Postby ljacone » Thu Jan 06, 2011 5:43 pm
Hope, I normally don't listen to your show, but since it dealt with a subject dear to my heart -- dubbing -- I decided to give it a listen. I don't watch much anime, and never have, but I do love tokusatsu, so I know where you are coming from.
Regarding cuts for explosives, violence, etc. Remember that network Broadcasting Standards & Practices (BS&P) have very stringent rules for content. I don't know if you have ever watched Batman: The Animated Series, but for many years the producers of that show were not allowed to show realistic handguns, nor show extreme violence against humans (robots were okay, though). So in the instance of content cuts for anime, it has little to do with the dubbers than it does with the broadcast network and the American or International distributors. Network BS&P in this country, especially when it comes to children's programming, is very strict and that is not likely to change. Animated shows actually have slightly (and I do mean slightly) more leeway on some of these S&Ps than live action shows; everytokusatsu show which has made it to the States has been cut to ribbons, partly for localization but also for S&P. Best example of that is , which was cut into the show Masked Rider. Black Rx's main weapon was a lightsaber rip-off callled Ribolcane, and he would defeat his foe each week by running them through with it. Fox BS&P would not allow that, so it was changed so that the sword would shoot an energy blast instead. (Consider: various incarnations of Power Rangers were allowed to show monsters being run through with a sword, but only when giant; all of the monsters on Kamen Rider are human-sized).
Regarding cuts and changes for cultural issue, localization is a tough call. Remember that you and I are not the target audience for the shows in discussion here. Despite my love of sentai, Ultraman, and Kamen Rider, or your love for Pokemon and Digimon or whatnot, the target audience is kids (well, not so much Kamen Rider but you get my drift). So while you and I understand the culutural aspects of an Asian show, the kids really don't. They don't have the background which you or I do. You understand an onigiri just like I understand an onigiri, but changing it to "rice ball" or whatnot is a fair enough change. On Digimon for instance, I remember specifically that Mimi talked about her love for riceballs, so the idea that it's a treat is still communicated. Some shows obviously are better than this. But to me localization like that is a fair trade off so long as it is not really detrimental to the narrative.
Toho, the company which produces everything related to MY BOY Godzilla and all of his friends and foes, creates "international versions" of their films and TV shows for (surprise, surprise) international distribution, and have for decades. They create the English script, they hire the voice actors (in Hong Kong typically), and they then distribute it. This is also the method used by a lot of anime houses who do not aim for network distribution and instead sell to the direct market. I hate to say it, but I can speak from experience -- if you don't like what you get for free insofar as localized International shows and movies, pay for it. The same goes for my Italian horror films -- what was done to the classics of this genre would make you blush -- so, if you want it uncut and subbed or with a good dub, pay for it. My otaku roommate in college used to hate it when I would bust that out to stop a Toonami-directed rant of his, but he would be forced to agree.
Congratulations on graduation and good luck finding a job.
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