This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)
Alithea wrote:
The thing that does kill me about the dub is the change in lines that completely rewrites character relationships.
I mean changing Shiori's ultimate scream of frustration in the elevator to "Why can't you just tell me how you feel?" just adds fuel to the Shiori/Juri fire.
I'm just saying.
Dub Shiori cannot resist Juri/Shiori.
In the movie dub, doesn't anthy say "goodbye brother, you are no longer my prince?" while in the sub, she's like "goodbye, my prince?"
I mean, that's kinda REALLY different there.
And yes, I didn't like that about Ruka's voice.
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What I listened to of the dub I didn't like.. but one day I should try re-watching it in the dub. One day.
But I'm curious to hear these dub/sub script differences. How can they do that? I mean it doesn't sound necessarily bad..
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^Nanami: "Well aren't we Miss Sufficient USA" this was the most unnecessary change and really sounded stupid, the rest of the dub script was pretty much the same which sometimes hurt the dub "You were shining so brightly!" That makes no sense in English... I actually prefer rewrites in anime in order for the dub to flow more smoothly, literal translations sound silly and awkward in English.
Last edited by chrisb (01-20-2010 11:18:51 PM)
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Tamago: Some of how they pronounced the names really bothered me
Oh yeah I forgot to put in my gripey 2 cents about this.
tEWga - ouch!
tenJEW - ahhhhh!
waCARBer - whoooooa!
anTHEE - No!
Anthy's use of Utena-sama and Tenjou-san BOTH TRANSLATED AS "Miss Utena" - Kill me now!!! *goes on a rampage*
No doubt I'm being way too anal in my reactions, but I really do have these reactions. It is probably as some of you pointed out, to do with having watched the Japanese first. I can't help wishing they'd translated the honorific system a little more accurately though when it's important to the plot. I don't care the rest of the time, but come on, plot development...plot development matters. Let's have a Lady Utena as compared to Miss Tenjou. Or at the very least Miss Utena compared to Miss Tenjou.
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Really? Shining to brightly makes sense to me.
...Though I was always like wtf miss self sufficient usa. That was the strangest change ever.
Well, it was an earlier anime dub. Before they started popping them out like crazy.
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One thing that people seem to kind of forget about the dub is that utena is FUCKING weird... Sure the acting could be the thing to blame, but the voice actors, the ADR directors and the producers didnt know what was the intent of the show and how to perform it(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owE99nKQMrI). But that does not accuse some of the horrandes acting in the show.
Utena- Rachel does a fine job as Utena, giving a great perspective on the character, but lacks emotional diversity in the start of the show.
Anthy- Shit acting. No emotion whatsoever in her performance and lacks compared to the phenomenal Japanese version.
Touga- Crispin Freeman makes a great and oozing voice to touga that is just so sexy...
Nanami- Leah gives an odd performance to nanami so I kind of like it, but at the first few episodes
Saionji- Very meh performance, kind of forgot it so it isnt that great.
Miki- Sounds too old for his age, but other then that, a fair performance.
Juri- Amanda makes a great and calm juri that just gives me chills but still feels warm inside
Akio- Same as anthy, lacks emotin in the performance, but he is suited for the roll, even without any acting abilities.
Mikage- meh, nothing to remember here, but I do like the serious tone he has.
Wakaba- Not good at all, and makes me cringe a bit especially in the early episodes, good god they were torture.
Shiori- I love the way Lisa performance in this role, very different form the Japanese, and I like it like that.
Mitsure- You know, I never knew 4th graders talked like 30 year old men...
kozue- Roxane actully did better here then with wakaba, but its not much of a competition.
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I haven't quite finished the dub (I think I have 9 episodes left) but I have some loose thoughts.
Saionji - I can't say that I think it's good but it does make me laugh. He sounds like he's trying to deliver his lines without waking up his roommate.
Anthy - I definitely see what people are saying (she's playing Anthy as the emotionless yes-woman with nothing underneath it), but, again, it does make me laugh sometimes. I actually named my new car "Miss Utena", thinking of the way she addresses Utena without fail. (Also, heh.) Other people have mentioned finding it funny, so I'm glad I'm not alone on that. She does sound older than a high school student, much like they did with the Japanese VO, but it doesn't stand out in the dub because most of the cast sound like adults.
Miki - The acting isn't too bad, but I agree that he sounds too old for my liking. I get it was a choice, but I like that Miki is kind of an Ami Mizuno expy, so they had him voiced by Sailor Mercury herself for the Japanese VO.
Nanami - Is it a bit much? Yes. Does it bother me? Not really. I actually liked Nanami a lot as a comedic relief character, and I thought her episodes were hilarious, so I may be a bit more lenient on how her dub voice sounded, but I was amused by how melodramatic it was.
Utena - Overall I think her performance is one of the most consistently good in the show. I agree she doesn't SOUND very tomboyish, but like, that's fine.
I should put a little bit of a disclaimer that, overall, the dub is pretty stilted and fairly wooden, so even the good performances sound unnecessarily reserved. I am grading them on a bit of a curve as a result. I've seen it argued that the dub's quality almost ADDS to the surreal tone of the series. YMMV, for sure, but remember,
itavin wrote:
utena is FUCKING weird...
And we wouldn't have it any other way.
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SO, as most of us know Ikuhara came in for the Movie dubbing and gave the cast pointers. I bring this up because I personally believe the cast got MASSIVELY better after Ikuhara's direction. With the exception of a few characters they all improved when the series was picked back up (starting after the Student Council arc). So with that in mind.. Haters gonna Hate.
Utena- Before the movie, she just didn't express enough emotion (I'm specifically calling to mind the scene where she losses Anthy to Touga). After the movie she got much better but was still a far cry from the Japanese original. Out of the English cast she was probably the best.
Anthy- Where to begin.... Oh, all of it. She's terrible. Absolutely no emotion what so ever. Even as Anthy's depth of character grew, it was like this actress was letting words fall from her face. She was so bad she went back to hair dressing because she knew she was a hack.
Touga- He was meh... Not the worst thing I have ever heard but I don't remember him having much range. He always delivered his lines with the same intonation more or less (it's been two years since I watched the series though).
Saionji- I don't know if I hated him because of his character or his voice... He was too nasally for me. It hurt to hear him speak and it didn't help that his lines were creepy(in keeping with the character)
Juri- She was great, before and after Ikuhara's intervention, although she was much improved. There's a bit of a shrillness to her voice at times that I didn't enjoy, but again it got better after the movie. She was great but no one can compare to the smooth voice of Kotono Mitsuishi.
Miki- Sounds too old and just didn't fit the character. This is something I should have mentioned with all the male characters. They don't sound like school agae kids but guys in their late 20s to 30s. (which they were)
Shiori- Again, too nasally for me with a bit of shrill to make me want to gag her. She wasn't sweet sounding enough for me as far as what I would imagine from a back-stabber. The moment she speaks I'm like Oh she's a bitch".
Akio- Not much range for this guy. I mostly remember him from the movie and being cool with it. It's a good thing I don't remember his voice acting too much because it means he didn't completely blow but it also means it wasn't stellar. I give him a C.
Kozue- She may have been a better choice for Shiori actually. I liked her. That's it really.
Mitsuru- Same problem I had with Miki... The VA was just too old. They should have had a young boy VA like Steven Universe or had a woman do the voice.
I know that's not everyone but those were the ones I felt like going over.
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