Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Do Some Voice Actors Like Not Knowing About Their Roles?
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HdE
Posts: 50 |
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This article reminds me - a few years back, at a non-anime convention, I was fortunate enough to arrange a it down interview with Steve Blum. I was sadly unable to secure permission to publish the interview (Steve's a deservedly busy guy - I think he started working on Star Wars: Rebels immediately after flying home from that convention) but the insights he offered were really something.
I already knew a bit about how voice acting worked beforehand. But listening to Steve talk about the reality of what's involved in recording, and how he approached anime roles sometimes with no information about his characters or the shows he was working on, not to mention the pain that comes with screaming into a microphone over repeated takes, it was hard not to be impressed. It's a much more technical venture than a lot of people give credit for, I think. Say what you will about dubs and any given voice actor. Believe me - I'm no starry eyed fanboy when it comes to these people. But there are guys and gals in that industry who are most certainly giving their all, sometimes under less than ideal circumstances. And sometimes with less prep time than a stage or screen actor would be comfortable with. What they do is actually pretty gnarly! It's actually kind of been impressed on me since being able to chat with Steve that going into a show with advance knowledge of their character and storyline is sometimes the height of luxury for a voice actor. Kind of makes it more impressive to me that folks are able to do it at all! |
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levonr
 Posts: 812 |
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Speaking of Steve Blum he doesn't really ever watch the anime he is in, before or after. He didn't completely watch Cowboy Bebop until recently. A huge highly acclaimed role and he barely watched the show for many years. I don't care, he did an outstanding job.
Well English actors also often also do non-anime voice work like radio ads, audio books, video games, etc. Expect they have other options as well since they usually aren't just voice actors. While many Japanese will train only to do voice acting and then be stuck only doing that. Many have to look elsewhere besides just anime voice acting. http://anime.mmgn.com/Articles/Seiyuu-Spotlight-The-truth-about-seiyuu |
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rinkwolf10
Posts: 750 |
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Just so you know, funimation has done several surveys of it's costumers and over 60% (if I remember correctly) stated that they wouldn't have bought the a show if it didn't have a dub. That is why almost all other their catalog (with the exception of 3 titles) are dubbed. Also, you seem to not realize that the casual fans far out weigh the dedicated fans. And as it's already been stated here before, most causal fans prefer watching anime dubbed. That in of itself puts you in the minority and makes most of your claims invalid. Also, of course a show gets the majority of it's attention during it's japanese broadcast. But, that doesn't speak to the English speaking fans preference. Moreover, there are such things as Broadcast dubs now and since they are much more expensive to make and release on time, I presume they need more views then the sub to continue being made. Seeing as they are, it stand to reason that they are more popular then the sub simulcast. If what you say is true and most english speaking fans don't care about dubs and only watch subbed, then Funimation should have fallen flat on it's face by now with broadcast dubs. Yet, they are still being made. Explain why that is. |
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HdE
Posts: 50 |
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The impression I got from chatting with him is more that he tries to watch everything he can - he's just so busy that he has a hard time keeping up. If it's any indicator, I remember mentioning his supporting role in Last Exile, and he was a little hazy on the details of the show, but remembered it had great visuals. Then I mentioned Leeron from Gurren Lagann and he broke out into the dirtiest laugh! He had load to ay about that role (and clearly had lots of fun with it) - so, yeah, Id say he's engaged with what he's doing. The job doesn't seem to afford much opportunity to watch everything, is all. |
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SouthPacific
Posts: 689 |
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Well considering, as stated before, Funimation's niche being dubbing it wouldn't be odd if many of their customers want dubs. Though I sincerely doubt it's that many and i'll explain why below.
As i've written several times now anime titles recieves the overwhelming amount if its time in the spotlight during the initial Japanese airing. This is the strongest evidence that point towards the notion that most people watch anime subtitled. If it was the other way around you'd expect large discussion threads and all that jazz once the dub was released. And you'd also think that shows wouldn't really get big until the dub was made available, which again isn't the case. One really good example of this is Attack on Titan which got huge outside of Japan and in the US. Did it become popular during the airing or once the dub was released? If you chose the first option you're indeed correct. AoT got big and quickly too, reaching quite many outside the regular anime community, and that was without a dub.
No it doesn't, let me quickly explain what Funimation's goal is with anime licenses; between the simulcasts (both dub and sub) and eventually the disc release they want to break even or profit. And considering that Funimation do their dubs in-house they save a lot of money. There's nothing that indicates that their dub streams get more views than their subs. Another point to consider is that Funimation wants to rival CR in the streaming market, and broadcast dubs is certainly an attempt at this, as it's a unique concept and strengthens Funimation's position on the dubbing niche matter. Will this help them outgrow CR? If what you say is the reality of things then this should be the case, but if you ask me that's just not happening. If that 60% number really is fact then you'd think A LOT more titles, from companies other than Funimation that is, would get dubs. A couple of years back pretty much everything got dubbed, and look at how things are now. I'm not saying that dubbing isn't profitable, but it would not surprise me in the least if there has been many cases where it'd be more worthwhile to release a show without a dub. |
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 9854 Location: Virginia |
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@leafy sea dragon
If there are no additional episodes of a show available, Hulu with set up a different series to watch. I've never actually seen anime on regular TV. Just streaming and disks. My link to Crunchyroll is to their "Updated" page. They list everything recently added including older series often added complete and the short series not discussed here much. They also list series alphabetically, by genre and by season. You can find some really different stuff just clicking on something that looks interesting. Funimation's site is "difficult". You can find odd older shows but you have to work at it. @SouthPacific There are simply a lot of people out there who will not buy anime on DVD or Blu-ray if it is not dubbed. Adding a dub will increase the size of the market for a show. However, if the market is small, the increase is not enough to cover the cost of the dub. This is why a lot of the more marginal titles released here are sub only. Even Funimation has issued a few sub only titles. The purpose of the Funimation simuldubs is to try to increase the viewership for its streaming site by picking up people who will not watch subtitled shows. Sentai has on several occasions gone back and dubbed a show previously issued sub only. This is apparently in part because it increases the chances for sub licensing it to other markets and in part because the show sold better than expected and may pick up additional sales dubbed. Both Sentai and Funimation have been in business long enough to have a good idea of what will sell well dubbed and what subbed only. If they didn't think dubbing would pay for its self they wouldn't do it. I understand what you are saying about the buzz for a show being limited to the initial release. However, not everyone who is a fan of anime is active online. People who watch with their friends or in clubs likely do all their discussion when they see the show, not when it comes out. Tempest has said that only a small portion of the people who view ANN ever participate in any manner. |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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I think statistics do show that dubs are the larger market, BUT let me play devils advocate. Let's say for 90% of the titles, the market for a sub is equal or a bit larger than the market for a dub. In other words, if I go sub only, I sell 2000 units, if I go sub+dub I sell 4000 units. Suppose the cost of the dub is covered by 2000 units, that means I'm not gaining any profit by making a dub, the income is the same as if I'd gone sub only. BUT, if the release is a surprise hit, if the dub catches on with the mass market, (if it's one of those "10%" (made up number)) then I can suddenly sell 10,000, or more. THAT is why you make a dub, even if MOST of the fans in the niche favor the sub (I don't know that's true, but I think evidence shows most in the niche (now) will ACCEPT a sub-only even if they'd PREFER otherwise). If you can at least "break even" on the dub, then its worth doing just in case you find the "surprise hit". As long as you're not consistently losing money, it's worth the risk most times. |
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Adamanto
Posts: 146 |
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Adding to what SouthPacific says... "Casual fans" do not buy expensive DVD box sets of series they have never seen, then go home and watch the DVD-exclusive dub as their first exposure to the series. That's hardcore "I've heard about this show and know for sure I'm going to like it and want to own it based on these factors" fan behavior. What casual fans actually do is stream shows, which doesn't cost them anything beyond maybe a subscription they're already paying for anyway. This lets them check out things that might look interesting without paying big money in advance. And those streams are subbed.
In other words, the casual fan watches subs and most likely won't even know there is a dub, because that dub is hidden away on a DVD box meant for the hardcore fans of that particular show. |
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Touma
 Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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@Adamanto,
You really cannot draw a line between casual fans and hardcore fans. Fandom is a wide spectrum with no clear boundaries. Other than pointing that out I am not going to say much because this is just the umpteenth iteration of the sub vs dub debate, and it is just as pointless as all of the others. I like dubs and I am glad that we have them. Anime is much more enjoyable to me with dubs than without. I see no reason to argue about which is better. Those of us who prefer dubs can watch them. Those of you who do not like them can watch the show subtitled. Really, what is there to argue about? I do believe that this is the first time that I have heard anybody say that dubs are made for hardcore fans. |
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stilldemented
 Posts: 232 |
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Here's what I will say.
Knowing everything there is to know about a role doesn't necessarily enhance a performance. In fact, I've heard that more often than not it takes away from it because the actors get too hung up on the little nuances that they forget to play the action. The truth of the matter is that you don't really need to know anything about a role before walking onto set. You just play the action happening within the moment and work your way forward. As long as the director cares about the show, he'll make sure to keep the actor on point. The actors doesn't necessarily need to be personally invested in a show in order to play the character action. Most trained actors can switch between emotions on cue and with precision accuracy for whatever is required of them. In regards to anti-dub sentiments, people that consider themselves anti-dub will always find something to fault in a performance. We as human beings place high value in our beliefs. We tend to remember the things that prove/enhance our beliefs while ignoring/disregarding the things that go against our beliefs. It's human nature. Long story short, if someone considers themselves anti-dub, then they will go into a dub to find validation that dubs suck unconsciously. Pro-dub people will go into a show to find validation that the dub is better. It just is what it is. There's nothing good or bad about it. People have their preferences and seek to validate them. Getting back on point, there are a lot of reasons that an actor would go into a booth without knowing anything about a role. A lot of times with anime, actors will audition for one character and then learn that they've booked a role and not know what character they are playing until they come in to record lines. They don't necessarily audition for every individual character on a show, after all. Time is money and all that jazz. |
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Adamanto
Posts: 146 |
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That's true. But I don't think differentiating between "people that just watch a show on TV/Hulu/Netflix/etc" and "people that buy that show on DVD" is illogical craziness. I was also not the person to initially bring up those terms. But alright, here's my point with no such terminology added: *Most people watch TV shows they want to watch on TV or through streams, they don't buy them on DVD. *Most people that buy TV shows on DVD have already seen them and decided they liked them so much they wanted to buy them *As such, a rather small amount of a show's viewers watch it in a way that's only available on DVD, and out of those that do, an even smaller amount of people watched it in that DVD-exclusive manner the first time they saw the show. Considering dubs are, for most series, made for the DVD release, the people that primarily watch dubs are for the most part the people that purchase large amounts of anime on DVD and know their own interests, whereas Joe Average Who Occasionally Watches Some Anime On Hulu Or CR primarily watches subs because that's what's available. |
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lavmintrose
Posts: 90 |
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Sort of a topic from a few pages back, but I just wanted to say:
The issue of Japanese voice actors doing things like recording singles, drama CDs, etc., has less to do with the respect for those actors and a lot more to do with the amount of anime things that get sold in Japan. If you watch Love Live, Steins;Gate, or any of the many other anime that take place partially in Akihabara, or Durarara!! and others in Ikebukuro, notice how many anime stores and anime-related things stores there are in the backgrounds. There really are blocks mostly full of anime stores, up to the 5th floors sometimes. And there are multi-floor anime merchandise stores in other areas of Tokyo, and other cities, too. Compare that to most US fans, who just get the dealers' rooms at their local conventions, or one or two small stores if they live in a major city. It could be just that there are more people there interested. It could be that plus the tourists. It could be that people just buy more merchandise there. But whatever combination of those things it is, there is simply more of a market for it there than here. I don't think there's any hobby that could sustain that amount of product here. The seiyuu singles and drama CDs are part of that. There's simply a market for it, and it has a lot more to do with the size of the market for it there vs. here than the quality of the acting. Plus, how would drama CDs even get distributed here? For reasons we don't need to go into, they wouldn't make back even half of what they'd spend on it. (they did dub the Code Geass drama CDs for the first season, though, and that was amazing. They needed to, because the story isn't complete without them, but they did such a great job. That dub overall is just flawless and I don't know how anyone can make blanket negative comments about dubs after watching that.) |
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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As far as hobbies that have a lot of side merchandise, large Hollywood movies (both modern and classic) and American comic books have their own merchandising empires. The latter has relatively little merchandise created for fans, with few fans actually buying them, but they are expensive and top-quality.
Distribution of merchandise for hardcore fans in the west, however, is a lot more limited and not quite as visible as in Japan. There's something of a shame for owning a lot of adult-oriented merchandise, as it's seen as a sign of immaturity (sports teams being exceptions). Then again, I guess it's there in Japan too. They just don't care. |
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Just-another-face
Posts: 324 |
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Good luck proving that because they're likely next to no cases of such a thing happening. I don't know why you're so anti-dub all the time, but your posts always seem to promote sub only releases and that you somehow believe studios would magically make more profit by not including a dub with anything, which would both alienate and tick off the North American anime viewership more than you realize. Sub only DVDs and Blu-Rays don't sell as well as ones with dub options. |
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yuna49
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Taking the Japanese dubbing case first, post-recording is cheaper than pre-recording so in an industry with low budgets like anime it's the preferred method. Once in a while you get shows like Kurenai where the actors performed in an ensemble setting prior to the animation being produced. (Matsuo Kou prefers this approach and used it in other shows like Red Garden.) You can tell the difference right away, especially in episode three where the seiyuu are speaking on top of one another. It does sound more natural, but it's not common because of the expense. Most of the time recording sessions use the method depicted in Shirobako, where a seiyuu steps up to the microphone to deliver a line while watching the character's image on the screen, then steps back to let the next actor take his or her place. Second, Japanese and English have very different patterns of speech, so the pauses in one language sound strange in the other. Because the lip-flaps are synchronized to the Japanese script, they will often not line up well with the English dub. This problem is not limited to anime. You'll often see asynchronicity in dubs of Japanese video games like in Final Fantasy X and XII. |
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