Forum - View topicNEWS: FUNimation Streams Dubbed Sgt. Frog "Test Episode"
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Tofusensei
Posts: 365 |
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s/Japanophile/weaboo/ Being a Japanophile and being a good translator are not mutually exclusive. -Tofu |
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Crystal
Posts: 283 |
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I think we should leave comments asking them to keep the dub faithful to the original, but leave constructive criticism. Sgt. Frog/Keroro Gunso has a pretty strong fanbase, so they'd probably actually make more money doing an accurate release.
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Lunarose
 Posts: 128 |
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Keroro really needs to stop eating sugar. The voice acting seemed okay for the first three seconds, then just got annoying from then on.
Planet Wuss? What? No, that's not right at all... Anyways, "Did you see that, I got maximum pwnage?!" was a strange line there. I'm a bit neutral on that, I don't think it had quite the right effect. Natalie? Eh, well, they tried close enough. Better go see what Fuyuki was called, better not be Frederick or something. That would be an unforgivable dub name change, like when Sumomo from Chobits suddenly out of nowhere became "Plum". Trying to take away the Japanese aspects of the anime will be very, very hard. Tatami mats, traditional foods, school uniforms- Good luck, FUNimation. |
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dalbkino
 Posts: 47 Location: Wyoming |
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I loved Keroro Gunsou! I'm really looking forword to seeing the american release!
After watching the youtube episode I noticed some things that I wasn't so thrilled about... Bad things: They seriously need to stay with the original names! Natalie? Planet Wuss? Nooooo! And it was mostly Natsumi refering to the aliens as frogs not the aliens themselves... sigh Good things: Voice acter choices were great! I loved Gero and Tama voice choices! Original opening and closing songs!! Yay! Both Good and Bad things: The references to american pop culture used are both good sometimes and not so good at others... so I'm kinda mixed... though I think I prefer japanese pop culture references more... |
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therealssjlink
Posts: 118 |
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WOW Are you serious? I bet you are the type that watches HK subs and believes them to be correct. |
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Myaow
 Posts: 1068 |
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Well, this will be a constructive and business-building experience, since the populace of Youtube is so level-headed and intelligent and doesn't have any entitlement issues at all, ever. Oh, well.
It's a pretty interesting idea, though. Given that, it's disappointing to see that pretty much all of the comments on the video are "MAKE IT MORE LIKE THE JAPANESE" rather than anything thoughtful or substantial. |
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Ari-chan
Posts: 215 Location: Florida |
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I actually tried posting my critique on the YouTube comments but they wouldn't go through so I just messaged them instead, hoping that they would read it.
Anyway, as a fan of the original I was a bit displeased with the preview. I really didn't like the way they Americanized the jokes. Not that I want them to keep it 100% unedited, because that would be stupid. I simply thought it was poorly done. I know they were going for the Shin-chan treatment, but I don't think that will really work in Keroro's favor. The jokes were a mile a minute with that episode. They were trying far too hard to fit a one-liner, pun, or joke into every possible line. They need to learn moderation. Having a spastic, random set of reference jokes gets dull faster when on high speed. At that rate, the veiwers will tire quicker of the show. The Japanese version at least knows to take a breather every now and then so the viewer can catch thier breathe and notice the next joke the first time around. Name changes for me really depends on how they are going to market this show. If it's for kids then I would say it's fine in moderation as well. It's just that a lot of good jokes could be missed if translated wrong. I didn't like the shortening of the frogs. I only think that way because I see the extra "ro" at the end making the names sound catchier both in text and in sound. I had a tone of trouble noticing that they names were even said when watching that preview since without the extra syllable, it goes by to quick to catch. Oh and the Planets I feel should stay the same. They just sound more alien like and cool than "Planet Wuss". Voice wise is the one area I don't have any real complaints about. Keroro is the only one who stands out as being wrong to me. He isn't cartoony and versatile enough. I wonder just how well they will listen to the comments though. If they are actually going to consider the diverse opinions of everyone or just pick the few entirely in their favor. |
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ConanSan
Posts: 1818 |
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You been reading the same Comments? They seemed to boil down to four things
1) Keep the frog's laughs 2) Don't Americanize the names (They seem fine for removing the extra sylable off the Frogs, Planet Wuss and whatever Keron was called were given suspect eye, but more or less everyone thoguht Natlie is way off) 3) Tone the jokes slightly (Most people didn't like the TMNTish Frog gaffs for example and most did not take kindly to the Narator butting his way into every transition) 4) Work on toning the voices. Most people wanted Kururu for example to sound a bit deaper, this also works into point 1. Also, as a side, there was a few questions in regard to the naming of the cat, because it's obviously female. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14773 |
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Eh, without a broadcast contract, this may not be dubbed anyways.
So... uh... depends on where it could get broadcast. The degree of faithfulness to the original would become nonexistent if the broadcaster doesn't think the dub will sell the timeslot. 
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rekishi
Posts: 78 |
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well, i'm kinda happy that not ALL of the comments on youtube were "this sucks"... kinda surprised too...
i haven't seen any of SGT frog before, so i really don't have anything for comparison... but with out a doubt, they picked the most awesome voice for the red frog (what ever his name is)... Christopher R. Sabat... he is all that is man... ha ha ha... "i only laugh at pain, and it's about to get a whole lot funnier around here!" ha ha ha gold... maybe the SGT frog purists could add some constructive criticism to make this better (or a bit closer to the original, but by the comments it seems pretty close) but i liked what i saw, and just from that, pretty much cemented me into getting this when it starts coming out... (and it kinda brightened my day as well  )
i need some long running sillyness after galaxy angel went belly up (no dub for GA-X.... such a shame... -_-'.... )... |
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samuelp
Industry Insider
Posts: 2231 Location: San Antonio, USA |
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You know I just had a thought: I bet that Funimation did this on purpose not to gt constructive criticism for themselves exactly, but to use the comments on Youtube to show to potential TV executives that were trying to demand a high level of changes to the show.
See this is what I bet happened: Funi took the show back to the tv stations like nick and whoever else, and got the standard "it's too Japanese, the audience won't understand it, we'd MAYBE be interested if you changed a few things like.... etc etc". Funi is smart enough to know that the Frog has a large and somewhat outspoken internet fanbase from the long period of time it's been out there fansubbed (like One Piece, in many ways), and from that experience they knew that changing much of anything would be a recipe for internet shitstorm. So in order to get ammo to show the TV executives they made this test dub and uploaded it to youtube. Now they can go back to the TV execs and show them: "See, when we take some of your suggestions this is what people say, they don't like it!" At least, that's my theory. |
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ConanSan
Posts: 1818 |
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That's downright cunning if that's anywhere near whats going on
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TheHTRO
Posts: 328 |
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So essentially, Funimation is thinking about "adjusting" the show for mass market viewing on a network.
However, changing character names is contradictory to their original practices (Mr. Satan becoming "Hercule" doesn't count; that was just for the TV broadcast). That said, if they change the names, I'm not going to watch. Bo-bobo was a special case, because a vast majority of the humor involved puns, but more importantly because the show wasn't supposed to make sense; the humor was fast-paced, random and non sequitur, all of which was part of the show's charm. Sgt. Frog/Keroro Gunso doesn't have that luxury, because it has an actual, carefully conceived plot (even if it never goes anywhere), plus the humor doesn't rely on rapid-fire randomness/non-sequiturs like Bo-bobo did (or am I mistaken?). In any event, there's no reason for the name changes. The name "Natsumi" is mentioned. They can keep her name, but make other jokes, even if they can't use the natsu/summer joke. Jokes are one thing (it's always a challenge to translate humor so that it still gets a laugh), but character names are another. Briefly, Funimation took the easy way out when when they handled (Crayon) Shin(-)Chan the way they did. If this is the same case with Sgt. Frog, then I'm not going to watch. It's good that Funimation cares enough to ask for everyone's input, but I just hope it isn't a trick question that expects a certain answer (in which case it would mean that they really don't care what anyone thinks...). I hope that they actually listen to what we, the viewers have to say, and take it into account when they translate it for real. You see, this isn't just about the hardcore fans; if one group loses, everybody loses. If/when this show is released (in any way, shape or form), I am hoping that both groups (hardcore fans and mainstream viewers) win, otherwise, I likely may not watch. That said, I say everything above, not as a "fan", and not as a "mainstream viewer", but as someone who can tell the difference, and thus who gets "offended" (for lack of a better word) when a "translator" (or otherwise...) treats the viewers like they don't know any better. The methods used to translate this "test episode" may have been acceptable during an era where we had to take what we could get (read: before the internet), but not in an era where we can now find out whether or not what we are getting is the genuine article (and I don't necessarily mean fansubs, rather I mean anywhere we can find information on anime, or even Japan itself, and its people).
...nor will it, nor does work in any anime's favor, but that's beside the point. |
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MrAnimeSpecialist
 Posts: 124 |
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It's funny (not "ha ha" funny) that you should mention fan input. The other day, I sent an e-mail to Funimation requesting them to license-rescue Bobobo and suggest an ideal marketing strategy for it (half-season sets, uncut Phuuz dub, cultural notes and all). Their reply was the following:
Just the fact that they actually took the time to read my message and acknowledge Bobobo's existence gives me hope for the series.  I have kept the reply in my inbox up to this day.
This seems to show that they may be willing to listen to their fans after all... |
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enurtsol
Posts: 14773 |
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Shin-chan's case is kinda unique. FUNimation wouldn't have picked it up without Adult Swim's support from the get-go, so they already knew what demographic they're mainly aiming for (hint: not anime fans). |
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