'I've had strawberries everywhere!' by Kara
Monday, May 21, 2007 at 8:09 AM

Fuu ... long day yesterday ... and really fun until I discovered that I can't drive for crap.

Not my point of discussion today (mainly because I'm still phenomenally embarrassed). Rather, something that's been on my mind for a long time.

Dubs.

(No!!!!!)

I've heard -- and heard about -- several State of the Industry panels where people are discussing the downfall of US dubbing. Is this true? No idea. However, in my mind it's teetering, at the very least.

The problem? It's oversaturated, and it's a case of supply and demand. Not with product ... no, they can turn that shit over pretty quickly nowadays when they put their minds to it. I'm talking about voice actors.

Okay. There are very very very talented voice actors out there. That said, as there are so many series (in Japan 60+ came out this year, and we're constantly licensing both 'old' and new stuff) that there's too much to do. So two things happen that I can see ... well, lots of things happen, but the two to address first are: one, parts have to be filled by subpar voice talent; and two, the good voice actors get so overworked that I think they either lose steam talent-wise, or get burnt out in general. Thus even the real talent can have off days, or off volumes, or even off series. Or they lose the ability to work on a show they were doing well on (I'm speaking here specifically of Excel Saga, where Jess Calvello -- a true talent and awesome lady -- snapped a vocal cord).

Still speaking of the goodies, sometimes they're so rushed that they know nothing about the show they're working on. Here I'm speaking specifically of Evangelion, where I have been told that much of the dub cast hadn't even seen the entire series (which, if you've seen Eva, makes a huge difference). And that was a bit of time ago, even.

Another trouble with voice actors is that the ones going out of their way to fill the roles are -- in many cases -- people who think it'll make them cool and glamourous, rather than people who love the roles and think they can bring something to them. People who just want to hear their voices coming out of an anime character's mouth. People who don't understand that it pays rather crappily, you'll probably have to hold down second or third jobs, and you'll only be popular to 15-year-old girls. The ones who do get this and go for it anyway are definitely the right sort for it, and it'll show -- until or unless the studio bears down too hard.

We do not need all these dubs.

I am aware that some people prefer dubs, and/or like the freedom to switch between subs and dubs. I get like that on one or two shows. But when several walls at Suncoast are filled with anime DVDs, stop and think about that. Odds are most, if not all, of those have dub tracks. Now think of how many -- or rather, how few studios there are. Think of how hard studios are gonna fight over the good voices, and how they're going to fill in for the ones they can't get. Think of how many of them have the time to watch all these shows, when I can't even keep up with what I'm watching just for giggles.

We need to triage these series. Were it up to me, we would only dub:

-- Theatrical releases (like the Ghibli releases, which I'm actually rather happy with)

-- Television releases (stuff the studio will market to CN, Fox, Tech TV, etc.)

-- The oldies (Macross and such, things that have been around long enough to be an indispensable part of the art form)

The rest? I'd rather see that time spent on good translations, good subtitling (that means readable and grammatical) by people who'll take time to get to know the show, good extras, good video/audio restoration for the older shows, and half-decent box art. Also on paying more attention to what they're picking up and taking into account fans who'd like 'old' stuff and are willing to drop monies on 'em.

And if the money-men feel like that'd drive down sales, maybe it's time to hire a marketing department.

If you have been, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!