Do you find that annoying? (Pronunciation of names in dubs)

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shogo monster [ANF]
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Postby shogo monster [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:56 pm

I don't know about, but i find the change in pronouncation (sorry for the bad spelling) from the tv show to the movies kind of annoying. Can anyone explain to me why they did this?

Originally posted on: 28-Dec-2004, 04:40 GMT

Keisuke-kun [ANF]
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Postby Keisuke-kun [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:56 pm

Because two different companies and translators did it I think. Besides just watch it in Japanese.

Originally posted on: 28-Dec-2004, 05:16 GMT

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Postby UltimateX [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:56 pm

I'm assuming you're referring to the ADV - Manga English dub, in which case I agree. Some of the voices were simply F*CKED UP. Case in point, the infamous "Black Hyuga".

So yes, it is annoying, but the English dub wasn't exactly perfect as it was...

Originally posted on: 28-Dec-2004, 05:17 GMT

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Postby The Eva Monkey [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:56 pm

shogo monster wrote:Can anyone explain to me why they did this?

Amanda Winn Lee. Nuff said.

Originally posted on: 28-Dec-2004, 05:18 GMT

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Postby Reichu [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:56 pm

Um... The pronunciation was pretty bad in the original dub to begin with. Shinji was the only one who could say "Kaworu" right. No one could decide how "Eva" was pronounced. NO ONE said "Nerv" correctly. And there are probably others I can't remember, just because I only watched the dubs once when I wanted "noise in the background".

But I can already see where this thread is going. Image

Originally posted on: 28-Dec-2004, 05:55 GMT

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Postby Magami No ER [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:56 pm

The Kaworu part never made sense to me. His name isn't that hard to pronouce, sound it out, skip over the o. Where does this "Qu-waw-ru" sound come from?

Originally posted on: 28-Dec-2004, 17:44 GMT

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Postby Reichu [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:56 pm

Magami No ER wrote:The Kaworu part never made sense to me. His name isn't that hard to pronouce, sound it out, skip over the o. Where does this "Qu-waw-ru" sound come from?



One word: Drugs. Bad, bad drugs.

If all else fails, just say "Cow-roo". You know... the sort of thing you might get if you crossed a heifer with a kangaroo. Except without accenting either part.

Originally posted on: 28-Dec-2004, 18:39 GMT

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Postby Magami No ER [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:56 pm

I could never put the words cow and kangaroo together and associate them with Kaworu! That is just too....weird.

Originally posted on: 28-Dec-2004, 19:59 GMT

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Postby Reichu [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:57 pm

Can't possibly be as weird as "Qu-waw-ru"...

Originally posted on: 29-Dec-2004, 08:52 GMT

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Postby Brendan Brown [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:57 pm

I get the impression Kaworu's ( カヲル ) name would be pronounced differently depending on where you are in Japan. I mean IIRC in strict NHK Japanese the mora for 'wo' ( ヲ ) is pronounce pretty much like 'o' but in looser dialects it sounds more like 'wo' hence the alternating romanizations "Kaworu" and "Kaoru"

Or I could be completely off base here. Reichu will probably explain how it really works.

Originally posted on: 28-Dec-2004, 22:09 GMT

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Postby Reichu [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:57 pm

"Kaworu" is the only Romanization I have seen "officially". That's how it's written in the show (synch test screen from #24, side of Dummy Plug in EoE), and that's what you'll see in the Newtype books (the ones I have, anyway) and on the Carddass cards.

I don't know much about the whole dialect thing, but, yeah, you'll hear some folks distinctly say wo, whereas others say o. (Uh... basically what you said.) If you don't butcher Kaworu's name when you pronounce it, though, it really shouldn't sound very different either way.

Originally posted on: 29-Dec-2004, 01:39 GMT

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Postby Brendan Brown [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:57 pm

Reichu wrote:"Kaworu" is the only Romanization I have seen "officially"...



Ah yes, my recollection of the 'Kaoru' romanisation might be unconcious flashbacks to watching my bootleeg fansub copy of Death and Rebirth back in 199-odd-7...a most interesting experience because that film had been translated from Japanese to Chinese subtitles to English subtitles. (Fun Fact: "Fill the Corridors with Bakelite!" became "Flood the halls with Burning Rubber!")

Originally posted on: 29-Dec-2004, 07:05 GMT

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Postby Hexon.Arq [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:57 pm

LoL. Our new Christmas carol:

"Flood the Halls with burning rubber
Falalalalalalalala..."

Originally posted on: 29-Dec-2004, 07:24 GMT

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Postby Brendan Brown [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:57 pm

Flood the Halls with Burning Rubber
Falalalalalalalala
See Shinji just sit and blubber
Falalalalalalalala
Now Misato gives a kiss
Falalalalala--lalala
Now mankind dissolves in bliss
FalalalaLA--LA LA---LA-----LAAAAA!


Originally posted on: 29-Dec-2004, 07:35 GMT

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Postby Keisuke-kun [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:57 pm

^Genius Image

Yeh chines bootleg subs suck. Really really really bad. On teh whole pronunciation thing. Even if you here "o" or "wo" it doesn't matter. The sound is just so similar . Like particle wo. When I was learning Japanese I would say "wo" very clearly. But now It sounds just like normal "o" but a liuttle deeper. In ancient Japanese the w sounds were the same almost as the normal vowels.

wa わ a あ
wi ゐ i い
wu う u う
we ゑ e え
wo を o お

in reading old Japanese poetry in gendaibun I have seen い(i) substituted with ゐ(wi). Like 話してゐる, Its not done anymore but it was back then. The sounds of the symbols are so identical however that modern Japanese has simply got rid of ゐ and ゑ. を is still used as it is recognized as a particle to make things less confusting.

Other than that if Kaworu name was meant to be pronounced as a hard "wo" it would be written as カウォル. Its supposed to be pronounce in an inbetween sound between "wo" and "o." In my opinion it should be pronounce almost like Kaoru but with a deeper hint on teh o to make it sound a little like wo.

Originally posted on: 29-Dec-2004, 20:11 GMT

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Postby katholic [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 2:01 pm

um.........i prefered the english dub of the series. please dont shoot me...

Originally posted on: 29-Dec-2004, 13:02 GMT

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Postby Brendan Brown [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 2:01 pm

katholic wrote:um.........i prefered the english dub of the series. please dont shoot me...



No worries.

Actually I was reviewing some of the DVDs the other day and spot checking the dub...there are some neat elements to it.

Originally posted on: 29-Dec-2004, 13:17 GMT

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Postby Reichu [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 2:02 pm

Brendan Brown wrote:Actually I was reviewing some of the DVDs the other day and spot checking the dub...there are some neat elements to it.



Such as...?

Originally posted on: 29-Dec-2004, 16:07 GMT

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Postby Brendan Brown [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 2:02 pm

Reichu wrote:Such as...?



Oh boy, now you're going to make me explain myself:

Well off the top of my head the other day I was rewatching 21' and was switching back and fourth at points of interesting dialogue...I just like the interplay between Ritsuko and her mother in English. Naoko's rueful admission of parental neglect seemed a lot more bittersweet. And the in-person interplay between them reminds me a lot of how my mother and I speak to one another currently as I have not lived under her roof in four years there's a sense of familiarity and equality tempered by instinctive deference.

Another one off the top of my head is from 22' when Asuka forgets herself for a bit and reveals to Shinji her inability to relate to her stepmother before slamming the shields back up.

I am not a fan of the eva dub, despite the fact that I follow Miyazaki's sensibilities and almost always tend to give dubs the benefit of the doubt, Eva is one of the few animes that I listen to exclusively in its original Japanese. However here and there there are moments of aching humanity that seeps through in the English performance.

Originally posted on: 29-Dec-2004, 16:48 GMT

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Postby Treize X [ANF] » Sat Oct 20, 2007 2:02 pm

...I definitely find the changes in pronounciation annoying. You'd think they could just stick with one, simple pronounciation, but nooo, they have to practically butcher it...

Originally posted on: 29-Dec-2004, 17:24 GMT


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