense. I don't understand their reasoning, if any, behind changing shinigami to 'soul reaper' and yet leaving 'zanpakutou' the same. Anyone have any idea at all whatsoever?

But is "Americanization" really a bad thing for a dub? I mean, painting over Japanese food they're eating and replacing it with a pizza, yes, that is bad. So is needless changes to the dialogue. But changing the use of names to better convey to an American audience the relationship seems fine to me. (If someone called me by my last name here, I'd probably think they were mad with me!) For subs and manga I prefer these not to be changed, though, since you can explain them--but for a dub, particularly one being shown on TV, if they have to change it to keep people watching from being confused, it's not a problem.

It's been explained a million times before. Kubo, the creator of Bleach, wanted it to be Soul Reaper in the Englsih translation. They probably would have used shinigami if the creator hadn't wished otherwise. Soul Society has always been Soul Society so there was no reason to change that. Viz's manga translation has always used zanpakuto. I don't know where these inconsistancies you mention come from. I haven't seen Soul Slayer mentioned once in all the 14 volumes I've bought. I saw Ghost Cutter in the first volume but that was after zanpakuto was used in the same sentence.

Granted, the dub has added in some more Japanese terms, like changing binding spell back to kido.

I guess for the Bleach anime, Viz's reasoning would be so that the 13 year old teenyboppers can watch it and have it dumbed down for them. Then this becomes once again Viz believing their audience is a bunch of uneducated morons. Kudos for Viz for thinking so highly of the American public.

I mean the name thing, seriously, there is no point. D:

I've never heard the explanation before, but even then it would still confuse me. I have every issue of Shonen Jump and they HAVE used 'shinigami' in reference to Bleach as latest as October's issue, page 6. They have the title as "A Shinigami is Born!" and in the description they say "shinigami (soul reaper)". Why not just consistently have it say 'soul reaper' and in parenthesis 'shinigami'? I don't know.

The soul slayer thing came from Lunar's fansubs. I mentioned it because it would be a theme that made sense to use 'soul' as the first word (obviously, it could have been 'soul slayer' or 'soul sword' 'soul cutter', etc etc). Why would they change 'binding spell' to 'kido'? It just seems more random then anything else.

Bleach definitely has a good dub. These are just some things that I have seen Viz do that irk me. A lot.

I mean the name thing, seriously, there is no point. D:

Bleachtards? Hold on, I got to say that again: Bleachtards. No, I don't like it.

I humbly request that a new term be coined and suggest it has to do with the drinking of bleach. Maybe I am being harsh but honestly I have no opinion on Bleach, just the term, the term has got to go.

FlamingPinecone wrote:

Bleachtards? Hold on, I got to say that again: Bleachtards. No, I don't like it. I humbly request that a new term be coined and suggest it has to do with the drinking of bleach. Maybe I am being harsh but honestly I have no opinion on Bleach, just the term, the term has got to go.

I agree--Bleachtards doesn't roll off the tongue very well. Personally, I've always been partial to the term Bleachers, but that's just me~

"Bleachtards" isn't designed to roll off the tongue, it's designed to mimic (perhaps half-seriously, half-mockingly) the term "Narutards". Changing it would dumb down its meaning somewhat.

The real derogatory name problem will arise if there are suddenly legions of Narutaru fans. I've been pondering this problem for a couple weeks and have yet to arrive to an acceptable solution.

Bleach is entertainment - it's an action cartoon, and it's designed to just be enjoyed. The VAST majority of the audience for the Adult Swim airing of the series are casual anime fans or just people who are flipping channels rather than super-hardcore fans who have already seen it all anyway. Viz has a vested interest in making the show entertaining and understandable by the casual audience, who, you know, want to watch the show and have a good time, not sit through a Japanese culture lesson.

In short, sir, is it right for primary concern always to be given to the lowest common denominator?

Steroid wrote:

In short, sir, is it right for primary concern always to be given to the lowest common denominator?

Ever heard of "wooden bucket theory"? You know, wooden buckets are made with long wooden plates surrounded with at least two girdles. The capacity of the final bucket is not determined by the longest plate, nor the average length of plates, but the shortest plate.