There’s nothing like anime voice acting and dubbing, but debates about them can get heated. Why are people mad at anime dubs and localizers? What is the recent Miss Kobayashi Dragon Maid Controversy? The Problems with Anime Dubs and Localizers.
A Voice Actor’s Politics?
VA plays a crucial role in the interpretation of characters and the emotional connection viewers have with them. Unfortunately, some VAs choose to insert their political views into the anime.
Miss Kobayashi Dragon Maid Controversy
The Questionable Dubbing Choice in, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid.
The Last Of Us 2
The Last Of Us 2, takes inspiration from the traditional zombie mythos found in Western culture. It was developed at a time when ‘women in video games’ were a heated political issue that influenced the game’s characters.
Can someone explain the Last of us part 2 controversy
byu/sovietRussianboi123 inthelastofus
When localizers MISS the Mark!
To localize content, you have to adapt dialogues, cultural references, and nuances. Although anime reflects Japanese culture, dubbing can unintentionally change these cultural elements.
Keeping the original intent and allowing viewers to appreciate cultural nuances is tough.
In the anime ‘Kawaiikereba Hentai demo Suki ni Natte Kuremasu ka?’, the english subtitles was changed by Funimation, changing “lolicon” to “ped######”. It is explicitly used to refer to people who like fictional underage characters.
There’s a cultural difference in understanding, which can be misinterpreted. It means something completely different in Japan.
The Game Maker’s Culture
These games carry historical, traditional, modern, political, religious, fantastical, etc. elements of the creator’s culture.
The Witcher 3
Like The Witcher 3, a game inspired by Slavic and Norse mythology.
Yo-kai Watch
In Japan, Yo-kai Watch is one of the top sellers, a kids’ game about collecting Youkai, a kind of monster based on Japanese myths.
Final Fantasy Tactics : War of the Lions
FF Tactics has a great story, but the original version has a lot of mistranslations. “Breath” is consistently translated into “bracelet” in attack names.
The re-release, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, fixes up the localization but adds a melodramatic grandeur to the narration.
In defense of the original FFT translation. Kinda.
byu/Unlikely-Papaya651 inDaGrimmReaperGG
Some fans like the funny nature of the mistranslations. Weirdly, it makes it more ‘Authentic’.
A New Era For Games
Expanding into new markets is essential for developers seeking global success, especially in Japan’s rapidly changing gaming industry.
JRPGs are being made for the Non-Japanese Gamers.
Final Fantasy XVI flips the long-running franchise’s proverbial script and appears to throw it away altogether, at least according to some die-hard fans. Some people say Final Fantasy XVI no longer feels like a Final Fantasy game because it has pure action combat instead of the series’ traditional adventure party setup.
The Devs also chose to lip-sync with the English Audio instead of the Japanese Audio. Even though a Japanese game, it was made for the international market.
Even though we have different preferences, there’s one thing that brings all anime fans together: THE LOVE FOR ANIME.
Credits: Links to the Image sources in order of appearance
- Featured Image (Girl on fire): Image by freepik on Freepik.com
- Miss Kobayashi Dragon Maid Controversy (Image from Reddit Post) : Image Link
- The Last of us Part II (Screenshot)
- When localizers MISS the Mark!: Still from the anime Hensuki
- The Game Maker’s Culture: The Witcher 3 Screenshot, YoKai Watch, Final Fantasy Tactics : War of the Lions (Screenshot)
- A New Era For Games: FFXVI Screenshot
