The Dubbing of Haruhi Suzumiya

[Pepperidge]

Originally Posted by aegismode

I would boycott R1 DVD if they re-do the songs in English. I really want to buy R1 so I really hope they leave it intact. Especially God Knows...

Jeez man, with all of the effort they've been putting into just the mere ANNOUNCEMENT of this license so far, do you really think that they'd push out anything less than stellar quality on the final release if they did choose to dub the insert songs in English?

I seriously doubt they'll do the OP and ED, but it makes far more sense to redo Japanese songs if the characters themselves are singing them. The test of whether or not the dub is high quality isn't whether or not they leave as much Japanese in as possible, it's how much they can effectively translate into English. I'm not saying they'll translate the songs, but a lot of people ARE hoping that they're redone in English for the dub, and that Haruhi's actress would be able to pull off an exceptional adaptation, which I think is entirely possible.

I see no reason to have low expectations for this dub.

Originally Posted by Setsuna Asuka

Hell, at least Ocean isn't dubbing it<_<

What the hell is wrong with Ocean? I was actually kind of hoping this would be a Calgary dub, since their talent pool has improved dramatically over the past couple of years and they have the kind of voices that would suit this series perfectly.

[Skane]

You know, only people who insist on watching dub should be genuinely worried about the dub. For sub watchers, why would we give a flying flip about the dub quality save for laughs and giggles? We should be more concerned about the translation quality of the subtitles.

Cheers.

[Cloud05]

It's true, but even if you are a sub watcher, you still want it to have a good dub, sort of a "Best of both worlds" thing.

[FatPianoBoy]

I picked three. Her acting felt the most natural, and I thought her voice quality was the best match for the character. While she wasn't quite as energetic as the others, at least it didn't feel forced. We're not going to get anyone that'll push Haruhi to the top like Hirano did, so I'd rather not get someone who's going to cause her to overshoot it and roll down the other side.

I like Wendee Lee, but seriously - she just doesn't fit

[JediNight]

Originally Posted by aegismode

I would boycott R1 DVD if they re-do the songs in English. I really want to buy R1 so I really hope they leave it intact. Especially God Knows...

A lot of VAs come from a theater/drama background of some sort. So they can sing fairly well, it's part of the territory. And the quality of dubbing has gone up tremendously in the last couple years. I exclusively watch subs if I can help it, but even I admit to there being some very good English voice talent these days.

I think what you are mistaking is bad casting choices and voice direction, for bad dubbing on the VAs part. It's the casting director's fault if they go with a voice that doesn't fit the character well, and also how they direct the VA to voice the parts.

[IchiKyo]

Originally Posted by Maxon

Haruhi - #5. They were all poor, but number 5 was the least poor. Looks like my fears were confirmed.

The link for Kyon's doesn't work.

Pick 5 too...
About Kyon's link
It's just like Itsuki, Nagato and Mikuru
All of them are now deleted :/

[Cloud05]

It's pretty much decided, non of them can catch up to one in the amount of time left.

[Deathkillz]

Originally Posted by Skane

You know, only people who insist on watching dub should be genuinely worried about the dub. For sub watchers, why would we give a flying flip about the dub quality save for laughs and giggles? We should be more concerned about the translation quality of the subtitles.

Cheers.

soo true...even if i do get the dvd it doesnt mean im willing to sit down to listen to the dubs im only voting because its fun and get some laughs along the way seeing how some of the voices dont fit at all XD

[Vexx]

I'd like them to do the best casting to fit the needs of the role whether I ever listen to them or not. The product deserves it

[aegismode]

Originally Posted by Skane

We should be more concerned about the translation quality of the subtitles.

Normally that would have been the case: I would not have cared less about the dub. But this is one of the first dub outside of Cowboy Bebop and Hellsing which I may want to try a few dub episodes (mostly due to the respect they've paid the fans, I'll admit), so for Haruhi I do care. But if they ended up doing a crappy job then, meh, yer right. I hope they do a fansub quality subtitle with flashing karaoke.

[Dagger]

Originally Posted by aegismode

I hope they do a fansub quality subtitle with flashing karaoke.

You might be better off hoping that they do an accurate subtitling job. Fansub quality =/= official DVD quality. I don't mean to denigrate fansubs, but since DVD subs are based on the official script, whereas fansubs must by necessity be based on the translator's hearing, when there's a discrepancy between them it's usually safe to go with the DVD version.

Also, the limitations of DVD technology makes flashing karaoke and the pretty, fancy fonts that you see in fansubs impossible.

[Tokkan]

Originally Posted by Pepperidge

What the hell is wrong with Ocean? I was actually kind of hoping this would be a Calgary dub, since their talent pool has improved dramatically over the past couple of years and they have the kind of voices that would suit this series perfectly.

Calgary dub? After what happened to My-HiME? No way in hell would I allow them to do that.

[Prolific]

I looked at the video on the main page and I noticed the girl who played Haruhi Suzumiya. SHE WAS THE PINK POWER RANGER! In Power Rangers: Turbo!

[Cloud05]

Originally Posted by Prolific

I looked at the video on the main page and I noticed the girl who played Haruhi Suzumiya. SHE WAS THE PINK POWER RANGER! In Power Rangers: Turbo!

She only said as much in the video...

[darkchibi07]

Haruhi's poll has been REMOVED!!!

Let the waiting game of awesomeness commence!

[aegismode]

Who's next? Tsuruya? She's got a huge following and surely deserves a poll.

[GyroidFanatic]

Originally Posted by aegismode

Who's next? Tsuruya? She's got a huge following and surely deserves a poll.

Nobody. "They" have left, so there will be no more polls.

[IchiKyo]

looks like they finished poll :/
Maybe the Main Cast is more important

[Ultima_Rasengan05]

i dunno i found the Haruhi VA auditions hard to decide
it was either one two or three
but i think three did the best job
so i voted for number three
but since the polls are closed now
i think they"re trying to finalize the real cast for this show
i hope it turns out good

[Vexx]

The real question with "official" subtitles is whether they choose
1) to stay pretty literal (straight grammatical translation with no flair or slang) or
2) put it terms that would "spiritually equivalent" (harder to do but more satisfying results) .... or
3) localize it (usually a losing result aka "Have a donut" == "Please enjoy a mochi").

So far mostly in official subs I find choice 1 .... occasionally I trip across choice 3 (omfg kill it) but fortunately that is pretty rare and usually for genre I find uninteresting anyway. Fansub groups tend to hit the choice 2 more often ("gambatte" does have more than one translation after all depending on the context).