The change of title.
You might notice this blog has just changed from 'Moronality' to 'Raven's Ramblings.' Or, really, you probably won't, because I believe I had exactly two readers at my peak. Hello, both of you.
This is because I just can't build up the enthusiasm to rant about idiots any more. It's not as easy as it seems when work has you sapped of the will to live. So instead, I'm going to rant about just about anything that annoys me. Today's rant is on Pokemon, movie number seven (the one with deoxys), and the US release.
I've been studying over the last two days the differences between the original Japanese release and the US dub. To put it mildly, the dub is a terrible hack-job. I'm not a big pokemon fan - I've only ever played through one of the games, don't watch the anime, have only seen one film, and find most of the franchise rather annoying and good only as a setting for fan-fiction and fodder for Rule 34. I do still have some respect for writers' intent, which is more than the company that did the US release managed.
It's not just the missing scenes. Lots of them. Cut out from all over the place, often with little reason. As best I can work out it's a matter of paceing: The US release just eliminates anything that's too slow and doesn't have the required level of action to keep the toddlers entertained. I blame this one on the difference in target age, a consequence of the 'animation age ghetto' effect. Pokemon in Japan is aimed at a slightly older audience - not adults, but perhaps ten-to-fourteen. Pokemon in the US seems to be 'for ages three and up.' I also suspect someone wanted the run-time shortened to allow for an expected lower attention span and/or more ad-breaks when shown on TV.
I've found four cut scenes so far, and I'm not even half-way through the movie in making my comparison.
This can also be seen in the soundtrack. It seems that the dubbers have a terrible fear of silence. They find silence, it must be filled. Add dialog, add music, foley in more sound effects - just so something to fill the gap. Pokemon are good for this, as they make sounds that can be easily copied from elsewhere. A quick glance along the soundtracks in audacity makes this clear. The Japanese audio has many period of silence. The US doesn't even have the gaps between words, as background sound or music fill them in.
Interestingly, this also draws attention to another difference. Japanese bird-pokemon make bird calls. Squawks and caws, as birds do. In the US dub, they only ever give the pokemon name-call. No exceptions. I don't know why this is, other than perhaps to make them more marketable.
The end result of all this is really just a butcher job. It's a mess. Something that no fan should ever see. Unfortunatly I do not believe any fansubbing group has yet tackled this movie, for the simple reason that pokemon is not in high demand - it's a series that anime snobs tend to look down on (and rightly so) as a transparent marketing vehicle to sell toys and games with minimal plot and no effort at internal consistancy.
You might notice this blog has just changed from 'Moronality' to 'Raven's Ramblings.' Or, really, you probably won't, because I believe I had exactly two readers at my peak. Hello, both of you.
This is because I just can't build up the enthusiasm to rant about idiots any more. It's not as easy as it seems when work has you sapped of the will to live. So instead, I'm going to rant about just about anything that annoys me. Today's rant is on Pokemon, movie number seven (the one with deoxys), and the US release.
I've been studying over the last two days the differences between the original Japanese release and the US dub. To put it mildly, the dub is a terrible hack-job. I'm not a big pokemon fan - I've only ever played through one of the games, don't watch the anime, have only seen one film, and find most of the franchise rather annoying and good only as a setting for fan-fiction and fodder for Rule 34. I do still have some respect for writers' intent, which is more than the company that did the US release managed.
It's not just the missing scenes. Lots of them. Cut out from all over the place, often with little reason. As best I can work out it's a matter of paceing: The US release just eliminates anything that's too slow and doesn't have the required level of action to keep the toddlers entertained. I blame this one on the difference in target age, a consequence of the 'animation age ghetto' effect. Pokemon in Japan is aimed at a slightly older audience - not adults, but perhaps ten-to-fourteen. Pokemon in the US seems to be 'for ages three and up.' I also suspect someone wanted the run-time shortened to allow for an expected lower attention span and/or more ad-breaks when shown on TV.
I've found four cut scenes so far, and I'm not even half-way through the movie in making my comparison.
This can also be seen in the soundtrack. It seems that the dubbers have a terrible fear of silence. They find silence, it must be filled. Add dialog, add music, foley in more sound effects - just so something to fill the gap. Pokemon are good for this, as they make sounds that can be easily copied from elsewhere. A quick glance along the soundtracks in audacity makes this clear. The Japanese audio has many period of silence. The US doesn't even have the gaps between words, as background sound or music fill them in.
Interestingly, this also draws attention to another difference. Japanese bird-pokemon make bird calls. Squawks and caws, as birds do. In the US dub, they only ever give the pokemon name-call. No exceptions. I don't know why this is, other than perhaps to make them more marketable.
The end result of all this is really just a butcher job. It's a mess. Something that no fan should ever see. Unfortunatly I do not believe any fansubbing group has yet tackled this movie, for the simple reason that pokemon is not in high demand - it's a series that anime snobs tend to look down on (and rightly so) as a transparent marketing vehicle to sell toys and games with minimal plot and no effort at internal consistancy.
posted by Suricou Raven at 3:17 AM
1 Comments:
Hello, back at you!
Well. I saw Moronality was dead, gave up on it, and went away. Now, here I come, months later, to see it's been resurrected. Sorta. Is good news! Abandoned Digg too, it seems. Ever make your way to Reddit?
Post a Comment
<< Home